The 2012 Beacon Election Packet

The Beacon: Special Edition

November 6 is the big day, but do you know what you want and who you’re voting for?

The Beacon Election Packet is here to help!

2012 Presidential Candidates

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Barack Obama Democratic Party

Mitt Romney Republican Party Photo courtesy of George Skidmore/Creative Commons

Photo courtesy of Official White House Portrait

Gary Johnson Libertarian Party Photo courtesy of garyjohnson2012.com

Jill Stein Pacific Green Party Photo courtesy of gp.org

Will Christensen

Rocky Anderson

Constitution Party

Progressive Party

Photo courtesy of cg2012.org

Photo courtesy of justicepartyusa.org

DECISIO

Romney’s views:

ELECTION P

Education

Parents are responsible for the education of their children Higher expectations for all students, more assessments State/local control of schools Merit pay for good teachers Maintain teaching of traditional ethical and behavioral norms, end forces trying to remake education in order to remake America o To combat rising student loans, new institutions such as expanded community colleges must compete with traditional four-year colleges o Federal government should not originate student loans, but private sector student financing should be welcomed. o o o o o

Every vote counts. That’s why it is important to be in and where the candidates stand. With the help of th find the information that matters to you, so when No

All information about candidates was compiled by

Sources: mittromney.com, barackobama.c

Healthcare

Repeal and replace Obamacare Put healthcare in the power of states Allow a competitive, free market in healthcare system Block Medicaid payments to states and limit federal requirements on insurance and Medicaid o Ban funding or subsidies for abortion and healthcare plans that provide abortion coverage o Individual consumers choose whether or not to be insured o o o o

Housing

o Rewrite regulations and rules that govern foreclosure, bankruptcy o Reform current government institutions to prevent future housing failures o Create growing economy to making owning a home easier

Employment

o Decrease power of labor unions o Workers choose whether or not to join a union o Create a level playing field for all businesses, reverse tilt that favors organized labor o Encourage private sector involvement in worker training programs o Attract outside workers/innovators to come to America o Cut corporate taxes

Taxes

Photo Courtesy of Mitt Romney’s Facebook

First Presidential Debate Twitter Stats:

o Lower corporate tax rate, embrace trickle down economics if a big business o Lower taxes on most people, including the wealthiest

Foreign Policy

o “Peace through strength” – the military should continue to grow o U.S. left Iraq in bad condition. U.S. should consider offering to return o The leader of Syria is a dictator, and the U.S. should peacefully pressure him to resign o Work with Afghanis to eliminate corruption in their government, then discuss withdrawl o Iran cannot be allowed to create nuclear weapons. Military interventions may be the only way, sanctions have mostly failed

Women’s Issues

o Has not said much about women’s issues in general o Repeal Obamacare, and thereby repeal subsidies and guarantees of preventative coverage that aid women o Let insurance companies respond to free market rather than requiring insurance to cover contraception o Eliminate federal funding of Planned Parenthood o Does not support abortion, but allows for certain exceptions (rape, incest, threat to life of the mother) o Pro-business and pro-jobs for all Americans, not specifically women o Does not endorse expanded Violence Against Women Act

Gay Marriage

o Does not support gay marriage

17,000 tweets per minute with words “Big Bird” and “PBS”

2 million tweets in the first 2 minutes

10.3 million tweets over the course of the 90 minute debate

This information was compiled from Bluefin Labs & USA Today.

VOTE UP EVENTS Thurs. Oct. 11

Vice Presidential Debate Watching Party from 6 - 7

Tues. Oct. 16

Presidential Debate Watching Pary from 6 - 7:30

Mon. Oct. 22

Presidential Debate Watching Party from 6 - 7:30

Tues. Oct. 23

Women’s Issues Panel from 7 - 8:30 p.m. in St.

Tues. Oct. 30

International Issues/Foreign Policy Panel from 7 - 8:30 p

Tues. Nov. 6

Election Watching Party at 5 p.m. in Th

Tues. Nov. 13

Post-Election Implications Panel from 7 to 8:30 p.m

ON 2012

Obama’s views:

PACKET

Education

o Every child should have the opportunity of a good education o Overhaul “No Child Left Behind” program o Provide teachers with more professional support and hold them accountable o Promote innovation and incentives to improve education o Expand opportunities for higher education o DREAM Act – young immigrants who grew up in America have opportunity to go to school without being deported o Restructure and reform college financial aid, end government subsidies to big banks to make college more affordable

nformed and figure out what issues you care about his election packet and additional research, you can ovember 6 rolls around, you’ll know who to vote for.

y reporters Harry Blakeman and Amanda Munro

Healthcare

com, nytimes.com, gop.com, democrats.org

o Affordable Care Act (sometimes referred to as Obamacare) o End insurance abuse and the ability of insurance companies to cap benefits or rescind coverage o Increase access and affordability of healthcare by implementing tax cuts for small businesses to offset employee coverage costs and tax credits to help families pay for insurance o Medicare/Medicaid beneficiaries and uninsured save $4,000, receive annual wellness visits, and get discounts on drugs o Eliminate all discrimination based on pre-existing conditions

Housing

o Streamline regulations to make getting a mortgage easier o Affordable housing is central to making the economy grow o Focus on infrastructure improvment will help the housing market grow

Employment

Photo Courtesy of Barack Obama’s Facebook

Election Tweeters to Follow: Non-Partisian

Romney Campaign

Obama Campaign

@USAToday @tw_top_politics @MarkLeibovich

@MittRomney @AnnDRomney @TeamRomney

@BarackObama @MichelleObama @Obama2012

7:30 p.m. in The Cove

0 p.m. in The Cove

0 p.m. in The Cove

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p.m. in St. Mary’s Lounge

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m. in St. Mary’s Lounge

How to cut through the crap Tired of endless rhetoric and ridiculous political ads? Check out these websites to help you figure out what’s true and what’s not: politifact.com factcheck.org

o Help all Americans confront the challenges of the recession o End tax loopholes that let corporations hide profits overseas and invest those dollars in small businesses o Provide tax cuts to small businesses to create jobs o Invest in a clean-energy economy provide tax credits to manufacture green energy products in America o Put Americans to work with building projects in every state, rebuilding infrastructure o Support middle-class families and small business owners

Taxes

o Bush tax cuts for the wealthy should be removed o Millionaires and billionaires should pay a higher tax rate

Foreign Policy

o The military should recognize its new role, technology allows it to be smaller without being weaker o Leaving Iraq was done well, leaving Afghanistan is a priority o U.S. needs to restore its image around the world by rebuilding strategic alliances o Sanctions and further negotiations could work with Iran, but military option is not off the table o Syria’s leader is a dictator. U.S. may need to intervene

Women’s Issues

o Insurers must cover preventative services (mammograms, prenatal care, cancer screenings), well-woman visits, domestic-violence screenings, and breast-feeding supplies with no co-pays o Insurance plans must cover contraception, but religious institutions are exempt from paying for it o Supports a woman’s right to choose abortion and opposes regulations against it o Signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which allows women more time to file wage-discrimination lawsuits, supports Paycheck Fairness Act which makes it less difficult for women to prove wage-discrimination o Supports the Violence Against Women Act, which helps protect women in domestic violence situations and has been expanded to cover immigrants, Native Americans, and gay couples

Gay Marriage

o Supports gay marriage

ELECTION PACKET

Portland mayoral race engulfed in controversy; voters face difficult choice

Charlie Hales

Photo courtesy of charliehales.com

Jobs

- Says to keep the economy strong Portland must keep the quality of living high - “One of the big economic assets of Portland – why people want to locate a business or professional firm here – is just the quality of life at a street level.”

- Proposes a system he calls Community Credit Portland where part of the money the city puts in the bank every year from taxes and fees must be used for local start-ups and small businesses

Measure 80: Legalizing Marijuana - Supports Measure 80 but thinks the bill is flawed.

- “Once we decided to have widely available medical marijuana, it stopped being a controlled substance as a practical matter.” Hales said.

UP Master Plan - Was the city commission in charge of planning last time UP submitted its Master Plan - “I am very supportive of it and I want to help make it happen” Hales said.

Why Hales thinks he is the best candidate for UP students - Emphasizes making Portland a great city for entrepreneurs and for collaboration between education and the economy - “I didn’t want to trade quality of life for career, and I don’t think the current generation of students want to do that either. I spent thirty years being a student of and shaper of great urban places.” Hales said.

Kelsey Thomas Reporter thomask15@up.edu

Jefferson Smith and Charlie Hales have something in common besides the opportunity to lead Portland for the next four years: their controversial and sordid pasts.

Since they began their campaigns for mayor, numerous reports have emerged degrading the character of the candidates.

Smith has been charged with seven speeding tickets and had seven license suspensions. He has also been accused of aggression in several circumstances. Smith punched an opponent during an organized basketball game last November. Smith also punched a young woman while in college.

Smith was initially charged with misdemeanor assault, but the charge was dropped as part of an agreement that required Smith to do community service. Smith says the incident was an accident and that he was acting in self-defense.

Hales has been accused of deceitful behavior several times.

Hales was criticized for moving to Washington State to avoid Oregon taxes from 2004 – 2009 while still continuing to vote in Oregon, where he maintained a separate residence.

He also was caught covertly recording the Oregon League of Conservative Voter’s endorsement interviews.

There also was a controversy over a letter to the editor of the St. John’s Review. That letter, signed

by Hales, plagiarized two passages from an Oregonian article and implied that Hales was on a neighborhood tour that he did not actually attend. Hales attributed it too a misunderstanding by campaign staff.

Portland voters must decide between two men with fairly similar political viewpoints, but different leadership styles and weaknesses.

Oregonian columnist and UP adjunct professor Steve Duin says voters are faced with two seriously flawed candidates.

“Can you live with this

history of irresponsibility that Jefferson has and that he’s argued he has put behind him or can you live with Charlie’s seeming willingness to misrepresent the truth?” Duin said.

It is not yet clear what role the candidates’ past behavior will play in the election.

Political Science professor Gary Malecha says that although personality and morals do matter in an election, it is difficult to get the whole picture.

“Character is important but it’s hard to make an informed judgment,” Malecha said. “We don’t have all the info and we haven’t seen them in office.”

Whether or not the controversy affects voter turnout will be evident after the election in November. In the meantime, it only adds to the growing pessimism surrounding politics nationally.

“The issue you’re obviously dealing with is that no one is happy about any election,” Duin said. “Given the opportunity, I’m not sure that Sam Adams wouldn’t get re-elected.”

Jefferson Smith

Photo courtesy of Jefferson Smith’s Faceboook

Jobs

- Says government should think not just about how to attract out of state businesses but how to grow local businesses - Supports helping start-ups through incubator businesses, market research and capital access - “We need an economicdevelopment plan that fits our city, fits our values, and fits our strengths.”

Measure 80: Legalizing Marijuana - Supports Measure 80 but thinks the bill is flawed.

- If marijuana is legalized, “They will figure out how to make weed much more attractive and we have got to come to grips with that.” Smith said.

UP Master Plan Could not be contacted

Why Smith thinks he is the best candidate for UP students - Says he wants to use his power to engage more people in the conversation and have more citizen rule - Passed registration to allow people to register online or when they are 17 if they will be 18 by next election - Is a strong believer in transparency and wants to run a government that is easy for the public to access - “I focus on the future rather than the past.” Smith said.

Portland Ballot Measures to watch For: Measure #80: Allows personal marijuana, hemp cultivation/use without license; commission to regulate commerical marijuana cultivation/sale Measure #82: Amends Constitution: Authorizes establishment of privatelyowned casinos; Mandates percentage of revenues payable to dedicated state fund Measure #85: Amends Constitution: Allocates corporate income/excise tax “kicker” refund to additionally fund K through 12 public education.

Jackie Jeffers | THE BEACON