Vote to end the Bush nightmare

JESSE JACKSON

_N ext week's election offers
Americans a big choice. Do
we stay the course we are on
or choose a fresh start?
America's security is on the bal-
lot. Will America revive a global
coalition against terrorism or will
it continue in arrogant isolation,
bearing the burdens virtually
alone, while generating hostility
across the world?
President Bush's Iraq debacle
squandered the global support this
nation enjoyed after Sept. 11 and
divided a nation that came together
as one in the wake of that attack.
He destroyed his own credibility
when everything he said about Iraq
turned out to be wrong. He rushed
into a war without allies, without
sufficient forces and without a plan
for victory. We pay the price in ca-
sualties, with more than 1,000 lives
lost, and in cost, growing at $1 bil-
lion a week, while providing al-
Qaida with a cause that has won it
new recruits across the world.
Sen. John Kerry offers a fresh
start, a promise to engage allies in
the region and the world and the
credibility to make that possible.
Kerry would rebuild a powerful
coalition against terror.
All the wild charges, groundless
accusations and fear-mongering
that Bush and Vice President Dick
Cheney have issued in their de- plorable campaign cannot hide the
fact that their misjudgments have
left America less admired, more
isolated and less safe than before.
The American dream is on the
ballot. Will America put people
first or continue the failed policy of
trickle-down economics? Bush has
the worst jobs record of any presi-
dent in 50 years, while racking up
record budget and trade deficits.
He celebrates an economy in which
profits are up but jobs are gone,
wages are down, health care and
education costs are soaring, and
working families can't keep up.
He has waged war on unions,
stripped millions of workers of
their right to overtime pay and op-
posed any increase in the mini-
mum wage. He's done nothing as
health care costs have soared and
broke his own promise to fund
public school reform. His prescrip-
__________
The American dream
is on the ballot. Will
America put people first?
tion drug plan actually prohibits
Medicare from negotiating a better
price for seniors. His energy plan
lavishes subsidies on oil and gas
companies while increasing our
dependence on foreign oil.
Kerry would return us to the
policies of putting people first that
provided hope under Bill Clinton.
He would repeal the top-end tax
cuts and invest that money in
making health care and college
more affordable. He would invest
in preschool and public schools.
He would stand with workers who
want to organize, extend the right
to overtime and increase the mini-
mum wage. He supports moving to
energy independence -- providing
good jobs as we build energy-effi-
cient buildings and appliances and
fuel-efficient cars.
In a global economy, Bush's tax
cuts rack up deficits without pro-
ducing jobs in America. His tax
and trade policies have generated
more jobs in Shanghai than in
Cincinnati. By putting people first,
by generating growth from the bot-
tom up and using our resources to
build schools, hire teachers and
move to energy independence,
Kerry will generate far more jobs
with better wages and benefits at
less cost to the taxpayer.
Justice is on the ballot. Will
America expand opportunity and
equal justice or will we roll back
the rights of women and minorities
while trampling the very liberties
that make us free? Bush's judicial
nominees are radical activists,
committed to rolling back women's
right to choose, affirmative action
and the rights of the disabled.
Bush benefits from a politics of di-
vision that turn us against one an-
other. He bowed to the gun lobby
and turned his back on America's
police by allowing the ban on as-
sault weapons to expire.
Kerry stands clearly for equal
opportunity and basic justice. He
would defend civil rights and a
woman's right to choose. He would
empower science, not cripple it. He
would seek to bring people to-
gether, not drive us apart.
Leadership or isolation. People first
or trickle-down. Extending rights or
rolling them back. A fresh start
or more of the same. The dif-
ferences are apparent. And we
have the power to choose. Vote,
and make certain that your family
and your friends vote also.