Election 2004 will be one of the most important elections in the history of the United States. Do you feel that America should cooperate with the rest of the world, or is our national security situation so moribund that we must make demands of the international community? How closely should our government work with the United Nations? Do Americans earning more than $200,000 a year need a tax cut? How important is international cooperation to America's security? These issues — and many others — will all be major campaign issues this year.
BUSH - The president has repeatedly called on Congress to make his tax cuts permanent, saying failure to do so would amount to a tax hike and threaten prospects for a robust economic recovery capable of generating new jobs. Congressional analysts say that making the tax cuts permanent would cost about $1.3 trillion over the next 10 years.
KERRY - Kerry has called for repeal of the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $200,000 a year, in order to pay for broad health care reform. However, he would retain the tax cuts for the middle class. He says he can halve the record half-trillion dollar budget deficit by the end of one four-year term, even while spending $72 billion a year to extend health care to 27 million of the 40-plus million uninsured. Energy and the environment
KERRY- Kerry favors U.S. participation in an international climate change program to curb global warming and would cut mercury emissions by American utilities and plants. To encourage more renewable energy sources, Kerry wants to create a renewable energy trust fund to reduce oil consumption by 2 million barrels per day, which is roughly the amount imported from the Middle East. Kerry also backed Senate legislation to impose stricter mileage standards on gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles and automobiles. Foreign policy
BUSH - After straining relations with major European allies and the United Nations over war in Iraq, Bush has shifted his foreign policy focus to the spread of democracy by pushing a Middle East initiative that would aim to resolve the region's political, economic and social problems through democratic reform. The president, criticized for the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, is also pursuing a policy that seeks to unravel the black market in nuclear components and block programs in North Korea and Iran, countries he has labeled an "axis of evil" along with prewar Iraq.
KERRY - While insisting he would never cede U.S. security to any other nation and would use force when required, Kerry envisions "a new era of alliances" to replace what he sees as the White House's go-it-alone approach to foreign policy. He has pledged to restore diplomacy as a tool of U.S. foreign policy, treat the United Nations as a "full partner" and pursue collective security arrangements. His inner circle of foreign policy advisers features prominent Democratic veterans, including some figures from the Clinton days. Iraq
BUSH - After seeing his plan to bring democracy to Iraq through regional caucuses scuttled by a leading Shi'ite cleric, Bush has succeeded in brokering an interim constitution for the oil-rich Arab nation and pledged to work with Iraqi leaders and the United Nations to prepare for full Iraqi sovereignty by June 30. The administration expects U.S. troops to remain in Iraq indefinitely as a security measure against insurgents and sectarian violence.
KERRY - Kerry voted in 2002 in favor of the war against Iraq, but has since attacked the administration of misrepresenting the military threat posed by Baghdad and for mismanaging the post-war occupation. He later voted against the appropriation of $87 billion for the U.S.-led effort, a move that has led some critics, including some in his own party, to accuse him of hypocrisy. Trade
BUSH - Bush, an avowed free trader, has embarked on a series of trade agreements with countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa. But his administration has also faced charges of protectionism over steel tariffs that the World Trade Organization ruled illegal, and its reluctance to trim import barriers that protect U.S. sugar, dairy and beef industries.
KERRY - Kerry has promised a 120-day review of all existing U.S. trade agreements upon taking office, and favors using the World Trade Organization to challenge China's currency practices. He also has pressed for stronger labor and environmental language than Bush has required in growing collection of bilateral free trade agreements with countries around the world. Israel and Palestine
BUSH - Bush, a staunch defender of Israel, backs the stalled "road map" to Middle East peace that calls for creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel by next year. The White House has also expressed concern about Israel's construction of a security barrier through Palestinian territory, ostracized Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and cautiously embraced Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposal to dismantle Jewish settlements in Gaza.
