EDUCATION

John McCain

"I'd like to make education affordable and available to every single American. I'm not saying that they'd have to receive that education, but at least it would be available and affordable, and we're a ways from that. But I would start with telling math, science and engineering students that we're going to do everything we can to make sure that they receive an education in those specialties, and then broaden it to every other."
-Des Moines Register, November 2007

Wants to reduce the interest rate on student loans and establish more student-loan programs.
Backs increased funding of Pell Grants and government low-interest loans.
Plans on expanding programs like Teach for America, Americorps and the Peace Corps, which offer educational benefits.
Favors fixing the problems of No Child Left Behind instead of completely abandoning it.
Voted against federally funding local-education agencies and after-school programs.

Barack Obama

"No one needs to tell me about the importance of education, because I wouldn't be where I am today without it. I didn't come from wealth; I didn't come from power. You know my family-I came from relatively modest means. But they had a good education, and they instilled in me a desire for a good education. It's a consequence of being able to go to world-class schools [and] universities that I was able to succeed. Every child should have that same opportunity."
-BarackObama.com

Plans on establishing a loan-forgiveness program, in which for every year a college graduate works in a service-oriented job (i.e., police officer, teacher), some of his or her debt is erased.
Co-sponsored the Senate bill that cut interest rates on student loans by half and increased Pell Grant Awards.
Wants to give a $4,000 tuition credit to every student during every semester in exchange for community service.
Would like to move away from the testing of schools through acts like No Child Left Behind.
Voted for federally funding local-education agencies and after-school programs.

HOUSING

John McCain

"I've made my principles in this area clear: Tax breaks for builders, funds to purchase homes in foreclosure and tax credits that are not targeted to where the need is greatest do not constitute the federal help that is warranted. In some case, lenders and borrowers alike were caught up in the speculative frenzy that has harmed the housing market. And it is not the responsibility of the American public to spare them from the consequences of their own bad judgment."
-Brooklyn Small Business Roundtable, April 2008

Wants to establish a Federal Housing Administration-guaranteed loan that, if applied for, would replace existing mortgages.
Plans on forming a mortgage-abuse task force in the Justice Department to investigate abusive lending practices.
Says any federal assistance for borrowers must be temporary and only for homes—not vacation, second or rent houses
Opposes lower down payment on FHA mortgages.

Barack Obama

"My comprehensive mortgage agenda includes resources for pre-foreclosure counseling, a tax break to working families on their mortgage interest payments and tough penalties on fraudulent lenders. We must provide immediate relief to American families and to the American economy, while also taking the necessary steps to prevent this crisis from happening again."
-Statement released on BarackObama.com, March 2008

Co-sponsored a bill with Senator Chris Dodd aimed at creating a new FHA Housing Security Program that will provide meaningful incentives for lenders to buy or refinance existing mortgages and to convert them into stable, 30-year fixed mortgages.
Wants to extend mortgage credit to taxpayers who do not itemize.
Plans on creating a fund partly paid for by increased penalties on lenders who act irresponsibly to help people avoid foreclosures.
Hopes to obtain better disclosure from lenders by creating a standardized scoring system that quantifies the borrower’s obligation.

WORKING WORLD

John McCain

"Today in the world, 1.3 million people make a living off eBay. Ten years ago, how many people do you think made a living off of eBay? This is a new information technology. I'm all for it. It’s better jobs—higher-paying jobs and those things—but we have left workers behind. When I am President of the United States, we will leave no worker behind. I cannot promise you that all of those jobs are going to come back, but I can promise you, through investment in pure research and development and other things, we will create new jobs with new technologies, which will then eliminate our dependence on foreign oil and address the issue of climate change, which is a great threat to our planet."
-Town hall meeting in New Orleans, May 2008

Plans to create upward of 700,000 jobs by expanding the United States' work in nuclear energy.
Voted against raising the minimum wage to $7.25 in 2005, but for it in 2007.
Voted against restricting employer interference in union organizing.
Plans on creating a National Commission on Workplace Flexibility and Choice, which would make recommendations on how to modernize our nation's labor laws and training programs to help workers better balance the demands of their job with family life and to enable workers to more easily transition between jobs.

Barack Obama

"We can afford to work for the minimum wage because most folks on this stage have a lot of money. It's the folks on that screen who deserve it. We could afford to do it for a few years, and most folks can't. That's why we’ve got to fight and advocate for those kinds of folks."
—In response to the question, "If you were elected to serve in the Senate for the next four years, would you do it on the minimum wage?"
-CNN/YouTube Democratic Debate, July 2007

Wants to create 5 million green jobs in the manufacturing market by expanding and moving toward renewable-energy sources.
Believes the minimum wage should be a living wage.
Voted for raising the minimum wage to $7.25 in 2005 and 2007.
Supports unions and voted for restricting employer interference in union organizing.

TAXES

John McCain

"What we need—what we have a compelling requirement for—is a simpler, flatter and fairer tax code. As President, I will propose an alternative tax system. When this reform is enacted, all who wish to be under the current system can do so. Americans don’t resent paying their rightful share of taxes. What they do resent is being subjected to thousands of pages of needless and often irrational rules and demands from the IRS."
-Speech at Carnegie Mellon University, April 2008

Opposes any sort of Internet or cell-phone tax and vows to seek a permanent ban on these taxes.
Supports the Bush administration’s tax cuts and wants to make them permanent.
Plans to eliminate the alternative minimum tax.
Wants to establish a permanent tax credit for companies that is equal to 10 percent of wages spent on research and development.

Barack Obama

"Let me be absolutely clear. If you are a family making less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes go up—not your capital gains tax, not your payroll tax, not your income tax—no tax. Your taxes will not go up. And by the way, unlike John McCain, I'll pay for my plan by cutting wasteful spending and shutting corporate loopholes and tax havens and rolling back the Bush tax cuts for some of the wealthiest Americans in the country."
-Campaign speech in Missouri, July 2008

Has said he will cut $80 billion in taxes through, among other things, a $1,000 per-family tax credit and eliminating taxes for elderly workers making less than $50,000.
Plans on dramatically simplifying the tax-filing process, giving Americans the option of receiving pre-filled tax forms they could verify, sign and return.
Wants to repeal the Bush administration's tax cuts.
Voted against repealing the alternative minimum tax.