House set to pass new "hate crime."

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.

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.

Based on that speech, it sounds like the wealthy are greedy, lazy, uncaring people to me.

 

are you serious? he couldnt be more explicit with his class conflict routine. he is even creating these explicit constructs that dont exist in order to show them as opposed. thats what democrats do. hey say things like "the republicans and their rich corporate cronies are getting rich at the expense of the working men". you cant see it, because you tend to do the same thing.

democrats always want to paint big business and corporate america profits and free enterprise as a zero-sum gain thing, as if nobody can get rich unless it is at the expense of someone else.

the way republicans pander to the religious right, the democrats pander to the socialists.

 

Interesting concept.

I can certainly see the Clinton / Castro / cigar link.... :hihi:

 

why would anyone want to reduce the size of the ultra-rich? we should want to drastically increase their numbers! we should never ever do anything to reduce their numbers. stop assuming they are ultra rich at the expense of others. again, this is not a zero sum gain where if person X has something, he has it because person Y doesnt.

in america, the ultra poor do not exist. they exist in bangladesh and somalia, but not in america.

 

You conveniently leave out the fact that these ultra-rich pay the vast majority of our taxes. Taxes poor people can't live without.

If people don't want to be poor, do something about it ... other than mooching off the government.