What they think: Presidential views

The President of the United States defines our relations with the world and influences where America will go and what we will do in the next four years. That’s why it is important for voters to make an informed decision about whom they vote into office.

There are some major issues at work in this election and with all the political jargon being bounced back and forth from both Presidential candidates it can be hard to keep track of where either of them stand on the issues. Provided here is a detailed look on where President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney stand on some of the key issues of this campaign.

Economy

Obama:

• Had 31 straight months of job growth adding 5.2 millions private sector jobs including nearly 500,000 manufacturing jobs
• Eliminate tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs overseas and provide incentives for companies that create American jobs
• Permanent middle class tax cuts
• Double exports and create one million new manufacturing jobs
• Create a new network of 15-20 manufacturing innovation institutes to bring together business and research universities to ensure the next generation of products are invented and made in America
• Calling on Congress to build on our success as the world’s leading manufacturer in high tech batteries and to extend tax credits that support clean energy manufacturing
• Standing up for American workers and businesses in the global marketplace, taking on China’s unfair trade practices through a new trade enforcement unit to level the playing field
• Signed two tax credits into law for businesses that hire unemployed veterans and wounded warriors and proposed a Veterans Job Corps to put vets back to work as cops, firefighters, and protecting our public lands
• Passed Wall Street Reform
• Ended taxpayer-funded bailouts
• Banned unfair credit card rate increases and fees
• Set ground rules for risky financial speculation

• The Romney Plan: Restore confidence in America’s economic future, make America once again a place to invest and grow, provide opportunities for Americans to compete and succeed. His steps to do this are: Stop Runaway Federal Spending and Debt; Reform the Nation’s Tax Code to Increase Growth and Job Creation; Reform Entitlement Programs to Ensure Their Viability; Make Growth and Cost-Benefit Analysis Important Features of Regulation
• Reinstate the President’s Trade Promotion Authority
• Complete the negotiations for Trans-Pacific Partnership
• Pursue new trade agreements with nations committed to free enterprise and open markets
• Create the Reagan Economic Zone
• Confront China on their trade practices and force them to comply with fair trade
• Repeal Obamacare
• Repeal Dodd-Frank and replace with streamlined, modern regulatory framework
• Amend Sarbanes-Oxley to relieve mid-size companies from onerous requirements
• Initiate review and elimination of all Obama-era regulations that unduly burden the economy
• Impose a regulatory cap of zero dollars on all federal agencies
• Require congressional approval of all new “major” regulations
• Reform legal liability system to prevent spurious litigation

• Allow low income and special needs students to choose which school to attend by making Title I and IDEA funds portable
• Provide incentives for states to increase choices for parents and develop quality alternatives
• Build on the success of effective charter and digital schools
• Expand the DC opportunity scholarship program to serve as a model for the nation
• Reform No Child Left Behind by emphasizing transparency and responsibility for results
• Attract and reward great teachers through increased flexibility and block grants
• Eliminate unnecessary certification requirements that discourage new teachers
• Strengthen and simplify the financial aid system
• Welcome private sector participation instead of pushing it away
• Replace burdensome regulation with innovation and competition

• Reward responsible students by fighting to prevent federal student loan interest rates from doubling
• Capped federal student loan repayments at 10% of income
• Place incentives to keep good teachers in the classroom
• Use local solutions to improve schools by giving states the flexibility to create their own reform and get rid of No Child Left Behind mandates
• Invest in community colleges that provide education and career training programs
• Partner with states to raise standards by implementing Race to the Top initiative which so far has spurred 46 states to raise standards
• Ensure a good future for our veterans by expanding the post- 9/11 G.I Bill so veterans can get a college education and find work on their return from service
• Invest in community college and proposes forging partnerships between community colleges and employers to train 2 million workers for jobs that already exist

• Bringing our troops home from Afghanistan by transitioning security responsibility to the Afghan people we are on track to responsibly end the war there in 2014
• Made the decision to order a raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan killing the man responsible for 9/11 attacks and al Qaeda’s only leader
• Working towards a world without nuclear weapons. In 2010 Obama announced an international effort to secure vulnerable nuclear materials in four years and has worked to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons in Iran and North Korea
• Obama has strengthened our alliances with Israel and NATO and our partners in Asia and Latin America and has brought together international coalitions to confront shared challenges such as Iran’s nuclear program

• Will review the nuclear posture and decide whether America’s current nuclear posture and arms control policies are in the best interests of USA
• Will work on policies that will decrease the reliance of European nations on Russian sources of energy
• Will enhance diplomatic ties and increase military training and assistance and negotiate trade pacts and educational exchanges with Central Asian countries
• Confront Russia about its authoritarian practices in order to try and increase the civil and political rights of its people
• Bolster economic ties and the rule of law and lead on issues of security and human rights in Africa
• Work closely with Israel to maintain its strategic military edge and try and get the Palestinian state to live side by side in peace and security with Israel but support Israel’s interests in the matter
• Ensure buy-in from Afghan and Pakistani governments to defeat the insurgencies
• Prove to Iran we have a credible military option when it comes to dealing with their nuclear weapons program
• Place increasing sanctions pressure on Iran
• Support Iranian opposition
• Commit to the on-time completion of a fully capable missile defense system
• Maintain robust military capabilities in the Pacific in the face of China’s military build-up
• Deepen cooperation with regional partners like Japan, Australia, and South Korea to reduce Chan’s option of expanding its influence through coercion
• Defend human rights in China
• Disarm North Korea

• State ontrol of onshore energy development
• Open offshore areas for energy development
• Pursue a North American Energy Partnership
• Ensure accurate assessment of energy resources
• Restore transparency and fairness to permitting and regulation
• Facilitate private-sector led development of new energy technologies
• Ensure that environmental laws properly account for cost in regulatory process
• Provide multi-year lead times before companies must come into compliance with onerous new environmental regulations

• Save Americans money at the pump by doubling fuel efficiency standards
• Increasing domestic natural gas production
• Increasing domestic oil production
• Increasing production of wind and solar energy
• Federal investments in clean coal technology

• Cut taxes by $3,600 for the typical middle class family making $50,000 a year
• Use savings from ending Iraqi War to pay down the debt and invest in infrastructure
• Invest in education, research and technology to grow the economy for the long term
• Eliminate tax breaks for companies sending jobs and profits overseas
• Make sure millionaires aren’t paying lower tax rates than middle class families and pay the same rate as under President Clinton
• Signed 18 small business tax cuts into law to encourage hiring and investing and would extend tax cuts for 97% of small business owners

• Make permanent, across-the board 20 percent cut in marginal rates
• Maintain current tax rates on interest, dividends, and capital gains
• Eliminate taxes for taxpayers with AGI below $200,000 on interest, dividends, and capital gains
• Eliminate the Death Tax
• Repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
• Cut the corporate rate to 25 percent
• Strengthen and make permanent the R&D tax credit
• Switch to a territorial tax system
• Repeal the corporate Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)

• Block grant Medicaid and other payments to states
• Limit federal standards and requirements on both private insurance and Medicaid coverage
• Ensure flexibility to help the uninsured, including public-private partnerships, exchanges and subsidies
• Ensure flexibility to help the chronically ill, including high risk pools, reinsurance, and risk adjustment
• Offer innovation grants to explore non-litigation alternatives to dispute resolution
• Cap non-economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits
• Empower individuals and small businesses to form purchasing pools
• Prevent discrimination against individuals with pre-existing conditions who maintain continuous coverage
• Facilitate IT interoperability
• End tax discrimination against the individual purchase of insurance
• Allow consumers to purchase insurance across state lines
• Unshackle HSAs by allowing funds to be used for insurance premiums
• Promote  “co-insurance” products
• Promote alternatives to “fee for service”
• Encourage “Consumer Reports”- type ratings of alternative insurance plans

• End insurance company abuses through the Affordable Care Act that holds insurance companies accountable, put an end to the worst abuses, such as capping or dropping your coverage when you get sick
• Strengthening Medicare through the Affordable Care Act is helping people with Medicare save on the care they need to stay healthy--- from free preventive services to lower costs on prescription drugs and monthly premiums
• Putting women in control of their health by putting an end to the health insurance company practice of charging women more than men for the same coverage