| John Kerry Hometown: Boston, Mass. Born: December 11, 1943 in Denver Religion: Roman Catholic Family: Married, Teresa Heinz; two children: Alexandra, 30; Vanessa, 27; three stepchildren Education: Yale U., B.A. 1966; Boston College, J.D. 1976 Career: Lawyer; County prosecutor Political Highlights: Lieutenant governor, 1983-85; U.S. Senate, 1985-present The Senator and Vietnam vet is from Massachusetts, but is not as liberal as his colleague Ted Kennedy. He's liberal on social issues, more moderate on economics and foreign policy. |
Kerry supported the war in Iraq, but thinks the
President went about it in the wrong way. Now he says
the U.S. needs to get the UN involved and make this a
truly international operation. Kerry also believes the
Administration is not paying enough attention to
Afghanistan. He wants a strong, modern military,
believes the U.S. should be a leader in the global fight
against AIDS and thinks more needs to be done to
secure Russia's large nuclear arsenal.
President went about it in the wrong way. Now he says
the U.S. needs to get the UN involved and make this a
truly international operation. Kerry also believes the
Administration is not paying enough attention to
Afghanistan. He wants a strong, modern military,
believes the U.S. should be a leader in the global fight
against AIDS and thinks more needs to be done to
secure Russia's large nuclear arsenal.
| George W. Bush Hometown: Midland, Texas Born: July 6, 1946 in New Haven, Conn. Religion: Methodist Family: Wife, First Lady Laura Bush; Twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara, 22 Education: Yale U., B.A. 1968; Harvard U., M.B.A. 1975 Career: Partner, Texas Rangers Baseball Team; Owner, oil and gas business Political Highlights: Texas Governor, 1995-2000; President, 2001-present George W. Bush's first term has shown he takes strong stands on the issues. On foreign policy, in the aftermath of 9/11, he's a hawk who believes the U.S. needs to promote freedom and tackle threats. On domestic issues, he stands firmly on the right, with a few notable exceptions. And on fiscal matters, supply-side economics come first. |
| Bush's war on terrorism is the biggest plank in his reelection platform; he believes a firm policy is the only way to deter America's enemies. The President has passionately defended his campaign to topple Saddam Hussein, arguing that Iraq is a crucial theater in the war on terror. Now he insists America must stay the course there, fighting militants and providing security as Iraqis make the transition to democracy. He wants to improve intelligence sharing with other nations to help catch terrorists. Bush also proposes using strong diplomacy to negotiate with North Korea and Iran and end their nuclear weapons programs. He wants to dramatically increase Pentagon spending, putting money behind research for a missile defense shield and a new generation of conventional weapons. |
Foreign Policy and Defense
Civil Liberties and Courts
| Bush is pro-life but says the country is not ready to reverse Roe v. Wade so, for now, he will strive to promote "a culture of life." He did sign a law banning so-called partial birth abortions, but he insists he does not give potential judicial nominees a litmus test to determine their views on abortion. He has said he wants judges who do not "legislate from the bench." He supports the Patriot Act and wants Congress to renew all its provisions. He has defended the Administration's detainment of terrorism suspects at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay and his proposal to try such suspects — even U.S. citizens — before military tribunals. The President has said he believes in tolerance for homosexuals, but believes marriage should be limited to heterosexual couples and he backs a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. He thinks states should decide on their own whether to allow civil unions. He supports universities working to achieve racially diverse student bodies, but opposes them using race as a direct factor in admissions. |
| The Department of Homeland Security, a proposal Bush resisted at first, has become the centerpiece of his efforts to secure America. The President is proud of the Department's Terrorist Threat Integration Center, which is supposed to gather all threat information, as well as its reforms of airport and shipping container port security. In April Bush said he was open to suggestions for restructuring the Intelligence Community to do a better job stopping domestic threats. Bush has rejected Democratic complaints that his budgets underfund local first responders. The President proposed a dramatic immigration reform plan which would give illegal immigrants who hold jobs legal status as temporary workers. The plan is currently stalled in Congress. |
Homeland Security & Immigration
| Social Security |
| Bush proposes reforming Social Security by allowing younger workers to invest their payroll taxes in the stock market with tax-free investment accounts. Workers near retirement would keep the current system. Bush also wants to create "Individual Development Accounts" in which people could invest money tax free. The government would partially match what lower income workers put in the accounts. |
| Health Care |
| Bush says the way to bring down health care costs is to limit medical malpractice lawsuits. He wants more cases settled before they go to court, a $250,000 cap on damages for pain and suffering and a stricter statute of limitations for bringing suits. Bush also says that limiting litigation would allow doctors to share information more freely and prevent medical errors. To help more Americans get health care coverage, Bush wants laws allowing small employers to pool together and negotiate cheaper more health care plans, and he supports tax credits to help lower-income Americans pay for their own coverage. He also wants to expand medical savings accounts, which let people save money tax free to help pay health care costs. Bush wants to reform Medicare with competition by including more private health insurers in the program. He believes the prescription drug benefit Congress passed last year was a key first step. |
| Tax cuts, anyone? Bush's first economic priority is extending the tax cuts he signed in 2001; some are set to expire next year. The President believes the second part of encouraging economic growth is cutting the cost of doing business. He wants to do that by shifting more liability lawsuits to federal court, which are usually less friendly to class-action cases. He pledges his Administration will continue streamlining or eliminating business regulations and reporting requirements. He accuses Kerry and other Democrats who want more labor and environmental provisions in trade agreements of being "economic isolationists." Bush instead proposes working to eliminate barriers to American goods in other countries. |
| Fiscal Policy, Economy, Labor & Agriculture |
| Education |
| The cornerstone of Bush's education plan is the No Child Left Behind Act, which requires standardized testing of all students in the 4th and 8th grades. Children in schools the governments determines are failing can transfer to other public schools or enroll in tutoring. Bush believes the Administration is already giving states enough money to implement the act. Bush now wants to expand the testing to 12th graders. He wants tougher standards for teachers. His sexual education policies encourage abstinence-only teaching programs. |
| Environment and Energy |
| Bush believes the rising price of gasoline must be fought with more exploration of domestic energy sources. His energy plan has been stalled in Congress because of its provision to allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It would cut regulations and offer tax credits to encourage energy companies to seek more sources of energy. Bush's Interior Department has allowed energy producers easier access to public lands. Bush has proposed a hydrogen fuel initiative which would offer research money to develop environmentally clean fuel cells. His Clear Skies Initiative, also waiting passage in Congress, would replace the Clean Air Act with an emissions trading system where companies who cut air pollution emissions could sell credits to companies exceeding the limit. The goal of the Initiative is to reduce sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions by 70% by 2015. Bush exempted carbon dioxide from the plan for now. Bush also issued a Healthy Forests Initiative, which allows more aggressive forest management to prevent forest fires. Environmental groups complain it allows paper companies to cut old growth forests instead of more fire-prone brush. |
Kerry wants civil rights-minded judges. He wants to
preserve affirmative action, Title IX and abortion
rights. He was an early advocate of ending
discrimination against homosexuals, and wants to end
the ban on open gays serving in the military. He
supports domestic partnership rights, but opposes gay
marriage. He opposes the death penalty, except in
terrorism cases.
preserve affirmative action, Title IX and abortion
rights. He was an early advocate of ending
discrimination against homosexuals, and wants to end
the ban on open gays serving in the military. He
supports domestic partnership rights, but opposes gay
marriage. He opposes the death penalty, except in
terrorism cases.
Kerry wants to expand the role of the National Guard
and Americorps in homeland security and reform
domestic intelligence. He wants to tighten up the
borders, but also clear the current naturalization
backlog for immigrants, offer amnesty to illegal
immigrants who have grown up in the U.S. and fully
restore welfare and health care benefits to illegals.
and Americorps in homeland security and reform
domestic intelligence. He wants to tighten up the
borders, but also clear the current naturalization
backlog for immigrants, offer amnesty to illegal
immigrants who have grown up in the U.S. and fully
restore welfare and health care benefits to illegals.
Kerry opposes privatizing Social Security and is
against raising the retirement age to 67 or reducing
payments. He is still developing his plan on the issue
but during one event in August, he tentatively
raised the idea of capping payments to wealthy
retired Americans. He hasn't mentioned it since.
against raising the retirement age to 67 or reducing
payments. He is still developing his plan on the issue
but during one event in August, he tentatively
raised the idea of capping payments to wealthy
retired Americans. He hasn't mentioned it since.
Kerry's health care plan aims to cover 27 million of
the 41 million uninsured Americans through a
patchwork of programs that would cost $890 billion
over ten years. He'll expand the Children's Health
Insurance Plan and Medicaid to cover all children
from families living at three times the poverty line
or less and all parents at two times or less. All
Americans could buy into the insurance plan that
covers federal employees. He also wants to
encourage businesses to cover workers through a
variety of tax credits and incentives. He supports a
generous Medicare prescription drug benefit and
hopes to lower drug costs by eliminating regulatory
loopholes for pharmaceutical companies. Kerry is for
lowering malpractice insurance costs by making it
harder to file frivolous lawsuits and limiting the
cases where punitive damages can be awarded, but he
opposes capping damages.
the 41 million uninsured Americans through a
patchwork of programs that would cost $890 billion
over ten years. He'll expand the Children's Health
Insurance Plan and Medicaid to cover all children
from families living at three times the poverty line
or less and all parents at two times or less. All
Americans could buy into the insurance plan that
covers federal employees. He also wants to
encourage businesses to cover workers through a
variety of tax credits and incentives. He supports a
generous Medicare prescription drug benefit and
hopes to lower drug costs by eliminating regulatory
loopholes for pharmaceutical companies. Kerry is for
lowering malpractice insurance costs by making it
harder to file frivolous lawsuits and limiting the
cases where punitive damages can be awarded, but he
opposes capping damages.
Kerry has been more moderate than most Dems on
education. He opposes private school vouchers but
supports more choice in the public school system and
reforming education bureaucracies by ending teacher
tenure and instituting more accountability. He voted
for the No Child Left Behind Act and is angry at
Bush for not fully funding it. He proposes expanding
Head Start and fully funding special education
programs. He wants to expand programs that help
pay for college — federal student loans, scholarships
and Pell grants. He proposes tax credits for up to
$4,000 worth of tuition costs for each year of college
and more help for students who do community
service.
education. He opposes private school vouchers but
supports more choice in the public school system and
reforming education bureaucracies by ending teacher
tenure and instituting more accountability. He voted
for the No Child Left Behind Act and is angry at
Bush for not fully funding it. He proposes expanding
Head Start and fully funding special education
programs. He wants to expand programs that help
pay for college — federal student loans, scholarships
and Pell grants. He proposes tax credits for up to
$4,000 worth of tuition costs for each year of college
and more help for students who do community
service.
Kerry is a consistent environmentalist. He strongly
opposed Bush's efforts to open the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling and backed the Kyoto
Protocols. He wants 20% of America's electricity to
come from renewable sources and sponsored a bill
with John McCain to improve auto efficiency. He
wants to give the EPA strong enforcement powers.
opposed Bush's efforts to open the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling and backed the Kyoto
Protocols. He wants 20% of America's electricity to
come from renewable sources and sponsored a bill
with John McCain to improve auto efficiency. He
wants to give the EPA strong enforcement powers.
Kerry pledges up, down and sideways that he will not
raise taxes on the middle class; Instead he wants new
tax credits to help with college and health care costs.
To pay for them, Kerry plans to roll back Bush's tax
cuts for wealthy Americans — those making over
$200,000 a year — and close $65 billion in corporate
tax loopholes. He'll get the economy moving again with
new homeland security and transportation projects —
$50 billion for state governments to create jobs. He'll
try to decrease job outsourcing by ending tax
provisions that help companies move jobs overseas. In
return, he'll lower corporate income taxes. He voted
for NAFTA but now says tougher labor and
environmental standards are needed in trade
agreements and wants a 120-day review of all trade
pacts. He plans to cut the deficit in half within four
years by reinstating pay-as-you-go rules, which force
Congress to offset the costs of any spending increases
or tax cuts with spending cuts or tax increases from
other parts of the budget, and by asking for a
constitutional form of line-item veto which would allow
him to send budget pork provisions back to Congress
for an up-or-down vote. He wants to trim subsidies for
farm corporations.
raise taxes on the middle class; Instead he wants new
tax credits to help with college and health care costs.
To pay for them, Kerry plans to roll back Bush's tax
cuts for wealthy Americans — those making over
$200,000 a year — and close $65 billion in corporate
tax loopholes. He'll get the economy moving again with
new homeland security and transportation projects —
$50 billion for state governments to create jobs. He'll
try to decrease job outsourcing by ending tax
provisions that help companies move jobs overseas. In
return, he'll lower corporate income taxes. He voted
for NAFTA but now says tougher labor and
environmental standards are needed in trade
agreements and wants a 120-day review of all trade
pacts. He plans to cut the deficit in half within four
years by reinstating pay-as-you-go rules, which force
Congress to offset the costs of any spending increases
or tax cuts with spending cuts or tax increases from
other parts of the budget, and by asking for a
constitutional form of line-item veto which would allow
him to send budget pork provisions back to Congress
for an up-or-down vote. He wants to trim subsidies for
farm corporations.
| 2004 Presidential Election The Candidates, The Issues, and the Pub's Take |
| Pub Stand: Pub likes Bush's decisiveness, but in the Iraq case it has now been proven the reasons were wrong, and worse yet, we have no way to get out of this mess. The only way to ease this burden is to include the rest of the world, specifically the Arab nations. |
| Pub Stand: Many fear the Republicans are trying to shove their morality down the throats of America, but we like Bush's balance and deferment of power back to states. Death penalty favored in 1st degree murder cases with confessions. |
| Pub Stand: Good job by the Bush administration in creating the new Homeland Security department. Both parties need to completely reinforce the current Immigration laws and policies on the books. Neither seem willing to touch those issues however, for fear of losing minority votes. |
Green = Pub Supports Red = Disagrees
| Pub Stand: Do not favor the lessoning of SS fund payments by any amount. SS will be tremendously drained as baby boomers begin to retire. Fund needs additional funds added, not subtracted before this hits. |
| Pub Stand: Bush is very big business friendly (a longtime Republican moniker), and that's not always bad. In favor of any policy that rewards companys that keep labor in country, and that taxes the shit out of those that don't. |
| Whatever you do, get out and VOTE!!! |
| Issues ranked in order of Pub Importance |
| Pub Stand: Neither candidate will be able to make substantial improvement here (no matter what they say), so let's just move on. |
| Pub Stand: Neither candidate will be able to make substantial improvement here (no matter what they say), so let's just move on. |
| Pub Stand: Very simple. Use America's brilliant minds and resources to solve our dependence on Middle East oil, period. Screw Mars. Keep the environment as safe as possible, but not at the cost of world war. |
| The debates are over. At this point in the game, there is no excuse for the undecided voter. We feel the first debate was won convincingly by Senator John Kerry. The 2nd debate was closer, but most Americans felt Kerry had the edge. We would say the 3rd debate was the most evenly balanced, but still prefer Kerry's performance over President Bush's. While we applaud all that George W. Bush has done for our country in the wake of 911, we are voting for John Kerry. We feel that President Bush did a great job immediately after 911. Any sitting president would do the same. We felt his aggressive action over the Taliban in Afghanistan was also the correct path to take. However, he divided the country and the world in his haste to tackle Sadam under pretenses that turned out to be incorrect. If you are going to be the President of the United States of America, you need to have a better record than that, especially when lives are at stake, and our hard fought reputation, our world credibility is on the line. We don't think George W Bush will go down in the history books as one of our great leaders. Let's give John Kerry the opportunity to see what he can accomplish. |
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