Instead of a convention, this week in New York George Bush is having a masquerade ball -- a fa?\0xA4ade put on by extremists, pushing moderates out on the stage to mask the special interest agenda that has governed America. Bush has misled America for four years and now he's chosen to mislead us for four more nights.
President Bush stood by as college tuition has soared 35 percent. He broke his promise to increase the Pell Grant and he has cut other financial aid programs, choosing instead to reward his wealthy friends through massive tax cuts. He inherited record surpluses, a balanced budget, steady job growth and he squandered them away. Under President Bush, young people have the highest unemployment rate in America -- 12 percent, more than double the national average.
President Bush has also failed with his policies abroad, alienating our allies when we needed them the most. He misled the American people to sell the war in Iraq and irresponsibly sent young people overseas to fight for their country without a plan for winning the peace.
Fortunately John Kerry and John Edwards' plan to make America stronger at home and respected in the world offers a positive, alternative vision to get our country back on track again.
John Kerry and John Edwards have a plan to expand opportunity in jobs, education, and health care through an agenda that will benefit all Americas, not just the very wealthy. They will make it easier for students to afford college by offering a fully refundable "College Opportunity" tax credit on up to $4,000 of tuition for every year of college and offering aid to states that keep tuition down. They will create good-paying jobs by cutting taxes for businesses that create jobs here in America instead of moving them overseas. Instead of deficit spending that forces us to mortgage our future away, John Kerry and John Edwards will make Washington live within a budget to prevent young Americans from having to pick up the tab later on.
John Kerry and John Edwards have pledged to free America from its dangerous dependence on Middle East oil by exploring and developing new energy sources and ensuring that resources such as coal and natural gas are used used more efficiently and cleanly.
Under their leadership, we will launch and lead a new era of alliances and better respond to the threat of terrorism, and we will modernize the world's most powerful military to meet new threats. We will deploy all that is in America's arsenal, using diplomacy, our intelligence system, our economic power, and the appeal of our values and ideas to make America more secure and prevent a new generation of terrorists from emerging.
John Kerry and John Edwards will end the backdoor draft, keeping thousands of reservists overseas for months and years at a time, and they will honor our veterans by providing adequate pay and increased benefits. They will also secure our homeland while at the same time preserving the civil liberties we, as Americans, hold dear.
This November, young Americans face a clear choice over the direction of our country and the kind of leader we want at the helm. Over the past four years President Bush and his administration have misled us. We have seen what they do when they have power. President Bush has his chance and he has not led. John Kerry and John Edwards will.
