Handy Guide: Barack Obama on the major issues

[zulchzulu]

Hometown
Honolulu, Hawaii

Age
46

Religion
United Church of Christ

Education
Harvard Law School, J.D., 1991
Columbia University, B.A., 1983

Candidate Website
www.barackobama.com

Candidacy Status
Formally declared candidacy Feb. 10, 2007.

Political Experience
U.S. Senator from Illinois, 2005-present
Illinois State Senator, 1997-2004

Professional Experience
Lecturer, University of Chicago Law School, 1993-2004
Attorney, Miner Barnhill & Galland, 1993-2004

Family Information
Spouse: Michelle Obama
Children: Malia Ann Obama, Sasha Obama

---

Obama On the Issues

Abortion
Obama supports abortion rights. In the Illinois State Senate, he voted against a bill to ban late-term abortions. Obama said that he did not support the ban because it did not contain a clause to protect the life of the mother. During the April 2007 Democratic debate, Obama said that he trusts women to make their own decisions about whether or not to have an abortion "in conjunction with their doctors and their families and their clergy."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5654128/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18352397/

Church and State
Obama says he believes in the importance of the separation of church and state, but says that a "sense of proportion" should guide how it is enforced. He says that the phrase "under God" in the pledge of allegiance and voluntary student prayer groups on school property are two examples where conflict between church and state has been alleged, but should be less strictly policed.
http://obama.senate.gov/podcast/060628-call_to_renewal_keynote/index.html

Death Penalty
Obama says the death penalty "does little to deter crime" but he supports it for cases in which "the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage." While a state senator, Obama pushed for reform of the Illinois capital punishment system and authored a bill to mandate the videotaping of interrogations and confessions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/08/AR2007020802262_2.html

Education
In a debate during his 2004 senate campaign, Obama said he opposed government vouchers and tax credits to attend private schools because they would undermine efforts to improve the public school system. His opponent, Alan Keyes, criticized Obama for being against school vouchers while sending his two daughters to private schools in Chicago.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/elections/chi-0410270128oct27,1,3506733.story?coll=chi-electionsprint-hed

Environment
In October 2007, Obama proposed an energy plan that would implement a national emissions cap and require power companies and other industries to pay for their carbon emissions via a "cap and trade" system. His plan also would aim to reduce American dependence on foreign energy by 35% by 2030. He also has advocated for the expansion of U.S. ethanol production. In the U.S. Senate, Obama co-sponsored the Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act to cap emissions from industrial plants and oil refineries. He supported a January 2007 meeting of a group of evangelicals and climate scientists to advocate measures to prevent global warming. Obama has also called for stricter restrictions on the amount of carbon in fuels and tougher fuel efficiency standards for cars.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/us/politics/09obama.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/O/Obama,%20Barack
http://www.barackobama.com/2007/10/16/obama_outlines_policies_for_ru.php
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:s.280:
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Jan17/0,4670,EvangelicalsGlobalWarming,00.html
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-070423obama-iowa,1,7949524.story?coll=chi-news-hed

Faith-Based Initiatives
While he emphasizes the need for the separation of church and state, Obama says there is room for faith-based approaches to social problems. "One can envision certain faith-based programs – targeting ex-offenders or substance abusers – that offer a uniquely powerful way of solving problems," he said in June 2006.
http://obama.senate.gov/podcast/060628-call_to_renewal_keynote/index.html

Gay Marriage
Obama wrote in The Audacity of Hope that he remains "open to the possibility that my unwillingness to support gay marriage is misguided ... I may have been infected with society's prejudices and predilections and attributed them to God." He supports granting civil unions for gay couples and opposed a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
http://obama.senate.gov/press/060607-obama_statement_on_vote_against_constitutional_amendment_to_ban_gay_marriage/index.html
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070421/REPOSITORY/704210326/1043/NEWS01

Health Care
When he formally declared his run for the presidency, Obama said his goal is to implement universal health care, or government health insurance for all Americans, by 2012 or "the end of the first term of the next president." He has called the "belief in universal health care" one of the "core values" of the Democratic party. Obama proposes a national health care plan that would allow individuals and businesses to buy health care that is similar to what is available to federal employees. The plan would be funded partly by allowing President Bush's tax cuts to expire and by reapportioning that revenue.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-01-25-obama-health_x.htm
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/obamas-health-plan/

Immigration
Obama supports immigration reform that strengthens border security while creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country. He has been a proponent of guest worker programs that first offer available jobs to American workers. Obama has said that he will "not support any bill that does not provide earned path to citizenship for the undocumented population."
http://obama.senate.gov/speech/060403-floor_statement_of_senator_barack_obama_on_immigration_reform/index.html

Iraq War
Since Obama was not a member of the U.S. Senate in 2002, he did not vote on the authorization of the use of force in Iraq. But he was an opponent of the war effort as an Illinois state senator and campaigned against the war in his 2004 Senate bid. In January 2007, Obama introduced the non-binding Iraq War De-Escalation Act with a goal of removing all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31, 2008. The bill would allow a limited number of U.S. troops to remain in Iraq for counterterrorism and the training of Iraqi security forces. On the campaign trail in September 2007, Obama offered a similar plan to withdraw almost all American troops by the end of 2008. Obama has made his opposition to the war a central theme of his campaign, telling voters "they should ask themselves: Who got the single most important foreign policy decision since the end of the Cold War right, and who got it wrong?"
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B02E1DF1E3EF935A15751C0A9619C8B63
http://obama.senate.gov/press/070130-obama_offers_plan_to_stop_escalation_of_iraq_war_begin_phased_redeployment_of_troops/index.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/us/politics/13obama.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/O/Obama,%20Barack
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/us/politics/03obama.html

Poverty
In September 2007, Obama unveiled a plan to cut taxes for the middle class and senior citizens by eliminating corporate loopholes and tax breaks. In the Illinois Senate, Obama helped author the state earned income tax credit, which provided tax cuts for low-income families. Obama has supported bills to increase the minimum wage. In The Audacity of Hope, Obama describes what he calls America's "empathy deficit," writing that a "stronger sense of empathy would tilt the balance of our current politics in favor of those people who are struggling in this society."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/us/politics/19obama.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/O/Obama,%20Barack
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/17/politics/main2369157.shtml

Stem Cell Research
Obama supports relaxing federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. He voted for the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, which was vetoed by President Bush. The bill would have allowed federal funding to be used for research on stem cell lines obtained from discarded human embryos originally created for fertility treatments.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/11/america/NA-POL-US-Where-They-Stand-Candidates.php
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-810

Source:
http://pewforum.org/religion08/profile.php?CandidateID=4

[NYCGirl]

1. Thank you, zulch! I am SO bookmarking and recommending this!

:yourock:

[rjx]

40. Where does Obama stand on the federal reserve?

thx

[jlake]

2. Sold Out:

"Gay Marriage
Obama wrote in The Audacity of Hope that he remains "open to the possibility that my unwillingness to support gay marriage is misguided ... I may have been infected with society's prejudices and predilections and attributed them to God." He supports granting civil unions for gay couples and opposed a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage."


This cannot possibly be true. Sorry.

[zulchzulu]

4. Do you have a link to prove ANYTHING?

What part is not true?

[jlake]

7. What a smug asshole you are!

How can Obama support civil unions if he supports McClurkin and refuses to renounce him?
I rest my case.

[jaysunb]

11. Please get off this thread !

Your input is both juvenile and offensive.

[jlake]

27. Please don't tell me what to do. If you would have seen the posters response before their edit

maybe you would know why I said that.

[zulchzulu]

30. Don't you have something else to do besides making an ass out of yourself here?

What is wrong with you? Start your own damn thread.

[jlake]

32. Ah, now all I'll see is ignore....no more nasty snoot who is as dumb as a box of hair.

[zulchzulu]

16. What a ridiculous comment

You rest your case my ass... pathetic. Please respond so it kicks the thread. Thanks!

:hi:

[jlake]

26. Nice edit....

[Bishop Rook]

19. Honestly...

What the hell does going to college or not have to do with anything? I'm with you on substance, but that was over the line.

[FrenchieCat]

6. Oh....Honesty not the best policy? K

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton sidestepped a question about whether she thinks homosexuality is immoral Wednesday, less than two weeks after telling gay-rights activists she was "proud" to stand by their side.

Clinton was asked the question by ABC News, in the wake of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace's controversial comment that he believed homosexual acts were immoral.

"Well, I'm going to leave that to others to conclude," she said.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/14/clinton.gays/index.html

[jlake]

9. When she has a homophobe headline a fundraiser for her and he/she

proclaims gays to be "diseased" and "wanting to murder children" we'll talk.

[zulchzulu]

18. I'm sure you're aware that Hillary has homophobes on her web site and payroll

And besides, how about that Defense of Marriage Act signed by Bill Clinton... nice work, huh... It should be called the Bubba's Homophobia Act.

[jlake]

29. I am well aware of those allegations....she has still not given the stage

to a homophobe to pontificate....as a fundraiser.... far far worse.

[Tektonik]

37. wrong they're both despicable

[Bishop Rook]

21. She recanted shortly thereafter

Said that homosexuality is not immoral.

In fact, neither Obama and Clinton initially gave a strong stance, then both of them later clarified saying that they disagree with Chairman Pace.

Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) responded on Thursday to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace's comments that homosexual behavior is "immoral," but only after they were criticized for failing to do so by a homosexual advocacy group.

"Well, I've heard from a number of my friends, and I've certainly clarified with them any misunderstanding that anyone had, because I disagree with General Pace completely," Clinton told Bloomberg News. "I do not think homosexuality is immoral."

Also on Thursday, Obama released a statement on the issue. "I do not agree with General Pace that homosexuality is immoral," the Illinois Democrat noted. "Attempts to divide people like this have consumed too much of our politics over the past six years."

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200703/CUL20070316a.html

We need honesty on both sides (though I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you didn't know the similarities here).

Nothing in this thread changes the fact that Obama and Clinton's policies and platforms are effectively identical on gay rights. They support federally mandated civil unions but not full marriage; they support repealing DOMA and leaving the marriage issue up to the states; they oppose don't-ask-don't-tell; they support expanding hate-crime and anti-discrimination laws to include sexual orientation... One candidate's supporters criticizing the other candidate is therefore bound to be an exercise in hypocrisy, and I suggest we skip it.

[FrenchieCat]

3. Bookmarked!

Thank you.

[jefferson_dem]

5. Thanks, zulch!

:kick:, rec'd, and bookmarked.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

8. Thanks!

handy!

[Bitwit1234]

10. Where's his support of the Iran war and bombing...I know he supports it

it's on record. Where is his support for seniors to re-negotiate prescription drugs. He refused to vote on that. Where's his support for our military receiving health care. He refused to vote on that. Where's his support for students loans. He refused to vote for that. Damn I can give you 150 items he refused to vote on. But then the generic piece of crap posted above tells you nothing. Only what all candidates support. What a crock.

[Bishop Rook]

14. Hoo boy, Iran

Let's get one thing straight, Obama does not "support the Iran war."

He is on record supporting targeted missile strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities if and only if it is proven that the Iranian theocracy is on the verge of achieving deliverable nuclear weapons, as a measure of last resort once diplomacy has entirely broken down. Which is a moot point since we now know Iran hasn't had a nuclear weapons program for four years.

If you want a candidate who's more dovish than that, you might as well just advocate dismantling the military entirely. There's no reason to even have armed forces if you refuse to use them even as a last resort.

Let's also not forget which candidate in this race voted for the Lieberman/Kyl amendment.

[arewenotdemo]

46. thanks for that info, Bishop Rook

[avaistheone1]

12. Obama misses the boat. We need single-payer coverage.

We need the insurance companies "out" of the picture. That is going to happen with Obama's plan and all the lobbbyists that paying for his campaign.

[Bishop Rook]

15. All zero of them? (nt)

[zulchzulu]

22. I would love single-payer coverage too....but....

... in the interim, we need universal healthcare that is affordable and not forced down people's throats through mandates. We need to get this done incrementally. The healthcare insurance and pharma industries will do all they can to stop a single-payer solution in its tracks versus getting healthcare to be more affordable first.

I'll take political reality and getting some real legislation passed in the next couple years over getting nothing except for political theater that gets us nowhere.

[Barack_America]

24. "Political reality"? That's no fun! We need idealism and revolution!

All day, every day. Who cares about actually accopmplishing anything?

:sarcasm:

I actually agree with you 100%

[Barack_America]

23. Yeah, good luck with that. n/t

[Timbuk3]

13. Wow!

Thanks!

There is NO WAY I'm voting for this guy in the primaries!

"Can't we all just get along" is no way to represent people who have been spit on for 7 years.

[Bishop Rook]

17. Yes, much better to act like the Republicans did in 1994

We won and we got our just desserts, now let's use policy as a tool of vengeance for all the humiliation we've suffered. We're going for blood, and damn the consequences, who cares if we take our country down with us.

Guys, there exists a happy medium between uncompromising hostility and spineless capitulation.

[Timbuk3]

20. Yeah

"Bipartisanship" has worked really well for us.

The GOP doesn't compromise. The sooner we remember that, the sooner we'll dig our way out of this hole.

Besides, I'm 100% opposed to having the government send my tax dollars to tax-exempt organizations so they can save their own funds to support Republicans. Anyone who's not going to end faith-based funding in it's entirety isn't going to get my vote.

[zulchzulu]

25. So how do you propose that we get legislation passed with some bipartisan solutions?

Passing laws isn't a video game or some touch football down the street. Unless you have the votes to get laws passed and have a veto-proof majority to forcefully stop anyone in the minority, you get political theater that get us nowhere.

It's easy banging your chest and saying "full speed ahead!" The problem is you run full speed into a wall.

[Timbuk3]

38. I still want a Democratic President

The veto thing isn't a problem with a Democratic President.

I just don't want this one.

I'll vote for Edwards on February 5th, and the Democrat in November.

I also think we have a pretty good chance of picking up some Senate seats, so instead of wasting my time promoting and defending a President I don't and won't believe in, I'm going to see if I can spend some time, money, and loyalty on some candidates in close, winnable races.

The best I'll be able to do if Obama is the nominee is say, 'Well, you're probably right, but I'm gonna vote for him, anyway."

It's all good, though. I can't wait to see what comes out of the inevitable brokered convention. No one's got this locked up, and they won't by August.

[Bishop Rook]

28. Planning to vote for Edwards, I hope?

Clinton and Obama both have faith-based initiatives in their platforms. Edwards doesn't.

http://www.ontheissues.org/Hillary_Clinton.htm
http://www.ontheissues.org/Barack_Obama.htm

http://www.ontheissues.org/John_Edwards.htm

Not trying to be snarky, just hope that if you are a Clinton supporter you understand her position on this topic.

[Timbuk3]

39. I am

See my reply right above this.

[asdjrocky]

31. This is very good work for your candidate!

Nicely done. K&R.

I so admire positive, informative posts, and you see so few of them these days. You should be very proud of yourself.

[zulchzulu]

33. I decided to do all the major candidates...

That's what happens when I have coffee after dinner.

:hi:

I even did Huckabee just to show how insane the Repugs are...

[asdjrocky]

34. Well, tonight you've made me proud to be a Duer.

But I do think you're a little nuts for the Huckabee thing. Maybe one day we'll discuss that over :toast:

[zulchzulu]

35. kick

[creeksneakers2]

36. Thanks for posting the list

That's important information that gets lost in the day to day arguing.

[RamblingRose]

41. Thank you from a totally undecided dem voter. I will be reading these and sharing.

[RoadRage]

42. Wow.. factual and NOT biased? WTH?

:) Nicely done.. K&R

[zulchzulu]

43. Kick for morning DUers n/t

[Barack_America]

44. Very useful....kick....n/t

[Barack_America]

45. kicking for the evening crowd.

I'm glad to say that I see eye-to-eye with Obama on virtually all of these issues.

[zulchzulu]

47. kick for weekend DUers