Gore Would Move Nation in Right Direction -- Bush Will Put Prosperity in Peril

"The American people face a big choice next week, between two very different paths for our future. With so much at stake, prosperity itself is on the ballot. I want to take this nation forward to extend our prosperity and make sure it is shared by all, not just the few. If we make the right choices, all families can do better. I am optimistic about how much we can change this country and make it better." -- Al Gore

With "prosperity itself is on the ballot," Al Gore will make the right choices to move the country forward. He would extend the nation's prosperity to all families by paying down the national debt, cutting taxes for the middle class, investing in education and protecting Social Security. George W. Bush would use the nation's prosperity for a massive tax cut that primarily benefits the wealthy and would "put prosperity in peril."

VOTERS FACE BIG CHOICES ON THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

• Gore supports a smaller and smarter government. He would create change by reducing government spending, as a share of the economy, to its lowest level in 50 years, devoting two-thirds of the budget surplus to debt reduction and moving more government services online. Gore would eliminate what is in effect the third largest government-spending program -- interest payments on the national debt.

• Despite George W. Bush's promises to reduce government, under him, Texas government spending increased at twice the rate of the federal government. Since Bush has been governor of Texas, the state has hired more bureaucrats and now employs more workers than the state of New York.

VOTERS FACE BIG CHOICES ON TAX CUTS

• Gore would offer $500 billion in targeted middle-class tax cuts. He would use the nation's prosperity to help working and middle-class families afford higher education, health care and long-term care.

• Bush's $1.6 trillion tax cut benefits the wealthiest most. Almost half of this massive tax cut would go to those who make more than $300,000.

VOTERS FACE BIG CHOICES ON PROTECTING SOCIAL SECURITY

• Gore would protect and expand retirement security. He would place Social Security in an off-budget "lock box," so that surpluses could only be used for the federal retiree program or to pay down the national debt, and not for massive tax cuts or pork barrel spending. Gore would also create Retirement Savings Plus accounts to encourage families to save tax-free for retirement and supplement -- not replace -- their guaranteed Social Security benefit.

• Bush drains $1 trillion from Social Security. His strategy to privatize the retiree program would drain $1 trillion from the Social Security surplus and threaten the Social Security Trust Fund for the first time ever, forcing a choice between benefit cuts up to 54 percent or bankrupting Social Security.

VOTERS FACE BIG CHOICES ON EDUCATION

• Gore will fight to bring about major change in education. His comprehensive plan would raise standards for every child by creating smaller, more disciplined classrooms with highly qualified teachers. Gore would promote choices for every family with expanded pre-school, more charter schools and tax-deductible college tuition.

• Bush offers families a hollow education plan that fails to put any new teachers in the classroom and drains needed money from public schools by forcing states to offer vouchers for private schools. His massive $1.6 trillion tax cut is targeted to benefit the wealthy and leaves few resources to invest in education.

VOTERS FACE BIG CHOICES ON ELIMINATING THE NATIONAL DEBT

• Gore's economic plan would eliminate the national debt and its interest payments, while offering middle-class tax cuts. Debt reduction will help keep interest rates lower, fueling investment, innovation and growth.

• The American Academy of Actuaries has released a new study, which definitively states that Bush's economic plans would return the nation to deficits and "make it all but impossible to eliminate the publicly held national debt."

VOTERS FACE BIG CHOICES ON THE ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY SECURITY

• Gore has a bold agenda to protect the environment and reduce long-term dependence on foreign oil, while creating jobs and strengthening the economy at the same time. He would provide tax credits and other incentives to encourage more fuel-efficient cars and homes and alternative transportation such as high-speed trains and cleaner, safer buses. Gore would prohibit drilling in Alaska's fragile Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

• Bush's energy strategy would let oil companies drill in Alaska's wildlife refuge, destroying a national treasure and failing to impact oil prices for years. As governor of Texas, Bush sided with the oil industry and other big polluters against important environmental protections, asking big polluters to help draft key pollution regulations and make them voluntary. Under Bush, Texas is ranked as the worst state in the nation in industrial pollution and Houston has surpassed Los Angeles as the nation's smoggiest city.