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2012 Presidential Candidates on the Economy

Barack Obama

Democratic incumbent

http://www.barackobama.com

Age: 51

Previous Political Offices:  Illinois State Senate, 1997-2004; U.S. Senator, 2004-2008; President, 2008-2012.

Education:  Undergraduate studies at Occidental College in Los Angeles then transferred to Columbia University in New York; law degree from Harvard Law School.

On the Economy:

Barack Obama entered the White House as the United States economy was in a downward spiral. The housing market had tanked in 2006 and was still dropping, unemployment was at 6.7 percent, the national debt was over $10.6 trillion, and the country was paying for two expensive wars.

In 2009, Obama created an economic stimulus package to help boost the economy, similar to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal passed during the Great Depression. Obama spent $787.6 billion on projects around the country to improve infrastructure and create jobs.

Obama believes raising revenue through increased taxes should be part of balancing the budget. He and the Democrats in Congress fought with Republican legislators about ending part of the 2003 Bush-era tax cuts for families who earn over $250,000 a year and the cuts to capital gains and dividend taxes.

The Obama Administration estimated ending those tax cuts for high-income Americans would have added $678 billion in revenue through 2020, according to a New York Times report.

In 2010, Obama and the Democrats conceded, and the tax cuts were extended for another two years.

Obama also passed the Dodd-Frank Act, or Wall Street reform, which regulates large banks and corporations.

Obama’s campaign website says he will pass the Buffett Rule, which would require people who make over $1 million to pay more in taxes. He also would invest in education, manufacturing and infrastructure, and end the war in Afghanistan.

Obama does not support right-to-work laws, calling them “right to work for less laws” at an American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations conference in April 2012. Those laws allow employees to choose whether or not to join labor unions or pay labor union dues and allow them to bargain with employees as individuals. He supports collective bargaining.

To keep jobs in America, Obama’s campaign website says he would eliminate tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas.

In July 2012, Obama supported the Bring Jobs Home Act that would have granted businesses a tax credit for relocating to the United States and denied tax credits for outsourcing. The bill never passed a filibuster in the Senate.

On Healthcare:  Obama campaigned for healthcare reform in 2008, and he passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010.

On Education:  Obama supports repealing No Child Left Behind. He supports funding schools through a voucher system, which gives public money to private and charter schools. He supports tying teacher pay to performance, something teacher unions oppose. He also supports investing in Pell grants for higher education.

Mitt Romney

Republican candidate

http://www.mittromney.com

Age:  65

Past Political Offices:  Governor of Massachusetts, 2003-2007

Education:  Undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University; law degree from Harvard Law school; Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

On the Economy:

Mitt Romney founded Bain Capital, an asset management firm, and says his experience working in private markets will help him balance the national deficit.

His campaign website says he wants to cut spending by $500 billion per year while increasing defense spending. It also says he’ll pass the House Republican Budget proposal, which cuts government spending on programs except defense.

Romney doesn’t advocate raising taxes to raise revenue and argues that a healthy economy with more workers will increase tax revenue without increasing tax rates. His campaign website says Romney would cut marginal tax rates, the rate paid on income above a certain amount, by 20 percent; eliminate the Estate Tax paid on estates with gross assets of $5 million or more transferred at the time of death; and cut the corporate tax rate to 25 percent.

Romney would cut spending. His campaign website says he would reduce subsidies for the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Legal Services Corporation, and cap government spending to 20 percent of Gross Domestic Product.

He’d also cut funding for Title X, enacted in 1970 to provide family planning, contraception and preventative health services; cut compensation to public employees; lay off 10 percent of federal employees and consolidate federal agencies.

Romney supports state right-to-work laws, which allow employees to choose whether or not to join labor unions or pay labor union dues and allow them to bargain with employees as individuals.

Romney would also repeal the Dodd-Frank Act, or Wall Street reform, which regulates large banks and corporations.

Romney wants to promote exports by expanding the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement between nine countries to improve investment and trade relationships. He also wants to increase the U.S. Customs and Border Protection resources to prevent the illegal entry of goods into our market and United States Trade Representative resources to stop China’s unfair trade practices.

On Healthcare:  Romney has said he’d repeal the full Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act if elected, and would allow states to regulate their own health insurance policies. He would make Medicare a voucher system and give seniors a set amount of money to purchase their own insurance plans. Seniors would have to pay out of pocket for procedures not covered under their chosen insurance plans.

On Education:  Romney doesn’t support No Child Left Behind. He supports funding schools through a voucher system, which gives public money to private and charter schools. Romney said he wouldn’t add money to the Pell grant program, and he opposes income-base student loan payment plans and student loan forgiveness plans.