Obama and Romney: The Key Issues

* THE KEY ISSUES- ОВАМА VS ROMNEY • Signed the American Recovery and • Plan centres on tax cuts, repeal of Obama's Reinvestment Act, known as the stimulus, a 2010 healthcare reform law and repeal of $768bn package of tax cuts and investment in education, infrastructure, energy research, health, and other programmes 2010 Wall Street and banking regulations, and in general the reduction of other regulations he says stifle economic growth ECONOMY • Backed a bailout of the US auto industry • Opposed the auto industry bailout • Signed trade agreements with Colombia, • Proposes to reduce federal spending Panama and South Korea significantly but gives few details about which programs he would cut • Has cut effective taxes for most Americans • Would make permanent all Bush-era tax cuts, further cut individual income tax rates, • Would repeal Bush-era tax cuts for households eliminate taxes on investment income, repeal making more than $250,000 a year the estate tax, and reduce the corporate • Proposes the "Buffet rule", which would income tax rate increase the effective tax rate paid by TAXES • According to the non-partisan Tax Policy millionaires Center, taxpayers at high income levels would see the greatest benefit. Would make up the revenue by closing unspecified tax loopholes • Says he is determined to prevent Iran from • Says it is unacceptable for Iran to possess a developing a nuclear weapon nuclear weapon • Opposes a near-term military strike by US or • Says military action "remains on the table" and Israel on Iran's nuclear facilities; analysts say he presents a clearer military threat to Iran · Emphasises need for a diplomatic solution but IRAN warns "that window is closing" and has said • Would send Navy ships to patrol the "all options are at the table" Mediterranean and Persian Gulf • Signed new sanctions against Iran's central • Calls for more sanctions bank, oil revenues and financial system • Would publicly back Iranian opposition groups • Has killed much of al-Qaeda's leadership, • Would spend heavily on military hardware and including Osama Bin Laden; pulled US troops SECU invest in missile defence, adding an estimated out of Iraq; agreed to a $487m reduction in $100bn to the Pentagon's budget, while defence spending over 10 years with reducing the civilian defence bureaucracy congressional Republicans NATIONAL SECURITY AND WAR • Initially increased the number of troops in • Has said his "goal" would be "a successful Afghanistan transition to Afghan security forces by the end of 2014" but pledges to review withdrawal • Has begun a draw-down of US troops with the plans and base them "on conditions on the combat mission to end by 2014 ground as assessed by our military AFGHANISTAN commanders" • Vast 2010 healthcare reform law aims for • Would seek repeal of Mr. Obama's health law, universal health insurance coverage by though it is modelled on a law he signed in requiring individuals who are not otherwise Massachusetts covered to purchase insurance, while • Would return most health policy to the states restricting insurers' ability to deny coverage based on pre-existing ailments HEALTHCARE • Would limit doctor malpractice lawsuits • The law offers states grants to increase • Would encourage individuals without enrolment of poor people in the Medicaid insurance to buy it on the private market, public insurance programme including by purchasing it in other states with lighter coverage requirements and lower costs • Used executive power to grant legal status to • Criticises Mr. Obama's "stopgap" measure on certain young illegal immigrants young illegal immigrants but does not say whether he would overturn it • Has dramatically increased deportations of illegal immigrants • Says the US should encourage migrants to "self-deport" by making life hard for them ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION • Supports abortion rights • Says "My presidency will be a pro-life presidency", though he supported abortion • Appointed two Supreme Court justices who ABORTION rights when he was running for governor appear to favour abortion rights Massachusetts in 2002 • Supports overturning the Roe v. Wade ABORTION Supreme Court ruling legalising abortion and allowing states to decide whether abortion should be legal • Would strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood women's health clinics • Supports investment in clean energy such as • Would ease regulations hindering wind turbines and advanced car batteries coal-burning power plants, oil exploration and nuclear power plant construction • Tightened car fuel efficiency and emissions standards • Would encourage drilling for oil in the Atlantic and Pacific outer continental shelves • Blocked development of the Keystone oil ENERGY pipeline to move oil sands crude from • Proposes to ease regulations Pledges to build Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, saying the US the Keystone pipeline had not had sufficient time to judge its environmental impact dp DEV-PRO Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19648670 INFOGRAPHICS www.dev-pro.net * THE KEY ISSUES- ОВАМА VS ROMNEY • Signed the American Recovery and • Plan centres on tax cuts, repeal of Obama's Reinvestment Act, known as the stimulus, a 2010 healthcare reform law and repeal of $768bn package of tax cuts and investment in education, infrastructure, energy research, health, and other programmes 2010 Wall Street and banking regulations, and in general the reduction of other regulations he says stifle economic growth ECONOMY • Backed a bailout of the US auto industry • Opposed the auto industry bailout • Signed trade agreements with Colombia, • Proposes to reduce federal spending Panama and South Korea significantly but gives few details about which programs he would cut • Has cut effective taxes for most Americans • Would make permanent all Bush-era tax cuts, further cut individual income tax rates, • Would repeal Bush-era tax cuts for households eliminate taxes on investment income, repeal making more than $250,000 a year the estate tax, and reduce the corporate • Proposes the "Buffet rule", which would income tax rate increase the effective tax rate paid by TAXES • According to the non-partisan Tax Policy millionaires Center, taxpayers at high income levels would see the greatest benefit. Would make up the revenue by closing unspecified tax loopholes • Says he is determined to prevent Iran from • Says it is unacceptable for Iran to possess a developing a nuclear weapon nuclear weapon • Opposes a near-term military strike by US or • Says military action "remains on the table" and Israel on Iran's nuclear facilities; analysts say he presents a clearer military threat to Iran · Emphasises need for a diplomatic solution but IRAN warns "that window is closing" and has said • Would send Navy ships to patrol the "all options are at the table" Mediterranean and Persian Gulf • Signed new sanctions against Iran's central • Calls for more sanctions bank, oil revenues and financial system • Would publicly back Iranian opposition groups • Has killed much of al-Qaeda's leadership, • Would spend heavily on military hardware and including Osama Bin Laden; pulled US troops SECU invest in missile defence, adding an estimated out of Iraq; agreed to a $487m reduction in $100bn to the Pentagon's budget, while defence spending over 10 years with reducing the civilian defence bureaucracy congressional Republicans NATIONAL SECURITY AND WAR • Initially increased the number of troops in • Has said his "goal" would be "a successful Afghanistan transition to Afghan security forces by the end of 2014" but pledges to review withdrawal • Has begun a draw-down of US troops with the plans and base them "on conditions on the combat mission to end by 2014 ground as assessed by our military AFGHANISTAN commanders" • Vast 2010 healthcare reform law aims for • Would seek repeal of Mr. Obama's health law, universal health insurance coverage by though it is modelled on a law he signed in requiring individuals who are not otherwise Massachusetts covered to purchase insurance, while • Would return most health policy to the states restricting insurers' ability to deny coverage based on pre-existing ailments HEALTHCARE • Would limit doctor malpractice lawsuits • The law offers states grants to increase • Would encourage individuals without enrolment of poor people in the Medicaid insurance to buy it on the private market, public insurance programme including by purchasing it in other states with lighter coverage requirements and lower costs • Used executive power to grant legal status to • Criticises Mr. Obama's "stopgap" measure on certain young illegal immigrants young illegal immigrants but does not say whether he would overturn it • Has dramatically increased deportations of illegal immigrants • Says the US should encourage migrants to "self-deport" by making life hard for them ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION • Supports abortion rights • Says "My presidency will be a pro-life presidency", though he supported abortion • Appointed two Supreme Court justices who ABORTION rights when he was running for governor appear to favour abortion rights Massachusetts in 2002 • Supports overturning the Roe v. Wade ABORTION Supreme Court ruling legalising abortion and allowing states to decide whether abortion should be legal • Would strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood women's health clinics • Supports investment in clean energy such as • Would ease regulations hindering wind turbines and advanced car batteries coal-burning power plants, oil exploration and nuclear power plant construction • Tightened car fuel efficiency and emissions standards • Would encourage drilling for oil in the Atlantic and Pacific outer continental shelves • Blocked development of the Keystone oil ENERGY pipeline to move oil sands crude from • Proposes to ease regulations Pledges to build Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, saying the US the Keystone pipeline had not had sufficient time to judge its environmental impact dp DEV-PRO Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19648670 INFOGRAPHICS www.dev-pro.net