Some Campaign differences.
Some of the issues and the stance the candidates are taking. This is a partial list. I’ll continue to work on the candidates with respect to other issues. This is as impartial as I can make it. If you feel the need to add to it, please document it with appropriate citations. No guessing or I think posts please. This is intended as a work in progress, so additional items.
EDUCATION:
ObamaReform no child left behind
Work to insure that all children have access to a strong science curriculum at all grade levels.
Support outreach programs like GEAR UP, TRIO, and Upward Bound to encourage more young people from low income families to consider and prepare for college.
Make college affordable to all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity tax credit to insure that the first $4000 of a college education is free to Americans.
McCainSchools competing for the most effective, character-building teachers, hiring them and rewarding them.
Provide federal financial support so that parents can take their children out of filing schools and send them to better ones.
ECONOMY:
ObamaCreate new “Make Work Pay” tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1000 per working family; this tax credit would effectively eliminate income taxes for the lowest earning Americans.
Fight for a trade policy that opens up foreign markets to support good American jobs.
Help all workers adapt to a changing economy by updating the Trade Adjustment Assistance system.
Double federal funding for basic research and making the research and development tax credit permanent to help create high-paying, secure jobs.
Raise the minimum wage, index it to inflation and increase the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Not privatize Social Security and work to maintain solvency of the program.
Simplify IRS tax filings for middle class, including making a universal home mortgage credit available to those who do not itemize their tax returns.
Protect consumers with a Credit Card Bill of Rights.
McCain
End policies that contribute to higher transportation and food costs.
Give all deserving American families and/or homeowners the opportunity to trade burdensome mortgages for manageable loans that reflect their homes’ market values.
Permanently repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) in order to save middle-class families nearly $60 billion in a single year.
Freeze discretionary spending, except for military and veterans, for one year to evaluate all programs. Consolidate redundant federal programs as well as strengthen community colleges and technical training for displaced workers to find similar or better jobs.
Reduce the federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 25%
Call on congress to suspend the 18.4 cents federsl gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Create two income tax systems where Americans can choose the new simplified versions, or stay with the existing IRS system.
Candidates stance on the issues.
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Cold_Zero
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Re: Candidates stance on the issues. (rn79870)
I will take a stab at the "Education" section, specifically Higher Education:
Quote »VII. MAKE COLLEGE AFFORDABLE FOR ALLTo be successful in the 21st Century economy, America’s workforce must be more innovative and productive than our competitors. Giving every American the opportunity to attend and afford and be successful in college is critical to meeting that challenge. As tuition costs swell and grant-aid fails to keep pace, students and their families are having a harder time paying for college.
• College costs have grown nearly 40 percent in the past five years• 60 percent of all college graduates leave college with debt.• The average graduates leaves college with over $19,000 in debt• Between 2001 and 2010, 2 million academically qualified students will not go to college because they cannot afford it.• Only 12 percent of Hispanics and 16 percent of African Americans eventually earn a bachelor’s degree – compared with 33 percent of White students. The rising cost of college is a factor in this disparity.These trends not only threaten our competitiveness in the global marketplace, but also our ability to maintain and improve our economy at home. Higher education is also the key to reversing the income disparities that are dividing our nation into haves and have-nots. The earnings of Americans who have only a high school degree have fallen steadily for three decades, while college graduate income has continued to rise during this same period.
In the 1990s, Congress crafted a system of tax credits to supplement the existing federal loan and grant programs to make college more affordable. While these credits have helped, college still remains out of reach for far too many students. The HOPE Scholarship and Lifetime Learning tax credits, in particular, have been inadequate in making college more affordable for low-income students for tworeasons. First, these credits are not fully refundable. A family of four must earn above $30,000 to claim the maximum credits, and studies have shown that up to half of eligible families cannot claim the credits because their income is too low. Second, our current system is a complicated maze of federal tax credits, grants, and student loan programs. As a result, far too many students are unaware of student financial aid that can help make college more affordable and fail to take advantage of existing federal aid programs. And those students receive the aid far too late – up to a year or more after they make the decision to attend college.
Simplify the Application Process for Financial AidThe application process for financial aid is cumbersome and evidence shows it may be a reason why students never apply for college. Research has shown that the low take-up rate of the Pell Grant and HOPE and Lifetime Learning tax credit programs is likely due to the complexity of the application process. The current Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is 5 pages and 127 questions – making it longer and more involved than many federal tax returns. Not surprisingly, over 1.5 million high school students failed to apply for aid in 2004, despite being eligible for a Pell Grant. A recent study by Susan Dynarski and Judith Scott-Clayton found that the costs of complexity in our financial aid processes fall most heavily on low-income, non-white, and non-English speaking youth. Barack Obama will simplify the financial aid process by eliminating the FAFSA and its complicated calculations altogether. Instead, aid would be based on a much simpler yet equally accurate formula, so that students can predict their eligibility well in advance. The aid process will be streamlined by enabling families to apply simply by checking a box on their tax form, authorizing their tax information to be used and eliminating the need for a separate application.[/quote]Now this is an interesting idea. Use your tax forms to request Financial Aid. My question right out of the box, who will receive these requests for Financial Aid? Since the Federal Government (IRS) receives your taxes, I am sure they are going to send this request to Direct Lending (Federal Government) to put you through THEIR system. This is all about control over the whole process. Why not use a monopoly (tax filing) to create a new monopoly (student loan funding)?
Quote »American Opportunity Tax CreditBarack Obama will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university. And by making the tax credit fully refundable, Obama’s credit will help low-income families that need it the most. Obama will also ensure that the tax credit is available to families at the time of enrollment by using prior year’s tax data to deliver the credit at the time that tuition is due, rather than a year or more later when tax returns are filed.[/quote]I like how it states “Most Americans” will be eligible. So let me get this straight, if the average college student leaves with over $19,000 in debt, Obama is going to give you a $4,000 credit shot in the arm when you enroll. What happens if you don’t finish college? What happens if the student drops out after the first semester? Do they have to pay the credit back?
Quote »Help Students Become Aware of College ReadinessAnother common reason that high school students decide not to attend college is that they discover they are unprepared for it in 12th grade. By that time, it is too late for many of them to do anything to address the problem before they graduate. Some states have developed an Early Assessment Program that enables 11th graders and their families to ascertain if they are on track to be college ready by the time they graduate. The voluntary test and the presentation of results are specifically designed to inform students what they need to do to prepare for college while they still have time to do it. This program will increase college readiness and is voluntary. Barack Obama will provide $25 millionannually in matching funds for states to develop Early Assessment Programs. These funds will also promote state efforts to raise awareness about the availability of federal and state financial aid programs.[/quote]Well Senator Obama, welcome to the party late! Most private lenders have been doing this for years. This is not only a way for Parents and Students to be prepared and plan for college, its used as a networking tool to connect borrowers with student aid options. We are just getting ready to roll out a new website that will:• Estimate the full cost of a college degree, including the average growth of tuition over time.• Build a customized plan to pay for college.• Compare school costs for approximately 5,500 colleges and universities.• Determine if student loans are needed, estimate monthly payments, and project the earnings needed to keep payments manageable.
The Planner reinforces <my company’s> 1-2-3 approach: use free money first, federal student loans second; and third, private student loans for any remaining gap.
Again, will these programs favor Direct Lending and channel traffic and funding requests to their resources?
Quote »Expanded Pell Grants for Low-Income StudentsTwo decades ago, the maximum Pell Grant covered 55 percent of costs at a public four-year college, compared with only 32 percent today. The first bill Barack Obama introduced in the U.S. Senate would have helped make college more affordable for many Americans by increasing the maximum Pell Grant from the limit of $4,050 to a new maximum of $5,100. Obama has worked in a bipartisan way on the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee to achieve an increase in the Pell Grant to $5,400 over the next few years. As president, Obama will continue to work to ensure that the maximum Pell Grant award is increased for low-income students. Specifically, he will ensure that the award keeps pace with the rising cost of college inflation.[/quote]HR 2669 already did this. It increased Pells funding by $15 billion dollars. It took a huge chunk out of FFELP (Stafford loans) funding to accomplish this. Which leads me to a point. Pell Grants do not have to be paid back, so if the grant gives out (let say) $4,310, that money is gone. The Federal Government needs to put back $4,310 back into the program. FFELP does not work this way. The Federal Government puts up a 2% subsidy on the Stafford Loan, it also pays in the in school interest on the loan and guarantees the loan when it goes into default. Stafford loans have to be paid back and when they are, that money goes right back to make more loans for students. I ask, which is a more effective use of YOUR tax dollars?
Quote »Community College Partnership ProgramCommunity colleges are a vital component of our higher education system, serving 12 million people each year, almost half the undergraduate students in the U.S. Without community colleges, millions of people would not be able to access the education and skills they need to further education or succeed in the workplace. Barack Obama will create a Community College Partnership Program to strengthen community colleges by providing grants to (a) conduct more thorough analysis of the types of skills and technical education that are in high demand from students and local industry; (b) implement newassociate of arts degree programs that cater to emerging industry and technical career demands; and (c) reward those institutions that graduate more students and also increase their numbers of transfer students to four-year institutions. These efforts will ensure that community college students are able to directly use their skills in the workforce following graduation, and be prepared to continue their higher education. And the grants will support programs that facilitate transfers from two-year institutions tofour-year institutions.[/quote]Meh, most Community and Tech Colleges have a wide array of financing tools for its students. But hey, I am sure this really means he wants Direct Lending and the Federal Government to strengthen its partnership with Community Colleges. Steer them away from private lenders and their solutions and make them dependent on the Federal Government.
Quote »Eliminate Costly Bank SubsidiesCurrently, there are two basic college loan programs: the Direct Loan system, funded publicly, and the Federal Family Education Loan Program, funded privately by banks and lenders who receive subsidies and guarantees from the government. [/quote]This statement is pretty accurate. 100% YOUR tax money goes to operate Direct Lending’s William D. Ford program. While under FFELP the margin that YOUR tax dollars pay for on Stafford Loans is 2%. The rest of the money comes from private lenders/investors. Which one is a more effective use of YOUR tax dollars?
Quote »Privately funded loans cost more per loan than the Direct Loan program and provide no greater benefits. Obama will save taxpayer money billions by eliminating the more expensive private loan program, and directing that money into aid for students.[/quote]THIS IS A FLAT OUT LIE FFELP lenders deliver a cheaper loan to cost product to borrowers than Direct Lending, with MORE borrower benefits. No matter how many times this information is provided to Congress by our Execs during hearings and studies, Democrats always claim that DL is more cost effective. Since when has it ever been more cost effective to have the US Government operate services? Not only does Direct Lender take YOUR tax dollars to Guarantee, Originate and Disburse student loans, but they CONTRACT OUT THE SERVICING OF THEIR PORTFOLIO TO ACS http://www.acs-inc.com/ That is right, they DO NOT service their own portfolio, they pay a PRIVATE company to do so. What was ironic was our company use to service Direct Lending’s portfolio and we bid on the contract a few years ago. Ha! Also, Direct Lending currently comprises 16%-26% of the student loan market. If Direct Lending is that effective why havent they pushed the Private Lenders out of the Market? No Congress has to do that for them by passing bills like HR 2669 to strip the financial profitability (Setting artificially low interest rates, reducing collection costs and decreasing the 2% margin on FFELP loans). Congress was faced, this student loan season, with a mass defection of private lenders fleeing the FFELP program. In the midst of this crisis, Direct Lending was only equipped to handle 40% of the guarantee/origination and disbursement needs of the market. Had the Treasury Department not stepped in (big long story) Direct Lending and Congress would be faced with a nightmare scenario of kids going back to school and NOT getting Financial Aid. Favoring Direct Lending over private FFELP lenders is an attempt to control Distribution of student loans. They dont care about servicing and collecting on their student loans during repayment. Also, like most Democrats anyone making a profit on services must be doing something illegal or unethical, because hey! Its immoral to make a profit.
Obama’s plan does not address:1. Rising college cost in tuition. No attention is focused on ‘tuition costs swelling’ and how to fix this problem.2. Illegal Immigrants using Student Aid money further diluting the amount of aid available for Americans.3. While more people getting a post secondary education is good, cheaper college costs and more access over crowd our learning institutions. What accommodations are being made to make sure that students (while students have aid money) have a slot in a University, College, Tech/Trade School or CC College so that they can attend? 4. People who spend their own money or take out student loans, typically take going to school more seriously. What happens when people go to school on Uncle Sam’s dime and then drop out? Pump more money into these programs?5. The balance between, Direct Lending, FFELP and private loans.
Quote »VII. MAKE COLLEGE AFFORDABLE FOR ALLTo be successful in the 21st Century economy, America’s workforce must be more innovative and productive than our competitors. Giving every American the opportunity to attend and afford and be successful in college is critical to meeting that challenge. As tuition costs swell and grant-aid fails to keep pace, students and their families are having a harder time paying for college.
• College costs have grown nearly 40 percent in the past five years• 60 percent of all college graduates leave college with debt.• The average graduates leaves college with over $19,000 in debt• Between 2001 and 2010, 2 million academically qualified students will not go to college because they cannot afford it.• Only 12 percent of Hispanics and 16 percent of African Americans eventually earn a bachelor’s degree – compared with 33 percent of White students. The rising cost of college is a factor in this disparity.These trends not only threaten our competitiveness in the global marketplace, but also our ability to maintain and improve our economy at home. Higher education is also the key to reversing the income disparities that are dividing our nation into haves and have-nots. The earnings of Americans who have only a high school degree have fallen steadily for three decades, while college graduate income has continued to rise during this same period.
In the 1990s, Congress crafted a system of tax credits to supplement the existing federal loan and grant programs to make college more affordable. While these credits have helped, college still remains out of reach for far too many students. The HOPE Scholarship and Lifetime Learning tax credits, in particular, have been inadequate in making college more affordable for low-income students for tworeasons. First, these credits are not fully refundable. A family of four must earn above $30,000 to claim the maximum credits, and studies have shown that up to half of eligible families cannot claim the credits because their income is too low. Second, our current system is a complicated maze of federal tax credits, grants, and student loan programs. As a result, far too many students are unaware of student financial aid that can help make college more affordable and fail to take advantage of existing federal aid programs. And those students receive the aid far too late – up to a year or more after they make the decision to attend college.
Simplify the Application Process for Financial AidThe application process for financial aid is cumbersome and evidence shows it may be a reason why students never apply for college. Research has shown that the low take-up rate of the Pell Grant and HOPE and Lifetime Learning tax credit programs is likely due to the complexity of the application process. The current Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is 5 pages and 127 questions – making it longer and more involved than many federal tax returns. Not surprisingly, over 1.5 million high school students failed to apply for aid in 2004, despite being eligible for a Pell Grant. A recent study by Susan Dynarski and Judith Scott-Clayton found that the costs of complexity in our financial aid processes fall most heavily on low-income, non-white, and non-English speaking youth. Barack Obama will simplify the financial aid process by eliminating the FAFSA and its complicated calculations altogether. Instead, aid would be based on a much simpler yet equally accurate formula, so that students can predict their eligibility well in advance. The aid process will be streamlined by enabling families to apply simply by checking a box on their tax form, authorizing their tax information to be used and eliminating the need for a separate application.[/quote]Now this is an interesting idea. Use your tax forms to request Financial Aid. My question right out of the box, who will receive these requests for Financial Aid? Since the Federal Government (IRS) receives your taxes, I am sure they are going to send this request to Direct Lending (Federal Government) to put you through THEIR system. This is all about control over the whole process. Why not use a monopoly (tax filing) to create a new monopoly (student loan funding)?
Quote »American Opportunity Tax CreditBarack Obama will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university. And by making the tax credit fully refundable, Obama’s credit will help low-income families that need it the most. Obama will also ensure that the tax credit is available to families at the time of enrollment by using prior year’s tax data to deliver the credit at the time that tuition is due, rather than a year or more later when tax returns are filed.[/quote]I like how it states “Most Americans” will be eligible. So let me get this straight, if the average college student leaves with over $19,000 in debt, Obama is going to give you a $4,000 credit shot in the arm when you enroll. What happens if you don’t finish college? What happens if the student drops out after the first semester? Do they have to pay the credit back?
Quote »Help Students Become Aware of College ReadinessAnother common reason that high school students decide not to attend college is that they discover they are unprepared for it in 12th grade. By that time, it is too late for many of them to do anything to address the problem before they graduate. Some states have developed an Early Assessment Program that enables 11th graders and their families to ascertain if they are on track to be college ready by the time they graduate. The voluntary test and the presentation of results are specifically designed to inform students what they need to do to prepare for college while they still have time to do it. This program will increase college readiness and is voluntary. Barack Obama will provide $25 millionannually in matching funds for states to develop Early Assessment Programs. These funds will also promote state efforts to raise awareness about the availability of federal and state financial aid programs.[/quote]Well Senator Obama, welcome to the party late! Most private lenders have been doing this for years. This is not only a way for Parents and Students to be prepared and plan for college, its used as a networking tool to connect borrowers with student aid options. We are just getting ready to roll out a new website that will:• Estimate the full cost of a college degree, including the average growth of tuition over time.• Build a customized plan to pay for college.• Compare school costs for approximately 5,500 colleges and universities.• Determine if student loans are needed, estimate monthly payments, and project the earnings needed to keep payments manageable.
The Planner reinforces <my company’s> 1-2-3 approach: use free money first, federal student loans second; and third, private student loans for any remaining gap.
Again, will these programs favor Direct Lending and channel traffic and funding requests to their resources?
Quote »Expanded Pell Grants for Low-Income StudentsTwo decades ago, the maximum Pell Grant covered 55 percent of costs at a public four-year college, compared with only 32 percent today. The first bill Barack Obama introduced in the U.S. Senate would have helped make college more affordable for many Americans by increasing the maximum Pell Grant from the limit of $4,050 to a new maximum of $5,100. Obama has worked in a bipartisan way on the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee to achieve an increase in the Pell Grant to $5,400 over the next few years. As president, Obama will continue to work to ensure that the maximum Pell Grant award is increased for low-income students. Specifically, he will ensure that the award keeps pace with the rising cost of college inflation.[/quote]HR 2669 already did this. It increased Pells funding by $15 billion dollars. It took a huge chunk out of FFELP (Stafford loans) funding to accomplish this. Which leads me to a point. Pell Grants do not have to be paid back, so if the grant gives out (let say) $4,310, that money is gone. The Federal Government needs to put back $4,310 back into the program. FFELP does not work this way. The Federal Government puts up a 2% subsidy on the Stafford Loan, it also pays in the in school interest on the loan and guarantees the loan when it goes into default. Stafford loans have to be paid back and when they are, that money goes right back to make more loans for students. I ask, which is a more effective use of YOUR tax dollars?
Quote »Community College Partnership ProgramCommunity colleges are a vital component of our higher education system, serving 12 million people each year, almost half the undergraduate students in the U.S. Without community colleges, millions of people would not be able to access the education and skills they need to further education or succeed in the workplace. Barack Obama will create a Community College Partnership Program to strengthen community colleges by providing grants to (a) conduct more thorough analysis of the types of skills and technical education that are in high demand from students and local industry; (b) implement newassociate of arts degree programs that cater to emerging industry and technical career demands; and (c) reward those institutions that graduate more students and also increase their numbers of transfer students to four-year institutions. These efforts will ensure that community college students are able to directly use their skills in the workforce following graduation, and be prepared to continue their higher education. And the grants will support programs that facilitate transfers from two-year institutions tofour-year institutions.[/quote]Meh, most Community and Tech Colleges have a wide array of financing tools for its students. But hey, I am sure this really means he wants Direct Lending and the Federal Government to strengthen its partnership with Community Colleges. Steer them away from private lenders and their solutions and make them dependent on the Federal Government.
Quote »Eliminate Costly Bank SubsidiesCurrently, there are two basic college loan programs: the Direct Loan system, funded publicly, and the Federal Family Education Loan Program, funded privately by banks and lenders who receive subsidies and guarantees from the government. [/quote]This statement is pretty accurate. 100% YOUR tax money goes to operate Direct Lending’s William D. Ford program. While under FFELP the margin that YOUR tax dollars pay for on Stafford Loans is 2%. The rest of the money comes from private lenders/investors. Which one is a more effective use of YOUR tax dollars?
Quote »Privately funded loans cost more per loan than the Direct Loan program and provide no greater benefits. Obama will save taxpayer money billions by eliminating the more expensive private loan program, and directing that money into aid for students.[/quote]THIS IS A FLAT OUT LIE FFELP lenders deliver a cheaper loan to cost product to borrowers than Direct Lending, with MORE borrower benefits. No matter how many times this information is provided to Congress by our Execs during hearings and studies, Democrats always claim that DL is more cost effective. Since when has it ever been more cost effective to have the US Government operate services? Not only does Direct Lender take YOUR tax dollars to Guarantee, Originate and Disburse student loans, but they CONTRACT OUT THE SERVICING OF THEIR PORTFOLIO TO ACS http://www.acs-inc.com/ That is right, they DO NOT service their own portfolio, they pay a PRIVATE company to do so. What was ironic was our company use to service Direct Lending’s portfolio and we bid on the contract a few years ago. Ha! Also, Direct Lending currently comprises 16%-26% of the student loan market. If Direct Lending is that effective why havent they pushed the Private Lenders out of the Market? No Congress has to do that for them by passing bills like HR 2669 to strip the financial profitability (Setting artificially low interest rates, reducing collection costs and decreasing the 2% margin on FFELP loans). Congress was faced, this student loan season, with a mass defection of private lenders fleeing the FFELP program. In the midst of this crisis, Direct Lending was only equipped to handle 40% of the guarantee/origination and disbursement needs of the market. Had the Treasury Department not stepped in (big long story) Direct Lending and Congress would be faced with a nightmare scenario of kids going back to school and NOT getting Financial Aid. Favoring Direct Lending over private FFELP lenders is an attempt to control Distribution of student loans. They dont care about servicing and collecting on their student loans during repayment. Also, like most Democrats anyone making a profit on services must be doing something illegal or unethical, because hey! Its immoral to make a profit.
Obama’s plan does not address:1. Rising college cost in tuition. No attention is focused on ‘tuition costs swelling’ and how to fix this problem.2. Illegal Immigrants using Student Aid money further diluting the amount of aid available for Americans.3. While more people getting a post secondary education is good, cheaper college costs and more access over crowd our learning institutions. What accommodations are being made to make sure that students (while students have aid money) have a slot in a University, College, Tech/Trade School or CC College so that they can attend? 4. People who spend their own money or take out student loans, typically take going to school more seriously. What happens when people go to school on Uncle Sam’s dime and then drop out? Pump more money into these programs?5. The balance between, Direct Lending, FFELP and private loans.
Re: Candidates stance on the issues. (Cold_Zero)
Good post Bud. I wish I had had access to your companies new web site a few years ago.