McCain 2008
Abortion and Judges
Both McCain and Bush are opposed to the use of federal money for abortions, including aid to agencies that help women obtain them. They agree as well on the ban on the Partial-Birth Abortion Act of 2003 and parental notification for minors. McCain has said Roe v. Wade “should be overturned,” a change from his 1999 opinion and further says he would only appoint Supreme Court justices who “strictly interpret the Constitution.” McCain’s was a yea vote for both of President Bush’s choices to the Supreme Court. President Bush has not officially called for a repeal of Roe.
Education
Mr. McCain has been a strong supporter of No Child Left Behind, President Bush’s education policy. He sees it as a “good beginning,” and that, “there’s a lot of things that need to be fixed” in the policy. A McCain adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin says, “…the law needs to start addressing the underlying cultural problems in our education system.”
Diplomacy With Iran and Syria
President Bush has decided against direct talks with Iran and Syria at this point. Mr. McCain supports the President when he compares those who would favor negotiation with “terrorists and radicals” to appeasers of the Nazis, a remark, it is generally thought, to be clearly aimed at Senator Barack Obama.
Immigration
In 2006, Mr. McCain supported a bill designed to help illegal immigrants and again in 2007,he proposed a guest worker program aimed at eventual citizenship for illegal aliens. This measure was strongly supported by President Bush. Now though, McCain says he would not vote for his own proposal. “Only after we achieved widespread consensus that our borders are secure, would we address other aspects of the problem in a way that defends the rule of law,” he was quoted as saying in February.
Iraq
Mr. McCain, like most Republicans, supported the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Throughout the first four years of the campaign, however, he strongly criticized the President’s handling of the conflict. McCain’s position has remained steadfast in his support of troop increases which now has the backing of President Bush. Both Bush and McCain are against setting a withdrawal timetable. Recently,, Mr. McCain said he believed the war could be won by 2013 but he has also said a timetable was “not too important,” based on the number of casualties in Iraq.
Guantánamo Detainees
Mr. McCain would have the Guantánamo prison and inmates moved to a maximum-security military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He was a key supporter of the 2006 legislation that provided for detainees to be tried in military courts. That same bill abolished habeas corpus rights for detainees categorized as “enemy combatants” by the administration.
Health Care
Mr. McCain and President Bush agree with the proposal to eliminate tax breaks that encourage employers to provide health insurance for their workers. Bush pushed the proposal last year, however, it did not materialize. The Bush plan offered a $15,000 tax deduction for families buying their own insurance. McCain would give a refundable tax credit of $5,000 to families for insurance whether or not they pay taxes. Neither Bush nor McCain voted for a 2007 bill to expand a children’s health insurance program for lower- and middle-income families.
Medicare
Both Republicans support the idea that richer Medicare recipients should pay higher premiums for prescription drug coverage. But in 2003, McCain voted against the bill that would have included a prescription drug benefit to Medicare.
Social Security
“I’m totally in favor of personal savings accounts,” McCain told The Wall Street Journal recently, “along the lines that President Bush proposed.” President Bush though did not get the support in Congress that he needed for his proposal to allow workers to divert a portion of Social Security payroll taxes into personal investment accounts in exchange for reduced guaranteed benefits.
Same-Sex Marriage
President Bush supported a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages. McCain’s position is that states should enact such bans and he voted against the federal proposal. McCain says he would consider a constitutional ban if “a higher court says that my state or another state has to recognize” same-sex marriages.
Civil Unions
Obviously, neither Bush nor McCain wants to deal with this issue at the federal level. Each has said they would leave the matter to the states. In 2004, President Bush said that he would not “deny people rights to a civil union” if a state legalized it.. Mr. McCain supported a 2005 proposal in his home state, Arizona, that would have disallowed civil unions and domestic partnerships. Most recently, McCain said that “people should be able to enter into legal agreements” for matters such as insurance and power of attorney.
Taxes
Interestingly, Mr. McCain would make large Bush tax cuts he opposed in 2001 and 2003 permanent. McCain has proposals for four more tax cuts: a reduction in the corporate tax rate, immediate tax breaks for corporate investment, a repeal of the alternative minimum tax and doubling the value of exemptions for dependents to $7,000 from $3,500.
Trade
McCain and Bush agree with free trade and both are interested in establishing markets with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. Both also support education programs to help displaced workers.
Wiretapping and Executive Power
According to McCain advisor, Holtz-Eakin, Mr. McCain believes that the Constitution gave the President the power to authorize the National Security Agency to monitor Americans’ international phone calls and e-mail without warrants, notwithstanding a federal statute that required court approval.. Recently, McCain stated that : “I don’t think the president has the right to disobey any law.”
Climate Change
Mr. McCain has always maintained that “America did the right thing by not joining the Kyoto Treaty”. He agrees with President Bush in that any such global accord should include China and India.
