Getting Informed About the Presidential Candidates

Abortion

Obama: Believes in a woman's right to choose and supports expanding access to contraceptives, health services, and preventive services to reduce unintended pregnancies. Supports partial-birth abortion ban only if it includes an exception to protect the mother's health.

McCain: Against abortion rights except in cases of rape, incest, and to save the mother's life. he wants to overturn Roe Vs. Wade and wants to ban partial-birth abortion. Supports funding of embryonic stem cell research.

Budget/Economy

Obama: Voted against raising the national debt limit. Supports Bailout. Forclosure prevention fund. Raise minimum wage.

McCain: Supports free trade. Energy independence and tax cuts. Wants to reduce war costs. Wants to stop out-of-control spending. Supports Balanced Budget Amendment.

Civil Rights

Obama: Has been working with Latino leaders. Wants to strengthen legislation against hate crimes. Fight job discrimination. Supports affirmative action in colleges and government. Better enforce woman's equal pay with Equal Pay Act.

McCain: Supports Affirmative Action for specific programs.

Education

Obama: Increase budget for education. Pay teachers based of performance. $4,000 college tuition for 100 hours of community service a year. Against vouchers. Improve funding for No Child Left behind.

McCain: Pay bonuses to teachers in the most troubled schools. Get funding to recruit top graduates as teachers. Merit pay and competancy testing for teachers. Supports vouchers. Wants children to be able to decide to switch public schools to better education.

Gay Marriage

Obama: Supports civil unions. believes gay marriage should be left up to the individual states. He also supports gay adoptions. Opposes issue 8.

McCain: He opposes gay marriage and gay adoption. He has been unclear on civil unions. Supports issue 8. think gay marriage should be left to the states to decide. Wants to leave Don't Ask Don't Tell as it is.

Gun Control

Obama: Supports having some restriction on guns. He believes the constitution gives individual Americans the right to bare arms, but that local governments can take steps to protect their citizens.

McCain: Generally opposes banning guns. Supports ban on certain types assault weapons.

Death Penalty

Obama: He supports capital punishment for only the most heinous murders. He supports a federal moratorium on capital punishment.

McCain: He supports capital punishment for federal crimes.

Social Security

Obama: Against privatizing social security. Wants wealthy to pay more on payroll tax.

McCain: Supports personal savings accounts and work incentives.

Energy/Oil

Obama: Drilling as a stop-gap measure, not a long term solution. Supports nuclear power. Invest in alternative energy resources. Does not support gas tax holiday. Global energy forum. Invest to advance biofuels and renewable energy.

McCain: Supports nuclear power, wants to increase number of plants. Gas tax cut for oil companies. Supports alternative energy sources and offshore drilling.

Health Care

Obama: Ban insurance companies for discriminating against the sick. Give evryone government heathcare like members of congress have. Supports universal healthcare. No need to mandate coverage, just let people afford it.

McCain: Large tax credit to families to help buy their health care. Says family should make health decisions, not government. Opposes mandated health care. Encourage competition among providers.

Environment

Obama: Invest in clean energy and green jobs. Create global energy forum.

McCain: Create Green jobs. Tougher regulations on emmission requirements.

Homeland Security

Obama: Go after Al Queada, but shrink pool of potential recruits. Colleges allow ROTC recruiters. No torture. Close Guantanamo and restore habeaus corpus. Register woman for draft, but not for combat. Improve veteran's mental health treatment.

McCain: Improve intelligence to get to Bin Laden. OK with surveillance of oversea communications. No restrictions for women in combat. Raise military pay to avoid draft. Hiding torture is wrong. Torture has never worked.

Immigration

Obama: Believes that increasing the legal fees on immigrants in not helping. Thinks deporting 12 million immigrants is ridiculous. Believes immigration raids are ineffective. Supports granting llegal immigrants driver license. Wants to increase border security.

McCain: Deport 2 million immigrants that have commited crimes. Increase border security.

Welfare

Obama: Has cut poverty in half in ten years. Wants to develop strategy to eliminate extreme global poverty.

McCain: Require 40 hours of work for welfare recipiants. More housing assistance. Use tax code to address homelessness and working conditions.

Taxes

Obama: Wants to give tax cuts to middle class families. Wants to raise CEO taxes.

McCain: Double child tax exemption. Veto any tax increase.

War

Obama: Opposed to the war in Iraq. Wants to remove troops. Get soldiers equipment. Wants to engage in diplomacy with Iran.

McCain: Supports surge, bring home troops with honor.Keep military options open in Iran, does not support diplomacy.

Jesse, Gordon. "On The Issues." On The Issues. 2008. 2 Nov 2008 .

Seelye Q, Katherine. "On the Issues: Social Issues." The New York Times. 02 Nov 2008. 2 Nov 2008 .

"Candidates on the Issues." America. Gov. 2008. 2 Nov 2008 .