Obama and McCain on the Issues

John McCain: Voted to authorize the invasion of Iraq but was a critic of then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's prosecution of the war. Advocated sending more troops even before Bush initiated the "surge." Opposes any timetable for troop pullout.

Barack Obama: Opposed the war from the start and opposed the troop increase. Promises that as president he would immediately begin to remove U.S. troops. Would bring out one or two combat brigades per month until all were withdrawn within 16 months. Would keep some troops in Iraq to protect U.S. diplomats and to fight Al Qaeda if necessary.

John McCain: He made a major speech this week outlining health-care strategy, which includes a shift from people being insured through their employers to people buying it on their own. Would offer families a $5,000 tax credit to help buy insurance. Would pay for that tax credit by eliminating the tax break that companies get for their contribution to employee coverage. Rejects the idea of mandated universal health insurance, but would create a "guaranteed access plan" to help provide coverage of last resort for "high-risk" people.

Barack Obama: Would require all children to have health insurance and would move toward universal coverage for adults. Like Hillary Clinton, would keep the current employer-based system while creating a new public insurance plan, and would require insurance companies to accept people who have pre-existing conditions. Also like Clinton, would pay for reform partly by ending tax cuts for the rich. Says his overall reforms would reduce premiums for those buying private insurance.

John McCain: Supports making Bush tax cuts permanent, opposes Alternative Minimum Tax.

Barack Obama: Increase the number of working parents eligible for Earned Income Tax Credits, increase the benefit available to parents who support their children through child support payments and reduce the marriage penalty.

John McCain: Supports guest worker program, increasing border security and border fence construction.

Barack Obama: Supports new employment eligibility verification system and the Citizenship Promotion Act to ensure fair immigration application fees.

John McCain: Opposes gay marriage, says states should control marriage law.

Barack Obama: Opposes same-sex marriage, supports civil unions.

John McCain: To ease pressure on gasoline prices, he has urged President Bush to stop adding crude oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Favors greater reliance on nuclear energy as a way to decrease dependence on foreign oil and reduce emission of greenhouse gases. Says diversification of energy resources is essential. Believes the U.S. need for imported oil helps prop up "petro-dictators" and must be stopped. Said in 2005 that ethanol did not make sense but now says the much higher price of oil makes it practical.

Barack Obama: Favors a halt in adding oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Says nuclear power should be "part of the energy mix" but must be run safely. Wants to invest $150 billion over 10 years for clean energy, such as hybrid cars and low-emission coal plants. Says in a campaign ad that he doesn't take money from oil companies, but such donations would be illegal anyway; Obama does take contributions from oil executives. Like Hillary Clinton, favors ethanol, would double federal spending on basic energy research and would set a goal of renewable energy resources generating 25 percent of electricity by 2025.

John McCain: Believes that reducing trade barriers helps the U.S. economy and also promotes national security. Supports the proposed U.S.-Colombia trade pact, which would lower tariffs in both countries. (A House rule change Thursday indefinitely delayed consideration of the Colombia deal.) Voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993, and says it improves U.S. ties with Canada, a key partner in the war on terror. Voted for Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in 2005.

Barack Obama: In a stand similar to Hillary Clinton's, says U.S. must work harder to make sure trade pacts have stricter standards for labor rights and environmental protection. Says NAFTA must be revised for those reasons. Opposes the Colombia trade pact. Voted against CAFTA. Calls for more "transition assistance" to help retrain U.S. workers thrown out of work because of jobs moving overseas.

John McCain: Says Roe vs. Wade ruling should be overturned, with states allowed to make own laws on abortion -- leading, he hopes, to the end of the procedure. Urges support for "armies of compassion" helping women bring fetuses to full term

Barack Obama: Supports abortion rights. Urges efforts to reduce teen pregnancy, "making it less likely for women to find themselves in these circumstances."

John McCain: Proposes to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent. Would allow first-year deduction, or "expensing," of investments in equipment and technology

Barack Obama: Wants to use $75 billion in tax cuts and direct spending to stimulate the economy. Would provide immediate $250 tax cut to workers and their families, and an immediate, temporary $250 bonus to seniors in their Social Security checks

John McCain: Favors parental choice of schools, including vouchers for private schools when approved by local officials, and right of parents to choose home-schooling.

Barack Obama: Would encourage but not require universal prekindergarten. Wants to reward teachers with higher pay not tied to standardized test scores. Wants to change No Child Left Behind "so that we're not just teaching to a test and crowding out programs like art and music."

John McCain: Voted against a ban on assault-type weapons but in favor of requiring background checks at gun shows. Voted to shield gunmakers and dealers from civil lawsuits.

Barack Obama: Voted to leave gunmakers and dealers open to lawsuits. Also, as an Illinois state lawmaker, supported a ban on all forms of semiautomatic weapons and tighter state restrictions on firearms. Despite his support for some gun-control measures, he said last weekend in Idaho: "We've got a lot of hunters in southern Illinois, and I've got no intention of taking away people's guns.

John McCain: Says his experience and world travels would make him a strong president on foreign issues. Cites the need to make credible defense commitments to our allies, and says support for a strong military would make that more likely. Was early advocate for the "surge" strategy in Iraq and opposes timetable for withdrawal.

Barack Obama: Says he would be willing to hold talks with America's adversaries as well as its friends. Cites his membership on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Says as president he might be willing to authorize a unilateral U.S. attack on Al Qaeda in Pakistan if the Pakistani government was "unwilling or unable to strike" against Islamic militants. Says Clinton erred in the most important foreign policy decision in a generation -- the decision to invade Iraq. Obama, like Clinton, favors a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.

John McCain: Supports cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions. Believes economic interests and environmental concerns are not in opposition but rather "inextricably linked." Wants to raise auto fuel efficiency standards but has not set a specific target. Sees increased use of nuclear power as a major way to reduce pollution. Favors nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain

Barack Obama: Supports cap-and-trade emissions system with goal of cutting carbon emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Emphasizes that such a system must require all polluters to pay for emissions credits, rather than some getting credits for free. Goal for auto fuel efficiency is 40 m.p.g. for cars and 32 m.p.g. for light trucks by 2020. Opposes nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain

John McCain: Co-authored the McCain-Feingold campaign financing law, which has been praised as an attempt to limit the influence of special-interest money but has been criticized as ineffective and a violation of free-speech rights. Has called for an independent ethics office in Congress. Has not released his tax returns. Has been a leading critic of "earmarks" -- individual spending proposals that are added to legislation late in the process. Says earmarks promote unnecessary and wasteful spending and allow lawmakers to do favors for special interests. Was one of only a handful of senators to avoid earmarks entirely in 2007, according to a review by the non-partisan Taxpayers for Common Sense. Was enmeshed in an ethics scandal two decades ago: He was one of the "Keating Five" who intervened with federal regulators on behalf of savings-and-loan owner Charles Keating.

Barack Obama: Favors public financing of presidential campaigns, including free television and radio time. Proposes a database that would list what federal contractors spend on lobbying. Claims partial credit for a law restricting lobbyist-sponsored trips by lawmakers. Has released his tax returns. Was in the lowest quarter of senators sponsoring earmarks, with $91 million in 2007, less than a third as much as Clinton. On Thursday, released his earmark requests for 2005 and 2006, calling on Clinton to do the same. Critics say he has given incomplete responses to inquiries about his association with Chicago developer Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who is on trial on public corruption charges unrelated to Obama.

John McCain: Has been an advocate for American Indians, calling their treatment "one of the darker chapters of the American people." In his book "Why Courage Matters," praised the bravery of civil rights leaders such as John Lewis and Martin Luther King Jr. Said during the 2000 GOP presidential primary race that flying the Confederate flag over the South Carolina Statehouse was a state issue, but changed his mind after the state's primary, favoring a relocation of the flag. He said his earlier stand had been an "act of political cowardice." Said last year that he was satisfied with the compromise, in which the flag was moved to the front of the building. Has supported limited affirmative action but opposes "plans that result in quotas, where such plans have not been judicially created to remedy a specific, proven act of discrimination."

Barack Obama: Says America must confront past and present racial tensions to move toward national unity. As a biracial American, has often written and talked about racial identification and discrimination in America. Worked as a civil rights lawyer in Chicago after graduating from Harvard Law School. Supports affirmative action, saying it "may be the only meaningful remedy available" when organizations engage in long, systemic discrimination. Came under criticism in recent days over racially divisive statements by his longtime pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Has rejected those remarks but has not disavowed Wright.

John McCain: Favors using a portion of payroll taxes to finance private retirement accounts, as President Bush has proposed. Opposes increase in Social Security taxes but would be willing to discuss a compromise in which the payroll tax ceiling might be raised. (Currently, Americans pay Social Security payroll tax on their first $97,500 in annual income.) Says no reform to protect Social Security can be successful without bipartisan cooperation.

Barack Obama: Opposes using any portion of payroll taxes to finance private retirement accounts. Would raise the ceiling on the payroll tax that funds Social Security beyond the current $97,500—in effect, a tax increase for those at the top end of the income scale. Vows to work with Congress on long-term policies to keep Social Security solvent.

John McCain: Calls for more accountability and transparency in financial markets. Says it's not the duty of government to bail out banks or borrowers who acted irresponsibly, but does not rule out temporary aid for people to help them stay in their homes. Says the down payment requirement for FHA mortgages should be raised. Calls for overall reform of the system as part of any aid effort.

Barack Obama: Supports immediate government intervention in housing crisis. Like Clinton, favors Frank-Dodd plan to provide federal loan guarantees to allow refinancing of troubled mortgages and keep people in their homes. Wants "second stimulus" of $30 billion that would include $10 billion to help people avoid foreclosure. Wants to require more transparency by financial institutions and reform the system so that federal regulatory agencies don't overlap and compete with each other

John McCain: Did not vote on revised GI Bill to improve tuition benefits, but said he opposed it because it was too costly and would encourage members of the military not to re-enlist, weakening America's already stretched defense forces. Answered criticism by Obama, who voted for the GI Bill upgrade, by saying: "I will not accept from Sen. Obama, who did not feel it was his responsibility to serve our country in uniform, any lectures on my regard for those who did." Cites his long-term efforts for veterans, including support for tax breaks to help buy health insurance. Says role of reserve forces has changed in recent years, and their benefits should change as well. Served as co-chairman of a task force on treatment of Gulf War veterans. Suffered torture as prisoner of war for more than five years in Vietnam.

Barack Obama: Voted for a recent GI Bill provision to upgrade tuition assistance for veterans—a measure opposed by the Bush administration and John McCain. Pledges that if he is elected, the Veterans Affairs Department will be "at the cutting edge of my plan for universal health care, with better preventive care, more research and specialty treatment, and more veterans centers, particularly in rural areas." Promises to improve veterans' access to mental health care and step up efforts to keep them from becoming homeless. Serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. Did not serve in the military.

John McCain: Distanced himself from the Bush administration by saying he'd work more closely with Russia on nuclear disarmament. Opposed Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty in 1999 but now promises to take "another look" at the treaty, which the administration opposes. Favors increased support for the International Atomic Energy Agency to boost its ability to detect when nations are illegally pursuing nuclear weapons. Voted in 2005 against measure to block funding for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator but called this week for a halt to work on the bunker-buster bomb program.

Barack Obama: Joins Clinton in supporting immediate ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty. Worked with Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) for a law to beef up U.S. efforts to keep nuclear materials out of the wrong hands. Voted in 2005 to block funding for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator. Vows to negotiate with Russia to lower readiness level of nuclear arsenals to avoid "hair-trigger" mistakes. Would seek global ban on the production of fissile material for weapons.

John McCain: Accepts campaign contributions from federally registered lobbyists. Has called for reducing the influence of special interests in Washington, but has been criticized over his campaign staff's links to lobbying. (His national finance co-chairman lobbied for Saudi Arabia, and two advisers worked for a firm hired to improve the image of Myanmar's military junta. All three have left the McCain campaign.) Has issued new rules this month to address potential conflicts of interest: No campaign staffer can be a registered lobbyist or foreign agent, and part-time volunteers must disclose whether they are registered lobbyists or lobbying for foreign entities.

Barack Obama: Does not accept campaign money from federally registered lobbyists. But hasn't eliminated lobbyist influence: USA Today reported last month that Obama's fundraising team includes 38 members of law firms that were paid $138 million last year to lobby the federal government. Has criticized the clout of special interests in Washington and questioned whether McCain's words against special interests match his deeds, calling him "very much a creature of Washington."

John McCain: Gave a major speech on greenhouse gas emissions that was well-timed—two days before the polar bear became the first species named to the endangered species list primarily because of global warming. Criticized President George W. Bush's record on climate change. Differs from many in the GOP by calling for a market-based cap-and-trade system under which businesses could meet emissions standards by either cutting their pollution output or buying credits from more efficient producers. Aims to cut emissions by 60 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

Barack Obama: Says the U.S. —"a land of moon shots and miracles of science and technology"—must take the lead in fighting global warming. Calls for a major government effort to find cleaner energy technologies "from biofuels to solar power to carbon sequestration." Like McCain and Hillary Clinton, favors a cap-and-trade system under which businesses would limit emissions or buy credits from more efficient producers. Sets goal of an 80 percent emissions cut by 2050, the same goal as Clinton's and higher than McCain's level of 60 percent.