|
|
|
|
Social Security
Supports setting aside more than two-thirds of the budget surplus
to ensure Social Security and Medicare are strong years into the future. (Des
Moines Register, 12/25/99)
Supports improving benefits for low-income widows and for parents
who take time out of the paid workforce to care for children. (Wall
Street Journal, 4/4/00) |
Social Security
Supports privatization of individual Social Security accounts.
Would consider raising the retirement age for younger Americans. (Des
Moines Register, 12/25/99)
|
Medicare
Supports adding prescription drug coverage to Medicare and using
the non-Social Security budget surplus to strengthen Medicare. (Gannett
News Service, 11/9/99) |
Medicare
Would consider "means-testing" Medicare, by
which wealthier recipients pay more for coverage. (Florida
Times-Union, 1/23/00)
|
Freedom to Choose a Union
"I'm going to keep standing up and speaking out about the
importance of unions and the right to organize. A strong labor movement
helps all working Americans, whether they are organized or not." (The
New York Times, 3/20/98)
Vice President Al Gore has been a proponent of strengthening labor
laws. Gore has criticized the number of loopholes businesses use to thwart
the rights of workers to organize. "The president and I stand on the
side of working men and women who want to exercise their right to
organize....Because today we're going to change the rules on federal
contracting; that part of having the kind of integrity and business ethics
and performance capability that we expect from a federal contractor is
having a satisfactory record of labor relations and employment practices
and policies." (Daily Labor Report, 3/20/98; Al Gore
news conference, 2/18/97)
Has assisted SEIU organizing with personal phone calls and public
statements. As president, promises to urge employers to allow employees to
freely choose. Supports adequate funding for the National Labor Relations
Board. (www.seiu.org/politcal_action/gore.html) |
Freedom to Choose a Union
As governor, Bush attempted to privatize state-level
public jobs, a move that would have put people out of work and damaged
public employee unions. (www.seiu.org/politcal_action/bush.html)
|
|
Minimum Wage
As a member of Congress, Gore supported increasing the minimum wage
in 1977, 1988 and 1989. As vice president, Gore pushed for the 1996
minimum-wage increase. Gore also called on Congress to pass minimum-wage
increases in 1998 and 1999. (New York Post, 3/21/99; Austin
American-Statesman, 6/27/98; The Columbus Dispatch, 7/10/96; HR 2710,
11/8/89, CQ Vote # 292; HR 2, 5/17/89, CQ Vote # 68; HR 3744, 10/20/77, CQ
Vote # 622)
Currently Gore supports an increase of $1 (villagevoice.com
10/4/00)
|
Minimum Wage
Opposes increasing and extending the minimum wage. Texas workers
employed in agriculture and domestic services are covered by the state
minimum wage of $3.35 an hour instead of the federal minimum wage of $5.15
an hour. (Center for Public Policy Priorities,
"Working but Poor," 3/99)
Opposed paying welfare recipients in public-service jobs the
federal minimum wage, arguing that they should receive no wages beyond
their monthly $188 welfare payments. (Houston Chronicle,
5/17/97)
Currently, though Bush supports a federal increase of $1, he
prefers to leave the matter to the states. (i.e. $3.35 per hour as in
Texas?) (villagevoice.com
10/4/00) |
Trade
Voted for Fast Track and supported NAFTA and GATT. (Federal
News Service, 11/29/94; Associated Press, 11/9/93; S Res 78, 5/24/91 CQ
Vote # 86)
Voted to make Most Favored Nation status for China conditional on
improvement of human rights and release of political prisoners. (HR
2212, 7/23/91, CQ Vote # 142)
According to the Gore campaign, "Gore has supported agreements
that encourage free and fair trade as a way to open foreign markets to the
superior goods and services produced in America. He believes that opening
foreign markets has been one of the keys to the sustained creation of
good, quality jobs for American workers during the last six years. Gore
also believes that trade agreements must provide a level playing field for
American workers, which is why he will seek tough enforcement of
agreements accompanied by strong labor and environmental protections. And
it is why the administration is funding new initiatives at the
International Labor Organization to help developing countries institute
core labor standards and end the terrible practice of child labor.
Finally, to prevent the unfair and illegal dumping on the American market
of foreign goods, such as steel, Al Gore has supported vigorous steps to
enforce our trade laws and move steel imports back down to fair,
pre-crises levels." (Vice President Al Gore: Fighting
for Working Families)
|
Trade
Supports "a strong NAFTA" and inclusion of China in the
World Trade Organization. Supports Fast Track authority that would not
allow Congress to amend trade agreements. (CNN's
"Larry King Live," 12/16/99; CNN's "Worldview,"
12/6/99)
|
Health Care
Supports universal access, but does not commit to a deadline. As
part of the Clinton administration, Gore has helped with several
incremental steps: enactment of the new children's health insurance
program, the Mental Health Parity Act and the Kennedy-Kassebaum insurance
reforms that help people keep their health insurance when changing jobs.
Also has proposed expansion of the Medicare program to allow people ages
55 to 64 to pay a premium and receive coverage. (www.seiu.org/politcal_action
/gore.html)
Supports a strong Patients' Bill of Rights. (CNN's
"Early Edition," 7/12/99) |
Health Care
Supports Medical Savings Accounts and wants to expand their usage. (Florida
Times-Union, 1/23/00)
|
Education
Opposes school vouchers that would take away funds from public
schools. Supports investing $115 billion to decrease class size, hire 2
million new teachers in the next 10 years, invest in new school
construction and make preschool available to all children. (The
Daily Oklahoman, 1/5/00; Associated Press 12/16/99; "News
Forum," WNBC-TV, 11/21/99)
|
Education
Supports using public funds to provide vouchers for private school
education. (Florida Times Union, 1/23/00)
Would support "another pilot [school voucher] program,"
despite a privately funded voucher program disaster in San Antonio's
Edgewood School District. (Associated Press, 2/4/99; Austin
American-Statesman, 2/4/99)
In 1995, Bush cut the state's contribution to the teacher
retirement fund by $400 million—breaking a 1994 campaign promise. (Dallas
Morning News, 11/26/97) |
Safety and Health on the Job
Gore has opposed efforts to weaken workplace safety laws, including
Republican attempts to slash OSHA funding in 1995. As a member of
Congress, Gore opposed legislation that would have eliminated certain
mandatory minimum penalties for civil violations of the Occupational
Safety and Health Act. Gore also opposed an attempt to eliminate a planned
increase in OSHA funding that provided expanded compliance efforts. (S
3209, 10/18/90, CQ Vote # 282; HR 12929, 6/15/78, CQ Vote # 385; HR 12929,
6/7/78, CQ Vote # 367) |
Safety and Health on the Job
Offers no position on campaign website; the issue is not mentioned
in public statements archived on Project Vote Smart as of 3/15/00.
Published reports tie Bush to anti-OSHA sentiments: "Business
groups also are investing heavily in George W. Bush's campaign. They are
confident that he will greatly weaken OSHA and kill the ergonomics
standard if they can delay its implementation until 2001." (In
These Times, 2/21/00) |
Equal Pay
Gore won praise for his leadership on this issue from Susan
Bianchi-Sand, the executive director of the National Committee on Pay
Equity. At a White House briefing on equal pay efforts, she stated,
"Vice President Al Gore has brought this issue of equal pay to the
forefront for working women in this country. If he did not champion this
issue, and he did not command the leadership along with President Clinton,
we would still be in the shadows on this issue." (Federal
News Service, White House briefing, 4/2/98)
Supported pay equity legislation and voted against an attempt to
kill the bill. (S 2238, 10/7/88, CQ Vote # 357) |
Equal Pay
Offers no position on campaign website; the issue is not mentioned
in public statements archived on Project Vote Smart as of 3/15/00.
|
"Paycheck Deception"
Opposed Proposition 226, the California initiative version of the
Paycheck Protection Act that would have silenced the voice of the state's
working families in politics. With the vice president's help, California
voters rejected this anti-union measure. Gore has vowed to veto
"paycheck deception" if elected. (The Los Angeles
Times, 10/14/99; The Washington Post, 9/7/99; The San Francisco Chronicle,
5/31/98) |
"Paycheck Deception"
Supports so-called "Paycheck Protection" to limit unions'
use of dues for educational activities related to politics. (Associated
Press, 7/7/99; The Washington Post, 7/2/99)
|
Family and Medical Leave
From the Senate to the administration, Al Gore always
has championed the Family and Medical Leave Act. He voted for the act in
1991 and 1992, and advocated for its passage as a member of the
administration. More recently, he has pushed a proposal to expand the act
and allow parents paid time off to take care of a sick loved one or go to
a parent-teacher conference. (The Los Angeles Times, 6/25/96; Chicago
Tribune, 2/6/93; Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 1992; S 5, 9/24/92, CQ
Vote # 232; S 5, 10/2/91, CQ Vote # 215) |
Family and Medical Leave
Offers no position on campaign website; the issue is not mentioned
in public statements archived on Project Vote Smart as of 3/15/00.
|
| Information and graphics from
AFL-CIO web site www.aflcio.org |
|
|
