Remember how close the election in November 2000 for US President was? It finally all came down to whether George W Bush or Al Gore would get the electoral votes from Florida. At first some news media said Gore won, then Bush and finally that it was too close to call. On November 26, the state canvassing board certified Bush the winner of Florida's electors by 537 votes! Gore asked for a recount in 4 counties which was allowed by Florida law in close voting results. However, doing a recount was contested and the US Supreme Court stepped in to stop the Florida election recount (in a 5 to 4 vote) which effectively gave George W Bush the presidency.
Since the Florida recount was stopped we do not know for sure who would have won. In the months following there were a few unofficial recounts some which claim that Gore would have won Florida and thus the Presidency.
Giving Florida electoral votes to Bush gave him the Presidency despite the fact that Al Gore won the popular vote by approximately 500,000 votes nationwide. Gore became the fourth candidate in American history to win the popular vote but lose the electoral vote. There is a movement to change to using the popular vote to determine the US presidency. If this change had taken place before the 2000 election Al Gore would have been our President.
Thus the 43rd President of the United States was chosen by the Supreme Court, not by the people!
Often I ponder how different the world would be today if the people's choice, Al Gore, had become our 43rd President. There are many others that have pondered this also [1 2 3 4]. My thoughts may share some of these views, however, my arguments are based on statements made by Al Gore [1 2 3] along with what historians and others have said about major events since January 2001.
- Iraq War
- Afghanistan War
- 9/11 terrorist attack
President Al Gore may actually have prevented the attack on September 11 2001 on the World Trade Center buildings and the Pentagon. As Vice President under President Clinton he was involved and supported President Clinton efforts to end terrorism. The warnings were there to prevent it if we had had a competent president [1 2 3 4]. Can you imagine how different our world would be today if that attack had not occurred? There would have been no major wars with Afghanistan and Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of people would still be alive today. There would probably be no democratic governments in these 2 countries. But even today they are far from democratic governments with major divisions in Iraq and major corruption and voting fraud in Afghanistan. Of course the World Trade Center buildings would still be standing and the people alive and still working there.
- Environment and Energy
Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 along with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change". As president he would have pushed for laws and directed agencies to start immediately to address the climate change crisis:
- Impose a "carbon tax" and create a cap-and-trade system.
- Increase MPG requirements on all vehicles.
- Moratorium on new coal-fired power plants.
- Increase renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.
- Develop new energy technologies.
- Tax credits for energy efficiency.
Gore wanted the government to join "with Big Three automakers to create the Public/Private Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles to triple the fuel efficiency of vehicles without increasing cost or reducing quality or safety". Later he would push for policies that would bring plug-in electric cars into the market as quickly as possible.
Gore would create a plan to shift America's energy focus away from fossil fuels to other forms of energy, such as solar, wind and geothermal. He called for America to free itself completely from fossil fuels within 10 years.
2011 is ten years after his presidency starts in 2001. Even if he did not completely succeed in freeing our nation from fossil fuels, we would be a lot less dependent on foreign oil. Our nation would be a leader in clean energy instead of way behind others. Our new renewable energy companies would create jobs and export to the world, instead of now where we import from others.
2011 is ten years after his presidency starts in 2001. Even if he did not completely succeed in freeing our nation from fossil fuels, we would be a lot less dependent on foreign oil. Our nation would be a leader in clean energy instead of way behind others. Our new renewable energy companies would create jobs and export to the world, instead of now where we import from others.
- Economy
President Gore would not have cut taxes for the wealthy, but would cut taxes for those making under $100,000. The result is that the federal debt would not have increased as much as under the Bush tax cuts. Not fighting the Iraq war would save over 3 trillion dollars! Fighting a shorter or no Afghanistan war would also save lots of money.
In his 2000 campaign he promised to balance the budget every year and pay off the national debt in 15 years.
The recession had many causes but "experts, from both political parties, say Bush's early personnel choices and overarching antipathy toward regulation created a climate that, if it did not trigger the turmoil, almost certainly aggravated it. The president's first two Treasury secretaries, for instance, lacked the kind of Wall Street expertise that might have helped them raise red flags about the use of complex financial instruments at the heart of the crisis. The White House, in the view of critics, fostered a free-market hothouse in which these excesses were able to flower. It avoided regulation of banks and mortgage brokers, leaving much of that work to the Federal Reserve, which, under Alan Greenspan, showed little appetite for regulation."
The recession probably would have occurred under President Gore, but it probably would not have been so severe.
In his 2000 campaign he promised to balance the budget every year and pay off the national debt in 15 years.
The recession had many causes but "experts, from both political parties, say Bush's early personnel choices and overarching antipathy toward regulation created a climate that, if it did not trigger the turmoil, almost certainly aggravated it. The president's first two Treasury secretaries, for instance, lacked the kind of Wall Street expertise that might have helped them raise red flags about the use of complex financial instruments at the heart of the crisis. The White House, in the view of critics, fostered a free-market hothouse in which these excesses were able to flower. It avoided regulation of banks and mortgage brokers, leaving much of that work to the Federal Reserve, which, under Alan Greenspan, showed little appetite for regulation."
The recession probably would have occurred under President Gore, but it probably would not have been so severe.
- Healthcare
Gore outlined his plans for Health Care in the 2000 election - some highlights:
"I’d like to see some form of universal health care, but I’m not for a government-run system."
"Extend health insurance to the uninsured by expanding the State-Children’s Insurance Program (S-CHIP) to include both more children and also their parents."
"Change the Medicare rules to let Americans buy into the program with the help of a 25% tax credit, ten years earlier than they can now."
"I’d like to see some form of universal health care, but I’m not for a government-run system."
"Extend health insurance to the uninsured by expanding the State-Children’s Insurance Program (S-CHIP) to include both more children and also their parents."
"Change the Medicare rules to let Americans buy into the program with the help of a 25% tax credit, ten years earlier than they can now."
- Education
Gore was a strong advocate for improving the education system. He wanted to:
+ introduce mandatory testing for teachers & salary bonuses for the most successful
+ offer preschool education to every 4-year-old by 2005
+ If a school is failing, work with the states to give them the authority and resources to close down that school and reopen it with a new principal, a new faculty.
+ 50% increase in our national commitment to education
- Science & Technology
Gore would have made the tax credit for research & development permanent. He would have doubled federal research in information technology and medical research.
- Internet
Currently, the US ranks 28th in the world in internet connection speed. President Gore would have pushed for high speed internet access for all homes.
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Thus the world would be quite different today if Gore had been president in 2000. Of course, all his plans would not have happen. But he would have set our nation on a far different trajectory than Bush.
Under Bush we had two wars, a great recession, high unemployment, greater economic inequality and a huge debt that have forced us to change the direction of our nation. Now as China takes the lead, our nation talks of cutting back on education, technology, healthcare, environment, etc.
But under Gore our nation would have continued to be the leader in technology and research. We would take the lead in dealing with the climate change crisis. People would have a better healthcare system. Without the Iraq war and no big tax cuts for the rich, the federal debt would not be so great. With better regulation of the markets, the recession would not be so bad. Our kids would be better educated and healthier and could look forward to a brighter future for our country.
If just one of the five Supreme Court judges that had sided with Bush had instead allowed the recount to continue. Or if there was no time for a recount, they could have considered the popular vote and made Gore our President based on whom the majority of the US citizens had chosen. (Isn't that what democracy is about?)
Quantum Theory suggests that there might be an infinite number of parallel universes. New universes are created when a decision must be made - one for each possible choice. So somewhere there is a universe that had a President Gore.
Under Bush we had two wars, a great recession, high unemployment, greater economic inequality and a huge debt that have forced us to change the direction of our nation. Now as China takes the lead, our nation talks of cutting back on education, technology, healthcare, environment, etc.
But under Gore our nation would have continued to be the leader in technology and research. We would take the lead in dealing with the climate change crisis. People would have a better healthcare system. Without the Iraq war and no big tax cuts for the rich, the federal debt would not be so great. With better regulation of the markets, the recession would not be so bad. Our kids would be better educated and healthier and could look forward to a brighter future for our country.
If just one of the five Supreme Court judges that had sided with Bush had instead allowed the recount to continue. Or if there was no time for a recount, they could have considered the popular vote and made Gore our President based on whom the majority of the US citizens had chosen. (Isn't that what democracy is about?)
Quantum Theory suggests that there might be an infinite number of parallel universes. New universes are created when a decision must be made - one for each possible choice. So somewhere there is a universe that had a President Gore.
Now how do we jump from our universe to this alternate universe???
I like Al Gore's desk. It reminds me of my desk full of piles of stuff :)
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