John Kerry's position on

Unemployment: New unemployment numbers were released on Friday, October 8, 2004 stating the unemployment rate held at 5.4 percent and 8 million people are jobless in the United States. President Bush has lost the most jobs during his term of any president since the Depression.

Description of candidate's position: John Kerry plans to create 10 million new jobs in America. Kerry plans to eliminate the incentive for corporations to send jobs overseas as Bush has done by cutting corporate tax rates by 5 percent. Tax credits will be given to businesses that create American jobs in manufacturing, outsourcing and other small businesses. He wants to give small businesses the help they need to hire new workers as he creates a plan to reduce health care costs that prevent businesses from growing. Kerry also plans to provide 98 percent of the middle-class with tax cuts to make college more affordable for everyone to prepare the workforce for jobs. If indeed unemployment is needed, Kerry wants to extend and improve unemployment insurance to cover more than the 1/3 of those today that use it.

Quotation from the Candidate: "Any step forward in the job market is good news for workers but America is still in the worst job recovery since the Great Depression, with 1.9 million private-sector jobs lost in the Bush presidency. Families are still struggling in this economy. Jobs are scarce and those lucky enough to have one are making $1500 less each year. Meanwhile, their budgets are being squeezed by skyrocketing costs of healthcare, college tuition and gasoline." June 4, 2004, from the Kerry website.

Assessment of the proposal:

Positive: A group of prominent African American Economists, including Dr. Marcus Alexis of Northwestern University and Dr. Cecelia Conrad of Pomona College has endorsed Kerry's Economic Plan after out of the 44 months Bush has been President, 25 of those months the African American unemployment rate has reached double digits. These African Americans wish to see jobs stop going over-seas as this will keep more entry-level jobs open for middle-class America as well as African Americans. These economists see the need to raise the minimum wage as well under Kerry's plan.

Negative: Joe Tasker, senior vice president and general counsel for the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) says Kerry's plan lacks details. Tasker said, "Kerry sees there's an incentive to move jobs offshore, and he wants to eliminate that incentive." But, he questions what will happen to the subsidiaries of U.S. companies that are currently taxed at 35 percent. Under Kerry's plan those companies would be taxed twice. Link:

Comaprision: John Kerry plans to create 10 million new jobs by stopping the outsourcing of jobs over-seas that Bush promoted with tax cuts for these businesses while George Bush wants to create jobs by building a highly skilled workforce through education using the No Child Left Behind Act, ensuring early childhood development, better high schools, and promoting high-quality teaching.

Link to George Bush's issue page