Reply #2: In addition to what dsc has written

[lastliberalintexas]

1. I am not certian how Dean will be able to implement his post-war plans. He has said that he wants the US to forego control of the country's resources and allow the UN to act as peacekeeper. The problem there is that very few other countries have even hinted that they would be willing to send their people to Iraq to act as peacekeepers (not that I blame them!). And those countries that have said they might be willing to do so don't necessarily *help* the situation, a la Turkey. This will be a problem for whichever candidate gets elected in 2004, but I hope that the rest of the world will look at the various proposals of the candidates more favorably once Shrub is out of office.

2. Dean has many ideas concerning the economy, one of which is to work with Congress to modify NAFTA and other trade treaties to provide greater protections for American jobs and workers. Dean has also shown a great deal of fiscal responsibility in his governance, and wants to work towards balancing the federal budget again. He's said that he understands this will take some time given the mess Shrub's group has made. But even decreasing the deficit has positive effects on the economy, since it reduces the amount we owe (mostly) foreign countries for bonds, redcues our debt servicing fees and monies, and has a stabilizing effect on our markets. it's definitely not a panacea for everything that ails our economy, but it's a good start. He'd also like to repeal Shrub's tax cuts, work on targeted tax cuts to the poor and middle class which would actually spur the economy in the short run rather than line wealthy investors' pockets, and close the tax loopholes for companies that relocate overseas. And I'm not sure that the economy CAN improve without the return or creation of jobs, so I am not sure what you mean by that.

3. I think dsc covered most of this very well. But Dean has also said that he would like to repeal vast portions of the Patriot Act (if not the whole thing). And he has come out strongly opposed to Patriot Act II.

4. This is probably where Dean is the weakest in policy, though he did have a pretty good record while Governor. He does have a fairly comprehensive plan to try to promote the creation/research of alternative energy sources and renewable sources. And he has since realized that deregulation is a bad thing, as evidenced by Enron, for example. In response, he has called for greater regulation of utilities of all kinds. I'm not sure of how his plans relate to job growth, other than the fact that renewable energy technologies will be a booming economic sector in the years to come. The question we face is whether we want some of those jobs to be in the US.