Ten Positive Things About My Vote For John Kerry

1. John Kerry promises to build coalitions with the world.

• I like the idea of strengthening international relations and improving the image of America throughout the world. It is a positive step to say you want to do this, and it bodes well for our relations with foreign nations, especially nations of the Islamic faith.

2. John Kerry draws support from broad and diverse cultures in America.

• Our country is divided. I like the idea of the President representing the concerns of a true cross-section of America. The majority of African-Americans, Latino Americans, and Native Americans, as well as many White Americans support his candidacy over the current administration. To me, I want a President who tells me he cares about the many different kinds of people who make up our society.

3. John Kerry wants to offer some 70 million uninsured Americans the choice of healthcare.

• To pay for his plan, John Kerry would rollback a tax cut given to the wealthiest 1% of American Society—those who make more than $200,000.00 dollars a year. Giving health insurance to millions while taking away a monetary advantage to the wealthy seems like a fair trade to me.

4. John Kerry promises to reinstate the executive orders President Clinton signed to protect the environment.

• The environment will see big improvements when John Kerry gets elected. Not only will he enforce President Clinton’s protections (saving millions of acres of forests and public lands from logging, pollution, and erosion), but he also will renew an effort to gain independence from foreign oil by putting research money back into alternative fuel sources. I like the idea of being able to tell my grandchildren about how Americans gave up polluting with cars simply by switching to better energy sources.

5. John Kerry wants to promote service and education for American students.

• I really like John Kerry’s idea to offer more education tax credits… I also love his plan to give tuition vouchers in the exchange for public service through AmeriCorps. This is the kind of public service program that is great for everyone—more education, more public service.

6. John Kerry understands complicated issues.

• John Kerry will take a stance on things (just see that big list above). But what I really like about John Kerry is that he is able to articulate the nuances of complicated issues. This way I know we have a President who is thoughtful and willing to look at multiple perspectives.

7. John Kerry has a resume full of patriotism and service to our country.

• John Kerry volunteered for the Vietnam War, a choice many Americans would not make. He came home and testified to Congress that he believed the war should end. He became a Prosecutor, a Senator, and has worked to achieve equality, social justice, and freedom for Americans. I believe he is qualified based on this record.

8. John Kerry believes in the separation of church and state.

• John Kerry is a practicing Catholic who like, John F. Kennedy, has embodied the understanding of more than two centuries of wisdom—that is to keep the practice of religion separate from running the country. John Kerry supports a woman’s choice, does not support amending the constitution to discriminate against gays, and favors scientific research to help humans live better. I agree with Mr. Kerry based on our country’s legacy of good government without the undue influence of those with personal ideologies about religion.

9. John Kerry has a positive message that I have been able to hear.

• John Kerry promises America a better vision of the future built upon a new direction for the country. It has been, sadly, the election that divides. The current administration has not been able to articulate a message to me that offers our country hope to end fear, isolation, or the bitterness Americans feel about the last divided election. I have sought out positive messages. John Kerry has given me hope of a less animosity in the world, less division at home, better healthcare, protection for the environment, and more opportunities through education.

10. John Kerry has energized people to vote for change.

• This is more of a personal story. I love walking around downtown Portland, OR, listening to the sights and sounds of democracy. People are encouraging anyone and everyone who listens just to vote, vote, vote! Yes, I have heard and read about the current administration and its allies—trying to stifle the vote by throwing away Democratic voter registrations, by making voting harder to minorities by giving them fewer polling places that are far away from their homes, by challenging the right of Mexican-Americans to vote asking them to prove citizenship at court hearings, or by setting up untraceable votes that might be manipulated. I am not afraid. It won’t happen. Young people are voting in record numbers against the current administration, minorities won’t be so easily deterred, and so-called regular voters are calling in to double and triple check that their vote will count. John Kerry has energized people to vote for change.

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Predicting The 2004 Presidential Election

Lately, everyone has been asking—who’s going to win? John Kerry, of course, because the polls say he is narrowly behind.

Here’s the logic:

Using one of my favorite days of the year, October 22, lets take a look at polls from 2000. Gallup, probably the most easily recognized name in polling, had George W. Bush way ahead with 52% of the vote, and Al Gore with 39%. CNN/Time had George W. Bush with 49% and Al Gore with 43%. Zogby had it 45% to 41%. Fox News predicted Bush—75%, Gore—15%, and Nader—10% (Okay, that’s cheap—but I bet I’m close.)

CBS reports that these horserace numbers should be eyed with suspicion. Why? In the last week of the 2000 campaign, there were 43 polls. Mr. Bush was leading in 39. The next week, Al Gore won the popular vote.

Thus, since the polls had Bush with a comfortable lead (never less than 4 points), and Bush is ahead within or just ahead of the margins of error this time around, my prediction is a Kerry win.

So, the next question is why aren’t more Kerry supporters (like the Gore vote) measured in the polls? Three reasons: 1) college kids and minorities never get polled, 2) half the Dems are now cell phone users only, and 3) everyone knows that Republicans love to tell you their opinion.

Besides all of this poll analysis, I weigh in the other factors to predict a Kerry victory. Norm Chomsky, one of my favored rabble-rousers says, “The genius of our political system is to render policy irrelevant. Voter attention is to be focused on style, personality—anything but the issues that are of primary concern to the concentrated private power centers that largely finance campaigns and run the government.”

Bush’s connection to the supposed “common folk” took a hit in the debates. Besides looking wildly uneven (Debate #1 – petulant, Debate #2- pissed, Debate #3 – uncomfortably Clintonesque), Bush failed to answer the one question he needed to—what do you say to the guy who lost his job to make him feel better? Bush’s answer about going back to school was truly inept. The lowdown on Bush used to be that he was kind of dumb, but he could do the plain-talk that appealed to the heartland. But this former (perceived) strength-of-style has been replaced by his performances in the debate, and what I think is a huge tactical error in the campaign since. By playing the fear card in the final days of the election, Bush is not giving people a vision of his style any longer, while Kerry’s style remains unscathed – calm, reflective, intelligent, wordy—yes, but Presidential. His campaign does not deviate from that style message.

One final convincing factor has me certain of a John Kerry win. The Boston Red Sox beat the Yankees. Darth Vader and the evil empire were vanquished, light triumphed over the dark side of the force, and Boston’s hometown boys are in a partying mood… expect another hometown victory on election day.

Visit my website at this link: David Frick

Wealth Distribution In America

Some background: I am a former lawyer turned high school teacher. But enough about me. I am constantly amazed by my students' abilities to take complicated subjects and distill just the right message regarding what makes sense to them. Take the "hot potato" subject of this Blog. No one wants to talk about the fact that one in four Americans lives in abject poverty or the fact that we live in a new gilded age, with the Bill Gates and Phil Nights of our times just taking the place of the J.P. Morgans and Nelson Rockefellers. But don't take my word for it. This Blog comes from one of my students, a fourteen year-old Freshman. She writes:


According to the U.S. Census Bureau, since the late 1970’s, the top fifth of family incomes (those with the highest incomes) has been steeply rising while the bottom fifth has dropped. From 1994 CEO pay has increased over 530% while worker pay has only risen 32.3% —which is barely above the inflation rate. This has resulted in the widening gap of wealth distribution between the rich and poor. Because of this, America’s economic profile models that of a Third World Country.

There are identifiable causes that result in the unequal distribution of wealth among Americans. Corporate America has frozen the earning power of blue-collar workers. These workers have to settle for the low paying wages or their jobs will be outsourced. The American people have come to accept the enormous pays and benefits of CEOs, without questioning the validity. Without accountability, companies are able to continue this trend. A majority of society supports the notion of the American Dream and the idea of free enterprise. This makes government hesitant to put a limit on private businesses. Based on the way our society is set up, it is not easy to break or stop the chain of poverty that results from low wages and rising costs of living in the United States.

Given the extremely unbalanced distribution of wealth in the United States, it is important to strive for change. There is more than enough money in American society to raise the standard of living. However the problem is that the wealthy people, in general, are not voluntarily helping. If the government created more projects such as Timberline Lodge, and more people were employed, then our economy would be boosted. When too many people are poor, or their needs are not met, they become unhappy and start thinking of revolutionary ideas. History is full of examples where people revolted because of poor living and working conditions. I believe it is imperative that we work towards a more balanced society before those in poverty slip deeper into the mire, and those rolling in the dough only accumulate more.


In law school we used to call people who just liked to hear themselves speak, Masters Of The Obvious, or "MOTOs". Here comes one of those MOTO statements: "I think this student might be onto something."

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10 Reasons Not to Vote For George W. Bush

1. George W. Bush is the first U.S. President to lose jobs during his presidency.

• When Bush took office, the unemployment rate was 4.2 percent. It's now 5.5 percent, according to the Labor Department, a loss of more than 2.7 million private sector jobs.

2. Under George W. Bush, the United States went from budget surplus to record deficit.

• When Bush took office, the federal budget had been balanced for three straight years and was, in the 2000 fiscal year, running a surplus of $236 billion -- the largest in U.S. history. The White House is projecting a record budget deficit this year of $445 billion, according to the White House.

3. George W. Bush has seen consumer debt increase by a record $300 billion dollars.

• When Bush took office, U.S. consumer debt totaled almost $1.7 trillion. It's now $2.038 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve.

4. George W. Bush has presided over a massive increase in bankruptcy filings.

• When Bush took office, bankruptcy filings during the previous year totaled almost 1.3 million, down 5 percent from a year before. By Dec. 31, 2003, bankruptcies had hit a record of nearly 1.7 million, up 5.2 percent from 2002, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.

5. George W. Bush has the worst environmental record of any U.S. President in the nation's history.

• The Bush administration began its term in office by appointing industry officials and legal allies to the U.S. government's top environmental protection offices. The Bush team assaulted the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act by refusing to defend industry lawsuits, gutted the Federal Parks system of funding, and opened up federal lands for polluting, mining, logging, and snowmobiling, according to the Sierra Club.

6. Terrorism has significantly increased worldwide as a result of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

• Experts believe the war on terrorism -- and the U.S.-led war in Iraq -- have inspired recruits who are operating in loosely affiliated, independent cells. "The U.S. invasion of Iraq increased the worldwide threat of terrorism many times over," said Rohan Gunaratna, author of the book "Inside al-Qaeda, the Global Network of Terror," and according to a comprehensive study conducted by Knight Ridder Newspapers, "developments in the war on terrorism, barely noticed in the United States, suggests that global Islamic extremism is spreading."

7. The policies of George W. Bush have reaped the world's disfavor.

• Despite worldwide support after 9-11, the nonpartisan Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, measured public opinion in 44 nations. All told, 54,000 people were surveyed, the clear majority of whom disfavored or distrusted the United States in general and Bush in particular.

8. George W. Bush has allowed the federal government to award billion dollar contracts to enrich personal friends.

• According to CBS' 60 Minutes, several investigations into Halliburton's work in Iraq have shown evidence of overcharging or raised questions about the corporation's performance as well as the company's profitable relationship with their former CEO, Vice President, Dick Cheney.

9. Even stock market investors have lost money under the tenure of George W. Bush

• When Bush took office on Jan. 20, 2001, the Dow Jones industrial average was at 10,587.59. It closed Friday at 10,055.20.

10. George W. Bush has failed to alleviate the health care crises in America while giving a windfall of profits to drug and insurance companies.

• PBS reports that about 44 million people in this country have no health insurance, and another 38 million have inadequate health insurance. This means that nearly one-third of Americans do not have a reliable source of healthcare. According to the Washington Post, several of the Bush administration's own officials said the drug and insurance businesses would profit from Bush's only plan, which is estimated to cost $400 billion over 10 years.

Visit my website at this link: David Frick