Mary blog quarter 2: week 9

This week I have done some more research on Obama just to find out even more about some of his motives. Heres what I found out and read. Here are his answers to some of the most important issues in my opinion:


Do you think gun control has an impact on crime rates in the United States?
Yes, I do think that reasonable gun control measures reduces violent crime and saves lives. I respect the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms. But we can't deny that gun violence has taken the lives of too many Americans. I believe that through common-sense measures, we can keep guns from those who may pose a threat, while also protecting the rights of legitimate hunters and sportsmen.

I really agree with Obama on this point, and I definately think that gun control needs to become more prominent, and better regulated in order to prevent unwanted acidentsd, and possibly hopefully reduce the crime rate of today's society.

Do you support setting a deadline for either a withdrawal or a partial pullback of troops from Iraq? If so, what would be the date of that deadline?
I opposed this war from the beginning, when it was unpopular to do so, in part because I believed it was a diversion from the real threat of al Qaeda and that giving this President the authority would lead to the open-ended occupation we find ourselves in today. Now our soldiers find themselves in the crossfire of a civil war and our military is stretched thin. I support beginning the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq immediately, and under the plan I introduced in January 2007, we would have begun withdrawing forces engaged in combat operations on May 1, 2007. A withdrawal of our troops is the best leverage we have to press the Iraqi political leaders to make the political compromises necessary to end their civil war.

I do believe that we should begin withdrawal of our troops immediately. However, I do know that if we withdraw too quickly, or too many troops at one time, half of them could be killed simply on the way home.

What types of regulations and guidelines do you plan on implementing or promoting in order to deal with climate change and to make our country less oil dependent?
Global warming is not just the greatest environmental challenge facing our planet -- it is one of our greatest challenges of any kind. Combating global warming will be a top priority of my presidency, and I will attend to it personally. Putting a price on carbon is the most important step we can take to reduce emissions. I will enact an economy-wide market-based cap-and-trade system to reduce U.S. carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050. I will devote significant resources from a permit auction toward accelerating the development and deployment of low carbon technologies and addressing the economic challenges imposed on key industrial sectors. Another top priority for my energy and global warming agenda will be changing the cars we drive and the fossil fuels we burn. I will increase fuel efficiency standards by 4% per year, lift the 60,000-per-manufacturer cap on buyer tax credits to encourage more Americans to buy ultra-efficient vehicles, and encourage automakers to make fuel efficient hybrid vehicles. Domestic automakers will get either assistance shouldering their health care legacy costs in exchange for investing 50 percent of the savings into technology to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles or generous tax incentives for retooling assembly plants. I proposed a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard to reduce the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of passenger vehicle fuels sold in the U.S. by 10 percent in 2020 and require additional reductions of 1% annually thereafter.

Global warming is a REALLY big issue for me so I am glad he is adressing it more openly than say President Bush. I am looking forward to what he will do with global warming if elected.

Do you support the No Child Left Behind program? Why or why not?
The goal of the No Child Left Behind Act is the right one -- ensuring that all children can meet high standards -- but the law has significant flaws that need to be addressed. However, unfulfilled funding promises, inadequate implementation by the Department of Education, and shortcomings in the design of the law itself have limited its effectiveness and undercut its support among many people who care deeply about our schools and our students. The shortcomings of NCLB, however, shouldn't end the conversation. They should be the start of a conversation about how we can do better. One of the greatest troubles of No Child Left Behind is that we have spent too much time preparing students for tests that do not provide any valuable, timely feedback on how to improve a student's learning. We need tests and measurements, but we should ensure that they are useful to improve student learning. As president, I will support the creation of testing models that will: provide educators and students with timely feedback about how to improve student performance instead of arriving with too little too late; measure readiness for college and success in an information-age workplace by testing reading comprehension, writing skills, and other critical thinking skills; and indicate whether individual students are actually making progress toward reaching high standards. Good teachers with the tools to do their jobs should not have to teach to the test. They should be able to teach a rich curriculum.

I am really glad he talks about changing the no child left behind act. I agree that i does not help, because all we are doing is focusing our kids on passing tests and not actually learning interesting material.

What is your position on the proposed constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman?
I oppose the Federal Marriage Amendment.
What is your position on civil unions between same sex partners?
I support civil unions.

I definately agree with him here, I support gay and lesbian marriage, and believe that the only thing holding us back from legalizing this are the religious aspects, which in a way, to me goes agains the freedom of religion in theis country.