My Politics Page

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So, you want to know my views on the '96 election: Dole would kill his own mother to get in office. Oh wait, didn't he do that back in '73?? Anyway, here are all the facts, ma'am...

• Announced a breakthrough agreement with the media and entertainment industry to develop a television ratings system to enable parents to protect their children from violence and adult content.
• Gave parents greater control over what their children watch on television by requiring the installation of anti-violence screening chips (“V-chips”) in all new televisions.
• Proposed targeted measures to cut off children’s access to tobacco products and to reduce their appeal to children.
• Established a Childhood Immunization Initiative to ensure vaccinations and healthy futures for all children. In 1995, the immunization rate for two-year-old children reached 75%, a historic high.
• Enabled workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a family member without fear of losing their jobs. (Family and Medical Leave Act)
• The President has proposed expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act to better help workers care for their families without sacrificing their work obligations. The expansion will allow workers to take up to 24 hours of unpaid leave per year in support of their children’s educational needs, older relatives’ health care and other family medical and dental obligations.
• Proposed an employee-choice flex-time initiative that will allow workers to agree with their employers to work overtime in exchange for up to 80 hours of paid time-off (“flex-time”). Under the President’s proposal, workers could choose to receive time-and-a-half in flex-time or in cash pay for each hour of overtime and could use their accumulated flex-time for any purpose.
• Provided tax relief for 15 million working families by increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit to allow more families to qualify for tax rebates.
• Helped families move from welfare to work by authorizing 40 states to bypass existing welfare rules and set time limits on benefits, require recipients to work or stay in school, provide child care and give employers incentives to hire welfare recipients. These waivers are making work and responsibility a way of life for 75% of all welfare recipients.
• Collected a record $11 billion in child support in 1995 through tougher enforcement, almost a 40% increase over 1992.
• Issued an Executive Order to help track down federal workers who fail to pay child support.
• Worked with community, business and religious leaders to form a national campaign to reduce teen pregnancy.Head Start: President Clinton has made expanding and improving preschooling a priority for helping families give their children a good start on the right course. The President has increased Head Start funding to provide early education to tens of thousands of additional children in need and is committed to funding 1 million Head Start opportunities for preschool children by 2002. Based on recommendations by the Head Start Advisory Commission, Head Start was reauthorized in 1994 with major quality improvements.
• Supported the development of standards of excellence for students while encouraging grassroots reforms to improve our schools. (Goals 2000: Educate America Act)
• Encouraged schools, colleges and employers to join in creating school-to-work opportunities, providing students with work-based learning and giving them new pathways from high school to good jobs and post-secondary education. (School-to-Work Opportunities Act)
• Gave schools greater flexibility to use federal aid and develop effective teaching innovations to help students achieve their full potential. (Improving America’s Schools Act)
• Proposed a $2 million Technology Literacy Challenge Fund to help communities and the private sector ensure that every student is equipped with the computer literacy skills needed for the 21st century.
• Launched an Educational Technology Initiative to connect every classroom to the Information Superhighway and provide all students with access to computers by the dawn of the next century.
• Challenged the technology industry to connect 20% of California’s public schools to the Information Superhighway by the end of this school year. This challenge became a reality in March during Net Day ’96.
• Direct Lending for College: President Clinton reformed the student loan program, making college more affordable this year for 2.8 million students in the Direct Lending program who will have access to flexible repayment options, including pay-as-you-earn plans. Over 1,750 schools, representing 50% of the total amount of loans, are expected to participate in the Direct Lending program this year.
• Enabled 45,000 volunteers to earn money for college by serving their communities and their country in the AmeriCorps program. (National Service Act)
• Challenged Congress to make $10,000 of college tuition tax-deductible each year; expand work-study to help 1 million young Americans work their way through college by the year 2000; provide $1,000 merit scholarships for the top 5% of graduates in every high school; and increase the number of Pell Grants for students who need financial help.
• Proposed America’s Hope Scholarships to make access to two years of college universal by providing students with a $1,500 refundable tax credit for full-time tuition in their first year of college and another $1,500 credit in their second year if they work hard, stay off drugs and earn at least a B average in their first year. This $1,500 tax credit will pay for more than the full cost of tuition at America’s average-priced community colleges. Submitted to Congress the first genuine balanced budget in 17 years, balancing the budget in seven years based on both Administration and Congressional Budget Office estimates while protecting our fundamental priorities of Medicare, Medicaid, education and the environment.
• Won enactment of the largest deficit-cutting plan in history, cutting the deficit in half within four years, after it quadrupled during the previous two Administrations.
• Oversaw the creation of more than 10 million new jobs in just under three and a half years—a faster annual rate of job growth than any Republican Administration since the 1920s.
• Unemployment rate has fallen to 5.3%—down from over 7% when President Clinton took office.
• 93% of all new jobs created are in the private sector—higher than the average percentage during any Administration since the Harding Administration.
• Nearly 4 million new jobs in high-wage industries have been created since January 1993. By contrast, 200,000 high-wage industry jobs were lost in the previous four years.
• More than one million new manufacturing, automotive and construction jobs have been added since January 1993.
• Highest annual number of new business incorporations since World War II.
• Real median family income is higher now than when President Clinton took office after falling 4% during the previous four years.
• The combined unemployment, inflation and mortgage rate is at its lowest level since 1968.
• Proposed a $2,600 jobs training voucher program to allow unemployed workers the freedom to choose the training programs that are right for them.
• Fought for meaningful health insurance reform to allow people to keep coverage when they change jobs and prevent denial of coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
• Challenged Congress to raise the minimum wage to provide the opportunity for working Americans to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.
• Protected the pensions of more than 40 million workers and retirees by reforming the federal pension insurance system and requiring companies to keep their retirement plans sufficiently funded. (Retirement Protection Act)
• Challenged Congress to enable Americans to save for their retirements by increasing pension portability, enhancing pension protection and expanding coverage.
• Exports have surged by one-third over the last three years as President Clinton stood up for America’s workers and opened more markets to U.S. goods and services.
• More than 1 million new export-related jobs have been created under the Clinton Administration. Jobs supported by exports pay on average 15% more than other jobs.
• America is once again the world’s number one manufacturer of automobiles, overtaking Japan for the first time since the 1970’s.
• American goods exported in sectors covered by Clinton Administration trade agreements with Japan have grown over 85%—three times faster than growth in other U.S. goods exported to Japan.
• The United States was named the most competitive economy in the world for the third year in a row. Put 100,000 more police officers on the street. More than 43,000 officers have already been funded.
• Imposed a targeted “Three-Strikes-and-You’re-Out” provision to put career violent offenders behind bars for life.
• Expanded the death penalty to include drug kingpins, murderers of federal law enforcement officers and nearly 60 additional categories of violent felons.
• Provided funding for 100,000 more prison cells to help states ensure that violent offenders serve their full sentences.
• The number of murders fell 8% in 1995—one of the largest decreases in more than 30 years. The nation’s largest cities saw their overall crime fall 6% during the same period.
• Stood up to the gun lobby and won passage of the Brady Bill. As a result, more than 60,000 fugitives, felons and other criminals have already been blocked from buying handguns.
• Banned the manufacture and importation of 19 of the deadliest assault weapons while specifically protecting more than 650 legitimate sporting weapons. (Assault Weapons Ban)
• Developed a comprehensive National Drug Control Strategy that will reduce illegal drug use through law enforcement, prevention, treatment and interdiction.
• Breaking the cycle of drugs and crime through universal drug testing in the criminal justice system and by providing funding for drug courts.
• Cocaine use in the U.S. has decreased more than 30% since 1992.
• Provided $156 million in state grants to bolster local law enforcement, prosecution and victims’ services to better address violence against women. (Violence Against Women Act)
• Established nationwide 24-hour domestic violence hotline providing immediate crisis intervention, counseling and referrals for those in need.
• Keeping dangerous weapons out of our children’s classrooms by enforcing a “Zero Tolerance” gun policy in schools.
• Reducing violence and drug abuse in our schools by investing in school security, drug prevention programs and counseling. (Safe and Drug-Free Schools Act)
• Encouraged schools to consider adopting school uniform policies to help reduce violence while promoting discipline and respect.
• Stood firm against illegal immigration and deported a record 51,600 illegal and criminal aliens in 1995—a 15% increase over 1994.
• Increasing the number of Border Patrol agents along the southwestern border by 50% to stem the flow of illegal aliens into the United States. Made the air we breathe cleaner by issuing new standards to cut toxic pollution from chemical plants by 90% and dangerous incinerator emissions by 98%.
• Fought attempts in Congress to roll back the progress made in ensuring safe food and water for our families.
• Issued new policy to protect consumers from E. Coli bacteria contamination in meat.
• Expanded the public’s right-to-know about toxic releases and required polluters to disclose information to the public.
• Ensured compliance with environmental safeguards by toughening EPA’s enforcement programs.
• Fought Republican Congressional attempts to gut the Superfund law that makes polluters—rather than taxpayers—pay to clean up toxic dumps. Vetoed a Republican Congressional bill that cut Superfund clean ups by 25%.
• Canceled 75 hazardous pesticides while moving safer substitutes into the market more quickly.
• Fought attempts to close national parks and lift the ban on offshore oil drilling.
• Committed $1.5 billion over seven years to help restore the unique Florida Everglades.
• Broke through decades of conflict and negotiated a consensus plan to protect and allocate California Bay-Delta water.
• Changed EPA rules and procedures to reduce paperwork requirements for businesses by 10 million hours.
• Reformed wetlands and endangered species programs to better protect the environment while lessening any adverse impact on homeowners.
• Launched a Brownfields Initiative to return land to productive use by providing tax incentives to clean up old industrial waste sites.
• Dole thinks Clint wants big gov't ? Guess again.....Cut the federal civilian workforce by more than 230,000 positions, resulting in the smallest federal government since John F. Kennedy was President.
• Eliminated 16,000 pages of unnecessary government regulations.
• Saved taxpayers $58 billion by cutting wasteful government spending and streamlining procedures through Vice President Gore’s National Performance Review.
• Published Customer Service Standards at more than 200 departments and agencies so the federal government’s customers, the American taxpayers, know what to expect and how to give feedback on the service they have received. Savings over five years (1995-99) from the common sense government initiative will total $108 billion, with another $70 billion in savings over the period of 1996-2000.
• Prohibited Congress from imposing new requirements on state and local governments without paying for them. (Unfunded Mandates Reform Act)
• Fought for and signed into law line-item veto legislation to change the way Washington works by cutting spending on wasteful special-interest projects.
• Made voting easier for more than 11 million Americans by creating more accessible “motor-voter” registration locations. (National Voter Registration Act)
• Enacted the first major overhaul of lobbying rules in 50 years. Now lobbyists must disclose the organizations for which they work. (Lobbying Disclosure Act)
• Fought for passage of comprehensive campaign finance reform to curb the influence of money in our political system.
• Imposed the strictest Administration ethics guidelines ever, including a five-year ban on top of officials lobbying their former agencies and a lifetime ban against lobbying for foreign governments.
• Ensured that the same laws apply to Congress as to the rest of America. (Congressional Accountability Act)

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