The November election is rare in that all three branches of government are up for grabs. We need to decide if we are going to spend the next four or more years fighting to expand civil rights, increase the minimum wage, improve healthcare, strengthen our public schools and more, or struggling to preserve what is already in place.
There are 27 million of us are on campuses, in communities, and at the workplace. Our vote--the youth vote--is one to be reckoned with. The fact is that either George Bush or Al Gore is going to be the next president whether we like it or not.
Whoever is elected will have to make a lot of important decisions regarding an array of issues. The lives of poor and working class people, young and old depend on this election.
Looking at the platforms and listening to the speeches of both Gore and Bush it is not hard to see that there is a difference.
Education
The capitalists see dollar signs when they see education coupled with the George Bush presidency. When calling for vouchers Bush said, “Poor families should be able to choose good schools for their children just as rich families do.� If it were only that easy.
The fact is that Bush plans to link block grants and vouchers with performance based testing which means only the top tier students will have a chance to go to private and parochial schools. This is only 1 percent of the student population. Bush has allocated $3 billion in his budget to go towards vouchers to be used in private and religious institutions.
Bush also supports corporate chartering of public schools that turn them into profit making institutions. Al Gore on the other hand has $170 billion over 10 years allocated to recruit and train new teachers, raise teacher salaries and rebuild school infrastructure.
Religion
Gore is vehemently opposed to tearing down the wall between church and state. Bush wants “faith based organizations,� also known as churches, teaching character education in schools. Bush will push public funds going for materials like textbooks and computers to religious schools. This money is greatly needed within tax-supported public schools.
Juvenile Justice
In his agenda, Bush supports juvenile boot camps which promote violence instead of rehabilitation. Pilot programs from around the country prove that shaving kids’ heads, making them wear orange jail-like jumpsuits and beating them up only adds to the cycle of violence and abuse.
Bush will push federal legislation to lower the age convicting juveniles as adults to 14, railroading young offenders through the adult criminal justice system.
Bush’s racist “zero tolerance� policies in elementary, middle and high schools make it easier to permanently expel students without due process. This form of discipline in most cases does not offer safety nets for students like alternative schools.
Gore and the democrats have opposed such legislation in the past. The Democratic Party has not posed a detailed plan that addresses the problem. However we have more of a chance at lobbying Gore and the Democrats on this issue and need to fight to stop the racist policies that continue the criminalization of youth.
Racism
Gore, with the support of the NAACP and other civil rights organizations, has stated he will release an executive ban on racial profiling and open a federal investigation on this practice. Bush states that he supports and will promote “gang tracking,� which translates to racial profiling of Black, Latino and Asian youth. Gore supports and will maintain affirmative action. Bush has another agenda that calls for eliminating affirmative action and replacing it with “affirmative access.� This spells doom for women and people of color who seek higher education. According to Bush’s plan, students will have to pass rigorous tests and have top grades to be considered for any funds for school.
Social Security
The right wing camp led by Bush wishes to play what Gore calls “stock market roulette.� Bush’s aim is to privatize social security to “take advantage of the stock market.� This is supposed to “ensure the next generation so they have money to pass on to future generations,� according to Bush.
Okay, so will the government bail out people whose investments flop? How much money are corporations acquiring from maintaining accounts and service fees? Where will the money for the current and future retirees come from if there isn’t a funding pool?
The bottom line is that poor and working people--our generation--will be shafted when we retire. Bush is also considering raising the retirement age even more. Gore plans to use some of the budget surplus to revive social security and opposes privatizing it.
Gun Control
The Million Mom March held on Mother's Day shows that there is a growing movement that wants government accountability for gun accessibility. Gore has responded to the demands made there, which include requiring the government to provide trigger locks and licensing for handguns.
Bush has said he would sign a law requiring trigger locks with handgun sales but wouldn’t push such legislation. Bush feels the best form of gun control is more prosecution and jails. We know that the NRA will be working directly from the oval office if there is a GOP victory in the presidential race.
Environment
Bush’s idea of improving the environment is lining the pockets of corporate polluters, especially oil conglomerates who want to drill in wild life refuges. He will allocate billions to give to private entities to “clean up� the environment instead of strengthening and enforcing the laws already in place. This form of corporate welfare will have the government pay for the messes of corporations.
Gore has been endorsed by Friends of the Earth. His plan is more conducive to people and not corporations. It addresses poor people who live in industrial centers and suffer from water contamination and air pollution.
Privatization and criminalization is the order of the day under a Bush administration. It is very significant that Gore opposes such practices.
This gives youth an edge to fight for other issues to expand our rights like freedom of speech. The stage would be set for a new people’s offensive for healthcare, jobs, minimum wage, saving Social Security and advancing civil, labor and youth rights. Vote like your future depends on it--because it does
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