2008 Election Voter Information Guide
Presidential Candidates
Contents: Barack Obama………… 2 John McCain………...…3 Cynthia McKinney..……4 Bob Barr……………….5 More info……………….7
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This is not a comprehensive guide to the 2008 election. It is merely meant to be an overview of a few key issues and the positions of the two major Presidential candidates
Senator Barack Obama (Democrat)
Barack Obama is a Senator from Illinois, currently serving his first term. He has also served on the Illinois State Senate. The Iraq War: Barack Obama opposed the Congressional Resolution authorizing military action against Iraq before the outset of the war. An outspoken opponent of the “surge” strategy, he has maintained that a solution in Iraq requires political steps not achievable by military force alone. He has proposed a 16 month timetable for withdrawal of American troops, a time frame similar to that proposed by the Iraqi Prime Minister. He has said that the war in Iraq has detrimentally taken US military focus off of the war in Afghanistan, where he says he will add at least two more brigades and try to gain more cooperation with the Pakistani government to defeat Taliban and Al Qaeda forces on the border between the two countries. Healthcare: He is supportive of national health care insurance to cover the 47 million Americans currently without insurance, but was criticized on the left for his opposition to mandatory participation in the program. He cites this as a part of his economic plan to help Americans struggling to make ends meet. Environment: He has proposed long-term solutions to the rapid rise of energy costs, suggesting working aggressively towards “green technologies,” citing them also as a solution to global warming. He has, however, been criticized for his support for the recent Farm Bill, which included large subsidies for ethanol, for the good of his home state. Economy: His economic plans include a tax-cut for Americans making less than $250,000 per year, rolling back the Bush tax cuts for those making anything above that, increasing help to homeowners jeopardized by the recent foreclosure crisis, adding another stimulus bill, increasing unemployment insurance, and making NAFTA more “fair” to American workers. Immigration: His immigration plans include increasing security at U.S. borders (border patrol, surveillance, and deploy technology), ensuring that employers are checking the legal status of their workers through a new employment eligibility verification system, and allowing undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens. He also supports promoting economic development in Mexico to decrease illegal immigration. Martial Rights: He opposes same-sex marriage, but supports civil unions with all the benefits conferred by the state available for a legally sanctioned heterosexual marriage, leaving it up to religious denominations to recognize the marriage as valid or not. He is more interested in ensuring that all people are equal under the law and conferred the same civil rights regardless of sexual orientation. Reproductive Rights: Senator Obama is pro-choice. He believes abortion is a moral issue, but trusts women to make their own decisions along with their families, doctors, and clergy. In
addition, he wants to reduce the number of abortions by reducing teen pregnancy, encouraging adoption, and making sure that children receive adequate sex education. Social Security: Senator Obama opposes raising the national retirement age, cutting benefits and privatizing Social Security. He argues for tax cuts for seniors making less than $50k and plans to solve the cash shortfall of social security by raising the amount of earnings currently subject to the social security tax (today, social security tax only applies to the first $97,000 an individual makes). Campaign Finance Reform: Senator Obama often cites ethics reform as a major legislative achievement, and has refused the donations from lobbyists towards his campaign. He has gotten some negative press for refusing public campaign finances, but he maintains that his record fund raising from small donors has allowed him to maintain a de facto public financing system and counteract the minimally-regulated 527 groups such as “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” employed in the 2004 campaign against John Kerry. Education: His education plans have included funding No Child Left Behind--citing a need for funding and accountability--as well as increasing national focus on math and science.
Senator John McCain (Republican)
John McCain is a senator from Arizona. He served in the Navy until 1981, which was followed by two terms as a representative for the 1st Congressional District. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 and won re-election in 1992, 1998, and 2004. The Iraq War: John McCain believes it is strategically and morally essential for the United States to support the Government of Iraq to become capable of governing itself and safeguarding its people. He strongly disagrees with those who advocate withdrawing American troops before that has occurred. Healthcare: McCain plans to reform the current health care system. This includes the use of competition to improve the quality of health insurance and coverage to all individuals. He also plans to provide families with a direct refundable tax credit to offset the cost of insurance and expand the benefits of Health Savings Accounts. He also plans to work with governors to develop a best practice model that states could follow for a Guaranteed Access Plan to help those who are traditionally uninsurable. John McCain also plans to lower health costs by addressing the cost of drugs, chronic disease, coordinated care, information technology, transparency, and more. Environment and Energy: McCain proposes a Cap-And-Trade System to set limits on greenhouse gas emissions and allow for the gradual reductions of overall emissions. He also believes in international collaboration in order to solve global climate change. McCain also plans to develop a Climate Change Adaptation Plan. He has proposed a comprehensive energy plan, called the Lexington Project, to address American energy problems. This includes expanding domestic oil and natural gas exploration and production. In order to help break
dependency on foreign oil, McCain will issue a Clean Car Challenge to American automakers. He will also propose a $300 million prize to improve battery technology for full commercial development of plug-in hybrid and fully electric automobiles. He also supports flex fuel and alcohol-based fuels. McCain believes in the investment in alternative sources of energy, including clean coal technology, and nuclear, wind, hydroelectric, and solar power. Economy: McCain’s economic plans are based on fiscal discipline. He plans to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term by controlling spending and lowering corporate tax rates to promote economic growth. He also has a Home Plan to alleviate the housing crisis with FHA guaranteed home loans. Immigration: McCain first believes in securing American borders through physical and virtual barriers. He also plans to implement an electronic employment verification system to screen individuals for work eligibility. He will also implement temporary worker programs to meet labor needs. In addition, all current undocumented workers will have to enroll in a program to resolve their status, which include background checks to determine if illegal aliens must leave or may follow the path to legal residence. Marital Rights: McCain believes marriage is a union between one man and one woman, but voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment. He believes that state and local governments should set their own policies. Abortion: McCain opposes abortion rights except in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother. Social Security: McCain supports supplementing the current social security system with personal accounts, but not as a complete substitute. Campaign Finance Reform: McCain is a sponsor of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002, also known as "McCain-Feingold," the most recent major federal law on campaign finance, which revised some of the legal limits of expenditure set in 1974, and prohibited unregulated contributions (called "soft money") to national political parties. He is criticized for supporting censorship in political expression rather than transparency in campaign finance. Education: McCain seeks to improve, not discard, No Child Left Behind, by expanding the ability of parents to choose among schools for their children. He also supports making tutoring more accessible for children failing in school. Another feature of McCain’s plan for education reform is to devote more resources towards online learning through virtual schools, proposing to direct $500 million in current federal education funds to build new virtual schools and to support the development of online courses for students. McCain also proposes reforming the Head Start program and instituting a “merit pay” system, or giving higher teacher pay based on student performance and a teacher's willingness to work in low-achieving schools.
Cynthia McKinney (Green Party)
Cynthia McKinney served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, as a congresswoman from Georgia. She has also served in the Georgia House of Representatives. The Iraq War: McKinney wants to withdraw all troops and civilian contractors from Iraq and Afghanistan as quickly as is safely possible for US troops. She also wants to bring the leaders involved in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity in international court. She believes the US should provide humanitarian aid to these areas to help them rebuild. Healthcare: McKinney’s plan includes publicly funded universal health insurance, administered at the state and local levels. She wants to emphasize primary and preventive care where appropriate rather than elaborate and expensive treatment or mitigation options. Environment/Energy: Environmental stewardship is one of the pillars of the Green Party’s general platform. They advocate dedicating financial resources to the development of alternative fuels, ending further oil and gas drilling and exploration, and local regulation of energy utilities. The Green Party has a very comprehensive platform regarding environmental issues – for more information, visit http://gp.org/committees/platform/draft/work/enviro-PAamend.html. Economy/Social Security: McKinney is in favor of a progressive taxation system that successfully redistributes wealth appropriately (rather than allowing wealth and influence to accrue in the hands of a few). She also emphasizes the development of local, community-based economies and small businesses that can in turn provide jobs. There is also a call for reform of pension and insurance systems, including greater ownership of pension plans by employees and increased regulation over insurance companies. Immigration: Undocumented immigrants who are already in the US should be granted the opportunity to have a path to citizenship that involves reasonable fees and wait times. The current immigration system should be reformed to reduce wait lists and make family reunification a priority. Citizens of countries with which the US has free trade agreements should be allowed to emigrate to and work in the US easily. Persons seeking political, religious, or other kinds of asylum should be given legal resident status. McKinney is against building a wall along the US-Mexico border. Marital Rights: The Green Party supports the right of all people to have access to the benefits of marriage, civil union, and other partnership options regardless of sexual orientation. Reproductive Rights: The Green Party is pro-choice and seeks to provide safe and legal abortion options, in addition to multiple contraceptive options.
Campaign Finance Reform: McKinney would like to work towards public financing of political campaigns, including capping spending and contributions, in order to reduce the influence of wealth on elections. Education: McKinney supports public education for kindergarten through high school and a policy of “equal access to equal education” across the nation. This involves appropriate pay for teachers and standards for teacher-to-student ratios, availability of supplies, and access to arts and athletic programs for all schools. She also advocates state funding for pre-kindergarten and after-school programs for all children and opposes any programs that move money from the public school system into private hands.
Bob Barr (Libertarian)
Bob Barr currently practices law with the Law Offices of Edwin Marger, and runs a consulting firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. He represented Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives for four terms. Iraq: Barr views the invasion and occupation of Iraq as two separate mistakes, which collectively have cost thousands of American lives and hundreds of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars. Barr intends to put in place plans for withdrawal without undue delay. As President, Barr would call for an immediate and significant reduction of both military and economic support in Iraq. Healthcare and Social Security: Barr believes that our health care policy should be reformed based on the principle of consumer-oriented health care. For Barr, regulations that mandate insurance coverage and inflate premiums should be eliminated, and controls which restrict competition within the health care industry, and that limit access to insurance across state lines should be ended. He plans to reform the current tax policy encouraging the individual purchase of policies. Environment and Energy: Barr sees government intervention in the energy crisis as hurting consumers in the end. He thinks that the free market, driven by consumer choice and the real cost of resources, should be the foundation of America's energy policy. The federal government should eliminate restrictions that inhibit energy production, as well as privileges for the production of politically-favored fuels, such as ethanol. Barr would allow the exploration and production of America's domestic resources, including oil in the Outer Continental Shelf and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and alternative sources such as shale oil. Economy: Barr’s number one goal is to drastically reduce spending by limiting federal expenditures as provided in the United States Constitution. Every area of federal spending can be cut. Entitlements must be reformed and welfare would be cut, including corporate welfare. Military outlays would be reduced as well. Barr sees controlling government spending as a necessary step to enact true tax reform. Barr seeks to establish a wall of separation between government and the economy.
Immigration: Barr believes that America has too many illegal immigrants and too few legal ones. He sees the starting point of the immigration policy as securing the borders. He thinks that only by deterring massive illegal border crossings can the U.S. put in place a fair and enforceable legal immigration policy. His policy would end government benefits and services for illegal immigrants and overturn the 1982 Supreme Court decision that mandates that we provide education to the children of illegal immigrants. He also wants to reconsider the policy of "birthright" citizenship, and policies, such as foreign language ballots, that he thinks discourage assimilation. Barr believes the best policy would be to stop illegal immigrant flows while accepting more of the world's economically productive who want to come to America. Marital Rights: Barr believes that the federal government should neither regulate personal relationships nor discriminate against individuals for their personal preferences. He would leave laws regulating marriage to the states. He thinks that the federal government should not define marriage, whether by statute or constitutional amendment. Reproductive Rights: Barr recognizes that abortion is a sensitive issue and that people can hold good-faith views on all sides, he believes that government should be kept out of the matter, leaving the question to each person for their conscientious consideration. Education: Barr sees education as more than just practical learning, but the transmission of moral values. Because of this, he thinks that school reform should start by shifting control over education from government to parents. Barr wants to abolish the Department of Education, eliminate federal grants and regulations, and begin moving power back to the states and local communities. He thinks that states should consider tax credits or deductions for parents who home school or send their children to private schools, and public schools should be managed locally, increasing accountability and parental involvement. Barr wants parents to have control of and responsibility for the funds expended for their children's education. For More Information:
Bob Barr: http://www.bobbarr2008.com John McCain: http://www.johnmccain.com Cynthia McKinney: http://www.runcynthiarun.org Barack Obama: http://www.barackobama.com Democratic Party: http://www.democrats.org Republican Party: http://www.rnc.org Green Party: http://www.gp.org Libertarian Party: http://www.lp.org Constitution Party: http://www.constitutionparty.com American Independent Party: http://www.aipca.org