Barack Obama
- Filed under: Uncategorized
- Date: Jan 18,2008
Early years:
Born Aug. 4, 1961 in Honolulu.
Education B.A., Columbia University, 1983; law degree, Harvard University, 1991; first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review
Public service, legal work:
1985-88 Helped Chicago churches organize job training programs for poor residents
1993-2004 Civil rights lawyer; lecturer at University of Chicago Law School
Political career:
1997-2005 Illinois state senator; keynote speaker at Democratic convention in 2004
2005-present U.S. Senator
2007 Announces candidacy for presidency in 2008
Views:
Iraq: Vows to end the war. Withdraw combat troops over 16 months. Leave some troops to protect U.S. embassy, attack specific targets. Accept more Iraqi refugees.
Economy: Pro-union. Opposed CAFTA. Renegotiate NAFTA. Increase regulation of Wall Street and lenders. Create fund to prevent homeowner foreclosures due to subprime crisis.
Health Care: Spend $50-$65 billion a year on subsidies to make health insurance affordable for virtually all Americans. Expand Medicaid eligibility. Mandate coverage for children.
Immigration: Strengthen border enforcement. Give illegals a path to citizenship. Allow them to obtain driver’s licenses. Reduce immigration application fees, speed approvals.
Taxes: Replace Bush tax cuts with new breaks worth $500-$1,500 annually for individuals earning less than $50,000. Create $4,000 annual college tuition tax credit. Raise tax rates for dividends and capital gains.
Global Warming: Create cap-and trade program to reduce carbon emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Make oil, coal and gas companies pay for emissions quotas.
Energy: Spend $150 billion over a decade on alternative energy research and job creation. Raise fuel-economy standards 1 mpg per year. Reduce U.S. oil consumption at least 35 percent by 2030.
