Compare Candidates

Mitt was born in Detroit on March 12, 1947. His mother, Lenore, gave up an acting career when she met and married his father, George. Mitt’s father came from humble origins and never graduated from college. He apprenticed as a lath and plaster carpenter and sold aluminum paint before beginning a career that brought him to the head of American Motors and then the governorship of Michigan.

Congressman Ron Paul of Texas enjoys a national reputation as the premier advocate for liberty in politics today. Dr. Paul is the leading spokesman in Washington for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency. He is known among both his colleagues in Congress and his constituents for his consistent voting record in the House of Representatives: Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution. In the words of former Treasury Secretary William Simon, Dr. Paul is the “one exception to the Gang of 535″ on Capitol Hill.

• Raised service fees like highway ads, from $200 to $2,000. (Jan 2008)
• Fees are appropriate for the government to provide services. (Jan 2008)
• I support the Bush tax cuts. (Jan 2008)
• Avoid recession with immediate middle-income tax cuts. (Jan 2008)
• Raised $240M in MA fees, but only covering cost of services. (Jan 2008)
• Zero tax rate on capital gains, for incomes up to $200,000. (Jan 2008)
• Lowering taxes, like Bush tax cuts, grows the economy. (Jan 2008)
• FactCheck: Never opposed 2003 Bush cuts, but never supported. (Jan 2008)
• Reduce the tax burden on middle-income families. (Dec 2007)
• Signed no-tax pledge; Dems pledge to raise taxes. (Sep 2007)
• Death tax just doesn’t make sense. (Aug 2007)
• Commission studied FairTax and found serious flaws. (Aug 2007)
• Pledges no new taxes in 2007 after refusing pledge in 2002. (May 2007)
• FactCheck: Did not raise MA taxes, but DID raise MA fees. (May 2007)
• End taxes on interests, dividends & capital gains. (May 2007)

• Taxpayer Protection Pledge: no new taxes. (Aug 2010)
• Repeal the Death Tax. (Jan 2009)
• Voted NO on extending AMT exemptions to avoid hitting middle-income. (Jun 2008)
• AdWatch: Taxpayer’s best friend: never supported an increase. (Feb 2008)
• Spending money doesn’t stimulate economy; reduced taxes do. (Jan 2008)
• Doesn’t want flat tax or consumption tax. (Dec 2007)
• Get rid of IRS; get rid of income tax; get rid of spending. (Dec 2007)
• The most sinister of all taxes is the inflation tax. (Dec 2007)
• I have never voted for a tax increase; and never will. (Nov 2007)
• GovWatch: Zero income tax reverts to 1990 budget, not 2000. (Nov 2007)
• Immediately work to phase out the IRS. (May 2007)
• Get rid of the inflation tax with sound money. (May 2007)
• Campaign slogan in 2004: The Taxpayers’ Best Friend. (Jan 2007)

• If people of MA don't like RomneyCare, they can change it. (Jun 2011)
• ObamaCare's power grab won't work; Obama didn't ask me. (Jun 2011)
• Base health care system on free choice & private medicine. (Feb 2009)
• Mandating citizens to buy health insurance is conservative. (Jan 2008)
• Get everyone some form of catastrophic health coverage. (Jan 2008)
• FactCheck: Untrue that 47M uninsured want to “not play”. (Jan 2008)
• Personal responsibility instead of employer mandates. (Dec 2007)
• Let states create their own private, market-based insurance. (Oct 2007)
• Removing most mandates drove down premium cost by half. (Oct 2007)
• FactCheck: HillaryCare closer to RomneyCare than “all gov’t”. (Oct 2007)
• Same tax treatment if people buy insurance without employers. (Oct 2007)
• Get everybody insured with state-based market dynamics. (Oct 2007)
• MA plan blends personal responsibility & universal coverage. (Aug 2007)
• Conservative idea: individual responsibility for health care. (Aug 2007)
• Insure 45 million uninsured with a free-market based system. (Aug 2007)
• FactCheck: Romney plan virtually identical to Obama plan. (Jun 2007)

• Let people opt out of Medicare. (Jun 2011)
• Legalizing prostitution is about protecting liberty. (May 2011)
• Voted NO on the Ryan Budget: Medicare choice, tax & spending cuts. (Apr 2011)
• Voted YES on repealing the "Prevention and Public Health" slush fund. (Apr 2011)
• Repeal the Job-Killing Health Care Law. (Jan 2011)
• Voted NO on regulating tobacco as a drug. (Apr 2009)
• Expedited licensing for biosimilar products. (Mar 2009)
• Voted NO on expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program. (Jan 2009)
• Voted NO on overriding veto on expansion of Medicare. (Jul 2008)
• Remove restrictions on estriol (menopause medication). (Jun 2008)
• Replace Medicaid with volunteer pro-bono medical care. (Apr 2008)
• Private medical savings accounts, not government meddling. (Apr 2008)
• Voted NO on giving mental health full equity with physical health. (Mar 2008)
• Voted NO on Veto override: Extend SCHIP to cover 6M more kids. (Jan 2008)

• GovWatch: 2005: Called comprehensive reform “reasonable”. (Feb 2008)
• Deport illegal immigrants in 90 days under the ideal setting. (Jan 2008)
• Found Z-visa & McCain-Kennedy bill to be offensive. (Jan 2008)
• FactCheck: Yes, his ads DID accuse McCain of “amnesty”. (Jan 2008)
• Illegal immigrants should go home eventually. (Dec 2007)
• No mandatory prison term for employers who hire illegals. (Dec 2007)
• AdWatch: Huckabee ok’ed tuition & scholarships for illegals. (Dec 2007)
• FactCheck: Took hard-line on illegals, but only late in term. (Dec 2007)
• Welcome the people who have been standing in line first. (Dec 2007)
• Employers have no means of knowing who’s legal & who’s not. (Dec 2007)
• Avoid chain migration; disallow families from one citizen. (Dec 2007)
• Illegal immigrants shouldn’t get tuition break in schools. (Nov 2007)
• FactCheck: Illegals employed at his home, but by contractor. (Nov 2007)
• AdWatch: No driver’s license & in-state tuition for illegals. (Nov 2007)
• FactCheck: MA state cops never enforced immigration laws. (Nov 2007)
• FactCheck: Took no action against 4 Mass. sanctuary cities. (Nov 2007)
• Reduce federal funding to sanctuary cities. (Sep 2007)
• Z-visa is not technically amnesty; but is in fact amnesty. (Sep 2007)
• FactCheck: NYC never declared itself a “sanctuary city”. (Sep 2007)
• Make America more attractive for legal immigrants. (Aug 2007)
• Priorities: secure border, employer verification, no amnesty. (Aug 2007)
• Enforce the law against 12 million illegals here now. (Jun 2007)
• Proposed Z visa allows illegal aliens to stay in America. (Jun 2007)
• Make English national language; communicate in Spanish too. (Jun 2007)
• McCain’s plan gives special pathway to those here illegally. (May 2007)
• Keep rule barring immigrants from running for president. (May 2007)

• Let churches provide services for immigrants, not state. (Jun 2011) 
• Rated C by the ALI, indicating an acceptably anti-amnesty stance. (Nov 2010)
• Government services in English only. (Mar 2008)
• If economy were good, there’d be no immigration problem. (Dec 2007) 
• Amend Constitution to remove aliens’ birthright citizenship. (Dec 2007) 
• Those who attack bilingualism are jealous & feel inferior. (Dec 2007) 
• No amnesty, but impractical to round up 12 million illegals. (Sep 2007) 
• Immigration problem is consequence of welfare state. (Sep 2007) 
• No amnesty, but border fence isn’t so important. (Jun 2007) 
• We subsidize illegal immigration, so we get more. (Jun 2007) 
• Keep rule barring immigrants from running for president. (May 2007) 
• Declare English as the official language of the US. (Feb 2007)

• They don’t call it “America warming” but “global warming”. (Jan 2008)
• Opposes McCain-Lieberman bill due to $0.50/gal. gas tax. (Jan 2008)
• $20 billion package for energy research & new car technology. (Jan 2008)
• Need worldwide global warming solutions; not CAFE or US tax. (Jan 2008)
• Invest in new technologies to get us off of foreign oil. (Dec 2007)
• Develop energy technology like nuclear or liquefied coal. (Oct 2007)
• The time for true energy independence has come. (Aug 2007)
• Exporting carbon emissions to China hurts US and planet. (Aug 2007)
• No-regrets policy: biofuel, nuclear power, drill ANWR. (Jun 2007)
• Big Oil should reinvest profits in oil refineries. (Jun 2007)

• Voted YES on barring EPA from regulating greenhouse gases. (Apr 2011)
• No EPA regulation of greenhouse gases. (Jan 2011)
• Signed the No Climate Tax Pledge by AFP. (Nov 2010)
• Liberty Candidate: tax incentives for US-based alternatives. (Sep 2010)
• Bar greenhouse gases from Clean Air Act rules. (Jan 2009)
• Voted NO on enforcing limits on CO2 global warming pollution. (Jun 2009)
• Voted NO on tax credits for renewable electricity, with PAYGO offsets. (Sep 2008)
• Voted NO on tax incentives for energy production and conservation. (May 2008)
• Voted NO on tax incentives for renewable energy. (Feb 2008)
• Big Oil profits ok; Big Oil subsidies are not. (Jun 2007)
• Voted NO on criminalizing oil cartels like OPEC. (May 2007)
• Voted NO on removing oil & gas exploration subsidies. (Jan 2007)

• No European-style solutions to an American problem. (Feb 2011)
• Unless US changes course, we’ll no longer be superpower. (Feb 2008)
• Putin is a troubling leader and an authoritarian. (Jan 2008)
• The US is the only major power believing in free enterprise. (Jan 2008)
• Free Cuba and eliminate threat of people like Hugo Chavez. (Dec 2007)
• 2006: Blocked services for Iran’s Khatami speech at Harvard. (Aug 2007)
• To win the war on jihad, we need friends in Muslim world. (Aug 2007)
• Encourage others to welcome democracy, without military. (Aug 2007)
• Move Muslim world toward modernity so they reject extreme. (Aug 2007)
• US is not arrogant, but we have resolve. (Jun 2007)

• Member of House Foreign Affairs Committee. (Mar 2011)
• We invested $70B in Mubarak; stop spending on puppets. (Feb 2011)
• Exceptionalism shouldn't mean using force around the world. (Feb 2011)
• Liberty Candidate: US abroad unconstitutional & unaffordable. (Sep 2010)
• Liberty Candidate: US abroad unconstitutional & unaffordable. (Sep 2010)
• Voted NO on supporting democratic institutions in Pakistan. (Jun 2009)
• Voted NO on cooperating with India as a nuclear power. (Sep 2008)
• Allow travel between the United States and Cuba. (Feb 2009)
• We spend $1 trillion a year overseas; it’s needed at home. (Sep 2008)
• Can’t spread our goodness through the barrel of a gun. (Feb 2008)
• We tax people to blow up bridges overseas then rebuild them. (Jan 2008)

• Strong Economy; Strong Military; Strong People. (Mar 2010)
• No Miranda rights for suicide bombers. (Feb 2010)
• Closing Guantanamo leaves America vulnerable to another 9/11. (Feb 2009)
• Raise military spending to 4% of our GDP. (Feb 2008)
• Add 100,000 to the military without a draft. (Jan 2008)
• Best to not say whether waterboarding is torture or not. (Jan 2008)
• Not wise for us to describe our interrogation techniques. (Nov 2007)
• Lawyers are the last people to ask about war decisions. (Oct 2007)
• FactCheck: Bush cut military budget as much as Bill Clinton. (Oct 2007)
• Apologized for comparing public service to military service. (Sep 2007)
• Wiretap mosques to keep tabs on Islamic extremists. (Sep 2007)
• Sharply increase military investment to face radical jihad. (Aug 2007)
• Global military & non-military effort to defeat jihad. (Aug 2007)
• Don’t weaken Musharraf; we need ally against Bin Laden. (Aug 2007)
• Double Guantanamo, to avoid terrorist access to lawyers. (May 2007)
• Eligible for draft in 1969; regrets not having served. (Mar 2007)
• Stronger America is less likely to have to fight. (Mar 2007)

• Voted for going after Al Qaeda, not invading Iraq. (Feb 2008)
• Voted against war because Iraq was not a national threat. (May 2007)
• Voted YES on banning armed forces in Libya without Congressional approval. (Jun 2011)
• Voted YES on removing US armed forces from Afghanistan. (Mar 2011)
• Voted YES on investigating Bush impeachment for lying about Iraq. (Jun 2008)
• Voted YES on redeploying US troops out of Iraq starting in 90 days. (May 2007)
• Voted NO on declaring Iraq part of War on Terror with no exit date. (Jun 2006)
• Voted NO on approving removal of Saddam & valiant service of US troops. (Mar 2004)
• Voted NO on authorizing military force in Iraq. (Oct 2002)

• School choice over fat-cat CEOs of teachers' unions. (Feb 2010)
• FactCheck: US scores at 50% internationally, not 10%-25%. (Dec 2007)
• FactCheck: MA 1st in test scores, but was 1st before Romney. (Dec 2007)
• Education is not just the teachers’ union. (Dec 2007)
• Bush was right on No Child Left Behind. (Dec 2007)
• Identify failing schools; push choice & English immersion. (Dec 2007)
• Principles: choice; parental involvement; merit scholarships. (Dec 2007)
• Supports English immersion & abstinence education. (May 2007)
• Changed from closing Education Dept. to supporting NCLB. (May 2007)
• Reform underperforming schools or replace with charters. (Sep 2002)
• Supported abolishing the federal Department of Education. (Mar 2002)
• Schools can teach family values, but not religion or prayer. (Aug 1994)
• Supported means-tested vouchers for public & private schools. (Mar 2002)

• Voted YES on reauthorizing the DC opportunity scholarship program. (Mar 2011)
• Voted NO on $40B for green public schools. (May 2009)
• School prayer is not a federal issue. (Apr 2008)
• Private funds for arts work better than government funds. (Apr 2008)
• Close Dept. of Education, but don’t dismantle public schools. (Dec 2007)
• Encourage homeschooling & private school via tax writeoff. (Dec 2007)
• Don’t impeach judges for decisions on legislature prayers. (Sep 2007)
• Present scientific facts that support creationism. (Sep 2007)
• Equal funds for abstinence as contraceptive-based education. (Sep 2007)
• Tax-credited programs for Christian schooling. (Sep 2007)
• Guarantee parity for home school diplomas. (Sep 2007)

• States should be able to have their own emissions standards. (Jan 2008)
• Response to Big Dig death shows how Romney handles crises. (Mar 2007)
• Lit mountain with Olympic rings while placating enviro’s. (Aug 2004)
• Clean environment will be a campaign theme. (Mar 2002)

• Repeal requirements for compact fluorescent bulbs. (Jan 2011)
• Voted NO on $2 billion more for Cash for Clunkers program. (Jul 2009)
• Voted NO on protecting free-roaming horses and burros. (Jul 2009)
• Make tax deduction permanent for conservation easements. (Mar 2009)
• Voted NO on environmental education grants for outdoor experiences. (Sep 2008)
• Voted NO on $9.7B for Amtrak improvements and operation thru 2013. (Jun 2008)
• Give tax breaks for start-up farms for 10-year commitment. (Jan 2008)
• Neglected property rights during the industrial revolution. (Jan 2008)
• Property rights are the foundation of all rights. (Sep 2007)
• Scored 14% on Humane Society Scorecard on animal protection. (Jan 2007)

• Bailout program wasted money; let companies go bankrupt. (Jun 2011)
• Don't ask "what can we cut" but "what should we keep". (Jun 2011)
• This recession has cost $12 trillion in net worth. (Feb 2009)
• Apply Reaganomics to current recession: cut taxes & grow. (Jan 2008)
• Make sure that we rein in spending. (Jan 2008)
• Support some kind of national catastrophic fund. (Jan 2008)
• Only someone who worked in private sector can fix economy. (Jan 2008)
• Couple short-term stimulus with long-term growth boost. (Jan 2008)
• Avoid housing foreclosures to avoid recession. (Jan 2008)
• To avoid recession, deal with housing crisis & gas prices. (Jan 2008)
• Economic strength comes from people, not from Washington. (Dec 2007)
• Cut deficit via waste, like 342 different economic programs. (Dec 2007)
• Fundamentally change how Washington works, to reduce pork. (Nov 2007)
• Giuliani increased spending by 2.8%; I held increase to 2.2%. (Oct 2007)
• FactCheck: Closed MA budget gap of $1.2B, not $3B. (Sep 2007)
• Disagrees with reported negative study of MA economy. (Aug 2007)
• AdWatch: Cap discretionary spending at inflation minus 1%. (Jun 2007)
• Washington is broken; needs fundamental change. (May 2007)

• Member of House Banking Committee. (Mar 2011)
• Voted YES on terminating the Home Affordable mortgage Program. (Mar 2011)
• Liberty Candidate: End the Federal Reserve. (Sep 2010)
• Voted NO on $192B additional anti-recession stimulus spending. (Jul 2009)
• Voted NO on modifying bankruptcy rules to avoid mortgage foreclosures. (Mar 2009)
• Voted NO on additional $825 billion for economic recovery package. (Jan 2009)
• Voted NO on monitoring TARP funds to ensure more mortgage relief. (Jan 2009)
• Raise small business depreciation to $125,000. (Jul 2009)

• FactCheck: No, fewer US unemployed than Canadians employed. (Feb 2011)
• FactCheck: No, more jobs lost under Bush than under Obama. (Feb 2011)
• Built long-term pipeline for MA jobs; so job growth is slow. (Jan 2008)
• Take action & we need not give up on any industry’s jobs. (Jan 2008)
• MA had 3rd worst job growth; I turned around declining rates. (Jan 2008)
• I believe in domestic supports for our agriculture industry. (Oct 2007)
• Good unions train members; bad unions hurt their company. (Oct 2007)
• FactCheck: Yes,US added 50M jobs since ‘78; but EU added 36M. (Aug 2007)
• Tax incentives for employee training. (Mar 2002)

• Printing & inflating money ships jobs overseas. (Jun 2011)
• Voted NO on extending unemployment benefits from 39 weeks to 59 weeks. (Oct 2008)
• Voted NO on overriding presidential veto of Farm Bill. (Jun 2008)
• Voted NO on restricting employer interference in union organizing. (Mar 2007)
• Voted NO on increasing minimum wage to $7.25. (Jan 2007)
• Right to organize; but no special benefits for unions. (Oct 2007)
• Minimum wage takes away opportunities, especially for blacks. (Sep 2007)
• No “sexual orientation” in Employment Non-Discrimination Act. (Sep 2007)