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44th President of the United States
Copyright Barack Obama. Used by Permission.
Birthname: Barack Hussein Obama II
Age & Birthplace: August 4, 1961 (Honolulu, Hawaii)
Political Party: Democratic
Spouse: Michelle Robinson Obama
Children: Malia, Sasha
Residence: White House & Chicago, Illinois
Alma Mater: Occidental College, Columbia University (B.A.), Harvard Law School (J.D.)
Occupation: Community organizer, Lawyer, Constitutional law professor, Author
Religion: Christian
Government Website: www.WhiteHouse.gov
Campaign Website: www.BarackObama.com
The Issues
Abortion
Supports Roe v. Wade; criticized Supreme Court decision that upheld ban on partial-birth abortions.
Budget, Taxes & Economy
Repeal Bush tax cuts for households earning more than $250,000. Lower taxes on manufacturing industry. Stimulus spending and tax cuts to grow the economy (short term). Cut spending and raise taxes on wealthy to reduce deficit (long term).
The national debt has increased more – almost $5 trillion – during 3 ½ years under President Obama than it did during the entire 8 years of the Bush Administration.
Education
Voted in favor on shifting $11B from corporate tax loopholes to education. Signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 which included a $4.35 billion education reform program financed by the Department of Education.
Energy & Environment
Wants to create a 5-year, $50 billion project for energy and climate change to finance research into discovering alternative energy sources and developing technologies. Opposes domestic drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Supports a mandatory cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions. Opposes Keystone XL pipeline.
Foreign Policy
Refocusing on the Threat from al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Taken the fight to al Qaeda and eliminated Osama bin Laden. Ending the War in Iraq, bring troops home by end of 2011. Built an international coalition to stop a massacre in Libya, and to support the Libyan people as they overthrew the regime of Moammar Qadhafi.
Gay Rights
Supports same-sex marriage; repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell, allowing gays to serve openly in the military
Gun Control
Respect 2nd Amendment, but local gun bans ok (Source: 2008 Politico pre-Potomac Primary interview , Feb 11, 2008)
On individual gun rights & the DC gun ban: “Just because you have an individual right does not mean that the state or local government can’t constrain the exercise of that right.”
Healthcare
Signed the 2010 healthcare overhaul bill. Calls for patient protections like allowing coverage for pre-existing conditions, not letting insurers cancel policies when patients get sick, and requiring individuals to buy health insurance or pay a fine.
Immigration
Supports a path to legalization for illegal immigrants that includes learning English and paying fines; toughen penalties for hiring illegal immigrants; voted for fence along Mexican border.
Jobs & Corporations
Proposed the American Jobs Act of 2011. Cutting and suspending $245 billion worth of payroll taxes for qualifying employers and 160 million medium to low income employees. Spending $62 billion for a Pathways Back to Work Program for expanding opportunities for low-income youth and adults. Spending $50 billion on both new & pre-existing infrastructure projects. Spending $35 billion in additional funding to protect the jobs of teachers, police officers, and firefighters. Spending $30 billion to modernize at least 35,000 public schools and community colleges. Spending $15 billion on a program that would hire construction workers to help rehabilitate and refurbishing hundreds of thousands of foreclosed homes and businesses. Creating the National Infrastructure Bank (capitalized with $10 billion), originally proposed in 2007, to help fund infrastructure via private and public capital. Creating a nationwide, interoperable wireless network for public safety, while expanding accessibility to high-speed wireless services. Creating additional regulations on businesses who discriminate against hiring those who are long-term unemployed. Loosening regulations on small businesses that wish to raise capital, including through crowdfunding, while retaining investor protections.
National Security,
Homeland Security,
& Defense
Opposed invasion of Iraq from the beginning; opposed troop increase; ended military operations in Iraq(on previously negotiated Bush timeline). Made no effort to keep promise to exit in 2009. Troops moved to Afghanistan and Iranian border.
Iran: Engage in direct diplomacy; tighten economic sanctions with international cooperation; military option not off the table. Failed to deliver on 2008 campaign promise to meet with the Iranian president without preconditions.
Publicly opposed wars and intervention but has recently admitted to expanding Afghan conflict into Pakistan. Says Congressional approval not required if UN gives approval.
Allowed Patriot Act to be extended. Signed National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, which permits the indefinite detention of U.S. Citizens
While purporting to reduce military spending, proposed a defense budget in January, 2012, that would INCREASE military spending by $36 billion over the next five years, even after assumed reductions in expenditures for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Candidate Biography
Barack H. Obama is the 44th President of the United States.
His story is the American story — values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others.
With a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, President Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. He was raised with help from his grandfather, who served in Patton's army, and his grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management at a bank.
After working his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, President Obama moved to Chicago, where he worked with a group of churches to help rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants.
He went on to attend law school, where he became the first African—American president of the Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago to help lead a voter registration drive, teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and remain active in his community.
President Obama's years of public service are based around his unwavering belief in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose. In the Illinois State Senate, he passed the first major ethics reform in 25 years, cut taxes for working families, and expanded health care for children and their parents. As a United States Senator, he reached across the aisle to pass groundbreaking lobbying reform, lock up the world's most dangerous weapons, and bring transparency to government by putting federal spending online.
He was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008, and sworn in on January 20, 2009. He and his wife, Michelle, are the proud parents of two daughters, Malia, 12, and Sasha, 9.
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