Environment

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.): Concerning a United Nations report on climate change, Clinton said, “The scientific consensus is clear and overwhelming: We are causing the planet to warm, with potentially devastating consequences. We need to take immediate steps to address this problem.” She supports a cap-and-trade system for the reduction of U.S. emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 as well as the pursuit of clean energy technologies.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.): Obama supports a cap-and-trade system for the reduction of U.S. emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. He pledged to provide health care assistance to automakers who invest 50 percent of their earnings into the creation of more fuel-efficient vehicles and is in favor of a reduction in carbon in U.S. transportation fuels by 5 percent by 2010 and by 10 percent by 2015.

Former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.): Huckabee supports a cap-and-trade system for the reduction of U.S. carbon emissions. He also intends to be energy independent by the end of his second term. Huckabee wants to move towards alternative energy sources within the next 10 years, but also supports drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.): McCain supports a cap-and-trade system for carbon reduction. “I believe climate change is real. I think it’s devastating. … I believe that America did the right thing by not joining the Kyoto Treaty. But I believe that if we could get China and India into it, then the United States should seriously consider, on our terms, joining with every other nation in the world to try to reduce greenhouse gases. It’s got to be a global effort,” McCain said.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas): “I believe that a lack of respect for property rights has led to many [environmental] problems,” Paul said. He opposes subsidized logging in national forests and is a co-sponsor of legislation designed to encourage the development of alternative and sustainable energy.

Education

Clinton: Clinton is a co-sponsor of the College Quality, Affordability and Diversity Act, which would increase incentives for colleges to join the Direct Loan Program, allow students with consolidated loans to refinance them, and support programs that improve college access to students from diverse backgrounds. She is also a proponent of a Student Borrower Bill of Rights to protect student borrowers from unfair treatment as they repay their loans.

Obama: Obama pledged to reform student lending practices by mandating that all federal student loans be direct loans, saving taxpayers more than $618 per $10,000 Stafford Loan, according to his campaign Web site. He will also eliminate Federal Family Education Loans, putting that money into the direct loan program and creating over 1,000,000 new Pell Grants.

Huckabee: Huckabee plans to emphasize the arts and music as much as science and math, terming them “Weapons of Mass Instruction.” He has focused mostly on early education on the campaign trail, but was a proponent of increasing public funds for higher education as governor of Arkansas. He also supports in-state tuition for the children of illegal immigrants who graduated from high school in that state. He opposes affirmative action for college admissions.

cCain: McCain is interested in increasing options for parents to save for their children’s higher education. He pledges to raise the allowable level for Pell Grants and to raise the maximum amount that families can save in tax-free education savings accounts.

Paul: “I want to abolish the unconstitutional, wasteful Department of Education and return its functions to the states,” Paul said. He feels that schools should be funded by local taxes and intends to create a full tax deduction for undergraduate college tuition, reasonable living expenses and interest on qualified student loans.

War in Iraq

Clinton: Clinton voted in favor of the invasion of Iraq in 2002, but is now opposed to the war. She is opposed to a troop increase, and has said that she would begin a phased withdrawal beginning within her first 60 days as president, with a majority of troops gone by 2013.

Obama: Obama was opposed to the invasion of Iraq and opposes a troop increase. If elected, Obama plans to slowly withdraw all combat brigades over 16 months.

Huckabee: Huckabee is in favor of the war. “We need to understand that this is, in fact, World War III. Unlike any other world war we’ve ever fought, this one is one we cannot afford to lose,” he said. Huckabee is against troop withdrawal without approval from generals.

cCain: McCain voted in favor of the invasion of Iraq in 2002. McCain is in favor of the troop increase and against a timetable for withdrawal, saying that a withdrawal would result in chaos and genocide.

Paul: On Paul’s campaign Web site, he makes the following statement, “On my first day as commander-in-chief, I will direct the Joint Chiefs of Staff and our commanders on the ground to devise and execute a plan to immediately withdraw our troops in the safest manner possible.”

Social Issues

Clinton: Clinton supports civil unions and leaving the definition of marriage to the states. She is in favor of domestic partnership benefits for homosexual couples. Clinton supports stem-cell research and is pro-abortion rights, wanting to “keep abortion safe, legal and rare.”

Obama: Obama is pro-abortion rights, supports civil unions and stem cell research and leaving the definition of marriage to states and religious denominations. He also would support the death penalty in extreme cases.

Huckabee: Huckabee wants to overturn Roe v. Wade and would remove tax funding for organizations that promote abortion. He opposes embryonic stem cell research, saying that it “creates life to end a life.” He promotes the tolerance of homosexuals but is against adoptions by gay couples and civil unions.

cCain: McCain supports civil unions for homosexuals and the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in the military. He is anti-abortion, except in the cases of rape, incest or when the mother’s life is in danger.

Paul: Paul is staunchly opposed to abortion and is a sponsor of a bill that would define life as beginning at conception.

Economy

Clinton: Clinton wants to repeal President George W. Bush’s tax cuts for households making more than $250,000. She has a $70 billion plan to boost the economy – $30 billion to states to help mitigate foreclosures, $25 billion in home-heating grants, $5 billion in energy conservation grants to create jobs, and $10 billion to be added to unemployment insurance.

Obama: If elected, Obama would repeal Bush’s tax cuts for households making more than $250,000. He wants to eliminate the income tax for elderly citizens making less than $50,000 and cut taxes by $80 billion per year for the middle and working classes in order to boost the economy.

Huckabee: Huckabee wants to eliminate all federal income and payroll taxes, replacing them with a national 23 percent sales tax on everything except education. He would distribute monthly paychecks to families, up to the poverty line, to supplement the sales tax.

cCain: McCain is interested in making the Bush tax cuts permanent and eliminating alternative minimum tax. McCain would also require a three-fifths Congressional vote to raise taxes and offer tax cuts to the middle class (about $2,000 per household), paying for it by reforming Social Security and Medicare.

Paul: Paul wants to curb inflation, cut deficit spending and legalize competing currencies to increase the values of the dollar.

-Compiled by Sarah Mimms

“