Last-Minute Guide to The Candidates

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We have come along way since the battle for the Republican presidential nominee was first announced. Today is Election Day. Still undecided? Here’s a quick guide on the major contention points on each candidate. #ELECTION2012

EducationFor K-12 education, President Obama plans to provide incentives to teachers and has introduced the Race to the Top initiative, which “rewards innovation and positive reforms in local schools.” Implementing this initiative “gives states the flexibility to create their own ambitious plans for reform, relieving them of restrictive No Child Left Behind mandates.” President Obama plans to improve higher education by “investing in community colleges to provide education and career-training programs,” “implementing and expanding the post-9/11 G.I. Bill, which has helped more than 800,000 veterans and their families pursue an education,” and “capping federal student loan repayments at 10% of income.”	EducationMitt Romney’s plan for education has a strong focus on K-12 education. He plans to “allow low income and special needs students to choose which school to attend by making Title I and IDEA funds portable.” He will provide incentives for states to increase choices for parents and develop quality alternatives” by “building on the success of effective charter and digital schools” and “expanding The DC Opportunity Scholarship Program to serve as a model for the nation to increase the amount of teachers and retain current teachers, he plans to “attract and reward great teachers through increased flexibility and block grants” and “eliminate unnecessary certification requirements that discourage new teachers.” In regards to higher education, Mitt Romney plans to “strengthen and simplify the financial aid system.”
Jobs and the Economy“President Obama has a plan to bring jobs back to the U.S. by eliminating tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, and creating incentives for businesses to bring jobs back to America.” Since the inception of the Recovery Act, the U.S. job market has seen gains in the automotive and manufacturing industries (“the U.S. auto industry is roaring back and adding jobs and all government loans were paid back ahead of time”; “U.S. manufacturing has added 479,000 jobs since January 2010—the most growth in a decade”). After the Bank Bailout of 2010, President Obama issued the Wall Street Reform Act to ensure another bailout does not occur. Wall Street reform “will prevent the excessive risk-taking that led to the financial crisis. The law also provides common-sense protections for American families, creating new consumer watchdog to prevent mortgage companies and pay-day lenders from exploiting consumers.	Jobs and the EconomyMitt Romney has created 5-Part Plan to restore the economy:Part 1- He plans to “increase access to domestic energy resources” and “achieve energy independence on this continent by 2020.”Part 2- He will “work to open new markets for American goods and services,” “curtail unfair trade practices of countries like China,” and “build stronger economic ties in Latin America.” By doing these things, he will “create a Reagan Economic Zone to strengthen free enterprise.”Part 3- He will “provide Americans with the skills to succeed through better public schools, better access to higher education, and better retraining programs”Part 4- He will “reduce non-security discretionary spending by 5%” and “cap federal spending below 20% of the economy.”Part 5- He will “give states responsibility for programs that they can implement more effectively” and “consolidate agencies and align compensation of federal workers with their private-sector counterparts.” He will also “reduce taxes on job creation through individual and corporate tax reform” and “protect workers and businesses from strong-arm labor union tactics.”
Health CarePresident Obama caused uproar in Congress getting the Affordable Care Act signed into law. This program will end insurance company abuses, “such as capping or dropping your coverage when you get sick,” provide “free preventive services [and] lower costs on prescription drugs and monthly premiums,” and “put an end to the health insurance company practice of charging women more than men for the same coverage.”	Health CareMitt Romney’s healthcare plan will “give each state the power to craft a health care reform plan that is best for its own citizens.” He will provide “block grant Medicaid and other payments to states, [but] Limit federal standards and requirements on both private insurance and Medicaid coverage [to] ensure flexibility to help the uninsured, including public-private partnerships, exchanges, subsidies, [and] the chronically ill, including high-risk pools, reinsurance, and risk adjustment.
National SecurityPresident Obama will “draw down our troops in Afghanistan as we transition security responsibility to the Afghan people, and is on track to responsibly end the war there in 2014.” He has initiated an “international effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials in four years, and has worked to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons in Iran and North Korea.”	National SecurityMitt Romney plans to build our national defense by “putting our Navy on the path to increase its shipbuilding rate from nine per year to approximately fifteen per year, which will include three submarines per year,“ modernize and replace the aging inventories of the Air Force, Army, and Marines, and selectively strengthen our force structure.” He will “commit to a robust, multi-layered national ballistic-missile defense system to deter and defend against nuclear attacks on our homeland and our allies.”