|
|
| IT'S STILL THE ECONOMY
SEPTEMBER 12, 1996TRANSCRIPT |
|---|
His ability to tap middle class anxiety over stagnant wages help President Clinton win in 1992. Four years later, the economy is still a key political issue, but now Republicans are saying that they are the party to better economic times. After this background report by Kwame Holman, Paul Solman leads a debate of the President Clinton and Sen. Dole's economic plans with one economic advisor from each campaign and two independent economists.
A RealAudio version of of this NewsHour segment is available.
Previous NewsHour Transcripts:
September 6, 1996:
Unemployment numbers are the lowest in years, but what do the figures mean to American workers
August 27, 1996
In an economic tour of Chicago with chief Clinton economic advisor Laura Tyson, Paul Solman explains the president's economic plan.
August 13, 1996:
Economic correspondent Paul Solman how a Dole administration might run the economy.
The complete NewsHour segments on economic issues.
PAUL SOLMAN: Wages, inequality of income, economic insecurity, three key pocketbook issues that help drive elections. Knowing that, candidates Clinton and Dole have taken up the issues in very different ways. We’ll have our own discussion after some background from Kwame Holman.
KWAME HOLMAN: In 1992, the word’s "It’s the economy, stupid" summed up the Clinton-Gore campaign strategy targeting a slugging economy as the major issue of the day. It was bull’s eye. In 1996, President Clinton is banking on a healthy economy to lead him to victory again. Last week, the President was riding high on the economic returns from the Labor Department’s monthly report.
PRESIDENT CLINTON: According to the latest economic statistics, our economy is growing steady and strong, creating another 250,000 jobs in August, just the latest evidence, strong growth, the highest consumer confidence in years. Since I became president, our country has created 10 and half million new jobs. Unemployment has dropped to its lowest level in seven and a half years. The American economy, my fellow Americans, is on the right track, and we need to keep it going in that direction.
KWAME HOLMAN: The Labor Department report puts unemployment at 5.1 percent. Four years ago, it stood at 7.5 percent. The administration says those figures mean jobs are being created at a faster rate than during any Republican administration since the 1920s. Still, Labor Sec. Robert Reich acknowledges there’s more to be done.
SEC. ROBERT REICH: There is much to celebrate about where we are, but the challenge does remain. Despite solid profits and low unemployment, wages and benefits for many working men and women are still lagging.
KWAME HOLMAN: In its own report last week, the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute said inflation-adjusted wages are down almost 3 percent since 1989. The federal government report says 8.4 million workers were laid off from 1993 to 1995, and only a third of those who returned to work are earning as much as they had before.
The wage gap between the highest and lowest paid workers has continued its 25-year growth under President Clinton. In an effort to boost some incomes, the President last month signed legislation increasing the minimum wage by 90 cents an hour.
But a higher minimum wage and some good economic numbers haven’t slowed the attacks on the President by his number one challenger, Republican Bob Dole.
SEN. BOB DOLE, Republican President Nominee: The disturbing fact is we’ve seen the return of something we thought had disappeared more than a decade ago. The worker is so discouraged about finding a good job at a good wage that he or she just drops out of the labor force and no longer appears in either the employment or unemployment statistics. These are called forgotten workers of Mr. Clinton’s middle class squeeze economy.
KWAME HOLMAN: Dole is invoking traditionally Democratic themes when he recognizes the plight of discouraged workers. But his call for a 15 percent across-the-board tax cut is pure supply-side Republicanism. It’s the centerpiece of his campaign. Dole says a tax cut, like a wage increase, puts money directly into the pockets of the work force.
DOLE CAMPAIGN AD SPOKESMAN: Under Clinton, stagnant wages, the largest tax increase in history, two incomes needed to make ends meet, Americans deserve better.
SEN. BOB DOLE: Make no mistake about it. My economic program is the right policy for America.
SEN. BOB DOLE: We think it’s time to give American families back more of their hard-earned money because we believe that people can run their lives better than any government bureaucracy ever can or ever will in America.
KWAME HOLMAN: But new data still being analyzed by the Labor Department indicate wages may have begun creeping up over the last few months, and the possibility is enough for President Clinton who was quick to offer it on the stump this week.
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Wages are rising again for average working people for the first time in a decade. And I want to make sure the American dream is alive and well for every single man or woman, boy or girl, who’s willing to work for it. And that is my vision: opportunity for all, responsibility from all, and everybody has a place in our American community. I hope you will help me to realize that.
 |
    
|
|
| Support the kind of journalism done by the NewsHour...Become a member of your local PBS station. | ||
| ||
| PBS Online Privacy Policy Copyright ©1996- MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. All Rights Reserved. | ||
| ||
