Wellstone rebuttal:
Sen. Wellstone again chooses to demagogue those that are willing to tell
the truth about the impending echonomic chaos that will befall future
generations if we refuse to be honest about the Medicare and Social
Security dilemma. He seems content to allow the entitlement programs to
go bankrupt rather than being honest about the seriousness of the
problems associated with the retirement of the Baby Boomers. Wealthy
retirees he refuses to means test will be able to pay for their own
health care and retirement; those that need the programs will be left
with nothing. Is it too much to ask that wealthy retirees such as Leona
Helmsley take a little less Medicare and Social Security to insure that
the programs remain viable for those who need it and for those yet to
retire?
Medicare will be insolvent by 2001 unless major changes are made. Every
day, the Medicare Trust Fund loses $25 million. If nothing changes, the
entire federal budget will be consumed by entitlements and interest on
the debt by the year 2012. These are government figures. What we are
doing to future genertions is unforgiveable. My kids will be the first
generation of Americans since the Civil War to have a lower standard of
living than their parents. Wellstone should be ashamed of himself for
frightening the public and making the reforms that are so desperately
needed impossible to enact.
His statement that he is now a deficit hawk also rings hollow. During
his six years as a U.S. Senator, we accumulated over $1.5 trillion of
the current $5.2 trillion debt. Under the Clinton budget plan, we will
add $1.8 trillion to our debt. We should remember that Wellstone cast
the deciding vote that defeated the balanced budget amendment.
I want to save Medicare and Social Security for those that truly need
it. I want my kids to have a chance to prosper in this country. How
much more of this kindness can our country withstand?
I agree with Wellstone that the Boschwitz supply-side economic plan is a
reckless proposal that will only repeat the 1980 experience when the
deficit and debt problem began its out-of-control climb.
Boschwitz rebuttal
How can anyone who calls himself a smart businessman sit there and tell
us that the way to get out of bankruptcy is to give money back to their
customers? Rudy Boschwitz sat on the Budget Committee when he and
Ronald Reagan gave our children a $2 trillion debt with their
trickle-down, supply-side economics. The problem with supply-side
economics is that the trickle never gets down to the middle class that
is running harder and harder just to stay where they are. Boschwitz
says the plan did not work in the 1980's because spending cuts were
never enacted. When I asked where the $380 billion of tax cuts will
come from, he said that he couldn't tell me because special interests
would crucify him if he were to identify the areas that he would cut.
Do we need a Senator that is afraid of special interests?
Trade policies must be "fair trade" deals that put trade partners on a
level playing field. Agreements must take into account wage,
environmental and tax policies. We now allow countries such as China,
Indonesia, Japan and Korea to ship goods here without any taxation on
those goods. In those countries, manufactured goods have absolutely no
tax included in their production costs. This gives them a 30% to 40%
competitive advantage over our manufactured goods. How can U.S.
manufacturers compete?
Boschwitz, like Wellstone, refuses to be honest about our entitlement
dilemma and is trying to make us believe that we can fix the problem by
simply slowing down the rate of growth. If you, the voter, believe
this, vote for either Rudy or Paul. If you believe the government's own
figures and the Kerry/Danforth Commission report that comes to the same
conclusion as I have, vote for me. You can judge who is telling the
truth.
Carlton rebuttal
I wish that the solutions were as simple as Roy Carlton outlined. How
are we going to pay the $5.2 trillion debt if we eliminate the income
tax? Will the Federal Reserve Board allow the economy to heat up as
much as he envisons, or will they raise interest rates to control the
rate of growth and inflation? How do we pay the interest on the debt if
interest rates go up? What about the millions of Americans that cannot
afford investments and will have to pick up the slack for no capital
gains? Why should wealthy Americans that make their income off of
passive investments not pay any tax, while working Americans do?
Hanson rebuttal
Native Americans were here before us. We took most of their land and
negotiated treaties as payments. Americans like Hanson believe that it
is fair to turn our backs on those treaties. The rights given to the
Indians are their rights, fairly negotiated, and should be honored. If
they want to renegotiate these treaties and be fairly compensated for
changing the rules, that is their choice. I will never be a part of
breaking treaties with soverign nations for our own selfish
self-interest.