Road To The Whitehouse Essay, Research Paper

Road to the White House 2000

George W.Bush, currently 54 and Governor of Texas, was born in New Haven, Connecticut. His Political experience includes being the Governor of Texas since 1995. He was also a candidate for U.S. House of representatives in 1978. His military experience is serving in the Texas National Guard for 6 years. Like most Republicans his stance on Abortion is Pro-Life. His stance on other issues are as follows: In favor of the Death Penalty, Against Gay Rights in most instances, wants to reduce the governments size and influence, he feels welfare should be cut off after 2 yrs. Looking at his track record as Governor of Texas you can tell what other issues are important to him. While he has been Governor he has focused on three simple yet profound issues: improving public schools with high standards, strong accountability and local control, reforming welfare, and strengthening the juvenile and criminal justice laws.

Education is defiantly a priority for George Bush. As president, Bush intends to improve education in several different ways. The first way is to close the achievement gap between disadvantage students and their peers. Giving lower income parents of students stuck in failing schools with the option of transferring to another public school, or using their share of federal funding to pay for another option of their choice (including tutoring, a charter school, or a non-public school). Offer grants called Pell grants to lower income students who take rigorous math and science courses in high school. Strengthen early learning by establishing the Reading First program by investing $5 billion over a five-year period to ensure that every disadvantage child can read by the age of three (issues2000.com). One way to ensure the success of this program is by having accountability systems that test every student on reading and math. George Bush also wants to set up a rewards system for the states and schools that improve student performance by setting up a $500 million dollar fund. On the other hand, Bush will withdraw a portion of federal funding from states that permit student performance to decline.

Governor Bush believes that parents should play a more active role in their children s education (gwbush.net). This includes staying current with their children s progress. Bush wants to publish school-by-school report cards on the Internet to keep the parents informed (JournalSentinel). He also wants to make it easier for parents to save for college by granting complete tax exemption to all prepaid and tuition savings plans (georgewbush.com).

George Bush also wants to improve the quality of teachers and resources in our schools. He will do this by increasing funds for teacher training and recruiting. Expand Loan Forgiveness from $5,000 to $17,500 for math and science majors who teach in high-need schools for five years (gwbush.net).

School safety is also a priority for Governor Bush. He wants to provide students that attend schools with a bad track record (when it comes to crime and violence) with a transfer to a safe school. He also wants to set up a program called Project Sentry. Project Sentry will help prosecute juveniles who have or use guns and the adults who provide those guns. He wants to install a zero-tolerance act when it comes to classroom disruption. Bush also wants to grant immunity to teachers from certain meritless lawsuits (JournalSentinel).

George Bush s education plans have already started to prove themselves recently in Texas. Texas is number two out of all the states that have made the greatest recent progress in education. Students in Texas have been scoring first and second in the nation in writing. They have been showing steady improvement on the state skills tests every year. Teachers in Texas are rated first in quality. Bush has also been successful increasing funding and teacher pay within the school system.

The second big issue on Governor Bush s agenda is Medicare. Bush wants to give every senior citizen access to an affordable health care plan that covers prescription drugs and other very important benefits. Bush also will allow seniors to stay in their existing Medicare plan without any changes if they so wish.

Governor Bush feels that today s Medicare Benefit package is out of date (Handicapping, bushfiles.com). It covers neither prescription drugs nor routine services such as annual physicals, vision tests and hearing aids (Handicapping, bushfiles.com). Bush s new plan will let the senior citizens decide on the plan that best fits there needs. His plan will pay at least twenty-five percent of premium costs for prescription drugs for all seniors. It will also cover the cost of any catastrophe in excess to $6000 annually for all seniors (Money Primary, bushfiles.com). And it will also cover any prescription drug costs in excess of $6000 annually for all seniors (Money Primary, bushfiles.com).

George Bush s third issue is decreasing the crime rate. Bush believes in tough penalties for organized crime, drugs, and international terrorism. He believes that the government can do more to improve our criminal justice system (georgewbush.com). Under the Clinton-Gore administration federal gun prosecutions have dropped 46% (gwbush.net). Bush will provide more funding for aggressive gun law enforcement programs. In conjunction, Governor Bush wants to set up a national database to help state and local police identify, track, and arrest fugitives who move across state lines. Bush also believes in zero tolerance for terrorism.

In 1995, the 74th Legislature responded to Governor Bush s call to rewrite Texas outdate juvenile justice laws (georgewbush.com). The legislature accordingly made some critical changes and updates. It lowered the age some juveniles can be tried as an adult to 14 years old. It toughened the incarceration laws for juvenile offenders. It made juvenile records freely available to law enforcement officials. It created a zero-tolerance policy for juvenile drinking and driving (georgewbush.com). It increased funding for community based programs to deter young criminals.

These new laws were particularly hard on repeat sex offenders. There was the creation of the two strikes your out law, which requires automatic life in prison for any second sex-related conviction. It also provided voluntary castration for violent sex offenders who meet certain medical criteria.

Because of all these strict laws in Texas the crime rate has been consistently decreasing. George W. Bush not only provides for the safety of the citizens, he also provides for the safety of those who are convicted of crimes (gwbush.net). Bush has increased funding in Texas for the accused in capitol trials to have better lawyers so all aspects of the case can be examined.

Governor George Bush believes in a moral upbringing of our children so they can be responsible adults and make the right choices. He has consistently called for increased character education funding, abstinence education, and a dramatic expansion of after-school programs that will keep kids out of trouble (georgewbush.com). Governor Bush believes that a good education is the best long-term criminal justice program (georgewbush.com).

Can Governor Bush be successful with his plans for education, Medicare, criminal justice? Not only can he be successful, he already has been successful in his state of Texas. His plans are well thought-out and proven, unlike his opponent Al Gore. When looking at the major issues, one can t help but seriously consider casting their vote for George W. Bush.

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