Burnt Orange Report

Students for John Kerry

By Byron LaMasters

Part of the deal that I made in order to have my friend's laptop for my current trip to Vancouver, and for next week's trip to cover the Democratic Convention in Boston is that I write up an article for the Students 4 Kerry @ The University of Texas at Austin on why Kerry / Edwards is the best choice for young people in America. I'm the treasurer of the organization, so if you'd like to donate to the organization, you can via paypal using this address: treasurer@ut4kerry.com

Here's what I wrote for the webpage. It's my first draft, so it'll probably be changed a little bit, but check it out and tell me what you think....

Students for John Kerry / John Edwards

We are students at the University of Texas - Austin supporting John Kerry and John Edwards for President and Vice President. The reason is clear. It is absolutely critical that we elect John Kerry and John Edwards in order to have a safer, stronger and more prosperous America for young people.

Kerry / Edwards will make America stronger for young people of today. That means having a strong military, but without the polarizing, jingoistic rhetoric and actions of the Bush administration. A Kerry / Edwards administration will keep us safe from terrorism by using our military wisely, and by not sending our troops to war without a clear defined mission and an exit strategy -- something that the Bush administration failed to do in Iraq. In addition to keeping our military strong, Kerry / Edwards will work to repair the image of America in the world. Instead of working against our allies, Kerry / Edwards will work with our allies on key issues. First, Kerry / Edwards will go back to our allies to ensure that the American burden in Iraq is shared by the world community. This can be done by giving other nations a financial stake in a peaceful Iraq, as opposed to awarding all of the major contracts to American corporations such as Halliburton. Second, Kerry / Edwards will join the world as a partner in important treaties, such as the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. John Kerry believes that an America that is respected in the world, is a stronger America. Unfortunately, George W. Bush has made America less respected in the world by shunning internationalism early in his presidency, then lying to the world community about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. As president, John Kerry will only send our troops into harms way after exhausting all peaceful options, and only if American national security is at risk.

Kerry / Edwards have a plan to make a college education affordable for all qualified students. Kerry / Edwards want to repeal the Bush tax cuts for those who make over $200,000 in order to fund initiatives such as the “College Opportunity Tax Credit”. This program would give $4000 per year credits to students from mostly middle income families. Kerry / Edwards also have a "Service for College" plan that would pay for four years of college for students willing to spend two years in service to America after college. Students in this plan would have a wide range of service opportunities after college including teaching in troubled schools, teaching young children to read, helping older students go back to school to earn their degrees, assisting in Homeland Security and helping seniors live independently. Finally, many colleges like the University of Texas have witnessed outrageous tuition increases under the Bush administration. With huge tax cuts and huge deficits, the Bush administration has no money to offer states dealing budget crisis's. Unfortunately, leaders in Texas chose to increase the tuition rates for students as means to balance the budget in Texas. However, John Kerry has a better plan. With the money saved by canceling tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, John Kerry has proposed the “State Tax Relief and Education Fund” -- a program that would give states $25 Billion to stop cutting higher education funds, and raising tuition rates.

Under the Bush administration, more jobs have been lost than under any administration since Herbert Hoover. Many of us are worried about not having a job after we graduate, or that we will be forced to settle for a job for which we are overqualified. John Kerry has a plan to change that. John Kerry has a plan to create ten million job. First, he'll end all tax breaks that have encouraged American companies to move jobs overseas, and give incentives for companies that have outsourced jobs to bring them back to America. Second, John Kerry will use the money from the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans on job-creating, high-tech initiatives that will help America become energy independent, and safer as we become less dependent upon Mid-East oil. This plan will invest in jobs to find new sources of energy, increase fuel efficiency, and develop clean energy like hydrogen based power for our economy. Instead of relying on the failed trickle-down economics theory, Kerry / Edwards have plans that will directly help real people, especially young people just graduating from college find well-paying jobs for which they are qualified.

Four years ago, George W. Bush ran as a "compassionate conservative" and promised to be "a uniter, not a divider". On both promises, George W. Bush has failed. Instead, Bush has governed as a divisive conservative on issue after issue. George W. Bush has divided America from the rest of the world. Bush has divided Americans on the basis of race as the only president in recent history to snub the NAACP, and not speak at their annul convention. George W. Bush has divided Americans by sexual orientation, by proposing a constitutional amendment to the United States constitution to ban gay marriage. George W. Bush has divided Americans by income, giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans, but no real help for those without a job or without health insurance. George W. Bush has divided Americans on the one critical issue in which we must be united -- the war on terror. Bush has lied about the premise for the war in Iraq. And unlike Tony Blair, he has refused to take responsibility for his mistakes. He has refused to take out the portions of the Patriot Act that violate our Civil Rights and Civil liberties. Bush has diverted resources from the war against Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan to go on a misguided adventure in Iraq. He declared victory in Iraq only to see U.S. troops continue to die everyday even as "major combat operations" were complete. The truth is simple. America has a critical choice in 2004. We continue to be led by one of the most arrogant and reckless presidents in American history, or we can chose a new leader who will heal the wounds of the past four years. John Kerry and John Edwards are fully prepared to accept this task.

John Kerry and John Edwards offer America a new team for our future. Both men are ably qualified to serve as president, and their life experiences bring a wealth of promise to America. John Kerry was born in an Army hospital in Colorado, went to school at Yale, then earned a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three purple hearts as a war hero in Vietnam. He returned home determined to end that war that he saw take so many American lives first hand. In his anti-war activities, John Kerry felt a calling to run for public service, and ran two unsuccessful campaigns for Congress in 1970 and 1972 before being elected to serve Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1982. In 1984, Kerry was elected to serve in the United States Senate where he has served to date. Kerry quickly became a leader on the Senate Foreign relations committee, and has immense experience on matters of foreign policy. Kerry has also been a leader in the U.S. Senate in education issues, health care, children's issues and veterans issues.

John Edwards brings extraordinary life experiences to the ticket as the Vice Presidential candidate. Edwards was born in a small town in South Carolina and grew up in a North Carolina mill town. Edwards worked his way through college and law school and became a successful lawyer fighting for working families wronged by big companies, the insurance industry and corporate negligence. After losing his sixteen year old son in 1996 in a freak car accident, Edwards felt called to public service after seeing first hand the shortness and mortality of life. Edwards defeated an incumbent Republican supported by the race-baiting Jesse Helms political machine in 1998 to win election to the United States Senate. In the U.S. Senate Edwards has served on the Select Committee on Intelligence -- giving Edwards much more foreign policy experience than George W. Bush had when he took office in 2001. John Edwards has fought for ordinary, hard working Americans all his life, and he will bring that approach to the Vice Presidency.