Gore-drafters: Where does Gore stand on economic issues these days?

[More Than A Feeling]

We all know he blows every other candidate out of the water a million times over on the environment. His past experiences lead me to believe that he would strongly support reforming our elections. He has been speaking out against the Iraq War and Civil liberties abuses for years now, all the way back to the beginning.

But what about the labor movement, penalizing corporations that outsource, and negotiating fair trade agreements? Do you drafters know where he stands there?

[Gman]

1. Gore has been considered a friend of labor

since when he was first a Congressman. There is NO question of Gore's commitment to working people.

[Greyhound]

6. I'm afraid there is. NAFTA was brought to us by Al personally, as he cast the

single deciding vote in a deadlocked Senate, had he voted the other way, we would all be far better off. So, as one of the millions of victims of this obscenity, I do indeed question his status as a "friend of labor".

[Joe for Clark]

2. I have no idea - I don't care.

He is a pretty smart guy and I trust him - and I don't have to agree with him 100%

And god knows, I don't think I agree with anyone 100%.

I think the question is about judgement in a spectrium of issues - he has been dead on with respect to the core issues.

We have to elect the manager to manage - Yeah, I do trust him. And by the way - I am convinced we have to use syn fuels before an alternative energy source is realized- and I don't think he agrees - I want him anyway - cause I trust him - his judgement. And this one is really about trust on many fronts.

Joe

[JuniperLea]

3. If we don't save the Earth... it won't matter what his stand on the economy is

Or anyone else's stand either, for that matter.

[More Than A Feeling]

4. The two are interrelated in my view.

You can't save the earth without making sure that everyone gets their fair and equal share of the benefits of society, and you can't divide the benefits equally without accepting that there is a limit to what the earth can sustain economically. That's why I want a candidate who is tops at both, while also championing democracy and civil liberties. Those are short and long term concerns. Of more immediate interest is ending the Iraq War.

[JuniperLea]

5. But that's the point

Unless the Earth herself survives, the rest is moot. What good is a fair and just economy or societal benefits that only exists in the minds of people who no longer exist?

[Greyhound]

7. More accurately, if we don't save us it won't matter to us. The Earth will be just fine, long after

we are a bad memory.

[JuniperLea]

11. Yes, you could take it to that extent

I used to have nightmares... a melange of "Planet of the Apes" and Bugs Bunny with Martin the Martian... That Mars was our last habitat... history repeats.

[Radical Activist]

8. I hope he has changed his views on NAFTA and the WTO.

That's a big reason I couldn't get excited about him in 2000. This is a central issue of our time and he was on the wrong side.

[Radicalman]

9. Who Cares? If he isn't elected President the human race.......

including organized labor will all be dead.

[More Than A Feeling]

10. wow, nothing like an ultimatum eh?

Your confidence in democrats other than Gore to do something about global warming and the environment is very low. Not saying whether you are right or wrong to think that. Perhaps you could expand a little?

[AlGore-08.com]

12. Keep in mind that Gore hasn't given a policy speech on the economy for a long time

So he hasn't issued any papers with more detailed explanations of his positions. One of the things he's been talking about a lot is taxing carbon emissions and making that revenue neutral (i.e. making sure that the tax collects the same amount of money that the taxes it replaces raise.)

Re: labor movement. Gore regards the right to organize as a fundamental American right. (Said so back in 2000 as well.) Supports equal pay for women.

Re: outsourcing. He's very concerned that most of our manufacturing takes place overseas, and wants America to become the world export leader in technologies that combat global warming, alternate fuel technologies, etc. (He often uses the metaphor of the Marshall Plan to explain the scope of the manufacturing and social change he has in mind.) He also says a lot that it's "insane" that we borrow money from China to buy oil from the Middle East to destroy the planet.

Re: Free trade agreements. Gore has always been for trying to incorporate (at least) U.S. labor and environmental standards in international trade agreements. He is not a protectionist - - he feels that trade is the "carrot" that the U.S. can use to get other countries to improve their environmental and labor standards. He likes to repeat the Cordell Hull quote that "Where goods do not cross borders, armies do." He believes strongly that if a country is already trading with us, it's easier to get them to agree to conform with our standards. For example, overseas car manufactures have to create cars that at least meet our minimum emissions requirements, or they can't sell those cars to us. But if all they have to worry about is their own domestic market, they are free to make cars that don't even come close to our (weak) standards.

Re: election reform. Gore is a huge advocate of opening up the government to citizen input and reforming elections. Back in 2000, part of his platform was a highly detailed plan for how to federally fund elections. (In 2000, he also promised to put a web cam up in the Oval Office and let it run 24/7 so the American people could see that he was doing the people's business all the time.)