• McCain wants to lower trade barriers for US companies.  Ninety-five percent of
the world's customers lie outside our borders and he says we need to be at the
table when the rules for access to those markets are written. To do so, he
thinks the U.S. should engage in multilateral, regional and bilateral efforts
to reduce barriers to trade, level the global playing field and build effective
enforcement of global trading rules. He believes these steps would also
strengthen the U.S. dollar and help to control the rising cost of living that
hurts our families. 


• McCain says he will act to make American workers more competitive. He wants
to prepare the next generation of workers by making American education worthy
of the promise we make to our children and ourselves.  We must be a nation
committed to competitiveness and opportunity. He would fight for the ability of
all students to have access to any school of demonstrated excellence. He would
place parents and children at the center of the education process, empowering
parents by greatly expanding the ability of parents to choose among schools for
their children. 

• McCain would reform the Unemployment Insurance System by depositing a portion
of each workers Unemployment Insurance Tax into a Lost Earnings Buffer Account
(LEB). If an individual becomes unemployed, the LEB may be used to cover needed
expenses, with a backstop of traditional UI if the account is exhausted before
26 weeks. Workers would have an incentive to preserve their LEB by getting back
to work quickly, and may be eligible for a re-employment bonus if they get a new
job quickly. The LEB would be portable, and upon retirement, the property of the
worker.

• McCain believes we should have a single, seamless approach to job transition
assistance. He thinks that the Unemployment Insurance System must be more
effective in helping those who have lost a job. He would modernize and
transform our current programs by consolidating redundant federal programs,
strengthening community colleges and technical training and giving displaced
workers more choices to find their way back to productive and prosperous lives.


• McCain would reform training programs to provide quick assistance to workers
seeking new skills. He would give workers access to a flexible training account
that permits them to pay for training at a community college and use leftover
funds to keep their health insurance. 

• McCain would provide special, targeted assistance for older workers. He
believes training is often inefficient for older workers and those 55 years of
age and older who have built up an LEB would be eligible for a Lost Earnings
Supplement. The supplement of up to 50 percent of their earnings loss (up to a
maximum of $10,000) for two years would be rewarded for those who find work
inside 26 weeks.

• Clinton wants to lower trade barriers for US companies.  Ninety-five percent
of the world's customers lie outside our borders and she says we need to be at
the table when the rules for access to those markets are written. To do so, she
thinks the U.S. should engage in multilateral, regional and bilateral efforts to
reduce barriers to trade, level the global playing field and build effective
enforcement of global trading rules. She believes these steps would also
strengthen the U.S. dollar and help to control the rising cost of living that
hurts our families. 


• Clinton says she will act to make American workers more competitive. She
wants to prepare the next generation of workers by making American education
worthy of the promise we make to our children and ourselves.  We must be a
nation committed to competitiveness and opportunity. She would fight for the
ability of all students to have access to any school of demonstrated
excellence. She would place parents and children at the center of the education
process, empowering parents by greatly expanding the ability of parents to
choose among schools for their children. 

• Clinton would reform the Unemployment Insurance System by depositing a
portion of each workers Unemployment Insurance Tax into a Lost Earnings Buffer
Account (LEB). If an individual becomes unemployed, the LEB may be used to
cover needed expenses, with a backstop of traditional UI if the account is
exhausted before 26 weeks. Workers would have an incentive to preserve their
LEB by getting back to work quickly, and may be eligible for a re-employment
bonus if they get a new job quickly. The LEB would be portable, and upon
retirement, the property of the worker.

• Clinton believes we should have a single, seamless approach to job transition
assistance. She thinks that the Unemployment Insurance System must be more
effective in helping those who have lost a job. She would modernize and
transform our current programs by consolidating redundant federal programs,
strengthening community colleges and technical training and giving displaced
workers more choices to find their way back to productive and prosperous lives.


• Clinton would reform training programs to provide quick assistance to workers
seeking new skills. She would give workers access to a flexible training account
that permits them to pay for training at a community college and use leftover
funds to keep their health insurance. 

• Clinton would provide special, targeted assistance for older workers. She
believes training is often inefficient for older workers and those 55 years of
age and older who have built up an LEB would be eligible for a Lost Earnings
Supplement. The supplement of up to 50 percent of their earnings loss (up to a
maximum of $10,000) for two years would be rewarded for those who find work
inside 26 weeks.