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Issues
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George W. Bush
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John Kerry
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Abortion
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Anti-abortion except in the case of incest, rape or to save the woman’s life.
Signed ban against partial-birth abortions. Accepted FDA approval of
RU-486
, but concerned about overuse.
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Supports abortion rights.
Opposes the ban on partial birth abortions but personally stands against them.
States would elect pro-choice judges to the bench.
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Affirmative Action
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Supports Affirmative Action, but against racial quotas and racial preferences.
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Supports affirmative action policies.
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Budgets, Economy & Taxes
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Signed tax cuts each of the past three years, including a $1.35 trillion cut over 10 years that was signed in 2001. Says the tax cuts he has championed have helped the nation overcome recession and are responsible for a surge in economic growth. Pledges to cut the deficit in half after five years. Wants $20 billion in aid to states for necessary services. Plans to reduce deficit by holding spending increases to 4 percent.
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Favors rolling back Bush’s tax cut for people making over $200,000.
Opposes additional tax cuts for businesses.
Would protect increases in child tax credit and marriage penalty.
Supports increase in minimum wage.
States he would close the tax loopholes that reward companies for shipping jobs overseas.
He says he can halve the record half-trillion dollar budget by the end of one four-year term, even while spending $72 billion a year to extend health care to 27 million of the 40-plus million uninsured. His campaign has provided no details yet.
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Campaign Reform
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Has foregone public financing for his presidential campaigns. Signed a ban on the "soft money" national political parties collected from corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals.
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Is not accepting public financing for his run for presidency.
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Crime
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Supports death penalty. Supports "three-strikes" law and mandatory sentencing for repeat offenders. Supports ban on automatic weapons and background checks at gun shows. Supports Second Amendment. |
Opposes death penalty.
Voted against limiting death penalty appeals.
Wants more funding for drug treatment and drug war.
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Education
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Signed No Child Left Behind Act, which makes federal funding contingent on states' giving standardized tests in math and reading and publishing results for third- through eighth-graders. Says when it comes to our schools, dollars alone do not always make the difference. Calls for zero tolerance on disruption, guns, and school safety. Says federal dollars should not follow failure.
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Somewhat favors "No Child Left Behind" ~ would change school’s focus to teaching high standards, rather than drilling for the standardized tests. Very much against vouchers for private, religious or charter schools. Leans towards increasing Federal funding for higher education ~ Proposes a National Educational Trust fund to guarantee the government meets its educational priorities. Supports alternative learning environments for students that are violent or chronically disrupt the classroom.
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Environment
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Opposes stricter standards under Clean Air, Clean Water acts. Supports market-based solutions to improve air quality. Opposes Kyoto agreement. Wants to increase logging in national forests as way to prevent wildfires. |
Strongly supports mandatory clean air emissions standards and tougher fuel efficiency standards. Against oil exploration in the Arctic refuge. Promotes clean, renewable fuel sources such as ethanol. Supports Kyoto treaty which involves reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly Carbon Dioxide. Would set goals and incentives to decrease dependence on fossil fuels.
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Euthanasia
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Against any means of assisted suicide. Upheld a decision by the attorney general saying doctors in Oregon would be prosecuted by the DEA if they helped a patient perform euthanasia after they passed a law allowing for such actions.
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Kerry states he is personally opposed to "assisted suicide" but would not oppose Oregon’s Euthanasia law. "I think it's up to the states to decide what they're going to do there. It's a very complicated, thorny, moral, ethical issue that people wrestle with. And I don't think it's the government's job to step in," said Kerry.
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Foreign Relations
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Strained relations with major European allies and the United Nations over war in Iraq. Shifted foreign policy focus to the spread of democracy pushing Greater Middle East Initiative aiming to resolve the region’s political, economic and social problems through democratic reform. Criticized for the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, now pursuing a policy that seeks to unravel the black market in nuclear components and block programs in North Korea and Iran, countries he has labeled an “axis of evil” along with prewar Iraq.
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Supported decision to go to war against Iraq but now says he did so based on incorrect U.S. intelligence. He believes an immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops in Iraq would be wrong. He strongly feels that greater international involvement is needed in Iraq to share the burden both financially and emotionally. Wants to work to rebuild alliances. Opposes national missile defense; supports arms control. Mostly agrees with the Bush sponsored "Road Map" in the Middle East as an acceptable idea for reinvigorating the peace process, but states that there must be actual benchmarks that the Palestinian government can achieve. States that national security begins with Homeland security. Would immediately implement the suggestions made by the 9/11 commission.
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Free Speech
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Created First Amendment Zones, where political protesters are allowed to exercise their free speech rights.
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Has stated that free speech is at the heart of democracy. In his nomination acceptance speech Kerry said, "that when Americans stand up and speak their minds and say America can do better, that is not a challenge to patriotism; it is the heart and soul of patriotism."
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Gay Rights
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Against gay marriage and adoptions, and believes hate crimes should not apply to gays. Opposes gays in Boy Scouts, but supports "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in military.
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Favors equal rights for all. He strongly supports gays openly serving in the military. Leans toward being against a ban on gay marriages.
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Guns
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Favors granting immunity to gun makers from civil lawsuits. Supports renewing the ban on assault-type weapons and requiring background checks at gun shows. Criticized former President Clinton for weak enforcement of existing gun laws, but prosecution of people who lie on background checks has continued to lag.
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Favors safety devices on all new guns. Favors background checks on all gun purchasers. Somewhat favors requiring safety courses and licensing before gun purchase. Somewhat favors allowing lawsuits against gun manufacturers. Says "law-abiding" adults have the right to own guns.
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Health Care
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Opposes national health care plan. Favors improving current system over government-based system. Supports adding drug benefit to Medicare. Would place limits on patient lawsuits against HMOs. Would introduce private sector competition to reduce Medicare costs. Supports reducing drug costs for low-income patients.
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Will work to cut health care premiums by up to $1000 dollars per family. Wants to offer financial incentives to lower drug costs. Wants all Americans regardless of ethnic or health status to be covered by quality health care. Plans to put more money into health care by reducing unnecessary costs caused by large amounts of paperwork and administrative costs.
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Immigration
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Proposed increasing budget to enforce immigration laws. Proposed temporary worker plan that would target undocumented workers by offering legal status for a three-year period, after which they would be required to return to their countries. Says he would encourage undocumented workers to return home by expanding economic opportunities in their countries.
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Would speed the immigration process, especially the naturalization process for legal permanent residents serving in the military. States he would help unite families. Has stated he would increase the patrolling of our home borders. Supports allowing undocumented immigrants to legalize their status if they have been in our country for a period of time, are employed and can pass background check.
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International Trade
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Supports NAFTA and World Trade Organization agreements. Supports liberalized trade and is pursuing a variety of bilateral trade deals as well as one for the western hemisphere. His administration imposed tariffs on the importation of certain types of steel that were ultimately ruled illegal by an international trade court.
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Somewhat favors Cuban embargo. Strongly favors U.S. involvement in NAFTA. Somewhat favors mandatory labor and environmental standards in trade agreements. Favors using the World Trade Organization to challenge China’s currency practices. He supported North American and world trade agreements and elevated trade status with China. Has promised a 120-day review of all existing U.S. trade agreements upon taking office.
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Labor & Business
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Believes small businesses create the majority of new jobs and account for half the output of the economy. Plans to change current tax law to allow for an increase in the limit small businesses can write off as expenses from $25,000 worth of equipment to $75,000 and index it to inflation – encouraging them to buy technology, machinery, and other equipment they need to expand.
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Would work towards creating a business climate in the U.S. that helps American companies succeed by keeping the jobs in this country. States that he would encourage America’s leadership in science and innovation. Kerry’s plan is to restore confidence in the American economy both at home and abroad, improve the competitiveness of American business and in turn foster growth and increase the number of good paying jobs.
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Military & Veterans
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Supported war in Iraq. Ordered limited national missile defense system deployed by 2004. Has not proposed increasing size of Army. Would increase military spending 4.2 percent to $380 billion. Budget funds military pay hikes from 2 percent to 6 percent. Strategy calls for a focus on new threats, such as terrorism. Proposed record levels of support for American’s veterans and has increased VA healthcare funding by more than 40 percent. Twice signed legislation effectively providing “concurrent receipt” of both military retired pay and VA disability compensation for those military retirees most deserving – combat-injured and highly-disabled veterans – reversing a century old law preventing concurrent receipt.
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Wants to invest more money in equipment and technology, as well as better pay and better benefits for military personnel. Kerry has stated, "We will add 40,000 active duty troops, not in Iraq, but to strengthen American forces that are now overstretched, overextended and under pressure".
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Social Security
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Supports investing some Social Security taxes in stocks. Proposed extending Social Security to include inheritable assets. Has not ruled out raising the retirement age.
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Opposes privatizing social security and is against raising the age of retirement to 67.
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Women's Rights
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Committed to protecting women and children from dangerous policies promoting abortion on demand and coerced abortion as a measure of population control. Declared August 26th as "Women’s Equality Day" to commemorate the constitutional amendment. This day is an opportunity for citizens across our country to honor those who took part in the long and difficult struggle for women's suffrage, as well those since 1920 who have continued to fight for equal rights for women. Working to restore women’s rights in Afghanistan.
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Will work towards closing the pay gap between men and women. Women make $0.77 per the dollar that men make. This will be done by increasing disclosure from companies about their payment practices. Was original co-sponsor of the Women’s Health Equality Act. This ensures women’s access to the best health care available. Will work to increase funding for breast and cervical cancer research. Will require health care plans to cover contraception. Will continue to defend Title IX and work to expand opportunities for women returning to college. Would like to expand after-school programs to serve more children and fund a significant increase in the Child Care Tax Credit to meet the needs of overstretched parents.
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