John Edwards for President: ARCHIVAL MIRROR-In Major Speech, Edwards Outlines Vision To Ensure A Safer, More Prosperous Future For America's Children

In Major Speech, Edwards Outlines Vision To Ensure A Safer, More Prosperous Future For America's Children

Dec 21, 2007 12:01 PM

On day two of the "Fighting for America's Voice" tour, Edwards outlines bold middle class agenda to ensure the American Dream for all children

West Des Moines, Iowa – On the second day of the "Fighting for America's Voice" tour, Senator John Edwards delivered a speech outlining his bold and specific proposals to build a better future for our children so they can realize the American Dream. Speaking at the Des Moines Area Community College today, Edwards outlined his four-part "Building a Better World for Our Children" agenda, which calls for restoring the promise of America through good jobs, renewable energy, stronger schools, and investments in the American people. Edwards has spent his life speaking out on behalf of regular Americans and during "Fighting for America's Voice" tour he is highlighting his plans to reclaim our government from the powerful interests and ensure the voices of hard-working Americans get heard in Washington.

Today in Des Moines, Edwards was joined by Sandy and David Lakey, and their daughter Valerie. Valerie was five years old in 1993 when she was very badly hurt by the powerful drain suction at the bottom of a pool because of a faulty drain cover. The manufacturer of the defective part knew their product was dangerous and hid the truth. Edwards represented the Lakeys as their lawyer and ensured that Valerie's medical expenses would be taken care of for the rest of her life. Edwards was also joined in Des Moines today by James Lowe, the former coal miner who could barely speak for 50 years because he lacked health care to fix his cleft palate.

"Corporate greed and political calculation have taken over Washington," Edwards said. "For decades, big corporations and powerful interests have blocked change and progress. For decades, they have spent hundreds of millions of dollars and deployed hundreds of lobbyists to try and silence the voice of the American people. And for decades, our leaders in Washington have sat by and let it happen.

"An America where big corporations are favored over middle-class families is not the America I believe in," Edwards continued. "That's not the America I see over the horizon. I see an America rising – an America where middle-class families are thriving, where our children can rise higher than their parents, where they can achieve things that their parents never dreamed of. Where we don't just pass on a better world, but we also make sure that our children will have the tools they need to take advantage of that world. We need a president who will stand up to the powerful interests that have taken over our government, and fight to give the American people their voice back, so that we can build a better world for our children."

Edwards' "Building a Better World for Our Children" agenda calls for:

Fixing America's basic bargain with good jobs that support a family: Edwards will enact smarter trade policies that keep good jobs here in America. He will also create new jobs by investing in the industries of the future and he will support American innovation and ingenuity by investing in education, science, technology and innovation.
Halting global warming and ending our dependence on foreign oil: If we don't take dramatic action immediately to halt global warming, our children could grow up on a planet that is radically different from the one we know today. Edwards will cap the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and reduce it by 20 percent by 2020 and at least 80 percent by 2050. He will also create a New Energy Economy Fund to jump start renewable energy and achieve energy independence.
Strengthening our schools and making college affordable: Tomake sure that every American child can go as far as their talents will take them, Edwards will radically reform No Child Left Behind and create a new College for Everyone program.
Investing in the American people: The single most important investment we can make in our people is to create universal health care. Edwards' top domestic priority will be passing universal health care that covers every man, woman and child in America. To make sure that every family has the tools they need to keep their children healthy and safe, Edwards will improve child care and access to paid family leave.

For further details on Edwards' plans to restore the promise of America, please see the "Building a Better World for Our Children" policy paper included below. Also included below are excerpts from Edwards' remarks.

Building a Better World for Our Children

Excerpts from Prepared Remarks
December 21, 2007

"But today, many middle class families are worrying that the next generation will have a harder life than they had. They worry that it will be harder to find a job because so many of the good ones have been shipped overseas. That college will be less affordable because the prices are going through the roof while their incomes stay the same. That health care may fall out of reach as the number of Americans without health insurance climbs every year. They worry that the American Dream is slowly slipping away from them.

...

"The problem is that our government is not looking out for middle-class families. Corporate greed and political calculation have taken over Washington. For decades, big corporations and powerful interests have blocked change and progress. For decades, they have spent hundreds of millions of dollars and deployed hundreds of lobbyists to try and silence the voice of the American people. And for decades, our leaders in Washington have sat by and let it happen.

...

"An America where big corporations are favored over middle-class families is not the America I believe in. That's not the America I see over the horizon. I see an America rising – an America where middle-class families are thriving, where our children can rise higher than their parents, where they can achieve things that their parents never dreamed of. Where we don't just pass on a better world, but we also make sure that our children will have the tools they need to take advantage of it."

Building a Better World for Our Children

"An America where big corporations are favored over middle-class families is not the America I believe in. That's not the America I see over the horizon. I see an America rising – an America where middle-class families are thriving, where our children can rise higher than their parents, where they can achieve things that their parents never dreamed of." — John Edwards

Today, many middle class families worry that their children will have a harder life than they had. They worry that, in an era of global competition, it will be harder to find a good-paying job with security, that college will be less affordable because the prices are going through the roof while their incomes stay the same and that health care may fall out of reach as the number of Americans without health insurance climbs every year. They worry that the American Dream is slowly slipping away from their families. The problem is that our government is not looking out for middle-class families today. Corporate greed and political calculation have taken over Washington. Twenty generations before us have done their part to pass a better America on to their children. The moral test of our generation, the one we face in this election, is will we do the same?

Families are working longer hours, but finding it harder to get by: Families work 10 more hours a week than they did 20 years ago. But middle-class incomes have stagnated for the past seveAn years. [DOL, 2007]
Higher costs for families with children: Costs for middle-class essentials – including housing, health care, college, child care and transportation – have all outpaced wage growth. A child born in 2003 will cost middle-class families 15 percent more to raise than a child born in 1960, after adjusting for inflation. [Draut, 2005; USDA, 2003]
Losing hope for the American dream: More Americans are worried that the next generation will face fewer economic opportunities and less security and mobility. Only 30 percent of Americans think life will be better for the next generation. [Pew, 2006]
A planet at risk: Unless we act, greenhouse gas pollution will create a completely different planet, with floods resulting in tens of millions of refugees every year and hundreds of millions of people starving to death.
Powerful corporate interests have taken control of our government: The number of Washington lobbyists has tripled to 36,000 since 1996, more than 60 for every member of Congress. Their impact can be seen across our society: a broken health care system, reliance on old sources of energy, the neglect of poverty, unfair terms of credit, and subsidies for corporate agribusiness. [Senate Office of Public Records, 2006]

Today, John Edwards proposed bold and specific plans for how we can build a better America, with opportunity for our children, and make sure that we pass on a better world to our children by:

Fixing America's basic bargain with good jobs that support a family.
Halting global warming and ending our dependence on foreign oil.
Strengthening our schools and making college affordable.
Investing in the American people.

Fix America's Basic Bargain with Good Jobs

Enact Smarter Trade Policies: Iowa has seen the results of unfair trade – losing more than 17,000 jobs in the last six years due to growing trading deficits with China. Trade deals need to make sense for American workers, not just corporations. The manufacturing jobs that have supported a generation of families are vanishing – and won't be there for our kids unless we turn things around. Edwards will reject NAFTA-style trade deals and make sure any new trade agreements include strong labor and environmental standards and will vigorously enforce American workers' rights in existing agreements. He will also expand trade adjustment assistance to do much more for the workers and communities that are hurt by global competition. [EPI, 2007]

Eliminate Tax Incentives to Move Offshore: The U.S. tax code encourages multinational corporations to invest overseas by allowing them to indefinitely defer taxation on their foreign profits. In practice, this means that multinational companies pay little or no tax on their foreign profits. Edwards will eliminate the benefit of deferral in low-tax countries, ensuring that American companies' profits are taxed when earned at either the U.S. rate or a comparable foreign rate, to eliminate any incentive to move overseas.
Invest in the Industries of the Future: Renewable sources of energy – including ethanol, biodiesel, wind and solar – can create new industries and at least 1 million new jobs. Edwards will establish the New Energy Economy Fund to jumpstart renewable energies with start-up capital and train over 150,000 workers for Green Collar jobs.
Support American Innovation and Ingenuity: The most important factor for America's future prosperity – and making sure we start creating the next generation of good middle-class jobs – is investment in education, science, technology and innovation. As president, Edwards will make the Research and Experimentation tax credit permanent. The credit has expired or nearly expired 11 times in the last 25 years, discouraging companies from making long-term commitments to research. Ideological debates at NIH about things like stem cell technology have drained resources from promising research. Edwards will increase spending on basic research at the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health and lift stifling research restrictions. He will also modernize our patent laws – which haven't been updated in 50 years – to provide incentives for research. And he will invest in science and math education to ensure that American children are prepared to build on our current technology successes.
Build Career Ladders: Two of the fields with the largest predicted job growth – health care and education –have both low-end and high-end positions and offer the potential for mobility. Edwards will invest in career ladders in these and other fields, helping low-wage workers to train on the job, gain new skills, and move into better jobs. For example, health care aides could become certified nurse assistants and registered nurses.

Halt Global Warming and Take Care of the Planet

Halt Global Warming: If we don't take dramatic action immediately, our children could grow up on a planet that is radically different from the one we know today. Edwards has announced a bold and transformational plan to take on big oil companies, polluters and power companies to address the great environmental challenge of our lifetime. He will seize the opportunity of the first 100 days of his presidency to send legislation to Congress that enacts his bold and transformational agenda to halt global warming and achieve energy independence. To halt global warming, Edwards will cap the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and reduce it by 20 percent by 2020 and at least 80 percent by 2050. Edwards will lead the world to a new global climate change treaty. Because all nations must join the effort, Edwards will share clean energy technology with cooperating nations and, if necessary, require minimum climate-change commitments in our trade deals.
Jump Start Renewable Energy and Achieve Energy Independence: Edwards will create the $13 billion-a-year New Energy Economy Fund. The fund will be primarily financed through the sale of emission permits. Edwards will initially auction off a portion of the pollution permits. After a short transition period, all the permits will be sold. By investing in clean, renewable sources of energy, America will cut oil imports by 7.5 million barrels a day by 2025 and set a national goal of meeting increased electricity demand by getting more power out of the electricity we use now. Edwards will require the use of safe, renewable energy like wind, solar power, biomass and ethanol to generate 25 percent of the nation's electricity by 2025 and expand the use of biofuels in cars.
Reverse the Bush Administration's War on Clean Air and Water: In his first year as president, Edwards will work to reverse every harmful environmental executive order and regulation issued by the Bush Administration, strengthen the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts and restore the "polluter pays" principle to the Superfund program.
Secure our Natural Heritage for Future Generations. At every opportunity, George Bush has put narrow corporate interests ahead of regular families, causing new threats to our nation's great wildlife habitats. Edwards believes that protecting our natural heritage for future generations to enjoy is among our highest duties. He will protect much-needed resources for our national park, forest and wildlife refuge systems, restore balance to federal land management and protect America from invasive species.

Strengthen Our Schools and Make College Affordable

Put an Excellent Teacher in Every Classroom: Nothing is more important in a school than the relationship between a teacher and a child. Edwards will raise pay for teachers in successful high-poverty schools by as much as $15,000 more a year. He will create a national teachers' university – a West Point for teachers – to train excellent teachers for our worst schools. He will also help teachers with extra support in their early years with mentors and extra planning time.
Make Every School an Outstanding School: Edwards will radically overhaul No Child Left Behind to live up to its goal of helping all children learn at high levels, rejecting cheap standardized tests, arbitrary formulas for school success, and unproven cookie-cutter reforms. He will help 1,000 great schools expand or start new branches. Edwards will invest more in low-income children, put us on a path to fully funding special education, and raise graduation rates with adolescent literacy programs and Second Chance schools for former dropouts.
Make College More Affordable: The three-quarters of Iowa's graduating college students who have debt owe $23,700, on average -- 25 percent more debt than the national average. Roughly one in five young adults reports that student debt caused them to delay starting a family and forced them to change careers. Edwards will create a national College for Everyone initiative to pay public-college tuition, fees and books for students who work part-time, take a college-prep curriculum in high school, and stay out of trouble. [TICAS, 2007; Nellie Mae, 2003]

Invest in the American People

Guarantee True Universal Health Care: The single most important investment we can make in the American people is to create universal health care. Nearly nine million children don't have health care in America today – one million more than in 2004. Edwards will take on the big insurance and drug companies and guarantee true universal health care for every man, woman and child in America. Employers will have to help cover their employees, the government will make insurance affordable with new reforms and subsidies, and all Americans will have insurance. His plan offers every American the option of a public plan that could evolve to a single payer system. [Census Bureau, 2007]
Offer Universal Preschool and Expand Affordable Child Care: More than two-thirds of mothers are working, most of them full time, but our workplace practices and public policies have not kept up with this new reality. Child care costs more than a rent for a family with two children. Edwards will create a Great Promise early childhood education program for every four-year-old. For younger children, he will more than double the child care tax credit and create a national Smart Start initiative to work with local nonprofits to make child care higher quality, more available, and more affordable. [BLS, 2005; NACCRRA, 2006]
Create Paid Family and Medical Leave: Edwards will create a $2 billion National Family Trust to offer paid family and medical leave benefits to all workers by 2014, and he will make the federal government a model employer with a generous paid leave benefit. He will also expand the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover 13 million more workers by reducing the threshold for exemption for the law from 50 workers to 25 workers and help long-term part-time workers. In addition, Edwards will require businesses to offer their workers seven paid sick days a year, with pro-rated leave for part-timers.
Build Safer Communities: We can't build One America – where every child has an equal chance to succeed – unless every one of us is safe, day and night, in our own communities. As president Edwards will put more cops on the beat, provide resources to fight drug manufacturing and addiction, stop the cycle of repeat offenses, help at-risk youth and promote gun safety while protecting gun rights.