As you all may have known, the elections are almost here! This is currently a very tight match between two very good candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain. In this article, I will explain some things about them to help you make your choice in the upcoming elections, with 5 important issues.
Barack Obama
Information on His Life
Many people know that Obama's vice-president choice is Joe Biden.
Anyway, every time that Obama gets up on that podium to talk about his campaign, you will always notice a sign that says "Change We Can Believe In". Usually, if you notice, he will also talk about hope and unity, which has attracted many young voters in record numbers. That and also charismatic speaking combined with optimism, that is... Most people also thought that his running mate would be Hillary Clinton, also.
He was born on August 4, 1961 in Hawaii to a mother from Kansas and father from Kenya. He spent most of his childhood in Indonesia, but returned to Hawaii to take secondary school, living there with his mother's parents.
In the books that he writes, he tells about the difficulties of growing up biracial in the 1960s. He experienced "racism and felt lost at times."
After his childhood years, Obama studied political science at Columbia University, then worked as a community organizer in Chicago's housing projects.
Later, he attended law school at Harvard Law School, starting his life as a politician. He became a civil rights lawyer and professor. In 1996, he was elected to the Illinois Senate, OFFICIALLY starting his career. It went up higher from here: he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004. As everyone knows, if he wins the election, he will be the first African American President.
Issues
Energy
Provide short-term relief to American families facing pain at the pump, help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future, within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined, put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars -- cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon -- on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America, ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025, and implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.
Taxes
Enact a windfall profits tax to provide a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate to American families, provide $50 billion to jumpstart the economy and prevent 1 million Americans from losing their jobs, provide a tax cut for working families, eliminate income taxes for seniors making less than $50,000, fight for fair trade, amend the North American Free Trade Agreement, reward companies that support American workers, create 5 million new green jobs, establish a credit card Bill of Rights, and a lot more.
Iraq
A responsible, phased withdrawal, judgment you can trust, encouraging political accommodation, surging diplomacy, preventing Humanitarian Crisis, and the Status-of-Forces-Agreement.
Health
Guaranteed eligibility, affordable premiums, co-pays and deductibles, employer contribution, mandatory coverage of children, lowering costs through investment in electronic health information technology systems, lowering costs by increasing competition in the insurance and drug markets, advance the biomedical research field, fight AIDS worldwide, reduce risks of mercury pollution, protect our children from lead poisoning, and supporting Americans with disabilities.
Rights and Poverty
Guaranteed eligibility, affordable premiums, co-pays and deductibles, employer contribution, mandatory coverage of children, lowering costs through investment in electronic health information technology systems, lowering costs by increasing competition in the insurance and drug markets, advance the biomedical research field, fight AIDS worldwide, reduce risks of mercury pollution, protect our children from lead poisoning, and supporting Americans with disabilities.
McCain
Information on His Life
Also, you probably know his running mate is Palin:
He calls his campaign bus the "Straight Talk Ecpress". Looking at himself, he thinks he's a reformer who talks about whatever is on his mind, thinking that he is very tough. He flew fighter jets for the Navy, and he survived many years as a prisoner going to war.
McCain was born on August 29, 1936 in the Panama, where his father was serving the Navy. Most of his relatives were part of the Navy too, so McCain decided to do the same. He attened the U.S. Naval Academy, then becoming a pilot. During the Vietnam War, from 1957-1975, McCain flew 23 missions before he was shot down and taken prisoner, where he "learned the value of human rights", since he was tortured!
Amazingly, he remained with the Navy after that horrible experience! But soon enough, his political career began. He became an Arizona congressman in 1983, then serving in the U.S. House or U.S. Senate ever since.
He believes in tougher rules governing where you get campaign money. He wants to tighten security at the borders, and get more freedom for students to change schools, making it also harder for Congress to raise taxes. Unfortunately (or fortunately) he believes the troops to stay in Iraq until he deems the Iraqi government can run the country itself.
Issues
Energy
Independence on foreign oil. Proprosed Lexington Project, lowering prices of gas, having more offshore drilling, expanding nuclear power, clear coal technology, and advanced alternative energy sources.
Taxes
Experience robust economic growth, and reduction in the corporate tax rate, which deducts a single year investments in equipment, eliminating tax loopholes, doubling size of child exemption.
Iraq
End the war with victory. Thinks course of immediate withdrawal will draw us into war with greater sacrifices, put peace further out of reach, and Americans into harm's way. Also win war in Afghanistan by adding more troops and using counterinsurgency strategy, continuing to hunt down al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden.
Health
Health care will be more accessible to Americans. Reforms of the insurance market, choice of health care into the hands of American families, walk-in clinics instead of ER, paying for outcome in the treatment of disease, and competition in the prescription drug market.
Rights and Poverty
He will listen to any idea from anyone that is offered in good faith and intended to help solve our problems, not make them worse. He will seek the counsel of members of Congress from both parties in forming government policy before asking them to support it. He changes education, worker training, health care services, retiree support, public transportation, research and development stimulation, and new technology.
This bring us to the end of the guide. If you want to learn more about the candidates, visit www.barackobama.com/ and www.johnmccain.com/.
