Two Americas

It is an honor to be here at Creative Visions. Since 1996, your doors
have been open to thousands of young people in need of a safe and caring
place. Whether it's an after-school program, a job training class, or a
Sunday night meal at the drop in for homeless young people, the work
that you do every day is nothing short of heroic.

This is the time of year when we remember what matters to us: our family
and loved ones, and the hope we all have for a better new year. For
Democrats - and for all Americans who work hard and deserve a better
life -- we have three more days until the clock strikes midnight and the
calendar year changes to our year 2004! I know we all thought that it
would never come, but here it is just days away.

Can you see the light at the end of the tunnel? Can you see the ending
of the Bush Presidency and a new beginning for America? Can you see that
in a few short months, once again America will no longer work for just a
privileged few, but for all of us? Can you see that bright future for
all of us because I sure can!

Last week, I visited my 99th county in Iowa, and the people of Iowa have
been extraordinary. They have welcomed me into their homes, along their
Main Streets, and in their schools. I have been listening to them over
the course of the last year. They're worried about their country, and
they want America to change course.

In a few weeks, George Bush will make his State of the Union Address --
and let this one be his last. According to press reports, White House
aides are desperately searching for a vision -- and that one of the
leading ideas is to propose that America go back to the moon. Well, I'm
all for the space program, but Mr. President, if you're looking for a
vision, it's time to solve the middle-class problems you've forgotten
here on earth.

This President has done a lot of damage in the last four years, and
he'll do a lot worse if we let him have four more. More American jobs
getting shipped overseas. More seniors who can't afford the prescription
drugs they need. More young people getting into trouble because there's
no safe place for them to go after school.

We have 21 days until caucus night. The people of Iowa have had enough
of George W. Bush. In three weeks, Iowa has a chance to prevent four
more years!

Just like the work you do here at Creative Visions, I believe the 2004
election is about hope. It is about changing America to build the
country we all believe in. This contest has been going on so long, it's
easy for some to forget how much is at stake. Too often, politicians
forget this isn't about how we're doing; it's about how you're doing.
Too often, when politicians don't have faith in their ideas to confront
the tough issues, they attack. That's why you have seen attack ads on
Iraq. Attack ads on Medicare. Attack ads about attack ads.

Today, I want to talk about what really matters. Something much bigger,
more disturbing, and more important is at stake. Four years ago, George
Bush came here to Iowa as a candidate and promised to be a uniter, not a
divider. But four years later, we are divided, not united.

Today, under George W. Bush, there are two Americas, not one: One
America that does the work, another America that reaps the reward. One
America that pays the taxes, another America that gets the tax breaks.
One America that will do anything to leave its children a better life,
another America that never has to do a thing because its children are
already set for life. One America -- middle-class America - whose needs
Washington has long forgotten, another America - narrow-interest America
- whose every wish is Washington's command. One America that is
struggling to get by, another America that can buy anything it wants,
even a Congress and a President.

2004 is a make-or-break election because we need to create one America
again. And that is the one thing George Bush will never do. Dividing us
into two Americas - one privileged, the other burdened - has been his
agenda all along. Just look what he wants to do to our tax code. From
the beginning, this President has had one solitary goal: to shift the
tax burden away from the wealth of the most fortunate and onto the work
of the middle class. He wants to cut the capital gains tax, eliminate
the dividends tax and the estate tax, and create new tax shelters for
millionaires' stocks that are bigger than most people's salaries. By the
time he's done, the only people who pay taxes in America will be the
millions of middle-class and poor Americans who do all the work.

That's wrong. It's wrong for a millionaire who sits by the pool on the
phone to his broker to pay tax at a lower rate than the cop on the beat
or the waitress working two shifts.

What's more, by dividing us into two Americas, George Bush is hurting
our economy, cheating our future, and undermining our very way of life.
The engine of our economy is not that guy sitting by the pool. It is
millions of guys and gals in factories, fields, and offices across
America who go to work every day trying to do right by their families.
When we invest in those Americans, our middle-class grows, and our whole
economy grows. That is the simple truth George Bush will never understand.

Look at what has happened to the middle class over the last 4 years of
George Bush. In this state alone, since George Bush took office, 22,000
Iowans lost their health care, 23,000 Iowans lost good paying
manufacturing jobs, 59,000 Iowans fell into poverty, and the number of
people filing for bankruptcy increased by more than 50 percent. 12,000
Iowans filed for bankruptcy last year, most of them men and women who
lost their job or who suffered a medical emergency. Their backs were
breaking, but they could no longer make ends meet.

Middle-class families have gone from being able to save for retirement
or buy a house, to now teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. These aren't
poor Americans; they're the working middle-class. And they are terrified
that if something goes wrong-a lost job or a health care
disaster-they're just one bad break away from falling off the cliff. For
these families, the American dream of building something better is being
replaced by the hope of just getting by.

If the current trend continues, one out of seven middle-class families
with children will go bankrupt by the end of the decade. Think about
what it means that 1 in 7 middle-class families could go bankrupt by the
end of this decade. It means the middle-class-the foundation of our
country-is sinking. Increasingly we are divided between those who live
by the 1st and the 15th every month and those who don't ever look at the
calendar when they write a check.

You don't have to take my word for it. Listen to the largest corporation
in America, Wal-Mart. The New York Times reported the other day that
Wal-Mart's own figures show that sales go up around the 1st and 15th of
every month. Across America, millions are literally living from one
paycheck to the next.

Of course, it would help if Wal-Mart paid its own workers higher wages,
instead of driving down the pay scale for everybody. But in George
Bush's Two Americas, workers don't matter. Only owners matter.

Next month, George Bush will roll out yet another set of new tax breaks
for the wealth of the wealthy, to be paid for down the road by the
children of the middle class. The President has a new name for this: he
calls it the ownership society. After four years, we know what George
Bush means by an ownership society: an America where those who own the
most get the most, while those who work hardest own less and owe more.

We cannot go on as two nations, one favored, the other forgotten. It is
wrong to reward those who don't have to work at the expense of those who
do. If we want America to be a growing, thriving democracy, with the
greatest work ethic and the strongest middle class on earth, we must
choose a different path.

As President, I will put the government, the economy, and the tax code
back in line with our values. No more tax breaks for corporations that
move their headquarters overseas or buy life insurance on janitors and
make themselves the beneficiaries. No more tax breaks for CEOs who give
themselves millions in top-hat pensions while giving no pensions at all
to ordinary workers. No more playing games with the budget and driving
up deficits. And no more of the Bush administration's war on work. When
I'm President, we'll be one America, not two.

I have a plan to make America work for all of us, by creating 5 million
new jobs in my first two years, making health care a birthright for
every child just like public education, reforming Washington to end the
dirty politics as usual, saving Medicare, and securing our world from
terror and weapons of mass destruction. But most important, I'll give
every American the chance to build their future again. Under my plan,
every American will have the chance to be an owner - to buy a home, save
for college, or put money aside for a secure retirement. The ownership
society should look like American society, not George Bush's secret society.

First, we'll give struggling families a chance to realize the American
dream, with a $5,000 tax credit toward the down payment on their first
home. There is no better way to build a strong, secure nest egg, and get
ahead for the long haul than owning a home.

I was the first member in my family to go to college and it was a big
deal. But today, hundreds of thousands of young people-who are qualified
to go to college-give up on their education because they believe that
they can't pay for it. So second, I want to make college affordable with
my College for Everyone plan. For those young people who are willing to
work 10 hours a week and can get into a university-you'll go tuition
free for the first year. And I will increase funding for Pell grants and
financial aid so you can stay in school.

Third, we need to reward family. We can start by offering a family leave
newborn child tax credit of up to $2,500. This will give new parents
some financial help so that they can spend the time they need to start
life with their new son or daughter. This benefit would help more than
120,000 Iowans and give those families the peace of mind to take off
work or pay for other expenses.

Fourth, when the time comes for Americans to retire, I want to help
families who can't afford to put money away now by giving them a helping
hand, a match of up to $1 for every $1 they save. A waitress who starts
putting away a few dollars each week at age 25 could retire with
$250,000 on top of other savings. And I'll help families invest in the
stock market by lowering capital gains and dividend rates for the middle class.

Finally, while we offer tax cuts to help families save, we also need to
take on the big financial interests that eat away at families' savings.
Predatory mortgage lenders and irresponsible payday lenders and credit
card companies are robbing families blind with their outrageous fees and
penalties. When I am President, we'll pass tough laws to stop them.

I believe we need to ease the burdens on the middle class. And for the
life of me, I can't understand why some other candidates in this race
want to raise taxes on work and make life harder for the middle class.
We know that President Bush's tax cuts did not do enough for working
people. But our answer cannot be to raise taxes on the people who make
the least, especially families with children.

We cannot say to an average family of four in Iowa, your taxes are going
up by more than $1,700. To the average elementary school teacher here
who is supporting two kids alone, your taxes are going up by $1,500. To
an electrician and a nurse's aide who together make $40,000 and have no
kids, your taxes are going up by almost $1,000.

These are men and women whose backs are already breaking. They are
hungry for us to lead in a way that helps them get ahead and pulls our
whole country forward. That money means a lot to them Means they can buy
clothes for their kids. Means the mortgage payments are made. Means the
bills get paid.

Now, we do need to roll back President Bush's tax cuts for the
wealthiest 2 percent. And I believe we need to go further and raise the
tax rate on the unearned wealth of the top 1 percent, so they don't pay
any less than the middle class. But my plan restores fiscal discipline
by asking more from those who have the most, not those who need help the most.

I am proud that one of the Democrats' core values is to protect working
families. This is a value I will never abandon. It is at the heart of
what makes America the best place on earth: where individuals can take a
great idea, mix it with ingenuity, might and muscle, and build a future
and a country better than the one we found.

I have benefited from this middle-class dream because I have lived in
the shining light of America. My life has been blessed with
extraordinary success. My story should not be an exception-it should
occur every single day and these opportunities should be available to
every American.

These steps I proposed would change America. They would not only
strengthen our middle class; they would strengthen our economy. You see,
I have a much different economic vision than this President. I believe
the backbone of the American economy is the hard work, determination,
and ingenuity of the middle class, not the insiders. I believe the way
to grow the economy is to grow and strengthen the middle class, not
shrink its size and add to its burdens. I believe the way a rich nation
gets richer is by giving all its citizens the chance to get richer, not
by only helping those like me who've already succeeded beyond our
wildest dreams. I believe the way to create new wealth is by rewarding
work and responsibility, not coddling the privileged and going soft on
executives, accountants, and analysts who squander other people's money.

We cannot let that handful of big corporations and insiders keep us from
making the middle-class stronger. And I want to say this as directly as
I know how to say it. Some people have said, now wait a minute Senator
Edwards, you haven't been in Washington that long. You haven't spent
your whole life in politics. How do we know you'll take them on? Because
I spent more time than anybody in this race fighting these powerful interests.

I've been fighting this fight my whole life. For 20 years, I have sat in
courtrooms across from these people. I have been an advocate for
families and their children against armies of lawyers. I've won most of
those battles. In the Senate, I fought for the Patients' Bill of Rights,
against big HMOs, against big insurance companies. I fought to bring
down prescription drug costs for every American, against big drug
companies. I fought to do something about drug company advertising on TV
when others weren't willing to do it. I fought to create energy
independence in this country. I have been fighting this fight all my
life, and will fight harder as President.

And together, we can build the America of our dreams. Standing here at
Creative Visions is a lasting reminder of how great things happen all
across this country. When you combine an advocate like Ako Abdul Samad,
an idea, and the hope to improve people's lives-this country-there are
no limits to what we can accomplish.

Throughout our history, whenever America became a place that was
divisive and divided along economic or racial boundaries, we all
suffered. And whenever we worked hard to lift up everyone and close our
great divides, we prospered.

For every man and woman who is worried about paying their bills; for
every child who needs health care and a strong school to go to, and for
every American who waits for the 1st and the 15th of every
month-together we will end this era of anxiety. We will replace the
crass politics of greed and the current politics of rage with a new
politics of opportunity.

We are all angry at what George Bush has done to our country, our
values, and our way of life. But we all know in our hearts that our
anger won't change America; our actions will. Democrats are the party of
optimism and action, and I am in this fight to keep that tradition
alive, and to build on our country's great successes.

Because I believe in an America where every man, woman, and child can
reach his or her God-given potential. I believe in an America where the
family you're born into and the color of your skin should never control
your destiny. And I still believe in an America where the son of a mill
worker can beat the son of a president to win the White House in 2004!