7 Key Issues

Abortion


Obama: Obama has both agreed with abortion in the past and disagreed with it. He failed to support a bill prohibiting funds to groups that perform abortions. Obama disagreed with Supreme Court ruling to uphold the "Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act." Obama disagrees with any amendment to overturn the ruling in Roe vs. Wade. He simply doesn’t believe one way or another instead he has a unique view. This unique view makes his various speeches seem to oppose his previous votes.


Biden: Agrees with Obama in the fact that he is for the decision made in Roe vs. wade. He is for the ban on partial-birth abortion and opposes public funding for abortion.
Click here to watch Obama speak about abortion



McCain: He against abortion and believes all human life should be valued. McCain Voted for the Prohibit Partial Birth Abortion bill in 2003 and supports his decision strongly. He voted to prohibit funding to groups who perform abortions and supports Supreme Court ruling upholding the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. McCain believes that the ruling in Roe vs. Wade is a bad decision that must be overturned.


Palin: Palin’s view is very much like McCain’s. Palin is against abortion in all cases including rape and incest, except when a mother's life is in danger. She stated that she believes that the case of Roe v. Wade should be overturned and the decision given to the states.
Click here to watch McCain speak abortion


Education


Obama: He values education highly and wants more high-quality early childhood education programs. He also wants more child care opportunities and the recruiting of well qualified teachers. Obama wants to reduce the high school dropout rate and empower parents to raise healthy and successful children by taking a greater role in their child's education at home and at school. He believes that the no child left behind law “has the right goal but the law has significant flaws that need to be addressed.” Obama proposes investing $10 billion a year to increase the number of children eligible for Early Head Start, increase access to preschool, provide affordable and quality child care and increase coordination across federal, state and local levels. He also proposes more scholarships for students planning to attend four years college.


Biden: He agrees completely with Obama. This is ironic in that when he attended college he failed to value education and made only mediocre grades.
Click here to watch Obama speak about education




McCain: McCain has stated that “We need to reward good teachers and find bad teachers another line of work”. He believes that “we need more charter schools” and that “we need vouchers where it's approved by the local, state school boards.” McCain fully supports the leave no child behind law and he wishes to put 5% of title II funding toward the development of teachers. McCain also wants to improve virtual schools by reforming the "Enhancing Education Through Technology Program."


Palin: Palin said during the vice presidential debate on October 2 “Education in America has been in some sense in some of our states just accepted to be a little bit lax, and we have got to increase the standards. No Child Left Behind was implemented. It's not doing the job though. We need flexibility in No Child Left Behind." That statement pretty much sums up her view on educational standards.
Click her to watch McCain speak about education



Death Penalty


Obama: Obama believes the death penalty is used too inconsistently and too much. He does however, support it but only for cases in which "the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage." He also stated that "While the evidence tells me that the death penalty does little to deter crime, I believe there are some crimes so heinous that the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage by meting out the ultimate punishment. On the other hand, the way capital cases were tried in Illinois at the time was so rife with error, questionable police tactics, racial bias, and shoddy lawyering, that 13 death row inmates had been exonerated."


Biden: He supports Obama in that he believes the death penalty should be used. However he also passed laws reducing the limits of the death penalties which is the exact opposite of what Obama wants.




McCain: McCain has indicated many times that he supports the death penalty. He has voted to restrict the death penalty while still keeping it in affective usage. He also states that he believes that the death penalty is an affective deterrent of crime because it restores are natural fear of the loss of our life.


Palin: Palin is a big supporter of capital punishment. She recently stated "If the legislature passed a death penalty law, I would sign it. We have a right to know that someone who rapes and murders a child or kills an innocent person in a drive-by shooting will never be able to do that again."




Environment


Obama: Obama plans implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the level recommended by top scientists. Obama would make the United States a leader in the global effort to combat climate change. Obama would limit carbon emissions. He would create a Technology Transfer program within the Department of Energy dedicated to sharing climate-friendly technologies to developing or “third world countries”. Obama would also reward, forest owners and farmers and ranchers when they plant trees or restore grasslands and undertake farming practices that capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.


Biden: Biden supports Obama and stated that global warming “is a threat to international stability as well as a risk to the environment and our economy." He also said “The scientific evidence is clear: We need to take significant steps toward worldwide reduction of greenhouse gases to avoid permanently altering our climate." These statements say it all.
Click here to watch Obama speak about the environment




McCain: McCain introduced the Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act of 2007 with Senator Joseph Lieberman. The legislation is designed to significantly reduce the nation's greenhouse gases, accomplished through a combination of trading markets and the deployment of advanced technologies. McCain proposed use of alternative energy sources (including nuclear) that would not hurt the environment as much.


Palin: When Palin was asked by ABC News whether she believes global warming is a natural occurrence or man made, Palin said, "I'm attributing some of man's activities to potentially causing some of the changes in the climate right now." Around the same time, though she was quoted by Newsmax magazine saying, "A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. ... I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made." These two statements are contradictory like must of her statements and it his hard to tell her true stance on the subject.
Click here to watch McCain speak about the environment


Healthcare



Obama: Obama has said, "The time has come for universal health care in America….I am absolutely determined that by the end of the first term of the next president, we should have universal health care in this country." Obama's health care plan would guarantee eligibility for affordable health care for all Americans. This would be paid for by insurance reform, reducing costs, removing patent protection for pharmaceuticals, and required employer contributions. He would provide mandatory healthcare for all children and allow them to be insured under their parent up to the age of 25.


Biden: Biden supports expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program to allow more children to participate. He wants to give uninsured Americans the opportunity to purchase an insurance plan that is comparable to the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan and to give people 55 and older the chance to buy into early coverage under Medicare.



McCain: McCain is against publicly funded health care and universal health care. Instead, he proposes tax credits of up to $5,000 for families to get health insurance. McCain has said, "In health care, we believe in enhancing the freedom of individuals to receive necessary and desired care. We do not believe in coercion and the use of state power to mandate care, coverage or costs." This fits perfectly with him supporting the Health Care Choice Act, which would allow citizens to purchase health insurance nationwide instead of limiting them to in-state companies, and to buy insurance through any organization or association they choose as well as through their employers or buying direct from an insurance company. At the heart of his plan are tax credits - $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families who do not subscribe to or do not have access to health care through their employer. He plans to pay for this by eliminating the tax break currently offered to employers for providing health insurance to employees.


Palin: Palin supports McCain on many key points. She stated on Sarah Palin for Governor Web site, "I support flexibility in government regulations that allow competition in health care that is needed and is proven to be good for the consumer, which will drive down health care costs and reduce the need for government subsidies. I also support patients in their rightful demands to have access to full medical billing information."


Immigration


Obama: Obama supported Bush-backed immigration reform legislation, which would have increased funding and improved border security technology, improved enforcement of existing laws, and provided a legal path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants. He also voted to authorize construction of a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexican border that he says would help deter illegal immigration.


Biden: Biden supports Obama in that he supported the Bush-backed 2006 bill for comprehensive immigration reform. Biden stated that, "this was the only bill that adequately addressed all three pieces: mandating tough border security, tightening our temporary guest worker program and finding a humane and reasonable way to deal with the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living and working in the United States. He believes in Obama’s plan to tighten border security and help illegal immigrants gain legal citizenship. He voted for the construction of a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexican border.
Click here to watch Obama speak about immigration

McCain: McCain and Obama pretty much have the same view on immigration. McCain co-sponsored Bush-backed immigration reform legislation, which would have increased funding and improved border security technology, improved enforcement of existing laws, and provided a legal path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants. He also voted to authorize construction of a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexican border.


Palin: While Palin has little insight on the subject, she fully backs McCain’s policy and hopes to put an end to illegal immigration.
Click here to watch McCain speak about Immigration.


Iraq War



Obama: Obama opposed use of military force in Iraq. Obama stated, "I know that invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East and encourage the worst rather than best impulses in the Arab world and strengthen the recruitment arm of al Qaeda. I am not opposed to all wars; I am opposed to dumb wars." Obama voted for war spending bill that would have withdrawn most U.S. troops by March 2008. He would redeploy U.S. troops at a pace of one to two brigades a month. The Obama campaign says the proposed schedule would remove them from Iraq within 16 months and be complete by summer 2010.


Biden: Biden voted in 2002 for use of military force in Iraq but has become a critic of the war. He said the vote was a mistake. "I regret having … believed that this administration had any competence," he told NBC News. Biden co-sponsored the Iraq War Policy Bill in 2007 that opposed the troop surge supported by President Bush. He also co-sponsored a Senate resolution in January 2007 that stated, "It is not in the national interest of the United States to deepen its military involvement in Iraq, particularly by escalating the United States military force presence in Iraq."
Click here to watch Obama speak about the war in Iraq




McCain: McCain supports the war and believes it is necessary for not only the protection of the U.S. but also the protection of the Iraqi people. McCain voted in 2002 for use of military force in Iraq. He Supported Bush’s veto of war spending bill that would have withdrawn most U.S. troops by March 2008. McCain was one of the earliest people who supported the sending of additional American troops to Iraq. He does not believe in setting a withdrawal timetable and has stated that “anything is a good timetable that is dictated by conditions on the ground. Anything is good. But the timetable is dictated not by an artificial date but by the conditions on the ground.”


Palin: Palin supports the war and stated during the vice presidential debate October 2, "We don't need early withdrawal out of Iraq. We cannot afford to lose there or we're going to be no better off in the war in Afghanistan either. "She also stated that “We cannot afford to lose against al Qaeda and the Shia extremists who are still there, still fighting us, but we're getting closer and closer to victory. And it would be a travesty if we quit now in Iraq.”
Click Here to watch McCain speak about the war in Iraq


Economy


Obama: Obama supported the $700 billion Wall Street bailout package. On October 3, he stated, "America is facing one of the greatest financial crises in history, and today's passage of an emergency rescue plan was absolutely necessary to prevent an economic catastrophe that could have cost millions of jobs and forced businesses across the country into bankruptcy." Obama Purposes a series of reforms for the financial sector that include new oversight of investment banks, more disclosure by financial firms, higher capital requirements for firms used to operating with a minimal cash backstop, and more consistent rules that apply to all financial institutions, not just regular banks. He supported increasing the federal insurance for money deposited in personal bank accounts to $250,000. Obama also purposes a $50 billion emergency economic stimulus plan. The money would go toward 1 million jobs for rebuilding infrastructure and schools, and helping local governments avoid budget cuts.


Biden: Biden says he would balance the federal budget by ending the Iraq war and eliminating the associated expenditures, and ending tax cuts for the wealthy. He supports rolling back oil speculation and confronting OPEC to bring down oil prices. Biden plans to invest in U.S. infrastructure - bridges, dams, roads and airports - as a means of creating jobs. He would expand the research and development tax credit and the earned income tax credit. He also plans to crack down on predatory lending and provide tax breaks for small businesses. This plan, he says, will greatly improve the nation economy and send us into prosperity.



McCain: McCain supported the $700 billion Wall Street bailout package. "This rescue bill isn't perfect, and it is an outrage that it's even necessary, but we have to stop the damage to our economy done by corrupt and incompetent practices on Wall Street and in Washington. The action Congress took is a tourniquet. It is not a permanent solution." McCain also said in a statement "The McCain-Palin administration will replace the outdated and ineffective patchwork quilt of regulatory oversight in Washington and bring transparency and accountability to Wall Street."


Palin: Palin purposes more federal oversight of investment and savings firms.
She stated that “It was the predator lenders, who tried to talk Americans into thinking that it was smart to buy a $300,000 house if we could only afford a $100,000 house. There was deception there, and there was greed and there is corruption on Wall Street. And we need to stop that.” Palin also stated that “We need to make sure that as individuals we're taking personal responsibility through all this. It's not the American people's fault that the economy is hurting like it is, but we have an opportunity to learn a heck of a lot of good lessons through this and say never again will we be taken advantage of.”


Poverty


Obama: Obama hopes to give tax cuts to the needy and tax the rich. He also hopes to better the African American poverty stricken areas by implementing a series of laws and pans. He didn’t state much more on the subject.


Biden: Biden supports Obama in his plan to help poverty stricken areas and he also plans to make sure that everything that can be done about American poverty is done.

McCain: Plans to take tax breaks from big companies that outsource jobs and give to companies that create more jobs here in the United States. This he says will help the poverty stricken obtain good jobs. He also plans to enroll the help of many programs that would help clean up the poverty stricken areas of the United States.


Palin: Palin’s plan is similar to both McCain’s and barrack Obama’s. She believes in a hybrid plan that combines the best of both.


Stem cell Research


Obama: Obama purposes increased stem cell research yet, he opposes the creation of human embryos solely for research purposes. Obama stated that "We owe it to the American public to explore the potential of stem cells to treat the millions of people suffering from debilitating and life-threatening diseases." He supported legislation during his Illinois Senate that tenure in the allowed embryonic stem cell research in that state. Obama opposes human cloning in any manor.
Biden: Biden is a supporter of stem cell research and backs Obama fully on his limiations of stem cell research.
Click here to watch Obama speak about stem cell research




McCain: McCain supports federal funding for embryonic stem cell research on embryos that would otherwise be discarded but opposes the creation of human embryos solely for research purposes. He also opposes human cloning and any related experimentation.


Palin: Palin had this to say when asked about stem cell research: “My personal opinion is we should not create human life -- create an embryo and then destroy it for research -- if there are other options out there... And thankfully, again, not only are there other options, but we're getting closer and closer to finding a tremendous amount more of options, like, as I mentioned, the adult stem cell research.”
Click here to watch McCain speak about stem cell research