Gov. Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama are nearly tied in the polls while many voters remain undecided. Before choosing who to vote for, here are some policies and plans Romney and Obama are focusing on.
President Barack Obama
Obama’s plan for the economy would include eliminating tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs overseas to provide incentive to keep jobs in America. His plan would also include making permanent tax cuts for middle class Americans to continue to save families an average of $3,600, according to www.barackobama.com.
As a way to create more jobs, Obama also plans to create a network of innovation institutes so that new products are created in America. His plan would also include cutting tuition growth to provide more incentive for students to go to college.
If he is re-elected, Obama also plans to continue pursuing clean energy with solar and wind power and reduce dependence on foreign oil. His goal would be to get 80 percent of energy from clean energy by 2035, according to www.barackobama.com.
One of the most discussed topics at the moment is healthcare. While in office, Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law. The goals for the law were to make sure more people had medical coverage, restrict rates, and to improve quality and efficiency in health care, according to www.apha.org.
Immigration, also a highly discussed topic, is also on Obama’s plan. He has proposed laws that would allow spouses and children to apply for citizenship if they were previously undocumented as citizens. He also supports the DREAM Act, which would allow immigrants who came to United States as children to apply for citizenship.
Mitt Romney
Romney’s plan for America includes a five-step process. The process is to become energy dependent, refining skills to succeed, finding trade that works for America, cutting the deficit, and assist small businesses.
For energy, he would begin by streamlining domestic energy resources and approving the Keystone XL pipeline. For providing skills to succeed, he would plan to provide more affordable higher education and “focus job training programs on building valuable skills that align with opportunities,” according to www.mittromney.com.
For trade, he plans to make stronger economic ties with Latin America and would open new markets for American goods and services. He would also “consolidate agencies and align compensation of federal workers with their private-sector counterparts” and would reduce taxes on job creation through tax reform, according to www.mittromney.com.
For healthcare, Romney plans to offer waivers from the Affordable Care Act and would put states in charge of regulating healthcare and insurance.
For immigration, Romney states that America is “not a nation bound by ethnicity and that all are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” but also believes that the immigration system is broken.
To change this, his plan would include “attracting more highly skilled immigrants,” including foreign-born residents with advanced degrees. He also plans to increase Border Patrol to reduce illegal immigration.
