2012electioncandidates:

Barack Obama - the 44th President of the United States of America - Democrat (Incumbent)

Pro-Choice:

• prohibited federal funding for abortions
• supports adoption
• supports Roe vs. Wade
• against parental notification
• supportive of Planned Parenthood
• for Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Education:

• President Obama is investing $2 billion in competitive grants to reform community colleges, raising completion rates and creating new programs tied to workforce needs.
• The President signed a new law that caps the maximum amount of monthly student loan repayment at 10 percent of income above a basic living allowance for certain borrowers. The law also allows remaining debt to be forgiven after 20 years instead of 25 for responsible borrowers.
• A new $2,500 American Opportunity tax credit for tuition expenses has helped an estimated 9.4 million college students and their families in 2011.
• The administration implemented the Race to the Top program, which rewards states for making tough reforms—raising standards, helping teachers improve, and turning around struggling schools. Since 2010, the administration has awarded Race to the Top grants to 11 states and the District of Columbia—helping 13.6 million students and 980,000 teachers in 25,000 schools.

LBGTQ/Same Sex Issues:

• Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
• President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law. The Act allows the Department of Justice to prosecute crimes motivated by a person’s actual or perceived gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.
• Believes that marriage is between a man and a woman, but marriage is not strictly defined in the Constitution

Budget/Economy:

• a progressive tax code which would involve raising the tax rates for the high income category proportionately and increasing the tax cuts and credits of the middle and lower classes
  • provided tax incentives and made investments in clean energy technologies such as wind turbines and advanced car batteries to grow high-technology U.S. manufacturing capacity and supply clean energy projects with American-made parts and equipment.
  • signed the America Invents Act: patent reform legislation that will help American entrepreneurs bring inventions to market sooner, helping to create new businesses and new jobs
  passed The Affordable Care Act: supports small businesses by providing them with better affordable health care options for employees, simpler administrative operating rules, and billions of dollars in tax relief.
  President Obama passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which included a tax cut for 95 percent of working families, tax cuts for small businesses, emergency funding to support about 266,000 jobs in public schools, and investments in the clean energy sector that created or saved 224,500 jobs through the end of 2010.

2012electioncandidates:

John E. Courson - SC State Senate, District #20 - Republican (Incumbent)

First elected: 1984

Last elected: 11/04/2008

There is very little information on Senator Courson online. His SC Legislature Online page has a link to his voting for the 2011-2012 session. His key votes were: 

- Voted AYE for Voter ID

- Voted AYE for Immigration Reform

- Voted AYE to officially state Collard Greens as South Carolina’s state vegetable

- Voted NAY on Prohibiting Texting While Driving

2012electioncandidates:

Addison ‘Joe’ Graves Wilson, Sr. - U.S. House of Representatives, District #2 (SC) - Republican (Incumbent)

First elected: 12/18/2001

Last elected: 11/02/2010

Platform:

The Joe Means Jobs 3 Point Plan:

1. 5% across the board tax cut (HR 470)

2. Repeal and replace Obamacare (HR 4944)

3. 20% discretionary spending cut. Returning spending to 2008 levels and keeping it that way until the federal budget is balanced in 2019. (H.Con.Res. 281)

Key components:

• 5% across the board income tax cut
• Increase Child Tax Credit to $5,000
• Make the 15% rate on Capital Gains and Dividends permanent
• Make all withdrawals from IRAs Tax-and Penalty-Free
• Permanently repeal required distributions on retirement accounts
• Increase by 50% the tax deduction on student loans and on qualified higher education expenses
• Allow small business a tax deduction of 20% of their income
• Encourage responsible home buyers with a credit of $7,500.

Real Healthcare Reform:

• Protect Medicare for the millions of seniors that rely on this important program

• Provide access to care for pre-existing conditions

• Allow for competition, and let you buy a personalized insurance plan across state lines that works for you, not Washington

• Encourage employers to offer discounts for employees with healthy habits

• Work to eliminate frivolous lawsuits that ultimately drive up the cost of healthcare

• Offer citizens tax dollars back through credits and deductions so they can purchase an affordable plan that works for them

Key Votes:

Jan. 16, 2012 Voted YEA on Disapproval of President’s Authority to Raise the Debt Limit: Vote on a motion to proceed to consideration of a joint resolution that disapproves of the President’s exercise of authority to increase the debt limit for the United States.

Nov. 1, 2011 Voted YEA on Encourages Display of “In God We Trust” in Public Buildings and Schools: Vote to pass a concurrent resolution that reaffirms the phrase “In God We Trust” as the official motto of the United States of America, and encourages public display of the motto in all public buildings, public schools, and other government institutions.

NOTE: THIS IS A NON-BINDING CONCURRENT RESOLUTION. IT IS NOT SIGNED BY THE PRESIDENT AND THEREFORE DOES NOT HOLD THE WEIGHT OF LAW.

Dec. 22, 2010 Voted NAY on 9/11 Health and Compensation Act: Vote to concur with Senate amendments and pass a bill that establishes the World Trade Center Health Program for responders to and survivors of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and extends coverage under the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.

Dec. 8, 2010 Voted NAY on DREAM Act:

-Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to cancel the removal of an undocumented immigrant and grant him or her conditional nonimmigrant status for a period of 5 years if the following provisions are met (Secs. 6 & 7):

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2012electioncandidates:

Ron Paul - U.S. House of Representatives, Texas District #14 - Republican

Pro-Life:

• Federal ban on abortions
• Voted to defund Planned Parenthood
• Qualified yes on Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Budget:

• Does not support government bailout of private enterprises, these bailouts have ruined our budget
• Believes that we cannot continue to financially support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Supports a Balanced Budget Amendment and on-budget accounting
• Government spending should be based on the Constitution

Marijuana

• Believes that the decision for legalization should lie in the hands of individual states

2012electioncandidates:

Mitt Romney - Former Governor of Massachusetts - Republican

Pro-Life:

• Initially supported a women’s right to choose, but now opposes abortions
• Does not support a federal ban on abortions, instead favors state level legislation
• Favors Adoption
• Favors repeal of Roe vs. Wade
• Supports Parental Consent
• Wants to federally defund Planned Parenthood
• Not in favor of Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Economy:

5 Bills For Day One
• The American Competitiveness Act
Reduces the corporate income tax rate to 25%
• The Open Markets Act
Implements Free Trade Agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea
• The Domestic Energy Act
Directs the Department of the Interior to undertake a comprehensive energy review
• The Retraining Reform Act
Consolidates federal retraining programs and return these programs to the states
• The Down Payment on Fiscal Sanity Act
Immediately cuts non-security discretionary spending by 5 percent ($20 billion)

5 Executive Orders For Day One
An Order to Pave the Way to End Obamacare
• Secretary of Health and Human Services to return the maximum possible authority to the states
An Order to Cut Red Tape
• All agencies to initiate the elimination of Obama-era regulations that burden the economy or job creation
An Order to Boost Domestic Energy Production
• Department of the Interior to implement a process for rapid issuance of drilling permits to
An Order to Sanction China for Unfair Trade Practices
• Department of the Treasury to list China as a currency manipulator and the Department of Commerce to assess countervailing duties on Chinese imports
An Order to Empower American Businesses and Workers
• Reverses the executive orders issued by President Obama that tilt the playing field in favor of organized labor

2012electioncandidates:

Nathan Ballentine - SC House of Representatives District #71 - Republican (Incumbent)

First elected: 11/02/2004

Last elected: 11/02/2010

Goals (per his website):

Improving education to ensure that every child in South Carolina has the opportunity for a bright and prosperous future. Lowering taxes by reducing government spending; restructuring and consolidating to put money back into the pockets of hard-working taxpaying families. Taking common-sense approach to government by focusing on people, not politics. Pushing for more accountability and transparency in state government – at all levels. Hoping to restore confidence and trust in elected officials.

Voting history

May 25, 2011 - Voted NAY on Establishing a School Voucher Program

April 26, 2011 - Voted YEA on Voter ID: Requires voters to present one of the following forms of photo identification prior to voting

-Valid and current South Carolina driver’s license;
-Valid and current passport;
-Valid and current military identification card containing a photograph issued by the Federal government;
-Valid and current South Carolina voter registration card containing a photograph of the voter; or
-Any valid and current form of photo identification issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

-Authorizes a voter to cast a provisional ballot if the voter is unable to produce the required identification (Sec. 2).

-Repeals the $5 fee for special identification cards for individuals aged 17 years and older (Sec. 3)

March 29, 2011 Voted YEA on Freedom of Conscience Act: Vote to pass a bill that prohibits employers from disciplining or discriminating against employees who refuse to participate in procedures relating to embryonic tissue or a developing child in an artificial or natural womb, and limits the coverage of abortions in insurance plans.

Feb. 26, 2009 Voted YEA on 24-hour Waiting Period for Abortions: Vote to pass a bill that increases the waiting period to obtain an abortion from 1 hour to 24 hours after an ultrasound has been performed.

2012electioncandidates:

Newt Leroy Gingrich - Former Speaker of the House - Republican

- Pro-Life

• Federal ban on abortions
• Supports: Parental notification
• Supports the defunding of Planned Parenthood
• Against Embryonic Stem Cell Research

- The Gingrich Jobs and Growth Plan

• Stop the 2013 tax increases
• Eliminating the capital gains tax and the death penalty tax
• Move toward an optional flat tax of 15% that would allow Americans the freedom to choose to file their taxes on a postcard, saving hundreds of billions in unnecessary costs each year
• Implement an American energy policy that removes obstacles to responsible energy development and creates jobs in the United States.
• Repeal and replace Obamacare with a pro-jobs, pro-responsibility health plan that puts doctors and patients in charge of health decisions instead of bureaucrats.
• Strengthen the dollar by returning to the Reagan-era monetary policies that stopped runaway inflation and reforming the Federal Reserve to promote transparency.

-Environment/Energy:

• Remove bureaucratic and legal obstacles to responsible oil and natural gas development in the United States, offshore and on land.
• End the ban on oil shale development in the American West, where we have three times the amount of oil as Saudi Arabia.
• Give coastal states federal royalty revenue sharing to give them an incentive to allow offshore development.
• Reduce frivolous lawsuits that hold up energy production by enacting loser pays laws to force the losers in an environmental lawsuit to pay all legal costs for the other side.
• Finance cleaner energy research and projects with new oil and gas royalties.
• Replace the Environmental Protection Agency, which has become a job-killing regulatory engine of higher energy prices, with an Environmental Solutions Agency that would use incentives and work cooperatively with local government and industry to achieve better environmental outcomes while considering the impact of federal environmental policies on job creation and the cost of energy.

LBGTQ/Same-Sex Issues:

• opposes domestic partnership benefits for same-sex couples
• supports a Constitutional amendment that protects the traditional family
• believes that same sex couples should have some sort of legal rights so that they can leave their estates to their partners or visit them in the hospital
• believes that homosexuality is a sin
• against adoption by same-sex couples
• supports gay and lesbian teachers

- Education:

• The continued growth of American jobs and American prosperity in a knowledge-based, internet-connected, globally-competitive world will be determined by quality of America’s schools. If America is going to remain competitive with China and India in the 21st century, then we must commit to improving education, especially in math and science, and moving from a bureaucrat-dominated status quo to an innovative system that emphasizes accountability, transparency, and parental choice.

2012electioncandidates:

Richard John “Rick” Santorum - Former U.S. Senator - Republican

Pro-Life:

• Supports federal ban on abortions
• In favor of parental notification
• supports the removal of federal funding for Planned Parenthood
• Against Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Made In America: Empowering American Families, Building Economic Freedom:

• Cut and simplify personal income taxes by cutting the number of tax rates to just two - 10% and 28% returning to the Reagan era pro-growth top tax rate
• Simplify the tax code and reduce middle income taxes by eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
• Simplify the tax code, encourage savings and investment and reduce taxes by eliminating the Death Tax
• Lower the Capital Gains and Dividend tax rates to 12% to spur economic growth and investment
• Reduce taxes for families by tripling the personal deduction for each child
• Reduce and simplify taxes for families by eliminating marriage tax penalties throughout the federal tax code
• Retain deductions for charitable giving, home mortgage interest, healthcare, retirement savings, and children
• Eliminate the cap on deductions for losses incurred in the sale of a principle residence
• Cut the corporate income tax rate in half to make our businesses competitive around the world, from 35% to 17.5%
• Eliminate the corporate income tax for manufacturers – from 35% to 0% - which will spur middle income job creation in the United States and will create a job multiplier effect for workers

Energy/Environment:

Core principles

• Create energy security and independence for the U.S. to strengthen our national security and decrease reliance on unreliable and adversarial nations.
• Develop an energy policy that is consistent, uniform, and predictable for long-term economic growth.
• Rely on market forces and private sector research and development capabilities to provide Americans with clean, affordable energy through competition.
• Remove harsh regulatory restrictions on oil and gas research and exploration.
• Expand domestic innovations and energy resources. This includes oil, natural gas, hydro, biomass, wind, solar, clean coal, and nuclear energy.
• Encourage economic growth creating U.S. jobs and bringing us back on the road to growth and opportunity.
• Reduce energy costs for family budgets and business expenses.

LBGTQ/Same Sex Issues:

• Believes marriage is a union between a man and a woman
• supports DADT
• supports a federal ban on gay marriage

Healthcare:

• Every American should have access to high-quality, affordable health care, with health care decisions made by patients and their physicians, not the government

• America needs targeted, market-driven, patient-centered solutions to address the costs and underlying causes of being uninsured rather than a “one-size fits-all”, government-run health care system