Kerry promises equal opportunity

The basic embodiment of "The American Dream" is simple: Work hard, play by the rules, you will succeed. For the duration of this presidential campaign, both candidates have tried to convince the American people that their policies will provide the gateway to this land of opportunity, where all Americans reap bounteous gains from all they have sown. But the American Dream is not just an ideal; it is the guiding vision that, in many ways, is the fundamental principle behind our republic. The humble democratic experiment that is the United States of America succeeds best when its citizens realize their own visions of this dream.

Unfortunately, the dream is not as simple to achieve as legend would suggest and the Republican Party would assert. Not everyone can succeed because the playing field is not level. Some sow with a hoe, some with an ox; a select few hire others to sow for them, and with a golden tiller. These are the few that matter to George W. Bush. He calls them his base, the "have-mores." We do not need a president who represents only the rich. Nor do we need a president who represents only the have-nots. We need a president whose base is all Americans who want a piece of the American Dream.

President Bush has the worst economic record of any modern president. The statistics by now are almost permanently branded upon the dead horse: He is the first president to experience a net loss of jobs — 1.6 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — since President Hoover during the Great Depression. He has, in only three and a half years, transformed the largest budgetary surplus in American history — $236 billion in 2000 — into the largest deficit — $422 billion in 2004. His tax cuts have fallen disproportionately to the richest Americans, while the poor (and many of the middle class) are still waiting for their long overdue relief.

A onetime check of a few hundred dollars, while the richest Americans bank millions in their trust funds, is not what these families need, and it is not what the American economy needs. The Bush administration is masterful at semantics — "tax relief" for all is a noble ideal — but it fails miserably when it comes to sincerity and implementation. The American family needs longterm tax relief, not a paltry, mostly symbolic gesture, foisted upon them not out of respect for their struggle for the American Dream, but for partisan political gain.

What is so unfortunate about President Bush's economic plan is not simply its political motivations; it is the fundamental disrespect for the working American family that his policies evidence. If President Bush truly cared about families, his rhetoric would be supported with policy. Sadly, from the underfunding of No Child Left Behind, to the greatest reduction in overtime pay in American history, to the decline of average household income by $1,535 during his administration, the president and his party have proven that, when it comes to families, their values have no meaning.

John Kerry offers an optimistic, substantive, respectful alternative to the President's hollow rhetoric. His economic plan will actually benefit working Americans, not rich elites, while maintaining fiscal responsibility. He will cut health premiums by up to $1,000 for families. Ninety-eight percent of all Americans and 99 percent of American businesses will get a tax cut under the Kerry-Edwards plan. John Kerry's plan will also cut the deficit in half in four years — real, honest, respectful and responsible tax relief for working families.

John Kerry plans to help students by providing a tax cut on up to $4,000 of college tuition for students and their families. This will directly impact the lives of many Princeton students: under the Kerry administration, your parents (and maybe you) will pay less for you to attend Princeton.

John Kerry's full economic plan is available at http://www.johnkerry.com/pdf/economic_plan.pdf. A quick glance reveals that John Kerry has an effective plan to aid working families. After four years of failure, it is time to give a new president the opportunity to make the American Dream a reality for all Americans. John Kerry is the man for the job. Join me in voting for him on Nov. 2. Jay Saxon '05 is president of the College Democrats. He can be reached at jsaxon@princeton.edu.