Political views of Barack Obama

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Main article: Barack Obama

Here are some of Senator Barack Obama's votes and remarks on various issues.

Contents 1 Abortion 2 Economic policy 3 Energy 4 Health care 5 Gay rights 6 Gun politics 7 Immigration 8 Foreign Policy 8.1 Iran 8.2 Iraq 8.3 Israel-Palestinian conflict 9 Net neutrality 10 Religion 11 References 12 External Links

[edit] Abortion

In his write-in response to a 1998 survey, Obama stated his abortion position as: "Abortions should be legally available in accordance with Roe v. Wade."^[1]

[edit] Economic policy

Obama wrote: "we should be asking ourselves what mix of policies will lead to a dynamic free market and widespread economic security, entrepreneurial innovation and upward mobility [...] we should be guided by what works."^[2] Speaking before the National Press Club in April 2005, he defended the New Deal social welfare policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt, associating Republican proposals to establish private accounts for Social Security with Social Darwinism.^[3] In a May 2006 letter to President Bush, he joined four other midwest farming state Senators in calling for the preservation of a $0.54 per gallon tariff on imported ethanol.^[4]

Obama spoke out in June 2006 against making recent, temporary estate tax cuts permanent, calling the cuts a "Paris Hilton" tax break for "billionaire heirs and heiresses."^[5] Speaking in November 2006 to members of Wake Up Wal-Mart, a union-backed campaign group, Obama said: "You gotta pay your workers enough that they can actually not only shop at Wal-Mart, but ultimately send their kids to college and save for retirement."^[6]

[edit] Energy

Obama and other Senators introduced the BioFuels Security Act in 2007. "It's time for Congress to realize what farmers in America's heartland have known all along - that we have the capacity and ingenuity to decrease our dependence on foreign oil by growing our own fuel," Obama said.^[7]

[edit] Health care

On January 25, 2007, Obama spoke about his position on health care at Families USA, a health care advocacy group. Obama said, "The time has come for universal health care in America . . . I am absolutely determined that by the end of the first term of the next president, we should have universal health care in this country." Obama went on to say that he believed that it was wrong that forty-six million Americans are uninsured, noting that taxpayers already pay over $15 billion dollars annually to care for the uninsured.^[8]

[edit] Gay rights

Barack Obama voted against a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage although he believes that marriage is defined as being a religious bond between a man and a woman. He does support civil unions for same-sex couples, but believes that decisions about marriage should be left to the states.^[9][10]

Obama stated on March 15, 2007, that "I do not agree ... that homosexuality is immoral."^[11]

[edit] Gun politics

Barack Obama advocates stricter gun control. His agenda includes banning the sale or transfer of all forms of semi-automatic weapons, increasing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of firearms and requiring manufacturers to provide child-safety locks with firearms.

He has voted against legislation protecting firearm manufacturers from liability.^[12]

[edit] Immigration

On immigration reform, Obama has said that he "will not support any bill that does not provide [an] earned path to citizenship for the undocumented population." Obama supports a guestworker program.^[13]

In September 2006, Obama voted for the Secure Fence Act, authorizing the construction of 700 miles of fencing along the United States–Mexico border.^[14]

[edit] Foreign Policy

[edit] Iran

During his 2004 Senate campaign, Obama stated that he had not ruled out military action against Iran. In a meeting with the Chicago Tribune editorial board, Obama stated: "The big question is going to be, if Iran is resistant to these pressures, including economic sanctions, which I hope will be imposed if they do not cooperate, at what point are we going to, if any, are we going to take military action?" Obama stressed that he would only resort to force as a last resort.^[15] Obama has not declared a change in this stance since the 2004 campaign. In 2006, he called on Iran to "take some ownership for creating some stability" in Iraq.^[16]

In an interview with Tim Russert on October 22, 2006 Obama said, "I think that military options have to be on the table when you're dealing with rogue states that have shown constant hostility towards the United States. The point that I would make, though, is that we have not explored all of our options...We have not explored any kind of dialogue with either Iran or North Korea, and I think that has been a mistake. As a consequence, we have almost no leverage over them."^[17]

Speaking to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on 2 March 2007, Obama stated that he regards Iran's government as "a threat to all of us," stating that the US "should take no option, including military action, off the table." However, he stated that the US's "primary means" of relating to Iran should entail "sustained and aggressive diplomacy combined with tough sanctions." Diplomacy would include "more determined U.S. diplomacy at the United Nations," "harnessing the collective power of our friends in Europe who are Iran's major trading partners," and "a cooperative strategy with Gulf States who supply Iran with much of the energy resources it needs."^[18]

[edit] Iraq

Senator Obama was an early opponent of Bush administration policies on Iraq, when other Democratic leaders supported the legislation that led to the war. Obama was not in the United States Senate, and was therefore unable to vote during the Iraq Resolution of 11 October 2002, authorizing the use of force against Iraq. During a fall 2002 anti-war rally at Chicago's Federal Plaza, while still an Illinois State Senator, and in a speech alongside Jesse Jackson, Obama stated: "I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars. [...] You want a fight, President Bush? Let's finish the fight with Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings."^[19] He also speculated about the sectarian violence in Iraq after the fall of Saddam, and talked about the need for a strategy to stabilize Iraq and hand over power to the Iraqis in an interview in 2002.^{[citation needed]} Speaking before the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in November 2006, he said: "The days of using the war on terror as a political football are over. [...] It is time to give Iraqis their country back, and it is time to refocus America's efforts on the wider struggle yet to be won." In his speech Obama also called for a phased withdrawal of American troops starting in 2007, and an opening of diplomatic dialog with Iraq's neighbors, Syria and Iran.^[20]

On January 30, 2007, Obama introduced the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007 into Congress. Among other things, the Act calls for capping the level of troops in Iraq at January 2007 levels, and for commencing a phased redeployment of US forces from Iraq "with the goal of removing all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31, 2008, a date that is consistent with the expectation of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.^[21][22] Announcing the act on the Senate floor, Obama stated that "no amount of American soldiers can solve the political differences at the heart of somebody else's civil war."^[23]

[edit] Israel-Palestinian conflict

Referring to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in January 2006, Obama denounced Hamas while praising former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. At a meeting with then Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom on the eve of Hamas's sweeping election victory,^[24] Obama stated that Sharon's role in the conflict had always been "absolutely important and constructive."^[25] At a meeting with Palestinian students two days later, Obama stated opposition to Hamas in favor of rival party Fatah, noting his desire to "consolidate behind a single government with a single authority that can then negotiate as a reliable partner with Israel." In a comment aimed at Hamas, he said that "the US will always side with Israel if Israel is threatened with destruction."^[26]

Obama was also a cosponsor of the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006, which in part calls on "members of the international community to avoid contact with and refrain from financially supporting the terrorist organization Hamas until it agrees to recognize Israel, renounce violence, disarm, and accept prior agreements, including the Roadmap."^[27] However, on March 11, 2007, Obama said that "if we could get some movement among Palestinian leadership, what I'd like to see is a loosening up of some of the restrictions on providing aid directly to the Palestinian people."^[28]

He defended Israel's response to the Zar'it-Shtula incident on August 22 in an interview with Tim Russert, saying, "I don't think there is any nation that would not have reacted the way Israel did after two soldiers had been snatched. I support Israel's response to take some action in protecting themselves." A month earlier he said, "I don't fault Israel for wanting to rid their border with Lebanon from those Katyusha missiles that can fire in and harm Israeli citizens, so I think that any cease fire would have to be premised on the removal of those missiles."^[29]

Speaking to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on 2 March 2007, Obama called Israel "our strongest ally in the region," and stated: "We must preserve our total commitment to our unique defense relationship with Israel by fully funding military assistance and continuing work on the Arrow and related missile defense programs." On the Palestinian Authority's new unity government, Obama said: "We should all be concerned about the agreement negotiated among Palestinians in Mecca last month."^[30]

Obama has also expressed compassion towards Palestinians; in his comments in Iowa on March 11, 2007 he said: "Nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people."^[31]

[edit] Net neutrality

In a June 2006 podcast, Obama expressed support for telecommunications legislation to protect network neutrality on the internet, saying: "It is because the Internet is a neutral platform that I can put out this podcast and transmit it over the Internet without having to go through any corporate media middleman. I can say what I want without censorship or without having to pay a special charge. But the big telephone and cable companies want to change the Internet as we know it."^[32]

[edit] Religion

Obama has encouraged Democrats to reach out to evangelicals and other church-going people, saying, "if we truly hope to speak to people where they’re at—to communicate our hopes and values in a way that’s relevant to their own—we cannot abandon the field of religious discourse."^[33][34]

[edit] References

[edit] External Links

• Barack Obama - On the Issues (Senate.gov)
• Chicago Tribune coverage

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