2008 Candidates on the Issues ELECTION 2008 – Lipstick on the Pig (Full Text Online for Google Translate)

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Candidates on the Issues

Robert David STEELE Vivas

Chapter in ELECTION 2008: Lipstick on the Pig (Earth Intelligence Network, 2008)

Original As Published

Full Text Online to Facilitate Automated Translation

The two “leading” candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, have offered us platitudes and promises that have no foundation in a balanced budget, and no acknowledgement that both of them, as Senators, have failed to pay attention since August 2006 when Business Week first suggested that a major recession was coming.

A whiff of recession smoke seems to have entered the room, and those of a pessimistic bent can already see the flicker of flames outside the window. Nouriel Roubini, an economist at New York University who was worried about a global recession in 2004, is now predicting that “the U.S. is heading toward a sharp recession by early 2007.” In his view, “current economic and financial conditions in the U.S. eerily resemble those that led to the stock market crash in October, 1987.”[1]

Below is my illustration, followed by tables, both from the superb online source, On the Issues, with permission.  I do not include Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, or others, because what matters here is the range of differences among partisan groups, not individual preferences.  “Proposed” is my common sense middle ground pro-populist recommendation.  Visit On the Issues!

 

Quotes on Moderation[2]

“I was no party man myself, and the first wish of my heart was, if parties did exist, to reconcile them.”                                                                   George Washington

“I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all.” Thomas Jefferson

“There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, it to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.” John Adams

“Be temperate in wine, in eating, girls, and cloth, or the Gout will seize you and plague you both,”  Benjamin Franklin

“The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Extreme opposites resemble the other. Each believes that we have only two choices: appeasement or war, suicide or surrender, humiliation or holocaust, to be either Red or dead.” John F. Kennedy

“On human rights, civil rights and environmental quality, I consider myself to be very liberal. On the management of government, on openness of government, on strengthening individual liberties and local levels of government, I consider myself a conservative.”   Jimmy Carter

” Most Americans are sensible, good-hearted, and prudent. The issue, then, is whether there is a political party [to suit them]. ”    Paul Tsongas

“When we put aside partisanship, embrace the best ideas regardless of where they come from and work for principled compromise, we can move America not left or right, but forward.” Bill Clinton

On the following pages, all active links lead to very good background information at On the Issues.
Economic Issues

Budget & Economy   Proposed:  Balance Budget, End Debt, Close Federal Reserve, Gold.

Key Terms: Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA); Budget deficit; Consumption taxes; Corporate income taxes; Corruption; Death tax; Debt; Defense spending; Discretionary spending; Duties; Entitlements; Federal Reserve; Federal revenue sources; Fiscal policy; Gold Standard; Ignorance; Income taxes; Individual income taxes; Interest; Monetary policy; Mortgage crisis; Non-discretionary spending; Off-budget; Other taxes; Oversight; Progressive tax; Regressive tax; Regulation; Sales taxes; Social insurance (FICA); Social Security Trust Fund; Supplemental spending; Usury; Wall Street greed

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Roll back tax cuts

Huckabee: Cut federal spending; defer to states

Paul: Return to gold standard; deregulate economy

Clinton: Balance budget; pay down debt

Keyes: Limit spending

Romney: Cut deficit; reduce pork; cap spending

Obama: Pay-as-you-go; regulate mortgages

McCain: Balance budget; Lockbox.

Nader: Human economy is not booming

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Government Reform   Proposed: Balanced budget, line item veto, office of strategy, two deputy vice presidents (one for national security, one for commonwealth), end winner take all in Cabinet and in Congress (proportional leadership assignments, no party line voting)

Key terms:  Amendment X to the US Constitution; Balanced Budget Amendment; Block Grants; Campaign Finance; Reform; Devolution; Devolution to States; Election Reform; federal matching funds; Hard money; PAC money; Reinventing Government; Soft money; Term Limits (including judges); Unfunded Mandates

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Limit lobbyists; public cmpn finance

Huckabee: Strengthen states; term limits

Paul: No earmarks; close non-Constitutional agencies

Clinton: Soft-money ban; govt not solution

Keyes: Decrease campaign $; more disclosure

Romney: For line-item veto; against McCain-Feingold

Obama: Public campaign finance; limit lobbyists

McCain: Anti-influence peddling

Nader: Remove corporate influences

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Social Security   This is the greatest single reason to keep federal government.  Proposed: Restore and protect while increasing retirement age to 75, adding 3 month sabbaticals every six years, and incentivizing multi-generational families and neighborhoods including mobile assisted care and rapid response non-emergency assistance for the elderly.

Key Terms: Account Separately (de-politicize); Earnings Test (remove); IRAs; Lockbox; Medicare and Medicaid; Off-Budget; Privatization; Retirement Accounts; Social Security Investment; Social Security Trust Fund

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Protect it; no diversions

Huckabee: Personal accounts but not privatized

Paul: Personal accounts; let young opt out

Clinton: Preserve protections

Keyes: Privatize; Lock-box

Romney: Private accounts; honor commitments

Obama: No privatization; raise cap

McCain: Lockbox & privatize

Nader: Against privatization

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Tax Reform   Proposed: end individual income taxes, tax financial transactions, have high-end consumer taxes; reduce estate tax; tax currency transactions heavily; end corporate fraud (different books for IRS and stockholders, income-export tax fraud).

Key Terms:  Amendment XVI to the US Constitution; Capital Gains Tax; charitable deduction; Death Tax; estate tax; Faith-based organization; Flat Tax; Flat Tax & Sales Tax; Inheritance Tax; Marginal Tax Rates; Marriage Penalty; Married Filing Jointly; mortgage interest deduction; National Sales Tax; Tax Rates; Tax Surplus; Value-Added Tax; VAT

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Repeal tax cuts for rich

Huckabee: Supports FairTax; simplify taxes

Paul: End income tax; but no flat tax

Clinton: Say no to GOP tax cuts

Keyes: Abolish IRS & income tax

Romney: Tax cuts raise revenues; fees ok

Obama: End Bush tax cuts; keep estate tax

McCain: Simplify & reduce taxes

Nader: Keep progressivity; raise corporate taxes

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Technology & Infrastructure   Proposed: Internet neutrality, Open Spectrum, Free/Open Source Software, regulate Google, provide end-user control of their own content, anonymous banking; recapitalize all forms of infrastructure but wind down communities in flood plains and cities in desert, capitalize growth in The Empty Quarter.[3]

Key Terms: Bridges, Dams, & Tunnels (collapsing infrastructure); Computer and Internet Usage; Digital E-Government; Electrical grid (collapsing); E-rate; High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP); Human Genome Project; Intel vs. FTC; Internet access in classrooms; Internet access in schools; Internet Issues; Internet Sales Tax; iPatriot Act; Microsoft vs Java; Microsoft vs Netscape; Millennium Bug; Napster; Triana Satellite; V-Chip; Weather manipulation; Y2K Bug; warrantless wiretapping

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Promote Internet

Huckabee: Tax Internet; TV indecency rules

Paul: No network neutrality; no Fairness Doctrine

Clinton: Bridge digital divide

Keyes: Regulate TV; fund NASA

Romney: Invest in infrastructure; expect change

Obama: More R&D $; invest in transportation

McCain: No Internet tax; yes porn filters

Nader

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Welfare & Poverty    Proposed:  Stabilize dollar, limit interest rates, end individual taxation, strive for 100% union membership (60% in four years), learnfare & workfare, control borders and stop giving expert worker visas to foreigners taking high-tech jobs away from citizens.

Key Terms: Charitable Choice; Deductibility; Entitlement; Faith-Based Organizations (FBO); Food Stamps; Lifetime limit; Poor; Reform; Tax-exempt; Welfare load; Welfare-to-Work; Work requirements

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Cities Rising: $ for EITC

Huckabee: Charitable Choice & faith-based providers

Paul: No faith-based initiatives; yes Section 8

Clinton: Raise minimum wage

Keyes: Solve social ills with family & faith

Romney: Supports workfare

Obama: Help welfare recipients; engage faith

McCain: Pro workfare; pro block grants

Nader: Pro-union; anti-big business

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Social Issues

Abortion   Proposed:  Strongly support pro-life choices, but woman ultimately decides.  Praise Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for his Stare Decisis judgment on Roe v. Wade.  Life does begin at conception; mother’s rights end with start of second tri-mester.

Key Terms:  Clinic Access; Cloning; health issue (pro-choice); Human Life Amendment; Human Life Bills; informed consent; Judicial Activism; moral issue (pro-life); Parental Consent; Partial-Birth Abortion; Right to Choose; Right to Life; rights of the mother; rights of the unborn; Roe v. Wade; RU-486; Stare Decisis; States’ Rights; Stem Cells; Strict Constructionism; viability’ of the fetus

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Right to choose; partial birth ok

Huckabee: Outlaw all abortions

Paul: Life begins at conception; no stem cells

Clinton: Safe, legal & rare

Keyes: Strongly pro-life

Romney: Sanctity of life; but was pro-choice

Obama: Yes on Roe; yes on stem cells

McCain: Pro-life

Nader: Let women decide

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Corporations   Proposed: home rule, boycott, eat local, fair trade, end personality fraud

Key Terms: Export volumes; Farming Issues; Globalization; Government payments; Inflation; Labor Issues; Minimum wage; Union membership

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Attack corporate indifference

Huckabee: Support marketplace

Paul: Supports bankruptcy reform

Clinton: Limit bankruptcies; end corporate welfare

Keyes: Protect workers against elite

Romney: Close loopholes; protect smaller companies

Obama: Close loopholes; reward domestic jobs

McCain: Restrict corporations some

Nader: Shift power to consumers

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Education   Proposed: Redirect $20 billion a year from secret intelligence to free online & fully-funded Head Start, K-12, and college on a competitive basis.  Apprenticeship & civics every year.  No bi-lingual education—three months intensive English free for all immigrants, English language competency required for both access to education and to government employment at all levels.

Key Terms: Bilingual Education; Goals 2000; Phonics; School Prayer; School Vouchers; Smaller Class Size; Social Promotion; Straight A Act; Student Testing; Teacher Pay; Teacher Testing

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: No vouchers; more teachers

Huckabee: Teach character; support charters

Paul: Close Dept. of Ed.; tax credit for parochials

Clinton: Support public schools; no vouchers

Keyes: No public monopoly; yes school prayer

Romney: Vouchers over teachers' unions

Obama: Merit pay; free college

McCain: More testing; more prayer; vouchers

Nader: Invest in public education; teach citizenship

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Families & Children  Proposed:  Support families, design neighborhoods, one good job per family, with no taxation of family or on healthy food and beverages, get TV out of kid’s lives

Key Terms: After-school; Anti-male bias; Child Deductions; Child Support; Day care; Deadbeat Dads; Deductions; Family Leave; Fatherhood rights; Internet Smut; Pre-school; Social effects; Tax Credits; TV Ratings; V-Chip

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Help working parents

Huckabee: Covenant marriage; teach morality

Paul: No state overriding parental decisions

Clinton: It takes a village to raise a child

Keyes: Moral breakdown of families

Romney: Strengthen families

Obama: Teach sex-ed; listen to evangelicals

McCain: Labeling for parents; blame media

Nader: Corporate TV hurts kids

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Health Care   Proposed: Tax unhealthy good and services, eliminate toxins, provide all necessary information on lifestyle, environment, natural cures; fund evidence-based medicine.

Key Terms: Active Euthanasia; Alternative Medicine; Asbestos; Chinese Medicine; Consumer Choice; Death with Dignity; Elective Surgery; Euthanasia; Evidence-Based Medicine; External Appeal; Indian Medicine; Generally accepted practices; Healing; Health insurance; Health reform; HMO; Involuntary Euthanasia; Legal Liability; Managed Care; Marijuana; Medical Necessity; Natural Cures; Passive Euthanasia; Patient’s Bill of Rights; Physical Assisted Suicide; Prevention; Public health; Right to Die; Safe Air; Safe Food; Safe Water; Scope of Coverage; State Regulation; Tobacco Settlement; Toxins in Products

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Cover every child; anti-HMOs

Huckabee: Focus on prevention & consumers

Paul: Against mandated insurance & managed care

Clinton: Universal coverage

Keyes: No right-to-die; no health I.D.

Romney: State-based plans with mandates plus market

Obama: Focus on affordability; focus on AIDS

McCain: Patient rights; limit HMOs

Nader: Cradle-to-grave non-profit system

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Principles & Values   Proposed: Restore Constitution, eliminate individual income taxes, transparent budgets and all legislation and budgets online one week in advance of voting; character through school, apprenticeships, and mandatory national service twice: after high-school and at mid-career (each time a shared boot camp, then three tracks: Armed, Peace, and America Corps).

Key Terms: Centralizing power; Centrist; Conservative; Conservative; Constitution’ Decentralizing power; Economic views; Fiscal frugality; Government intervention; Green; Leftist; Liberal; Libertarian; Local not federal; Natural Law; Political philosophy; Populist; Reform; Reforming existing institutions; Religious rights; Rightist; Social views; Socialist; Strength abroad

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Two Americas

Huckabee: Character IS the issue; support culture of life

Paul: No dictating behavior; yes limited government

Clinton: New Democrat

Keyes: Unalienable rights under God

Romney: Learns from mistakes; ran Olympics; Mormon

Obama: Yes we can; Audacity of Hope

McCain: Set an example

Nader: New Populism: power corrupts

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.


Domestic Issues

Civil Rights   Proposed: Quality education is the right; civil unions, churches decide marriage.

Key Terms: Affirmative Action; Amendment I to the US Constitution; Article 9 Clause 2 of the US Constitution; Bilingual education; Civil Union; Confederate Flag in Public Places; Disabilities Act (ADA) & Handicapped Access (Health Care); Disabled Rights; Domestic Violence; Driving While Black; Equal Pay for Equal Work; FISA; Flag-Burning Amendment; Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA); Funding for NEA; Gambling, Prostitution, Pornography;  Glass Ceiling; Guantanamo: Habeas corpus; Hate Crimes; iPATRIOT ACT; Kidnapping for Rendition; Mental Illness Discrimination (Health Care); Minority Rights; PATRIOT Act; Racial Profiling; Redlining; Religious Rights; Rendition for Torture; Reverse Discrimination; Right to Privacy (see Technology); Same-sex marriage; School Prayer (see Education); Secret Renditions; Secret wiretapping: Ten Commandments in Public Places (see Principles & Values); Texas v. Johnson (flag burning); Torture; victimless crimes; Waterboarding; Women’s Rights

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Aff. Action; no DOMA

Huckabee: No civil unions; no affirmative action

Paul: No affirmative action; no Marriage Amendment

Clinton: Pro-gay rights & women's rights

Keyes: Anti-gay rights & affirmative action

Romney: No gay marriage; help women & minorities

Obama: Strong civil unions & affirmative action

McCain: Anti-quota; for Flag protection

Nader: Pro-gay; pro-privacy; pro-women

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Crime   Proposed:  End death & three strikes;  legalize marijuana & hemp, full employment.

Key Terms:  114; 119; Amendments V and VIII to the US Constitution; Broken Windows’ Laws; Capital Punishment; Community intelligence networks; Community Policing; Hate Crimes; Intelligence-led policing; National Guard role as community intelligence center watchstanders; Three Strikes’ Laws; Tort Reform

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: No 3 Strikes; death penalty ok

Huckabee: Ok on death penalty; not 3 Strikes

Paul: Against death penalty; against hate crime laws

Clinton: 3 Strikes ok; DNA required

Keyes: Death; no hate crimes

Romney: Death penalty; One Strike you're out

Obama: Alternate sentencing; restrict death penalty

McCain: Death; more prisons; less parole

Nader: Focus on prevention; no death penalty

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Drugs   Proposed: get CIA and DEA out of drug business; burn banks for laundering, invest in free education and full provision of clean water and clean energy in Afghanistan, Mexico, and the Andean countries where all the drugs are produced and are—for now—vital to those economies.

Key Terms: Alcoholism; Amendment XVIII and XXI to the US Constitution; Death penalty; Demand; Drug war; Effects; Legalization; Medical marijuana; Needle Exchanges; Prohibition; Self-harm; Supply; Treatment; War on drugs

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Drug courts; reasonable sentences

Huckabee: Punishment over education

Paul: War on Drugs is a failure

Clinton: Treatment & drug courts

Keyes: More penalties

Romney: Fight for drug war

Obama: Understand drug abuse

McCain: More border; more penalties

Nader: Stop prohibition

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Environment  Proposed:  Zero Waste, Natural Capitalism, Green to Gold, Biomimicry, expose true costs of all products and services via bar codes and online free data, mandate clean air and disease-free air in all buildings and public transportation including airlines and trains.

Key Terms: Acts of God or Man; Alternative Energy; Amendment V to the US Constitution;  ANWR: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; BLM: The Bureau of Land Management; Brownfields; BTU Tax; Clean Air Act: (CAA); Clean Water Act: (CWA); Climate Change Treaty; coastal wetlands; Command-and-control; Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standard; Cost Control; Deregulation Crisis; Devolution; drop in Great Lakes water levels; drought in the Midwest; Effects on the US; eminent domain; Endangered Species; Endangered Species Act (ESA); Energy; Energy Conservation; Environmental degradation; extreme storms; Federal Lands; FWS: The Fish & Wildlife Service; Global Warming; Greenfields; Greenhouse Gas Treaty; Greenhouse gases; Kyoto Protocol; Land Trusts; NPS: The National Park Service; Pollution Control; Rio Treaty; States; Suburban Sprawl; Superfund; Takings; temperature rise;  toxic waste sites; Urban Redevelopment; USFS: The US Forest Service; winter rain; Wise Use

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: No forest roads; reduce CO2

Huckabee: Conservation; caretaking; clean up

Paul: Focus on property rights; ban Yucca ads

Clinton: Fund EPA & clean air

Keyes: Marketable pollution credits

Romney: Tough on Big Dig; focus on clean environment

Obama: Protect National Parks; reduce mercury

McCain: End farm subsidies; expand CWA

Nader: More funds; more rules

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Gun Control   Proposed: Right to bear arms is non-negotiable less felons still on probation.  Concealed permits not required—felons who have paid their debt to society need only carry a card certifying their restoration to full citizenship status—states may not abridge felon rights once court’s sentence has been completed.  Achieve accountability with barrel printing and cartridge signatures—anyone can kill, be identified, and if wrong, held accountable.

Key Terms: Amendment II to the US Constitution; Background Checks; Brady Bill; Child-Safety Locks; concealed carry; gun lobby; Gun Ownership; Gun-Show Loophole; instant background checks; juvenile access to guns; licensing; Militia definition; National Rifle Association (NRA); open carry; registration; right of self-protection; Right to Bear Arms; Second Amendment rights; sportsmen's rights; Trigger Locks; US v. Miller; waiting periods

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: 2nd Amendment with rules

Huckabee: Supports 2nd amendment fully

Paul: No gun bans; allow concealed carry

Clinton: More restrictions

Keyes: No more laws; more morals

Romney: Ok to ban some lethal weapons

Obama: Restrict guns; allow suing gun makers

McCain: More gun laws; more gun rights

Nader: More restrictions; some bans

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Jobs   Proposed: end absentee ownership of farms; 60% union membership; limit interest to 10%; make full employment the law and the outcome; raise minimum wage to achieve quality of life at last highest point.  Limit CEOs to 100X wages of lowest worker they employ; mandate same books for IRS as for stockholders; impose severe penalties on short-term investments.

Key Terms:  Annual Leave; Benefits; Citizen rights; Equal Pay; Farm subsidies; Guest workers; Living Wage; Minimum wage; Overtime; Pay Gap; Sick Leave; Training; Uncompensated overtime; Union membership

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Raise min. wage; protect unions

Huckabee: Subsidize farms; unions over CEOs

Paul: No minimum wage increase; no farm subsidies

Clinton: Living wage

Keyes: No gov't jobs; yes family farms

Romney: Farm subsidies; incentives for training

Obama: Living wage; support unions

McCain: No subsidies; yes workfare

Nader: Reduce pay gap

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

International Issues

Energy & Oil  Proposed:  Tax externalized costs ($12 per gallon); two-way grid, do it all.

Key Terms:  Acts of God or Man; Alternative Energy; Amendment V to the US Constitution;  ANWR: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; BLM: The Bureau of Land Management; Brownfields; BTU Tax; Clean Air Act: (CAA); Clean Water Act: (CWA); Climate Change Treaty; coastal wetlands; Command-and-control; Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standard; Cost Control; Deregulation Crisis; Devolution; drop in Great Lakes water levels; drought in the Midwest; Effects on the US; eminent domain; Endangered Species; Endangered Species Act (ESA); Energy; Energy Conservation; Environmental degradation; extreme storms; Federal Lands; FWS: The Fish & Wildlife Service; Global Warming; Greenfields; Greenhouse Gas Treaty; Greenhouse gases; Kyoto Protocol; Land Trusts; NPS: The National Park Service; Pollution Control; Rio Treaty; States; Suburban Sprawl; Superfund; Takings; temperature rise;  toxic waste sites; Urban Redevelopment; USFS: The US Forest Service; winter rain; Wise Use

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Higher CAFE; no ANWR

Huckabee: Increase oil; Kyoto was mistake

Paul: No to CAFE; yes to ANWR drilling

Clinton: Ratify Kyoto; use hydrogen

Keyes: Exploit ANWR; end Kyoto & CAFE

Romney: Drill ANWR; develop nuclear & coal

Obama: Increase CAFE; alternative energy

McCain: No ANWR; no on Bush energy plan

Nader: More funds; less cars

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Foreign Policy   Proposed: Shift $200 billion from waging war to waging peace; multilateralism; provide all dictators with a five-year exit strategy; make human rights and fair trade the foundation for all commercial relations; stop exporting military weapons.

Key Terms: Afghanistan; Africa; ASEAN; Asian Economic Crisis; Asian Miracle' countries; Asian Tigers; bioterrorism weapons; Brazil; Chechnya; Children's Fund; China; Development Programme (UNDP); East Timor; Economic and Social Council; European Union; General Assembly; Human Rights Commission; India; Indonesia; International Civil Aviation Organization; International Monetary Fund; Iran; Iraq; Israel & Palestine; Japan; Kosovo; Lebanon; North Korea; peacekeeping operations; Refugees (UNHCR)[ Russia; Security Council; South American Union; Syria's Golan Heights; The International Court of Justice; treaty-based organizations; UN dues; UN System; United Nations; Universal Postal Union; Venezuela; War on Terror; Wild Cards; World Bank; World Court;  World Health Organization

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Focus on open society

Huckabee: Non-intervention; support Israel

Paul: Humble foreign policy instead of empire

Clinton: Focus on peace

Keyes: “Anti-China, Anti-UN”

Romney: Foster democracy with resolve, not arrogance

Obama: Strengthen NATO; more foreign aid

McCain: Assertive multilateralism

Nader: Interventionist with support, not arms

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Free Trade  Proposed: Fair trade not free trade.  Reveal “true costs” of all goods and services.  End slavery in America first, then in the rest of the world.

Key Terms: Americas; Anti-Dumping Laws; anti-globalization; Canada; Chile to join NAFTA; Countervailing Duties; Dumping; East Asia combined for about 15%; Europe combined for about 20%; Fast-Track; Free Trade; free trade zone; General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs; Globalization; human trafficking; Mexico & Japan; MFN; Most Favored Nation; NAFTA; North American Free Trade Agreement of 1994; open borders; override national law; protests; secrecy of WTO proceedings; Side Agreements; slavery; standards; Trade Deficits; trade in women & children; Uruguay; World Trade Organization

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: No NAFTA; but PNTR ok

Huckabee: Trust marketplace; subsidize farms

Paul: Sovereignty instead of NAFTA & WTO

Clinton: Humanization plus globalization

Keyes: Out of WTO; defend sovereignty

Romney: Open markets abroad

Obama: No CAFTA; fair trade

McCain: Open trade; WTO ok

Nader: Pro-immigrant; anti-globalization

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Homeland Security  Proposed: Make Stephen Flynn the Secretary with mandate to close it down in four years; restore FEMA; redirect $20 billion from spies to water and food infrastructure and safety; fund Citizen Intelligence Networks ($30M per state per year).

Key Terms:  Aegis defense system; Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM); Bio-chemical; Hollow Military; intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM); Loose Nukes; Mutually Assured; National Missile Defense (NMD)’; uclear Test Ban Treaty; Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty; Star Wars; Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START); Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI); submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM); Terrorists; Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: More $; no base closures

Huckabee: Expand armed forces; close Guantanamo

Paul: Protect habeas corpus; avoid draft

Clinton: Ban nuke tests; SDI ok

Keyes: Less entangled; SDI; strike terrorists

Romney: Wiretap mosques; double Guantanamo

Obama: Close Gitmo; address VA; grow military

McCain: More pay; SDI; more engaged

Nader: Reduce weapons & overseas troops

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

Immigration  Proposed: increase Border Patrol to 30,000; state & local crack-down on visa violators; withdraw all forces from overseas; create four forces after next including $200 billion peace force; fully fund global free education online in 183 languages, work with Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, and Venezuela to give free cell phones to poor and educate them, world-wide, one cell call at a time.  Peace comes from prosperity, and prosperity comes from education one question at a time—the 5 billion poor don’t have eighteen years to waste.

Key Terms: Bilingual Education; Border Patrol; California 40% of all illegals; Canada as transit zone for terrorists; clemency; Foreign born 8% in 1990; census; Hispanic; Illegal; Immigration; Immigration Act of 1990; Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS); Immigration Advocacy; Latin America 20% after Mexico; Legal; Mexico 55% of illegals; Official English status; promote diversity; racism; restricting immigration; wall across the border

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Earned legalization

Huckabee: Send illegals home; but not kids

Paul: Bilingualism yes; amnesty no; border fence yes

Clinton: Comprehensive reform & guest workers

Keyes: Defend borders; oppose amnesty

Romney: No tuition breaks; but no job enforcement

Obama: Path to citizenship; comprehensive reform

McCain: Comprehensive reform

Nader: Pro-immigrant; anti-globalization

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

War & Peace   Proposed: Stay the course in Iraq, create fifty-year peacekeeping force with open checkbook for restoring Lebanon as Paris of Middle East and raising two generations of Palestinians and Israelis within mandated co-existence, Jerusalem as an international open city.  Redirect $100 billion a year from war to peace, create multinational decision support center and Global Range of Gifts Table to orchestrate $1 trillion a year in individual giving.

Key Terms: Afghanistan; Balkan; Central Asia; Colombia; Cuba; Iran; Iraq; Israel; North Korea; Palestine; Persian Gulf; Somalia; War on Terrorism

Democrats

Republicans

GOP/Green

Edwards: Voted for Iraq; get NATO involved

Huckabee: Stay in Iraq; talk to Iran; fight jihadists

Paul: Iraq war is illegal; talk to Iran

Clinton: Authorized Iraq war; redeploy now

Keyes: Win in Iraq & war on terror

Romney: Stay in Iraq until secret withdrawal

Obama: Leave Iraq carefully but quickly

McCain: Yes on Iraq war; then & now

Nader: Iraq war is for oil

Graphic Copyright © 2008 The Speakout Foundation and OnTheIssues.org used with permission.

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