Presidential Agendas

Here are highlights of some policy proposals offered by George W. Bush, Al Gore and three third-party presidential candidates. For more information on these and other issues, visit the candidates’ Web sites or https://www.latimes.com/news/politics.

Bios

GEORGE W. BUSH

Republican

Businessman, managing general partner of Texas Rangers baseball team, Texas governor. Age: 54. Running mate: Dick Cheney, former secretary of defense, Wyoming congressman. https://www.georgewbush.com

AL GORE

Democrat

Journalist, Tennessee congressman and senator, vice president. Age: 52. Running mate: Joseph I. Lieberman, senator from Connecticut. https://www.algore2000.com

RALPH NADER

Green

Consumer activist, author, attorney. Age: 66. Running mate: Winona LaDuke, Native American activist. https://www.votenader.com

PAT BUCHANAN

Reform

Commentator, author, advisor in Nixon and Reagan administrations. Age: 62. Running mate: Ezola Foster, former Los Angeles schoolteacher. https://www.gopatgo2000.org

HARRY BROWNE

Libertarian

Investment advisor and author. Age: 67. Running mate: Art Olivier, mayor of Bellflower. https://harrybrowne2000.org

Social Security

GEORGE W. BUSH

Republican

Wants to give workers the option of staying entirely in the Social Security system or investing a portion of their Social Security taxes in private investment accounts, then taking a smaller payout from the program when they retire but supplementing their benefits with the private investments. Has not ruled out raising the retirement age for younger workers as part of a comprehensive reform.

AL GORE

Democrat

Opposes diverting Social Security money to personal investment accounts but would offer a tax credit to low-income and middle-income people to match their retirement investments. The value of the credit would vary according to income. Would use $100 billion over 10 years to improve Social Security benefits for widows and working women. Has ruled out increasing the retirement age.

RALPH NADER

Green

Opposes privatization of Social Security. Would make gradual changes to benefits and the revenue structure as needed. Suggests that, if additional revenue is needed to support the system, funds could be provided by raising the income cap on Social Security taxes or by expanding the tax to cover executive bonuses and stock options.

PAT BUCHANAN

Reform

Would guarantee current recipients benefits under the existing program but would “develop a pay-as-you-go Social Security plan that will secure the system while allowing American workers to begin building personal retirement accounts.”

HARRY BROWNE

Libertarian

Calls Social Security a “fraudulent insurance scheme.” Says Americans should be freed of Social Security taxes and be allowed to save the money on their own.

Taxes

GEORGE W. BUSH

Republican

Proposes cutting all income tax rates, with lowest dropping to 10% and highest to 33%. Would double the per-child tax credit to $1,000. Charitable deductions could be taken by people who don’t itemize. Promises no increase in personal or corporate tax rates. Eliminate the inheritance tax and reduce the marriage penalty paid by many two-income couples by allowing a deduction of 10% of the lower-earning spouse’s salary, up to $3,000. Estimated cost: $1.3 trillion over 10 years.

AL GORE

Democrat

Proposes selected tax relief, helping people pay for college tuition, buy health insurance, save for retirement, pay for day care and more. Would eliminate the inheritance tax on farms and businesses worth up to $5 million, raising the tax-protected threshold from the current $2.6 million. Would raise taxes by $130 billion on some corporate transactions and tobacco, and would raise the standard deduction for married couples to ease the “marriage penalty” for those who do not itemize deductions. Estimated cost: $500 billion over 10 years.

RALPH NADER

Green

Calls for “systemwide tax reform,” mandating higher corporate taxes and taxes on polluters. Advocates taxes on “things we don’t like” and says taxes on urban sprawl, for example, could prompt better planning and zoning. Opposes a flat tax.

PAT BUCHANAN

Reform

Wants to reduce income taxes and eliminate estate taxes and the “marriage penalty.” Would impose a 10% tariff on imports and use the revenue to end all taxes on small businesses.

HARRY BROWNE

Libertarian

Would eliminate the income tax. Wants to drastically reduce the size of government by eliminating “hundreds of unconstitutional federal programs.” Says excise taxes and tariffs would cover the costs of the smaller federal government.

Education

GEORGE W. BUSH

Republican

Offers a $47-billion, 10-year plan. In its first five years, $5 billion more for literacy, $8 billion more for college scholarships and grants, and a $300-million fund (rising to $500 million) to reward states that improve pupil achievement. Proposes a 5% cut in education money to states where performance lags. Would let families save, tax-free, $5,000 per year per student for education expenses at all ages. Would give more spending flexibility to states that test all students in reading and math every year from third through eighth grade. Proposes more charter schools and would allow federal tax dollars--vouchers--to help parents send their children to private schools when public schools in poor areas fail to meet standards for three years.

AL GORE

Democrat

Offers a $170-billion, 10-year plan. Would give grants to states to create “universal access” to preschool, $5,000 raises for good teachers in poor and rural areas, $5,000 more for “master teachers” and supports tougher standards for teachers. Wants $8 billion in 10 years to recruit more teachers, tax breaks for college savings and expenses, after-school care and $8 billion for school construction. Would require all states to improve student performance or lose federal funds and would close schools that fail to meet standards for two years, reopening them under new leadership. Proposes more charter schools and supports voluntary national tests in reading and math. Opposes vouchers for private schools.

RALPH NADER

Green

Opposes vouchers and standardized testing. Would guarantee preschool education for all children. Seeks to repair crumbling schools within three years and shrink class size so that elementary school classes are no larger than 15 students and secondary classes are no larger than 20. Would guarantee free tuition to a public university or community college for all high school graduates. Wants to ban commercial advertising in schools. Promotes civic education.

PAT BUCHANAN

Reform

Would abolish the Education Department and return its functions and funding to state and local control. Supports tuition vouchers that can be redeemed at all schools--public and private, secular and religious. Also supports charter schools, magnet schools and home schooling. Favors a constitutional amendment to allow voluntary prayer in schools. Would support tax-free education savings accounts. Opposes national testing and teaching standards.

HARRY BROWNE

Libertarian

Completely and immediately remove the federal government from education. Opposes vouchers and believes that repealing the federal income tax would allow parents to send their children to the school of their choice.

Health Care

GEORGE W. BUSH

Republican

Proposes a tax credit of up to $2,000 per family to help low-income working Americans buy health insurance. Would expand tax-free medical savings accounts that can be used to pay health expenses. Would add 1,300 rural health care centers, cover prescription drugs for the elderly poor and would subsidize choice in drug plans for others. Proposes a “medical moonshot” to increase federal investment in medical research by $67 billion over 10 years. Would transform Medicare into a system in which government provides senior citizens a fixed amount of money to purchase public or private insurance.

AL GORE

Democrat

Would expand a federal-state health plan for children to enroll more kids and allow parents to also be covered. Wants to offer coverage to people whose incomes now are too high to qualify and a tax credit for uninsured people who purchase individual health policies. Would add a prescription drug plan to Medicare to give free, complete coverage to the elderly poor and a cost-sharing benefit to others, with no one in the plan paying more than $4,000 a year for drugs. Seeks to retain the existing Medicare structure but would give private insurers more freedom to compete for customers. Double spending on cancer research over five years.

RALPH NADER

Green

Would provide full cradle-to-coffin medical care for all Americans through a national health insurance program. Would fund such a single-payer system, which cuts administrative costs, through higher taxes on employers, stock and bond transactions, and the country’s wealthiest 5%. Would put price caps on drugs that are developed using federal money, such as AIDS medications.

PAT BUCHANAN

Reform

Would allow workers to put money away in private, personal insurance accounts, which workers would retain even if they changed employers.

HARRY BROWNE

Libertarian

Does not believe the government should be involved in providing or paying for health care. Says divorcing government from health care will cause costs to plummet, innovation to increase and more people to have access to the care they need.

Environment

GEORGE W. BUSH

Republican

Says the federal model of “mandate, regulate and litigate” encourages only minimum compliance with environmental laws. Also criticizes the federal government for not complying with its own regulations. Would promote shifting regulatory powers to the states. Supports a limited moratorium on drilling for oil and gas off California and Florida but backs oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and in the Gulf of Mexico near Louisiana and Texas.

AL GORE

Democrat

Promotes continuing, and stepping up, the Clinton administration’s environmental policies. Proposes spending $148 billion over 10 years for cleaner energy sources and the environment. Favors a ban on new oil and gas drilling in waters off California and Florida. Opposes exploration in the Arctic refuge. Would offer tax credits of up to $6,000 for motorists who buy cleaner-burning vehicles, $2,000 credits for buying new energy-efficient homes and $1,000 credits for making existing homes more energy efficient.

RALPH NADER

Green

Would phase out commercial nuclear reactors within five years and would set a timetable for phasing out other dangerous nuclear technologies. Would redirect federal funding from nuclear energy research to renewable energy technology. Supports state and local efforts to encourage smarter development, rein in sprawl and preserve farmland. Opposes commercial logging on U.S. public land. Wants emission standards strengthened.

PAT BUCHANAN

Reform

Advocates policies that are “pro-growth, pro-people and pro-environment.” Would require Congress to vote on every endangered species and compensate property owners when their land is seized and converted into protected habitats. Would hold polluters to high standards of accountability and would offer incentives to industry to develop resource-efficient technologies.

HARRY BROWNE

Libertarian

Opposes leasing of government land to business, arguing that such “renters” have little interest in preserving the land. Says one way to protect the environment and save endangered species would be to encourage private ownership of land and animals.

Other Candidates

JOHN HAGELIN

Natural Law Party

https://www.hagelin.org

Physicist. Age: 46. Running mate: software entrepreneur Nat Goldhaber.

Favors prevention-oriented solutions to the nation’s problems. Eliminate political action committees. Create a preventive health care system. Test and label genetically engineered foods. Cut taxes “deeply and responsibly.” Promote “more prosperous and harmonious” international relations.

HOWARD PHILLIPS

American

Independent Party

https://www.phillips2000.com

Former director of the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity. Now a political consultant. Age: 59. Running mate: emergency physician Curt Frazier.

Replace income tax with a 25% revenue tariff on imports. Privatize Social Security. Eliminate capital gains and estate taxes. Prosecute those who perform abortions. Remove the federal government from education. End federal welfare programs. Eliminate foreign aid. Nationally, party is known as the Constitution Party.

Sources: Candidates’ campaigns.

Photographs by Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence-France Press