For over two decades, Richard Gephardt has represented the people of St. Louis, Missouri, in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is also a major figure in the national Democratic party, serving as the House Minority Leader and (should the Dems ever regain the majority) the most likely candidate to become Speaker of the House. Having foregone the presidential campaigns of the 2000 election to take a shot at House leadership, Gephardt has laid out in An Even Better Place his conception of the most pressing concerns affecting the American people on the brink of the 21st century.
Although he does have specific recommendations in areas like public education and international trade, Gephardt's overarching theme is one of reinvigorating what he sees as the two main components of liberalism, community activism, and citizen participation. His goal is to move away from the destructive politics of personal attacks and reassert an active commitment to fulfilling values and ideals. He lays out his ideas, formulated through years of contact with the people he represents, in a clear, straightforward style. And though he's extremely engaging, even friendly, the stakes are of the utmost seriousness. "Democracy and freedom depend upon all kinds of citizen participation," Gephardt warns. "Without it, they will die--maybe sooner, maybe later, but they will die." Whether or not you agree with Gephardt's specific policy suggestions, that principle seems unassailable--and his commitment admirable.
From Publishers Weekly
The man who would be the next Speaker of the House presents readers with a thoughtful, earnest book in which he reflects on his 23 years in Congress and articulates what he believes needs to be done to make America an even better place. After an obligatory call for leaders in Washington to stop the "politics of personal destruction," the Missouri Democrat reviews his career, discussing what he's fought against (NAFTA) and what he's lobbied to pass (the Patient's Bill of Rights, a higher minimum wages) in Congress. Addressing the needs of the future, Gephardt identifies what he calls a "quiet crisis" brewing in this country: a crumbling Social Security system, millions of people who are overworked and underpaid, millions more without adequate health care. The only way to fix these problems, Gephardt states, is for the American people to renew their sense of civic duty and to help government help people help themselves. Perhaps because he is not running for national office (he declined to seek his party's presidential nomination in 2000), Gephardt is far less self-promoting in these pages than the average pol is in the average campaign-season book. While the book has its share of bland platitudes, Gephardt offers some real insights into such issues as American trade policy (he's not nearly the protectionist his critics claim) and welfare reform (he hates the reform bill Clinton signed on the eve of the 1996 election). Most of all, he comes off as an honorable career politician trying to redefine what it means to be a labor Democrat in a post-industrial economic and political landscape.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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