Q: Welcome back, Mr. President, and you, Senator Kerry. This debate will be on domestic and cultural issues. To begin with, I should like a response from both of you on the current state of the economy. Most financial experts agree that the economy is now booming? Is it?
Mr. Pres: Without a doubt, and my tax cuts overwhelmingly attributed to this boom. The theory that the people should be in charge of their own income rather than the government is proving correct in practice.
Mr. K: I have t admit the economy is certainly improving in some circles; however, the millions of people in poverty are not benefiting which substantiates the old trickle-down theory doesn’t work and the stable adage of the rich get richer and the poor poorer breathes on. When I watch some TV commercials such as a well-to-do family discussing retirement options and college funds for their children, I often wonder what a family with a household income of $30,000 watching such must think. I fear they see it an unreachable dream.
Mr. Pres: There’s nothing wrong with dreams, Senator. If they put their shoulder to the wheel they too can make those dreams a reality.
Mr. K: Try selling that to the maids in the White House or the homeless guy baking in the sun at the traffic light trying to sell newspapers to motorists.
Mr. Pres: Yet don’t forget that I also reduced the tax liability for everyone — and millions more are not even on the tax rolls.
Q: What about that, Mr. President,...is the trickle-down theory behind your tax cuts?
Mr. Pres: In part, yes, the economy is surging because — and I admit — tax cuts on the high end have increased investments, creating jobs and greater consumption that otherwise would not have materialized.
Mr. K: Increased investments overseas also, Mr. President, don’t forget. In the meantime, better paying jobs are on the decline while low paying jobs increase and are dramatically dwindling the numbers of the middle class. As a result, this imbalance drastically affects the broad spectrum of the economy.
Q: And just what do you mean by this broad spectrum, Senator?
Mr. K: Well, for instance, the more the real wages decline the more reliance there is on the credit card to bolster consumption as a false economy on the edge of default. Moreover, this decline for millions results in another two million added to the rolls of the medically uninsured. Look, the broad spectrum includes many small businesses and large companies alike — pizza parlors, ballpark franchises, the shopping malls anchored by Sears or Penny’s — and are hurting because the middle class is on the decline. There is more to the economy than Wal-Mart, you know.
Mr. Pres: What’s wrong with Wal-Mart? They help the economy immensely by keeping costs down. Senator, I wouldn’t knock the largest employer in the country, you’ll lose a lot of votes — now that I think of it, go right ahead and use it as a whipping boy!
Mr. K: That’s a bad joke. I’m not knocking it; but the fact is, aside from being the largest employer here, it is also one of the largest employers in China.
Mr. Pres: Well, it seems to me that helps our relationship with China — pretty good diplomacy, wouldn’t you say?
Mr. K: That diplomacy has gotten us into $120 billion trade deficit with China. You have to broaden your horizon, Mr. President; take a trip to California and talk to the employees of Safeway and Giant supermarkets and get their views on Wal-Mart.
Q: Speaking of the credit card, Mr. President, there seems to be no limit to the budget deficit of your administration. Is that a temporary aberration?
Mr. Pres: Of course, it is — we’re at war, you know.
Q: Then, it’s not the tax cuts that caused the deficit but the war?
Mr. Pres: Of course, it’s not rocket science; we have poured billions into homeland security, Afghanistan and Iraq, let alone continuing our obligation to human services. But the creation of new jobs will begin to offset the deficit.
Mr. K: It is rocket science when you continue to spend billions on star wars while our troops go without armored vehicles and body armor.
Mr. Pres: Well, they would have less equipment, if you got your way by voting against the $85 billion appropriation for troop supplies.
Mr. K: Another cheap shot; besides you also bundled Iraqi nation building along with it. The fact is I tried to pressure the Senate to vote for the funds on the condition that it come from the unconscionable tax cuts for the wealthy in a time of war when the well-off should be proud to exhibit sacrifice for their country. Where are all the captains of industry like the Dollar-a- Year Men of World War II? — instead too many CEO s are shamelessly continuing to make a thousand times what an ordinary worker makes....Now, to get back to the question: it is true that war brings deficits; however, a commander in chief should try to alleviate the deficits by taxation, not by cutting them. Incidentally, as in all wars, the economy actually thrives because it increases employment and the government increases defense spending exponentially. I never thought I’d say this but the New Deal was just chugging along — though it did some marvelous things by work projects and returning integrity to the financial realm — but not until the war did we break from the Depression, which is evidence that government spending has a lot to say about how the economy goes, but not when the wealthy gets a free ride. If they were still alive, we would ask our grandfathers and they would tell us that they were taxed to the hilt.
Mr. Pres: Thank heaven that’s in the past. You can’t run a modern economy with antiquated thinking.
Mr. K: Tell that to veterans who benefitted hugely from the G.I. Bill.
Q: Senator, your state has approved gay marriage, with which you disagree. Would you explain this discrepancy as a Senator from a liberal state?
Mr. K: For one thing I am a Catholic and personally offended by same sex marriage, but that is not the overriding factor in my decision. I firmly believe that two of the same sex should expect the right to cohabit and derive from that union all rights entitled to every married couple, except for the linguistics of being labeled spouses. Call me a prude, if you will, but I simply cannot accept it as any father who has to grapple with the fact of having a gay child whom he, in spite of, loves the child dearly. I say to all gay couples of the nation: I love you all, but forgive me for not perceiving you as husband and wife.
Mr. Pres: Maybe I can ease your conscience, Senator; help me pass the amendment banning gay marriage and you won’t have to grapple with linguistics.
Mr. K: Sorry, Mr. President, that is not going to help. Just as I will not lift a finger to defy the law of Massachusetts, I shall not engage in mocking constitutional law.
Mr. Pres: I call that a cheap shot and unbecoming a senator that will have the privilege of ratifying an amendment or not.
Q: Since you are a Catholic, Senator, do you think religion should play a role in this election?
Mr. K: No, I don’t aside from what character religion has helped shape a president, he is still bound by the rule of law, the Constitution.
Mr. Pres: I agree, except that we must recognize the obvious truth that the constitution was forged by very religious men.
Q: I thank you, gentlemen, for your free and honest answers, and look forward to the final debate.
Copyright © 2004 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: June 23, 2004.