Key Issues for Voting for Obama or Romney

TAXES

Obama wants to increase taxes on the wealthy (3 to 4%; to 36% & 29.6%) and extend the Bush-era tax cuts making under $200,000 a person or $250,000 a couple. He also wants to raise rates on capital gains and dividends for the wealthy.

Romney wants to keep the Bush-era tax cuts for everyone and further drop taxes 20% across the board; the top rate going down to 28% and the lowest to 8%. He also would curtail deductions, credits and exemptions for the wealthiest. He would eliminate capital gains gax for families making below $200,000. He would cut corporate taxes from 35% to 25%. He does not specify which tax break or programs he would stop or reduce to cover these costs.

SOCIAL SECURITY

Obama does not have a long term plan to address S.S. long term issues. In 2011 he proposed and reduction of annual increases in SS benefits.

Romney says he would protect the status quo for now for folk 55 and over, but raise retirement ages 1 or 2 years and reduce inflation benefits for wealthier recipients.

HEALTH CARE

Obama is now well know for instituting “Obamacare” and universal coverage system, which bans denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, tax credit subsidize premiums, small businesses get help for offering insurance and he will expand Midicaid.

Romany says he will repeal Obamacare and then recreate it on a state level. He would also create medical savings accounts to be used to pay for insurance and health costs.

GAY RIGHTS

Obama supports legal recognition of same-sex marriages as decided by states. He extended the civil rights, and repealed the military ban on openly gay members.

Romney opposes recognition of same sex-marriages and believe they should be banned by a constitutional amendment, not left to states.

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT

Obama instituted a ban on deep-water drinking after the BP spill but has pushed for more oil and gas drilling overall. He achieved historic increases in fuel economy standards; gas prices lower car prices higher. He established the first regulations on heat-trapping gasses blamed for global warming and on toxic mercury pollution from power plants. He failed in an attempt to persuade congress limits on carbon emissions.

Romany supports drilling on Atlantic and Pacific out continental shelves and Western lands, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and offshore Alaska. He would reduce limits on coal, natural gas and nuclear energy development and up drilling permits. He believes green power is not yet viable and climate changes uncertain.

EDUCATION

Obama pretty much done away with the Bush-era No child left behind law. Instead he has pushed “Race to the Top” a competition that rewards stations pursuing educational ideas Obama likes.

Romney supported the Fed. Standards of the No child left behind law. He also like charter-school incentives and the standards of Obama’s Race to the Top, but wants less federal involvement.

ECONOMY

High unemployed has plagued his administration resulting from a deep recession he inherited. He backed the $800 billion stimulus plan and the bailouts begun under the Bush administration. He is for tax breaks for U.S. manufacturing that emphasizes domestic work or bringing jobs home from overseas and tax penalties for companies outsourcing jobs.

Roman wants lower taxes, less regulation, a balanced budget, and trade deals to stimulate growth.

DEBT

Obama has faced 4 years of trillion dollar deficits. He got approval raise the debt limit to avoid default. To reduce debt he want to have spending cuts and revenue increases. Central to his plan is ending Bush era tax cuts to those making over $250,000.

Romney saw the 2008 bailout as necessary but opposed the auto bailout. He would cap federal spending at 20% of Gross Domestic Product with unspecified cuts. He favors a balanced budget amendment.

FOREIGN POLICY

Obama does not want a military strike on Iran but holds the option open if it is the only way to keep them from getting nuclear weapons. He has chastised Israel for building on land borders created after 1967 but expanded military and civilian cooperation with Israel. He sought penalties against China for unfair trade.

Romney is more hawkish toward Iran and favors covert action against Iran if it makes a nuclear weapon. He is more aligned with the hardline approach of Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and pledges more military assistance to them

GUNS

Obama has not pushed for stricter gun control laws. He previously backed stronger gun control laws.

Romney is against stricter gun control laws and as governor in Mass. Signed a ban on assault weapons.

IMMIGRATION

Obama issued a directive that immigrants brought illegality inot the US as children be exempted from deportation and given work permits if they apply, after failing a major immigrant overhaul.

Romney favors a border fence between the U.S. and Mexico and opposed education benefits to immigrants or offering legal status to immigrants after they attend college, but would for those who served in the military. He wants a immigration status verification system for employers and punishments for hiring illegals.

TERRORISM

Obama approved the raid the found and killed Osama bin Laden; set a policy that the U.S. would no longer used harsh interrogation techniques that were used in the Bush administration. He has basically carried forward Bush anti-terrorism policies and expanded the use of unmanned drone attacks in Pakistan and Yemen.

Romney would not rule out waterboarding in interrogating terrorists suspects which he does not believe is torture.

WAR

Obama ended the Iraq was and increased U.S. troops in Afghanistan with a plan to remove them by the end of 2014. He approved U.S. air power strikes in a NATO led campaign to topple the Libyan government. Has worked with Republican congressmen to cut $487 billion in military spending over a decade.

Romney endorsed the complete withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014, subject to conditions. He would increase military troops, warships and spending by about $100 billion to the pentagon in 2016 budget.

ABORTION AND BIRTH CONTROL

Obama support abortion rights.

Romney opposes abortion rights (previously supporting them) saying it should be up to the state and believes Roe vs. Wade should be reversed by a future Supreme Court. He would end support to Planned Parenthood.

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This information basically comes from sacbee.com which I found to be basically neutral in laying out the candidate’s positions. I find it consistent with other factchecking in nonbiased web sites: http://2012.candidate-comparison.org/?compare=Romney&vs=Obama a bit exuberant; http://www.diffen.com/difference/Barack_Obama_vs_Mitt_Romney  extensive; http://2012-presidential-candidates.findthedata.org/compare/1-5/Barack-Obama-vs-Mitt-Romney also extensive; http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/2012/0829/Obama-vs.-Romney-101-5-ways-they-differ-on-jobs/Government-s-role and many more.

COMMENTARY

I wrote this blog article to give a quick, concise way for folk to analyze the candidate’s positions and make it easier in making their own choices.

With that said I will make a short statement on my leanings which will come as no surprise to anyone who had read my blog.

I am obviously for Obama although I am disappointed in many parts of his leadership in his first term. Strangely a moral strength has created a political liability for him; trying to get along with other politicians. I feel he has given too much and not pushed hard enough. Of course, he faced likely the most entrenched freshman class of GOP congressmen and many of their seniors that any president has ever had to face. Gridlock has gripped Washington for a long time; now it has practically stopped it in its tracks.

I think it was a mistake to get into Afghanistan basically for fiscal reasons. We cannot afford to be the world’s policemen and our debt is the result of this delusion.

I think the stimulus bill was way too small to really jolt the economy back on line, though our expectations of what he could do were also out of line. I believe the power of FDR type practices were they way to go, but it is problematic that the voters would agree, and the congressional leadership has become so dependent upon corporate America it can no longer work for the people at large.

To vote for Romney I believe takes us back to the days of Reagan and Bush who spent like crazy and deregulated everything in sight so that the nation’s wealth was redistributed to the top at the expense of the middle class.

I don’t think we will have decent leadership in Washington until we make massive changes in our electoral funding process.

I don’t think Obama will get us there, but I believe he is much more in tune with Middle America and will cause far less damage than his opponent which I believe would widen the economic gaps in the country even further.