- Originally published in the Chicago Sun-Times on October 26, 2004 [here]
BY JESSE JACKSON
Next 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 ballot. 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 casualties, with more than 1,000 lives
lost, and in cost, growing at $1 billion 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 deplorable
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 president 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 opposed any increase in the minimum wage. He's done
nothing as health care costs have soared and broke his own promise to
fund public school reform. His prescription 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 minimum wage. He supports moving to energy
independence -- providing good jobs as we build energy-efficient
buildings and appliances and fuel-efficient cars.
In a global economy, Bush's tax cuts rack up deficits without producing
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 bottom 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 division that turn us against one another.
He bowed to the gun lobby and turned his back on America's police by
allowing the ban on assault 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 together, 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
differences are apparent. And we have the power to choose. Vote, and
make certain that your family and your friends vote also.