Most Americans are better off today than they were eight years ago.
America owes its current prosperity to the hard work of its people, but
also to the winning policy formula of the Clinton-Gore Administration:
combining fiscal responsibility with investments in our people. Al Gore
wants to keep the prosperity going and expand it to those who have not yet
enjoyed its benefits. His economic plan includes balancing the budget and
paying down the national debt—to keep interest rates low and economic
growth high; saving Social Security and Medicare; cutting taxes to help
families and small businesses afford key investments in their future;
investing in new technologies; and opening up foreign markets. And Gore
will make sure every American can get the quality education and job
training they need to succeed in the New Economy.
With prosperity in our hands and discipline as our guide, we must have
courage to take bold action, to meet three great challenges: reforming our
schools, curing disease and making all of our families healthier than ever
before, and protecting the environment that is essential to the fabric of
life itself. For each of these three priorities, Al Gore proposes that we
create a new national trust—to safeguard the investments we need for our
future. And we must take care to close the opportunity gap, and not leave
any of our people behind—because America does not have a single person to
waste.
Al Gore begins with a simple premise: many of the most important challenges
facing the family cannot be solved by government, but must be solved by
families and their communities. To create the kinds of community where
neighbors look after each other's children—where no child feels lost,
disconnected, uncared for, or disrespected—today's overworked,
overstretched families need the right tools and enough time to meet these
challenges.
