Kamala Sarup: A Nepali Perspective On Kerry v Bush

It is a close election and no one knows who will win until Wednesday and maybe for days after the voting ends on Nov. 2 because of contested results.

Bush and his advisors have not managed the Iraq War and fight against terrorism effectively. His mistakes have resulted in more blood and treasure lost, and higher oil prices, which affect the prices of good bought by ordinary Americans more than by rich ones. Thus, give the Kerry administration a chance to see if it can do better. Hard to see how it can do worse.

Bush adopted a program of large tax cuts *and* increased defense spending now. Thus, current costs are paid by additional debt, which will be paid by later generations in the form of higher taxes, or inflation, or both. As an economic policy to stimulate a moribund economy by higher government spending and increased consumer demand for goods, the statistics on economic growth and unemployment showed that it has failed.

Bush is allied with the "big money" segments of the republic (the upper 2%) at the expense of 98% of Americans. The result is a widening gap in income distribution that fosters more dissension among economic classes and less market demand that inhibit economic growth for everyone.

My priorities are more similar to those of the Democratic Party, although I favor the Iraq War and a vigorous fight against radical muslims and communist terrorism. For example, I like universal health care for Americans at affordable prices for the poor. I like the idea of buying cheaper drugs from foreigners, like Canada, so many poor Americans can afford them. However, these subjects are anathema to the Bush administration because they would cut into business profits and Bush would lose business support.

(Kamala Sarup is a Nepali journalist)

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