Posted on 05/31/2003 6:15:11 PM PDT by Sonny M
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Presidential candidate Joe Lieberman argued on Wednesday that President Bush is presiding over a new economy with old thinking and failing to reward innovation in the workplace.
On the same day Bush signed a 10-year, $350-billion tax cut package, the Connecticut senator highlighted job losses during Bush's tenure - 2.7 million - and last year's drop in the number of hours Americans worked. In the first quarter of this year, weekly earnings adjusted for inflation fell 1.5 percent - the biggest drop in more than a decade.
``The administration of George W. Bush has an old economic plan for a new economy,'' Lieberman told supporters at the University of California, San Diego. ``And in so doing, it has let the sparks of innovation fall to the floor.''
Lieberman said as president, he would work toward ensuring U.S. productivity growth at 3 percent annually by the end of his first term - a move he said would double family incomes every generation.
The United States was mired in weak productivity from the early 1970s to the early 1990s, but the rates started to improve after 1995 to greater than 2 percent annually. Lieberman's goal of 3 percent growth would double the rates experienced for two decades before 1995 but is less than the 4.8 percent achieved last year.
The Lieberman campaign says recent productivity gains have been linked to rising unemployment, while his economic plan would focus on creating new jobs.
Lieberman said he would reach his goal by passing tax cuts that would spark productivity and allow the private sector to produce high-wage jobs, eliminating the capital gains tax for new investments in small companies. He also pushed for a $40 billion increase in funding for research and development, doubling funding for the National Science Foundation and supporting research on nanotechnology.
``We will not be strong at home unless we innovate, create jobs and grow our middle class once again,'' Lieberman said.
Lieberman also said he would help to create the work force of the future by improving science and math education and by increasing the number of college students who study science and engineering.
Prior to delivering the speech, Lieberman picked up an endorsement from venture capitalist John Doerr, a leader in the high-tech field and a political heavyweight from the Silicon Valley, sources told The Associated Press.
As part of the Northern California-based Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Doerr sponsored several major investments in such companies as Compaq, Amazon.com, Netscape and Sun Microsystems. Doerr advised Democrat Al Gore's campaign in 2000.
For crying out loud, when did the President get the responsibility to reward innovation.
Can this is the best LIEberman can muster? The Republicans can save millions in campaign costs by just letting the Demorats continue to campaign on these great issues.
I wouldn't call it populist babble, its simply vague generalized babble. At least populism can have specifics and a theme, this does not. I like where he starts on capital gains, but everything else, is a nice sound bite that makes "alot of sound and fury and signifies nothing".
Nice twist is, he may actually get the nomination. All the radical lefty's are split up amongst each other with the other canidates. If Lieberman wins, you'll see record low voter totals in terms of african americans and hispanics (except for the ones that vote for Bush) guaranteeing a 40 state coast.
Someone please ask the Dems what Bush did in his first two years to cause any job loss.
My god, even the Iraqi's have U. S. taxpayer funded universal healthcare, while people here at home go without and minimum wage earners here in the US had their childcare credits yanked from Bush's tax giveaway to the rich to pay for it.
Gosh, it's just awful.
Actually I'm hoping he wins the nomination. Long story short, he is the weakest of the real possible canidates, and he has managed to alienate huge blocks of voters.
According to the ADL, a majority of african american voters and hispanic voters (according to polls) would never, ever vote for somone jewish for president.
Also, the heart of the left wing, the looney kooks are very deeply anti-semetic, they despise Joe Lieberman, but are all split up right now over who they do like. Only the most moderate of dems, and also people who are jewish (ethnically wise at least) support Holy Joe. The green party hates him MORE then the freepers do. He guarantees another canidate.
Long story short, he gets nominated, not only do we win with at least 40 states, we'll also kill in senate and house races. He guarantees record low minorities voting turnout which make up the base of the democratic party.
Your forgetting, there democrats, they just assume that government can and should do something. Kind of like a parent and a small child in terms of thinking.
Don't forget these are the people who follow keynesian economics with the famous line.
"Government should pay one may to dig holes and another to fill them back up again."
Ah, the mind of a liberal. Such a thing to behold.
Even the dumbest of the dumb can see that even if you taxed the earnings of the hole makers and unmakers 90% of their wages you still wouldn't have enough government money to pay them, much less enough to also pay someone else to pay them. How that idea ever got off the ground I don't know. How it stays alive is even more of a mystery.
I like Dean on guns, the thing is, is that he can solidify the democratic base, and draw a few pro-gun people too. I think him and Kerry are the biggest threats to Bush. I don't think Gephardt can beat Bush, but he will draw alot of people to vote in the elections, and the goal is not just to win re-election but to extend control of the house and senate. Lieberman just alienates parts of his base, sometimes its own fault, others times is just anti-semetism, either way, he guarantees lower voter turnout from democrats and thats always a good thing.
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