Comparing Policy, Clinton & Obama

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Excerpts from the JJ Dinner speeches in Virginia, the portions that pertained to policy. Please explain where Hillary is stronger on policy because I find more policy points from Barack.


It’s about teachers determined to see their students succeed in this new century and young people, hungry for opportunities their parents never dreamed of. It’s about the businesses and unions training people for green collar jobs, the high wage, high-skilled, high-energy jobs of the future. It’s about the scientists and researchers who want to do stem cell research and find treatments and cures for devastating diseases. It’s about our contractors and construction workers who want to rebuild America from the bridges in Minnesota to the levees in New Orleans. It’s about the men and women who wear the uniform of our country who deserve a Commander in Chief who knows they are magnificent but that force should be used as a last resort and not a first resort.

I will start bringing them home within 60 days of becoming president of our country. Senator McCain has admitted he doesn’t understand the economy. I have a strategy to end the housing crisis, create 5 million new clean energy jobs and rebuild a strong and prosperous middle class again.

And one thing we know for sure is that Senator McCain won’t deliver universal health care. In fact I am the only candidate left in this race - Democrat or Republican - with a health care plan to cover every single man, woman and child. Because you see I believe health care is a fundamental human right and a moral obligation of the United States of America finally to achieve for our people.

I see an America where we stand up to the oil companies and the oil-producing countries, where we do launch a clean energy revolution and finally confront our climate crisis.

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/speech/view/?id=5939

know what it takes to pass health care reform because I've done it -- not by demonizing anyone who disagrees with me, but by bringing Democrats and Republicans together to provide health insurance to 150,000 children and parents in Illinois.

And when I am President, we'll pass universal health care not in twenty years, not in ten years, but by the end of my first term in office.

My plan would bring down premiums for the typical family by $2500 a year. We'd ban insurance companies from denying you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. We'd allow every American to get the same kind of health care that members of Congress get for themselves. And the one difference between my plan and Senator Clinton's plan is that she said she'd ‘go after' your wages if you don't buy health care. Well I believe the reason people don't have health care isn't because no one's forced them to buy it, it's because no one's made it affordable - and that's why we bring down the cost of health care more than any other plan in this race.

It's also time to bring the cost of living down for working families who are struggling in this economy like never before. They're facing rising costs and falling wages, and we owe it to them to end the Bush-McCain tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% and put a tax cut into the pockets of the families who need it.

That's what I did in Illinois when I brought Democrats and Republicans together to provide $100 million in tax relief to working families and the working poor, and that's the kind of tax relief I'll provide as President.

I will end the tax breaks for companies who ship our jobs overseas and give a middle-class tax break to 95% of working Americans. And homeowners who are struggling. And seniors who deserve to retire with dignity and respect. And I won't wait another ten years to raise the minimum wage in this country - I will raise it to keep pace with inflation every single year.

When I am President, we will give our children the best possible start by investing in early childhood education. We'll stop talking about how great our teachers are, and start rewarding them for their greatness, with better pay and more support. And we will provide every American with a $4,000 a year tax credit that will finally help make a college education affordable and available for all.

When I called for higher fuel efficiency standards, I didn't do it in front of an environmental group in California - I did it in front of the automakers in Detroit. That's why I will set the goal of an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, and we will meet it - with higher fuel standards and new investments in renewable fuels that will create millions of new jobs and entire new industries right here in America.

Finally, it is time to turn the page on eight years of a foreign policy that has made us less safe and less respected in the world. If I am the nominee of this party, John McCain will not be able to say that I agreed with him on voting for the war in Iraq; agreed with him on giving George Bush the benefit of the doubt on Iran; and agree with him in embracing the Bush-Cheney policy of not talking to leaders we don't like. Because that doesn't make us look strong, it makes us look arrogant. John F. Kennedy said that you should never negotiate out of fear, but you should never fear to negotiate. And that's what I will do as President. I don't just want to end this war in Iraq, I want to end the mindset that got us into war. It is time to turn the page.

http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/09/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_47.php