EDUCATION
Buchanan
• Eliminate the U.S. Department of Education by giving control of schools to local communities and parents
• Give the federal government a role in science and scholarships
• Block grants to states with all federal education funds
• Opposes national testing standards
• Supports school vouchers
Bush
• Increase education funding by $47 billion
• Make qualified state and independent prepaid tuition plans tax exempt
• Increase the Pell grant from $3,300 to $5,000
• Reward schools that increase student performance; withdraw federal funding from schools where achievement declines
• Supports school vouchers up to $1,500
• Allocate $2.4 billion for states to set up teacher-accountability systems
Gore
• Increase education funding by $115 billion
• Make as much as $10,000 of college tuition tax deductible
• Attract people to teaching in high-need schools through a National Teacher Corps
• Favors high school exit tests
• Require all new teachers to pass a rigorous test of teaching skills and knowledge
• Reward schools that meet accountability standards; close and reopen under new leadership schools that don’t meet the standards
• Opposes school vouchers
Nader
• Kick commercialism out of classrooms and focus on civic and consumer education, democratic principles and citizenship
• Opposes school vouchers
CRIME
Buchanan
• Pledges to uphold the Second Amendment
• Convicted felons should forfeit their right to own guns
• Supports the death penalty
Bush
• Ban semi-automatic assault weapons for juveniles
• Prosecute children who bring guns to school
• Launch a partnership for child-safety locks
• Expand the “instant check” background-check system for pawnshops and gun shows
• Raise the handgun possession age from 18 to 21
• Opposes hate crime legislation
• Impose mandatory jail time for juveniles illegally carrying guns
• Prosecute as adults teens who commit violent crimes
• Increase “character” education in schools
• Pledges strong civil rights enforcement
• Supports the death penalty and the use of DNA testing
Gore
• Ban “junk guns” and assault weapons
• Raise minimum age for gun ownership from 18 to 21
• Require child-safety locks
• Require gun manufacturers and federally licensed sellers to report gun sales to state authorities
• Require a license, background check and safety test to buy a handgun
• Impose a three-day waiting period for handgun purchases
• Limit handgun purchases to one per month
• Hire 50,000 more police officers and 10,000 more prosecutors
• Enact tougher penalties against people who commit violent crimes in front of children, or sell drugs near schools or to children
• Pass the Hate Crimes Prevention Act
• Outlaw racial profiling
• Supports the death penalty and the use of DNA testing
Nader
• Supports gun licensing and banning of some guns
• Advocates trigger locks and stronger law enforcement
• Opposes use of racial profiling in law enforcement and says it’s based on “raw prejudice”
• Opposes the death penalty
SOCIAL SECURITY
Buchanan
• No position
Bush
• Supports the partial privatization of Social Security by allowing employers to invest 2 percent of their income in the stock market
• Opposes an increase in Social Security payroll taxes
• Opposes a change in existing benefits
Gore
• Use the budget surplus to pay down debt; use the resulting interest accrued to shore up Social Security
• Wants Retirement Savings Plus accounts, which involve voluntary contributions with matching federal funds (These would add to but not change the structure of Social Security)
• Opposes raising retirement age
• Guarantee benefits and raise benefits for widows
Nader
• Opposes any attempt to “save” Social Security
• Only minor corrections need to be addressed
• Protect Social Security from privatization
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Buchanan
• Opposes the Kyoto Protocol
• Doesn’t believe consequences of global warming will be as dire as predicted
• Public lands currently administered by federal agencies should be given to the states
Bush
• Opposes the Kyoto Protocol
• Open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration
• Repeal the moratorium on offshore drilling
• Opposes President Clinton’s initiative to ban new road building and logging in national forests
• Increase the amount of timber harvested in national forests
• Give local communities control of environmental decisions
Gore
• Don’t open up environmentally sensitive areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration
• Believes there’s a link between greenhouse gases and climatic change
• Played a major role in the engineering of the Kyoto Protocol
• Develop alternative forms of energy
• Supports the current ban on building new roads in 43 million acres of national forests
Nader
• Aggressively cut greenhouse gas emissions
• Favors energy efficiency, conservation and alternative forms of energy
• Eliminate all commercial logging in national forests
ABORTION
Buchanan
• Ban abortion
• Push for a Human Life Amendment to protect “all unborn children”
Bush
• Ban abortion except in cases of rape, incest or when the mother’s life is at stake
• Opposes Medicaid-funded abortions except to save a woman’s life
• Opposes RU-486
• Notify and get consent from a minor’s parents before proceeding with an abortion
• Ban partial-birth abortions
Gore
• Supports abortion rights
• Expand Medicaid funding for abortions
• Supports RU-486
• Opposes restrictions on partial-birth abortions
Nader
• The government should not have a role in determining whether a woman receives an abortion
MINIMUM WAGE
Buchanan
• Increase the minimum wage
Bush:
• Increase minimum wage of $5.15 by $1, but only if states are allowed to opt out of a national requirement
Gore
• Increase minimum wage by $1 over the next two years
Nader
• Increase minimum wage to $10 per hour by 2003
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Buchanan
• Opposes quotas and affirmative action
• Supports passage of a civil rights bill that would ensure “equal justice for all and special privilege for none.”
Bush
• Opposes quotas and racial preferences
• Supports “affirmative access” programs such as the Texas 10 percent plan, in which the top 10 percent of every high school class is automatically admitted to any state college or university
• Advocates need-based (not race-based) contracting
Gore
• Supports affirmative action as it stands
Nader
• Supports affirmative action for women and people of color
• Believes affirmative action should not be based on quotas
—SOURCES: YVote2000, Voter.com and CBS News’ Web site
