WASHINGTON - The stands of these presidential candidates on a selection of issues: New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, Democrats; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Arizona Sen. John McCain, Republicans.
DEMOCRATS
Clinton:
_Abortion: Favors abortion rights.
_Campaign finance: Has raised more than $20 million for the general election, more than any other candidate, in anticipation of not using public money and its associated spending limits in the fall.
_Cuba: Consider responding positively to "some action that demonstrates they are willing to change" in Cuba. Not willing to meet new Cuban leader Raul Castro before Cuban policy changes.
_Death penalty: As first lady, lobbied lawmakers to support her husband's expansion of the federal death penalty. As senator, co-sponsored law that requires and helps pay for DNA testing for people sentenced to death under federal law.
_Economic stimulus: Proposed $110 billion stimulus, including $40 billion in tax rebates of $250 for low- and middle-income taxpayers.
_Education: Proposed $10 billion for universal preschool. More money for special education. Opposes performance-based merit pay for teachers, favors incentives for teachers who work in places and on subjects where shortages exist. Supported No Child Left Behind accountability law but says it has not been properly financed or run, and should be replaced. $10,000 higher education scholarships for all who engage in national service full-time for a year. Raise value of tuition tax credit to a maximum $3,500 from $1,650.
_Gay marriage: Opposes constitutional amendment to ban it.
_Global warming: $150 billion, 10-year energy package, including $50 billion "strategic energy fund" to develop new sources of fuel, to be paid for by eliminating tax subsidies for oil companies. Tougher fuel efficiency standards financed in part by $20 billion in "green vehicle bonds." Backed stringent caps on greenhouse gas emissions.
_Gun control: Voted for ban on assault-type weapons and to require background checks at gun shows. Favored leaving gun-makers and dealers open to civil suits. Also, in 2000 supported proposals for a federal requirement for state-issued photo gun licenses, as well as a national registry for handgun sales.
_Health care: Mandatory universal coverage in first term. Tax credits for working families to make insurance more affordable — ensuring premiums do not exceed a percentage of income. Business would be required to offer insurance to employees or pay into a pool for people without it. Expand Medicare and federal employees' health insurance plan to cover those without adequate workplace insurance. Raise taxes on wealthier families to help pay estimated cost of $110 billion a year. Also, raise taxes on a portion of "very generous" plans covering people making more than $250,000.
_Housing: A 90-day freeze on home foreclosures arising from subprime lending, and a freeze on subprime lending rates, in $30 billion plan. Says bailouts for bad loans make sense to protect neighborhoods and tax base.
_Immigration: Voted for 2006 bill offering legal status to illegal immigrants subject to conditions, including English proficiency and payment of back taxes and fines. Voted for border fence.
_Iraq: Voted for war, opposed troop increase, has not committed to a timetable for completing a withdrawal.
_Social Security: Noncommittal on raising the $97,500 income cap on Social Security. Proposes a federal match of up to $1,000 per person to help people set up 401(k) plans in program costing $25 billion a year, to be paid for by freezing the estate tax at 2009 levels.
Comments
Yes, Huckabee lost a lot weight. He did it via gastric bypass surgery. He also released more violent criminals that the previous three governors combined. I am a citizen of Arkansas. I remember time and time again when citizens protested his release of criminal such as Wayne Dumond (a rapist who murdered another woman after he was released), or the murderer who killed a minister, or the repeat DWI guy (who has gotten two more since his release) and the list continues. Gov. Huckabee refused to EVER answer any inquiries concerning why released these individuals. His arrogance was astonishing to Arkansas citizens. The victims' families were totally blown off. Do your own research, don't take my word for it.
Continuation of artical by John Velleco at http://gunowners.org
On NBC’s Today Show, Governor Huckabee refused to allow host Katie Couric to blame law-abiding gun owners for the shooting:
Couric: Governor Huckabee, this is the third deadly shooting to take place in the South in the last five months. And some criminal experts have ventured a guess that southern society, which has a more permissive attitude towards guns and hunting, and perhaps in some circles even glamorizes those things, that that might have been a factor in some -- in this recent spade of shootings. What's your view of that?
Gov. Huckabee: I take strong exception to that kind of view. Southerners may have a very positive view toward the ownership of firearms and even hunting, but we don't have a positive view about murder, and we certainly don't have a positive view toward murder in a schoolyard.
Two years later, Governor Huckabee was involved in another widely publicized Second Amendment debate. In 2000, much of the firearms industry was involved in a series of bogus lawsuits brought by cities, states, and the federal government.
Gun maker Smith & Wesson relented to pressure from the Clinton Administration to settle out of court, and agree on nearly all of the outlandish charges brought in the lawsuits.
In return for this, the company would be rewarded with state and federal government contracts. New York's Attorney General (now Governor) Elliot Spitzer sent a letter to elected officials across the country urging them to support the deal.
Governor Huckabee responded less than enthusiastically.
"Gun manufacturers make the Second Amendment a viable right rather than some theoretical proposition. I will not abuse my authority as governor to pursue their demise or dictate their business practices through coercion," he wrote.
"I will not seek the capitulation of firearm manufacturers through the use of asinine lawsuits or the doling out of taxpayer-funded government contracts. I regret that you feel either of these tactics to be worthwhile endeavors."
Governor Huckabee also signed a law prohibiting frivolous lawsuits against gun makers and eased restrictions on concealed carry permit holders in Arkansas.
Mike Huckabee has been in the heat of battle over gun rights and has proven himself to be a steadfast friend to gun owners and the Second Amendment.
Mike Huckabee Is a leader who leads by example. In Arkansas he instituted covenant marriage and he and his wife went out and got one. He started health programs in Arkansas, then personally lost a bunch of weight. He instituted a conceal and carry law in Arkansas, then went out and got a CCW liscense. I know many Christians don't like to think about second amentment rights, but I found a good artical which tells about Huck stands tall against opposition for whats right. Artical is at:(this is only a portion of it)
http://gunowners.org
Mike Huckabee: Standing Tall For The Second Amendment
by John Velleco
Director of Federal Affairs
To most Americans, Mike Huckabee is probably best known for shedding 110 pounds. But gun owners may remember the former Arkansas Governor as a man who stood firm for the Constitution, and in particular, the Second Amendment, in the face of unspeakable horror.
On March 24, 1998, Andrew Golden and Mitchell Johnson went to a Jonesboro, Arkansas middle school, pulled a fire alarm, and from a nearby wooded area shot and killed four students and a teacher.
The Jonesboro incident was the third in a string of school shootings, and the calls for gun control were deafening. President Bill Clinton, who had been Arkansas' Governor several years earlier, not surprisingly led the charge to restrict gun ownership.
People across the country also saw, most for the first time, Governor Huckabee. Would he join those exploiting the tragedy for political purposes and compromise on gun rights? Many people expected him to do just that, but even as the media, the president and anti-gun activists from around the country derided him, the Governor stood by his convictions to uphold the rule of law.
Instead of jumping on the bandwagon to add to the burgeoning list of gun laws on the books, Governor Huckabee talked about personal responsibility and the obsession with violence widespread among this country's youth.