Experts speak on the record.

THE ECONOMY SOCIAL POLICY HILARY CLINTON * Voted No to extend the * Voted Yes to the

Bush tax cuts expansion of the

* Voted No to offer tax State Children's

breaks and incentives Health Insurance

in what supporters Program, which

said was an effort provides coverage

to spur oil and gas for 9 million

companies to provide uninsured children

innovative ways to across the nation

reduce the nation's * Voted Yes on an

dependence on foreign amendment to

oil, conserve resources, increase funding

and reduce pollution for the Low Income

* Voted No to permanently Home Energy

cut the federal estate Assistance Program

tax by $3 trillion by

* Voted Yes to increase closing corporate

minimum wage from tax loopholes

$5.15 to $7.25 * Voted Yes to

* Voted Yes to provide restore federal

tax relief to middle- voting rights to

class families and ex-felons

small businesses, * Voted Yes to

property tax relief establish a

to homeowners, congressional

relief to those whose commission to

homes were damaged examine the

or destroyed by federal, state, and

Hurricanes Katrina local responses to

and Rita, and tax the devastation

relief to America's created by

troops and veterans Hurricane Katrina

and to create

corrective measures

for the future

* Voted Yes to ensure

that every eligible

voter is given the

opportunity to vote

and that those

votes are counted JOHN McCAIN * Voted No to the Bush * Voted No to the

tax cuts but later expansion of the

voted Yes to extend State Children's

them Health Insurance

* Voted No on a bill to Program, which

end special funding for provides coverage

minority- and women- for 9 million

owned businesses uninsured children

competing for federally across the nation

funded transportation * Voted No to increase

* Voted to disallow the funding for the Low

use of any funds in the Income Home Energy

Legislative Assistance Program

Appropriations bill by $3 trillion by

to award, require, or closing corporate

encourage any federal tax loopholes

contract on the basis * Voted No to restore

of the race, color, federal voting

national origin, or rights to ex-felons

gender of the contractor * Voted Yes to a

* Voted Yes to set aside welfare-to-work

10% of highway program that

construction funds for eliminated aid to

contracts bid on by families

businesses owned by with dependent

minorities and women children and

* Voted Yes to increase programs for job

the minimum wage from opportunities and

$5.15 to $7.25 basic skills

training, and

imposed a five-

year limit to

receive temporary

assistance for

needy families

* Voted Yes to the

Second Emergency

Supplemental

Appropriations

Act to meet the

immediate needs of

Hurricane Katrina

victims BARACK OBAMA * Voted No to extend the * Voted Yes to the

Bush tax cuts expansion of the

* Voted Yes to offer tax State Children's

breaks and incentives Health Insurance

in what supporters have Program, which

said was an effort provides coverage

to spur oil and gas for 9 million

companies to provide uninsured children

ways to reduce the across the nation

nation's dependence on * Voted Yes to amend

foreign oil, conserve the Higher Education

resources, and reduce Act of 1965 and

pollution authorize grant

* Voted No to cut the programs to enhance

federal estate tax low-income black

permanently students' access to

* Voted No to repeal the higher education

Alternative Minimum Tax * Voted Yes to fund

* Voted Yes to increase projects to prevent

minimum wage from teen pregnancies

$5.15 to $7.25 and incidences of

* Voted No to make it sexually transmitted

harder for people to diseases in racial,

erase debt by ethnic minority,

declaring bankruptcy or immigrant

communities

* Voted Yes to

eliminate practices

that mislead and

misinform voters

about voting and

establish penalties

for those attempting

to prevent a person

from voting

William Spriggs, Ph.D., Robert Smith Ph.D., a

chair of Howard political scientist

University's economics at San Francisco

department and a member State University

of the BE Board of

Economists

"The voting records on "Each of the three

these tax policy issues candidate's records

suggest where the candi- on social policy

dates stand on the Bush issues are well within

administration's economic the mainstream of

policies. Both Sen. Clin- their parties'

ton and Sen. Obama show their parties'

their opposition to the political ideology.

Bush policies that have I suspect that as

made the federal tax president, none of

structure more regressive, them would push many

shifting a larger burden programs that

for taxes on middle- specifically target

income wage earners. disparities between

President Bush's most blacks and whites.

recent budget clearly Interestingly,

shows that he intends to Obama's teen pregnancy

offset the federal deficit legislation struck me