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| THE 3RD PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE | |
 October 17, 2000  |
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In the fourth part of the final presidential debate, Vice President Gore and Governor Bush address agriculture policy, the "death tax" and morality in America.
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The farmers' plight | |||||||||||||||||||
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MR. LEHRER: Steve Luker (sp) has a question, and it is for Vice President Gore. Mr. Luker (sp)? There you are. STEVE LUKER (sp): Vice President Gore, the family farms are disappearing and having a hard time, even in the current positive economic environment. What steps would you or your administration take on agriculture policy developments to protect the family farms for this multifunctional service they perform? VICE PRESIDENT GORE: We've got a bumper crop this year, but that's the good news. You know what the bad news is that follows on that -- that prices are low. In the last several years, the so-called Freedom to Farm law has, in my view, been mostly a failure. I want to change many of its provisions. Now, many here will -- who are not involved in farming don't -- won't follow this, so just forgive me, because the 2 percent of the country that is involved in farming is important because the rest of us wouldn't eat except for them. And you guys have been having a hard time, and I want to fight for you. I want to change those provisions. I want to restore a meaningful safety net. And I think that you pointed the way in your comments, because when you say there are multiple things accomplished by farmers, you're specifically including conservation and protection of the environment.; and yes, farmers are the first environmentalists. And when they decide not to plow a field that is vulnerable to soil erosion, that may cost them a little money, but it helps the environment. I think that we ought to have an expanded conservation reserve program, and I think that the environmental benefits that come from sound management of the land ought to represent a new way for farmers to get some income that will enable them -- enable you -- to make sensible choices in crop rotation, and when you leave the land fallow, and the rest. Now, I'll go beyond that and say I think we need much more focused rural economic development programs. I see a time when the Internet-based activities are more available in the rural areas, and where the extra source of income that farm families used to have from shoe factories is replaced by an extra source of income from working in the information economy. So we need to do a lot of things, but we ought to start with a better safety net. MR. LEHRER: Governor Bush, two minutes. GOV. BUSH: (Pause.) I'd like our farmers feeding the world. We're best -- we're the best producers in the world, and I want the farmers feeding the world. We need to open up markets. Exports are down, and every time an export number goes down, it hurts the farmer. I want the next president to have fast track negotiating authority to open up markets around the world. We're the best. We're the most efficient, efficient farmers. I don't want to use food as diplomatic weapon from this point forward. We shouldn't be using food. It hurts the farmers. It's not the right thing to do. I'm for value-added processing. We need to do more work on value-added processing. You take the raw product you produce -- I presume you're a farmer -- off your farm, and convert it. I think value-added processing's important. I'm for research and development, spending research and development money so that we can use our technological base to figure out new uses for farm products. I'm for getting rid of the death tax, completely getting rid of the death tax. One reason family farmers are forced to sell early is because of the death tax. This is a bad tax. The president shouldn't have vetoed that bill. It's a tax that taxes people twice. It penalizes the family farmer. So, should I be fortunate enough to earn your vote, I also -- I'm going to open up markets, but I also understand that farming is a part of our national security. I'm from a big farm state. We're the second biggest state -- farming state in the country. And I hear from my farmer friends all the time. The vice president's right. By the way, every day's Earth Day if you own the land. And I like the policies that will encourage farmers to set aside land as well for conservation purposes. Thank you. |
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| Dealing with the "death tax" | ||||||||||||||||||||
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MR. LEHRER: A quick thing on the inheritance tax, because there is a difference between the two of you on this. Vice President Gore? VICE PRESIDENT GORE: Yeah, I'm for a massive reform of the estate tax or the death tax. MR. LEHRER: Estate tax. VICE PRESIDENT GORE: And under the plan that I have proposed, 80 percent of all family farms will be completely exempt from the estate tax. And the vast majority of all family businesses would be completely exempt. And all of the others would have sharply reduced. So 80 percent. Now the problem with completely eliminating it goes back to the wealthiest 1 percent. The amount of money that has to be raised in taxes from middle class families to make up for completely eliminating that on the very wealthiest, the billionaires, that would be an extra heavy burden on middle class families. And so, let's do it for most all, but not completely eliminate it for the very top. MR. LEHRER: What's the case for doing that, Governor? GOV. BUSH: Eliminating the death tax? MR. LEHRER: Completely, for everyone. GOV. BUSH: Because people shouldn't be taxed twice on their assets. It's either unfair for some or unfair for all. Again, this is just a difference of opinion. If you're from Washington, you want to pick and choose winners. I don't think that's the role of the president. I think if you're going to have tax relief, everybody benefits. Secondly, I think your plan -- there's a lot of fine print in your plan, Mr. Vice President, in all due respect. It is -- I'm not so sure 80 percent of the people get the death tax. I know this -- 100 percent will get it if I'm the president. I just don't think it's fair to tax people's assets twice, regardless of your status. It's a fairness issue, it's an issue of principle, not politics. |
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| Morality in America | ||||||||||||||||||||
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MR. LEHRER: New issue -- new issue. And the question will be asked by Joyce Kleemer (sp) of Governor Bush. Joyce Kleemer? There you are. GOV. BUSH: Hi, Joyce. JOYCE KLEEMER (sp): Yes, hi, Governor. I'm very concerned about the morality of our country now -- TV, movies, the music that our children are, you know, barraged with every day, and I want to know if there is anything that can be worked out with the -- Hollywood or whoever -- (chuckles) -- to help get rid of some of this bad language and the whatever, you know. It's just bringing the country down, and our children are very important to us, and we're concerned about their education at school, we should be concerned about their Education at home, also. GOV. BUSH: Yes. JOYCE KLEEMER (sp): Thank you. GOV. BUSH: I appreciate that question. Laura and I are proud parents of teenage girls, twin daughters, and I know what you're saying. Government ought to stand on the side of parents. Parents are teaching their children right from wrong and the message oftentimes gets undermine by the popular culture. You bet there's things that government can do. We can work with the entertainment industry to provide family hour. We can have filters on Internets where public money is spent; there ought to be filters in public libraries and filter in public schools so if kids get on the Internet, there's not going to be pornography or violence coming in. I think we ought to have character education in our schools. I know that doesn't directly talk about Hollywood, but it does reinforce the values you're teaching. I would greatly expand character education funding so that public schools will teach children values, values which have stood the test of time. There's after-school money available. I think that after-school money ought to be available for faith-based programs and charitable programs that exist because somebody has heard the call to love a neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself. That will help reinforce the values that parents teach at home as well. I just -- ours is a great land, and one of the reasons why is because we're free, and so I don't support censorship. But I do believe that we ought to talk plainly to the Hollywood moguls and people who produce this stuff and explain the consequences. I think we need to have rating systems that are clear. And I happen to like the idea of having technology for the TV, easy for parents to use, so you can tune-out these programs that you don't want in your house. But I'm going to remind moms and dads, the best weapon is the off/on button and paying attention to your children, and eating dinner with them and being -- MR. LEHRER: Governor? GOV. BUSH: I'm sorry. MR. LEHRER: That's all right. VICE PRESIDENT GORE: It's my turn. (Laughter.) MR. LEHRER: Vice President Gore. VICE PRESIDENT GORE: I care a lot about this. It's not just movies -- television, video games, music, the Internet. Parents now feel like you have to compete with the mass culture in order to raise your kids with the values that you want them to have. Tipper and I have four children. And God bless them; every one of them decided on their own to come here this evening. I don't want to embarrass our oldest daughter -- she and her husband made us grandparents almost a year and a half ago -- and yet, if she'll forgive me, when she was little, she brought a record home that had some awful lyrics in it. And Tipper hit the ceiling. And that launched a campaign to try to get the record companies to put ratings that -- warning labels for parents. And I'm so proud of what she accomplished in getting them on there. I've been involved myself in negotiating and helping to move along the negotiations with the Internet service providers to get a parents' protection page every time 95 percent of the pages come up, and a feature that allows parents to automatically check, with one click, what sites your kids have visited lately. You know, some parents are worried about those filters -- (laughing) -- that you'll have to ask your kids how to put them on there. (laughter.) But if you can check up on them, then you -- that's real power. And recently the Federal Trade Commission pointed out that some of these entertainment companies have warned parents that the material is inappropriate for children, and then they've turned around, behind the backs of the parents, and advertised that same adult material directly to children. That is an outrage. Joe Lieberman and I gave them six months to clean up their act. And if they don't do it, we're going to ask for tougher authority on -- in the hands of the FTC on the false and deceptive advertising. I'll tell you this: I want to do something about this, respect the First Amendment, but I will do something to help you raise your kids without that garbage. |
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