Summary of Major Election Issues

This is my fair, balanced summary of where the candidates stand on most major election issues. This summary is based solely on the information provided on the candidates' web sites. I made this choice because I wanted to be as fair and balanced as is humanly possible. If a candidate doesn't provide accurate information on his web site, only he can be accountable for that. If I had scoured the news, speeches, videos, and sound bites there is a better chance that I would have come upon some form of slant or misinformation.

Therefore, this summary is the most balanced that you could possibly find.

Barack Obama's web site: http://www.barackobama.com/

John McCain's web site: http://www.johnmccain.com/


Abortion

The basics:

• Barack Obama is pro-choice. He opposes any constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's decision in Roe vs. Wade. He believes abortion should be legal on a federal level.
  
  
• John McCain is pro-life. He will nominate judges who believe in overturning Roe vs. Wade in an attempt to bring the issue of abortion to the states. He believes that states should be able to chose whether or not abortion is legal in their state.

Further information on abortion:

• John McCain does and will support adoption both in his personal life and in government. For example, he and his wife adopted a child from Bangladesh. He supports government policy that gives tax credit for adoption costs.
  
• Barack Obama does and will support government funding for better sex education and family planning. For example, he was an original co-sponsor of the Prevention First Act, which is aimed at preventing unplanned pregnancies in America.

Gay Marriage

• Barack Obama's web site does not provide any information about gay marriage.*
  
  
• John McCain believes that same-sex marriage should be decided by the states. In other words, he believes a state should have the right to chose whether gay marriage should be legal in their state or not.
  

* PLEASE! If anyone finds information about gay marriage on Barack Obama's web site, let me know! I looked under Civil Rights, Ethics, Faith, Family, and Additional Issues, but found nothing.


Economy

Note: Both candidates' economic plans are extremely complicated and they involve every other issue on the board, including health care, energy, government reform, and foreign policy. I have tried my best here to fairly summarize each candidates basic economic philosophy. I strongly encourage all readers of this blog post to visit each candidate's web site for more information.

• Barack Obama believes in creating large-scale government stimulus worth at least $50 billion, as well as investing in American technology and industrial sectors. He also believes in lowering taxes for the middle class, as well as regulating large financial instutiutions such as mortgage and credit card companies. Finally, he wants to tax the rich more and give that money to families to provide for rising energy costs.
  
  
• John McCain believes in lowering taxes, including those for the middle class, small business, and large corporations. He also believes that the government should focus on balancing the budget within four years. Finally, he believes that investing in domestic energy and subsidizing individuals with $2,500 towards healthcare will bolster the economy.
  

Iraq

• Barack Obama says that if he takes office, he will immediately begin a withdrawal plan. He purports that a 16-month withdrawal plan is feasable.
  
  
• John McCain says that he will not consider withdrawal until Iraq appears to be stable. He purports that American troops are needed to ensure the fairness of important upcoming votes in Iraq.

Health Care

• Barack Obama plans to create a government-owned health care plan that can cover everyone. He wants to create a National Health Insurance Exchange which will impose rules and regulations on participating health care plans. He also wants to require employers to participate in funding their employees' health care. Finally, he wants to invest in biomedical and other scientific fields.
  
  
• John McCain plans to give a $2,500 tax credit to every individual to offset the cost of insurance. Money left over from this credit could be put directly into a personal health savings account. McCain also wants the government to work on strategies that will lower health care costs. Finally, he wants to invest in chronic illness research, as well as the development of medical information technologies.

Energy and Environment

• Barack Obama wants to federally mandate higher fuel economy standards and create tax credits for advanced automobiles. He also proposes a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emissions. He also believes in prioritizing a pipepline to Alaskan natural gas.
  
  
• John McCain proposes monetary incentives for the development of new technologies and improvements on existing technologies like hybrid vehicles. He also believes the government should invest in the rapid development of clean coal technologies and the construction of more nuclear power.

Education

• Barack Obama wants to reform No Child Left Behind and give more money to the public school system.
  
  
• John McCain thinks schools should be forced to compete to be the best. He believes that parents should be given greater control over where their children are educated.

Note: These summaries are purposefully breif. I don't know enough about education to write well-rounded descriptions of each plan. Although Obama's plan provides a detailed listing of new spending, I characterize it above by saying he wants to give more money to the public school system. Likewise, McCain's web site provides plentiful information on how he will give benefits to higher-performing teachers and will provide federal funding towards alternative educational methods such as online education. You should visit the candidates' web sites to get a more detailed description of their plans. I won't pretend to fully understand them!


Immigration

• Barack Obama believes that we need to secure the borders, simplify and improve the immigration process, crack down on companies that hire illegal immigrants, and create a fair system that allows current illegal immigrants to eventually gain citizenship.
  
  
• John McCain believes that we need to secure the borders, crack down on companies that hire illegal immigrants, create a fair system that allows current illegal immigrants to eventually gain citizenship, and improve the immigration process and attempt to eliminate the immigration backlog.