Dixon Carter Lee
Headliner
- Joined
- Nov 22, 1999
- Posts
- 48,682
"I'm so tired of the negativity and junk!" Me too. So here's a thread with no Swift Boat liars, no overwrought saluting ready for duty rhetoric, just the issues, which everyone says they just can't wait to get back to.
------------------------------------------
Bush vs. Kerry at a glance
How Republican, Democrat stand on key issues
MSNBC
Updated: 4:19 p.m. ET Aug. 24, 2004
Here's a quick look at where Sen. John Kerry and President Bush stand on the central issues in the race for the White House.
In their own words
Kerry: "I'm running for President to make the country we love safer, stronger, and more secure. I'm asking every American to be a Citizen Soldier again committed to leaving no American behind."
Bush: “My campaign is going to take a hopeful and optimistic message to the American people. I hope you will show your support by taking action in your community. Vice President Cheney and I are focused on the nation's top priorities -- strengthening the economy, protecting the homeland, and winning the war on terror. We will continue to earn the confidence of the American people by working to keep this nation prosperous, strong and secure.”
Abortion
Bush: Would only support it in cases of rape or incest or when a woman’s life is endangered. He signed bill to ban a procedure that opponents call partial-birth abortion.
Kerry: Is a staunch pro-choice advocate and would nominate only Supreme Court justices who support abortion rights. He voted against partial-birth ban. Kerry also believes that the government should promote family planning and health plans should assure women contraceptive coverage.
Budget
Bush:_ Approved record deficits in a time of recession, war, terrorism and tax cuts. Budget in surplus when Bush took office; $521 billion deficit is projected this year. Budget plan for 2005 says annual deficits can be cut by half in five years. Bush proposes that Congress limit discretionary spending in programs outside defense and homeland security to a 0.5 percent increase next year.
Kerry: Cut deficit by half, at least, in first term, in part through repeal of Bush tax cuts for wealthier Americans.
Death penalty
Bush: Supports.
Kerry: Opposes “other than in cases of real international and domestic terrorism.”
Education
Bush: Championed a bipartisan overhaul of elementary and secondary education that toughened standards for teachers, schools and student achievement. Federal spending on education has jumped nearly 50 percent since Bush took office.
Kerry: Would establish $3.2 billion community service plan for high school students that would qualify them for the equivalent of their states’ four-year public college tuition if they perform two years of national service. Provide a tax credit for every year of college on the first $4,000 paid in tuition. Credit would provide 100 percent of the first $1,000 and 50 percent on the rest. Opposes private-school vouchers. Backed Bush overhaul but says too much emphasis is placed on tests for measuring student achievement; additional factors, such as attendance and parental satisfaction, should be considered.
Energy and environment
Bush: Bush, who pulled the United States out of the Kyoto protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, believes the threat of global warming should be addressed through new economic growth and efficiency. He also favors oil exploration in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and backs legislation that would seek to reduce air pollution and acid rain by offering major polluters access to market-based incentives to reduce harmful emissions.
Kerry: Kerry favors U.S. participation in an international climate change program to curb global warming and would cut mercury emissions by American utilities and plants. To encourage more renewable energy sources, Kerry wants to create a renewable energy trust fund to reduce oil consumption by 2 million barrels per day, which is roughly the amount imported from the Middle East. Kerry also backed Senate legislation to impose stricter mileage standards on gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles and automobiles.
Foreign policy
Bush: After straining relations with major European allies and the United Nations over war in Iraq, Bush has shifted his foreign policy focus to the spread of democracy by pushing a Greater Middle East Initiative that would aim to resolve the region’s political, economic and social problems through democratic reform. The president, criticized for the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, is also 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.
Kerry: While insisting he would never cede U.S. security to any other nation and would use force when required, Kerry envisions “a new era of alliances” to replace what he sees as the White House’s go-it-alone approach to foreign policy. He has pledged to restore diplomacy as a tool of U.S. foreign policy, treat the United Nations as a “full partner” and pursue collective security arrangements. His inner circle of foreign policy advisers features prominent Democratic veterans, including some figures from the Clinton days.
Gay marriage
Bush: Proposes constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Has continued former President Clinton’s policy allowing gays to serve in military if they are not open about their homosexuality.
Kerry: Opposes gay marriage but also opposes constitutional amendment against it; supports right to civil unions. Would ban job discrimination against homosexuals, extend hate-crime protections to gays, and let gays serve openly in the military.
Guns
Bush: Favors granting gun makers immunity from civil lawsuits, but that measure failed in the Senate. Has said he supports extending ban on assault-type weapons that expires in September and requiring background checks at gun shows, but has backed delays in acting on those steps. Criticized Clinton for weak enforcement of existing gun laws, but prosecution of people who lie on background checks has continued to lag.
Kerry: Supports extending ban on assault-type weapons and requiring background checks at gun shows. Opposes granting immunity to gun makers.
Health care
Bush: Number of Americans without health insurance has risen in his presidency, reaching 43.6 million in 2002, up from 41.2 million in 2001 and 39.8 million in 2000, according to Census Bureau. Has won passage of prescription drug benefit for older Americans that will subsidize costs for low-income patients and encourage private insurance companies to offer coverage for the elderly willing to opt out of traditional Medicare. Cost of drug benefit and other Medicare changes now estimated at $534 billion over 10 years, up from $395 billion when changes were debated. New tax-free medical savings accounts can be opened by people under 65 who meet certain conditions.
Kerry: Expand existing insurance system for federal employees to private citizens through tax credits and subsidies. Unemployed would get 75 percent tax credit to help pay for insurance. Tax credits for small businesses and their employees for health insurance. People aged 55 to 64 could buy into federal employees’ health plan at affordable price. Government would help companies and insurers pay an employee’s catastrophic medical costs if the firms would agree to hold down premiums. Federal support to expand access to state-administered health insurance for children. Overall costs estimated by outside analyst at $895 billion over 10 years, to cover 27 million more people. Also, require mandatory financing for veterans health care.
Homeland security
Bush: Sought and won the creation of the Homeland Security Department. His administration also pushed for creation of the Terrorist Threat Integration Center; launched the Container Security Initiative; boosted federal screening of airline passengers and baggage; and reorganized the FBI to improve its oversight of domestic terrorism. Wants Patriot Act renewed and strengthened. On the central recommendation of the the 9/11 Commission, the creation of a national intelligence director, Bush has suggested that he favors a national intelligence director with less than the full budgetary and hiring authority recommend by the panel.
Kerry: Voted for the Patriot Act. But he accuses the Bush administration of misusing it. Although he favors strengthening some parts of it, he favors eliminating other parts. Has endorsed all of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations and urged Bush to act quickly on them.
Immigration
Bush: Proposes granting legal status to millions of illegal workers as well as people outside the United States who line up jobs in America. Plan would give temporary legal status and expand the current program for highly skilled foreign workers and farm labor to other sectors of the economy where jobs are not being filled by Americans. Opposes giving illegal immigrants an “automatic path to citizenship.”
Kerry: People who have been in the United States at least five years, paid taxes and “stayed out of trouble ought to be able to translate into an American citizen immediately.”
Iraq
Bush: Authorized by Congress, he oversaw a swift military victory followed by a violent aftermath in which the death count for U.S. soldiers is approaching 1,000. Won congressional approval of $87 billion for continued military operations and aid in Iraq and Afghanistan and pushed plan for interim government to run country until it is replaced following national elections scheduled for January.
Kerry: Supported decision to go to war but now says he did so based on faulty U.S. intelligence. Opposed $87 billion package for Iraq and Afghanistan.
Social Security
Bush: Give younger workers the option of putting part of their payroll tax into personal retirement accounts, giving them a chance to make a higher return on that investment in return for smaller Social Security benefits.
Kerry: Opposes partial privatization of Social Security. Would require companies switching to cheaper lump-sum pension plans to offer retiring workers the choice of staying with traditional company pension.
Taxes
Bush: Has repeatedly called on Congress to make his tax cuts permanent, saying failure to do so would amount to a tax hike and threaten prospects for a robust economic recovery capable of generating new jobs. Congressional analysts say that making the tax cuts permanent would cost about $1.3 trillion over the next 10 years.
Kerry: Has called for repeal of the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $200,000 a year, in order to pay for broad health care reform. However, he would retain the tax cuts for the middle class. 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.
Trade
Bush: Is an avowed free trader, has embarked on a series of trade agreements with countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa. But his administration has also faced charges of protectionism over steel tariffs that the World Trade Organization ruled illegal, and its reluctance to trim import barriers that protect U.S. sugar, dairy and beef industries.
Kerry: Has promised a 120-day review of all existing U.S. trade agreements upon taking office, and favors using the World Trade Organization to challenge China’s currency practices. He also has pressed for stronger labor and environmental language than Bush has required in growing collection of bilateral free trade agreements with countries around the world.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4448630/
------------------------------------------
Bush vs. Kerry at a glance
How Republican, Democrat stand on key issues
MSNBC
Updated: 4:19 p.m. ET Aug. 24, 2004
Here's a quick look at where Sen. John Kerry and President Bush stand on the central issues in the race for the White House.
In their own words
Kerry: "I'm running for President to make the country we love safer, stronger, and more secure. I'm asking every American to be a Citizen Soldier again committed to leaving no American behind."
Bush: “My campaign is going to take a hopeful and optimistic message to the American people. I hope you will show your support by taking action in your community. Vice President Cheney and I are focused on the nation's top priorities -- strengthening the economy, protecting the homeland, and winning the war on terror. We will continue to earn the confidence of the American people by working to keep this nation prosperous, strong and secure.”
Abortion
Bush: Would only support it in cases of rape or incest or when a woman’s life is endangered. He signed bill to ban a procedure that opponents call partial-birth abortion.
Kerry: Is a staunch pro-choice advocate and would nominate only Supreme Court justices who support abortion rights. He voted against partial-birth ban. Kerry also believes that the government should promote family planning and health plans should assure women contraceptive coverage.
Budget
Bush:_ Approved record deficits in a time of recession, war, terrorism and tax cuts. Budget in surplus when Bush took office; $521 billion deficit is projected this year. Budget plan for 2005 says annual deficits can be cut by half in five years. Bush proposes that Congress limit discretionary spending in programs outside defense and homeland security to a 0.5 percent increase next year.
Kerry: Cut deficit by half, at least, in first term, in part through repeal of Bush tax cuts for wealthier Americans.
Death penalty
Bush: Supports.
Kerry: Opposes “other than in cases of real international and domestic terrorism.”
Education
Bush: Championed a bipartisan overhaul of elementary and secondary education that toughened standards for teachers, schools and student achievement. Federal spending on education has jumped nearly 50 percent since Bush took office.
Kerry: Would establish $3.2 billion community service plan for high school students that would qualify them for the equivalent of their states’ four-year public college tuition if they perform two years of national service. Provide a tax credit for every year of college on the first $4,000 paid in tuition. Credit would provide 100 percent of the first $1,000 and 50 percent on the rest. Opposes private-school vouchers. Backed Bush overhaul but says too much emphasis is placed on tests for measuring student achievement; additional factors, such as attendance and parental satisfaction, should be considered.
Energy and environment
Bush: Bush, who pulled the United States out of the Kyoto protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, believes the threat of global warming should be addressed through new economic growth and efficiency. He also favors oil exploration in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and backs legislation that would seek to reduce air pollution and acid rain by offering major polluters access to market-based incentives to reduce harmful emissions.
Kerry: Kerry favors U.S. participation in an international climate change program to curb global warming and would cut mercury emissions by American utilities and plants. To encourage more renewable energy sources, Kerry wants to create a renewable energy trust fund to reduce oil consumption by 2 million barrels per day, which is roughly the amount imported from the Middle East. Kerry also backed Senate legislation to impose stricter mileage standards on gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles and automobiles.
Foreign policy
Bush: After straining relations with major European allies and the United Nations over war in Iraq, Bush has shifted his foreign policy focus to the spread of democracy by pushing a Greater Middle East Initiative that would aim to resolve the region’s political, economic and social problems through democratic reform. The president, criticized for the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, is also 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.
Kerry: While insisting he would never cede U.S. security to any other nation and would use force when required, Kerry envisions “a new era of alliances” to replace what he sees as the White House’s go-it-alone approach to foreign policy. He has pledged to restore diplomacy as a tool of U.S. foreign policy, treat the United Nations as a “full partner” and pursue collective security arrangements. His inner circle of foreign policy advisers features prominent Democratic veterans, including some figures from the Clinton days.
Gay marriage
Bush: Proposes constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Has continued former President Clinton’s policy allowing gays to serve in military if they are not open about their homosexuality.
Kerry: Opposes gay marriage but also opposes constitutional amendment against it; supports right to civil unions. Would ban job discrimination against homosexuals, extend hate-crime protections to gays, and let gays serve openly in the military.
Guns
Bush: Favors granting gun makers immunity from civil lawsuits, but that measure failed in the Senate. Has said he supports extending ban on assault-type weapons that expires in September and requiring background checks at gun shows, but has backed delays in acting on those steps. Criticized Clinton for weak enforcement of existing gun laws, but prosecution of people who lie on background checks has continued to lag.
Kerry: Supports extending ban on assault-type weapons and requiring background checks at gun shows. Opposes granting immunity to gun makers.
Health care
Bush: Number of Americans without health insurance has risen in his presidency, reaching 43.6 million in 2002, up from 41.2 million in 2001 and 39.8 million in 2000, according to Census Bureau. Has won passage of prescription drug benefit for older Americans that will subsidize costs for low-income patients and encourage private insurance companies to offer coverage for the elderly willing to opt out of traditional Medicare. Cost of drug benefit and other Medicare changes now estimated at $534 billion over 10 years, up from $395 billion when changes were debated. New tax-free medical savings accounts can be opened by people under 65 who meet certain conditions.
Kerry: Expand existing insurance system for federal employees to private citizens through tax credits and subsidies. Unemployed would get 75 percent tax credit to help pay for insurance. Tax credits for small businesses and their employees for health insurance. People aged 55 to 64 could buy into federal employees’ health plan at affordable price. Government would help companies and insurers pay an employee’s catastrophic medical costs if the firms would agree to hold down premiums. Federal support to expand access to state-administered health insurance for children. Overall costs estimated by outside analyst at $895 billion over 10 years, to cover 27 million more people. Also, require mandatory financing for veterans health care.
Homeland security
Bush: Sought and won the creation of the Homeland Security Department. His administration also pushed for creation of the Terrorist Threat Integration Center; launched the Container Security Initiative; boosted federal screening of airline passengers and baggage; and reorganized the FBI to improve its oversight of domestic terrorism. Wants Patriot Act renewed and strengthened. On the central recommendation of the the 9/11 Commission, the creation of a national intelligence director, Bush has suggested that he favors a national intelligence director with less than the full budgetary and hiring authority recommend by the panel.
Kerry: Voted for the Patriot Act. But he accuses the Bush administration of misusing it. Although he favors strengthening some parts of it, he favors eliminating other parts. Has endorsed all of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations and urged Bush to act quickly on them.
Immigration
Bush: Proposes granting legal status to millions of illegal workers as well as people outside the United States who line up jobs in America. Plan would give temporary legal status and expand the current program for highly skilled foreign workers and farm labor to other sectors of the economy where jobs are not being filled by Americans. Opposes giving illegal immigrants an “automatic path to citizenship.”
Kerry: People who have been in the United States at least five years, paid taxes and “stayed out of trouble ought to be able to translate into an American citizen immediately.”
Iraq
Bush: Authorized by Congress, he oversaw a swift military victory followed by a violent aftermath in which the death count for U.S. soldiers is approaching 1,000. Won congressional approval of $87 billion for continued military operations and aid in Iraq and Afghanistan and pushed plan for interim government to run country until it is replaced following national elections scheduled for January.
Kerry: Supported decision to go to war but now says he did so based on faulty U.S. intelligence. Opposed $87 billion package for Iraq and Afghanistan.
Social Security
Bush: Give younger workers the option of putting part of their payroll tax into personal retirement accounts, giving them a chance to make a higher return on that investment in return for smaller Social Security benefits.
Kerry: Opposes partial privatization of Social Security. Would require companies switching to cheaper lump-sum pension plans to offer retiring workers the choice of staying with traditional company pension.
Taxes
Bush: Has repeatedly called on Congress to make his tax cuts permanent, saying failure to do so would amount to a tax hike and threaten prospects for a robust economic recovery capable of generating new jobs. Congressional analysts say that making the tax cuts permanent would cost about $1.3 trillion over the next 10 years.
Kerry: Has called for repeal of the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $200,000 a year, in order to pay for broad health care reform. However, he would retain the tax cuts for the middle class. 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.
Trade
Bush: Is an avowed free trader, has embarked on a series of trade agreements with countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa. But his administration has also faced charges of protectionism over steel tariffs that the World Trade Organization ruled illegal, and its reluctance to trim import barriers that protect U.S. sugar, dairy and beef industries.
Kerry: Has promised a 120-day review of all existing U.S. trade agreements upon taking office, and favors using the World Trade Organization to challenge China’s currency practices. He also has pressed for stronger labor and environmental language than Bush has required in growing collection of bilateral free trade agreements with countries around the world.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4448630/
,
....."
