Why Our Community
Needs George Bush
MARSHALL J. BREGER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
ithout bread, the
Mishnah tells us,
there is no Torah.
As American Jews,
we know that only economic
growth and economic corn-
D petitiveness can ensure a
strong and vibrant America,
> one that can project itself
forcefully on the world stage.
‘,- The upcoming election is
not just about the state of
the economy. We all know
D that times are tough. But
- "the election is also about
L I which candidate has the ex-
perience and the plan to
move us forward out of our
economic past into an econ-
omic future.
President Bush has such a
(---i plan. The president has
I been on point pushing for
the North American Free
,- Trade Agreement. Dem-
ocratic candidate Gov. Bill
Clinton, originally for the
agreement, later waffled.
Following on the Reagan-
Bush
sponsored U.S.-Israel,
,
, U .S .-Canada free trade
agreements, President Bush
knows that in an increasing-
ly interdependent world,
economic growth requires
the elimination of trade bar-
riers.
Mr. Breger serves as solicitor
of labor, U.S. Department of
Labor.
Under President Bush,
U.S. exports have reached
their highest level in history
— $421.9 billion in 1991.
The trade deficit reached its
lowest level in 10 years.
Mexico has become the third
largest export market of
manufacturing states like Il-
linois and California and the
second largest for Michigan.
To help all Americans
compete, President Bush has
proposed massive in-
vestment in job training for
all workers. The New Cen-
tury Workforce program
targets $10 billion over the
next five years to train
young people and retrain
experienced workers in the
job skills of the future.
The president has called
for a youth training corps
that would reopen military
bases as training centers for
43,000 young people using
our lower capital costs in the
military to create human
capital for our workplace.
Bill Clinton has a training
plan as well — one that will
stifle job creation by impos-
ing a uniform payroll tax on
employers.
Economic competitiveness
will come from greater
efforts toward regulatory
reform. The president's
regulatory moratorium has
forced government
regulators to consider the
costs as well as the benefits
of social engineering. Here,
too, Mr. Clinton can be found
in the tall grass.
Competitiveness will come
from hiring the best ap-
plicants for the job. Recent-
ly, the Bush administration
forced the University of
California (Berkeley) Law
School to abandon its policy
of holding a certain number
of slots for specific ethnic
groups. Jews know only too
well the indignity of quotas,
even as we support equality
of opportunity. Will Bill
Clinton stand up for what's
right?
Competitiveness comes as
well from empowerment,
placing responsibility for
decisions where it belongs,
with individuals and
families, not the govern-
ment.
President Bush knows that
you empower people by giv-
ing them educational choice,
where parents can choose
the kinds of schools their
children should attend, and
the kind of values they
should receive. The rich al-
ready have this choice.
President Bush is trying to
expand it to the rest of us.
His America 2000 program
seeks to spur excellence
through competition. It
,
George Bush: Big-league veteran
makes use of national stan-
dards to raise quality. When
it comes to educational
choice and standards, Bill
Clinton can't separate
himself from the teachers'
unions.
As a nation we face a
difficult road ahead. We
need economic growth at
home to sustain American
power abroad. President
Bush has the courage and
experience to stay the
course. He has been in the
big leagues. Bill Clinton has
played only in the minors.
He has served five terms as
Arkansas governor, and the
results are that Arkansas
ranks: 50th in environmen-
tal protection, 50th in job
safety, 50th in college
degrees, 49th in per capita
personal income, 49th in
high school degrees, and
BUSH/page 8
Why Our Community
Needs Bill Clinton
MORT MANDEL AND LYNN CUTLER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
I
t may be hard to believe,
but George Bush actually
graduated from Yale Uni-
versity with a degree in
economics.
What isn't hard to believe
is that when he was asked
about his college education
during an interview last
February, Mr. Bush replied
that he didn't "remember a
thing. It was so long ago."
After four years, it is clear
to everyone that Mr. Bush's
Bill Clinton: Ready for challenges.
Mort Mandel is chair of the
National Jewish Democratic
Council. Lynn Cutler is chair
of the Democratic National
Committee.
casual interest in economics
has led America into dire
straits: the Gross Domestic
Product declined 0.7 percent
in 1991, the first time since
1982 and the last Repub-
lican recession; the average
growth rate since Bush took
office has been 0.6 percent,
the slowest of any president
since World War II; the na-
tional debt has tripled in the
Reagan-Bush years; busi-
ness failures were up 44 per-
cent last year; and
bankruptcy filings shot up
21 percent during the same
time.
In more human terms, the
Bush administration has
produced an unemployment
rate of 7.6 percent, which
translates to nearly 10 mill-
ion Americans out of work.
In fact, 167,000 jobs were
lost in August alone. Fur-
ther, family income declined
3.5 percent in 1991, as an-
other 2 million Americans
dropped below the poverty
level.
Is the economy an Ameri-
can Jewish issue? It is be-
cause, as Americans, Jews
prosper in, a good economy,
just like everyone else.
Second, we know that
Americans don't like to sup-
port foreign aid, including
CLINTON/page 10