Gore promises to fight vouchers, protect Medicare; Bush turns 54

July 6, 2000
Web posted at: 6:21 p.m. EDT (2221 GMT)

CHICAGO (CNN) -- Vice President Al Gore told the country's largest teachers' union Thursday he would "never, ever" support subsidies for private school tuition, calling them a false hope that would undercut public schools.

AUDIO Gore criticizes Bush for supporting a plan to subsidize private insurance companies to offer prescription drug benefits. 576K/47 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Gore rejects school vouchers. 594K/53 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Gore calls for restoration of dilapidated schools. 578K/52 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

"I think they're a mistake that drain money away from public schools," Gore said to a standing ovation at the National Education Association conference in Chicago. "We need to give more resources to our schools and build them up instead of draining money away."

Meanwhile, Texas Gov. George W. Bush -- the presumptive Republican nominee -- spent the day at home in Austin, Texas, celebrating his 54th birthday with a surprise party thrown by his staff. But his campaign accused Gore of undermining bipartisan Medicare reform plans and engaging in "class warfare."

The 2.5-million-member NEA endorsed Gore on Tuesday -- no surprise, since the Democratic-leaning group endorsed him in the primaries as well. The NEA strongly opposes vouchers for private school tuition, which supporters tout as a way for poor students to escape underperforming public schools.

But Gore, the expected Democratic nominee to succeed President Clinton, said vouchers were a "false promise," since they are not required to accept all students and won't be accountable to the public.

"The amounts they talk about do not pay the tuition. They only help those who already can afford the tuition, and they do not give a real alternative to those who can not," he said. He also noted that a Supreme Court made up of Republican appointees could approve vouchers.

Gore greets teachers after an address to the National Education Association national convention in Chicago on Thursday.

Earlier, Gore promised seniors he would protect Medicare and Social Security. He said rival presidential candidate Bush would use the entitlement programs "as a piggy bank for big tax cuts."

The vice president has proposed spending more than $330 billion more on Medicare over 10 years. Most of that -- about $255 billion -- would go to add a prescription drug benefit for seniors.

"Here is Governor Bush's plan -- not one dime in his proposal for extending, saving, adding to Medicare," Gore said Thursday, pointing to a pair of bar graphs. The vice president has also proposed putting Medicare trust funds off-budget to keep them from being used for other projects.

Mainstream majority or class war?

Gore's visit to Chicago comes in the middle of a three-day swing through the vote-rich states of Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania. He has spent much of the past month trying to paint Bush as the candidate of special interests, of oil and pharmaceutical companies, while Gore represents the "mainstream majority."

The Bush campaign mocked that stance Wednesday as "Al Gore Version 7.0: The Class Warfare Warrior."

"Gore's latest reinvention is designed to allow him to pit Americans against one another in an attempt to jump-start his campaign," a campaign broadside argued. "Gov. Bush's campaign is focused on bringing people together while Al Gore is trying to pit one group of Americans against another."

Wednesday, Gore blasted the advocacy group Citizens for Better Medicare, which has launched a television campaign warning about government price controls on prescription drugs. He challenged the organization to release a list of its contributors, accusing them of being a front for the drug industry. Among the group's members is the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, an association of more than 100 drug companies.

Gore uses a series of charts and graphs to emphasize the necessity of protecting Medicare and the advantages of adding a prescription drug benefit under Medicare.

The vice president criticized Bush's support for a Republican measure that would subsidize private insurance companies to offer prescription drug benefits. The insurance industry doesn't want to provide the coverage, Gore said, since it is almost a certainty that they will have to pay out under the policies.

"It's a plan that's doomed to fail," he said.

A surprise birthday party in Austin

The Bush campaign responded by saying Gore and President Clinton have ignored the recommendations of a bipartisan Medicare review commission and planned to cut the programs by up to $70 billion.

Bush has a bite of cake during a surprise 54th birthday party Thursday on the lawn at the Governor's Mansion, in Austin, Texas. Texas first lady Laura Bush looks on at the right.

"Al Gore's charts and graphs can't hide the fact that the Clinton-Gore administration opposed bipartisan Medicare reform, and they submitted a budget to cut Medicare spending by $70 billion," Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett said in a campaign statement Wednesday.

Gore said he offered a different plan than the one submitted by the administration, and noted that the 1999 proposals under review by the Medicare commission included many the administration could not accept -- including raising premiums, raising the eligibility age for the federal program from 65 to 67, and enrolling seniors in health maintenance organizations.

While surrogates criticized Gore's comments Wednesday, Bush spent the day tending to state business in Austin and marking his 54th birthday. Bush was ambushed by members of his gubernatorial and campaign staff, who yelled "Surprise!" as the candidate returned from a lunch-hour jog Thursday.

As many as 300 people attended the party, which was organized by Bush's wife, Laura.

Bush earlier downplayed his birthday, saying "We all have one."

Echoing Gore's recent themes, Democrats offered Bush a birthday greeting as well -- a cake decorated with oil rigs and dollar "bills" with Bush's picture on them.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.