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Monday, March 23, 2009
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
VOTE MITT
Abortion:
Romney says Roe v. Wade should be overturned. He believes decisions on abortion are best left to the states and that "a single federal rule" is wrong. In the past, he broadly supported abortion rights and Roe v. Wade. He has since changed his position regarding the role of government in such matters.
Energy/Environment:
Romney proposes using a combination of conservation and efficiency measures to make the U.S. energy independent. He supports greater public investment in the development of alternative sources of energy like bio-diesel, ethanol, nuclear and coal gasification. He supports drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and on the Outer Continental Shelf. Romney says better measures than CAFE standards are available to raise fuel efficiency. He opposes carbon taxes.
Immigration:
Romney opposed the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill of 2006, saying it would have opened a door to a vast number of immigrants and allow "amnesty" for illegals. He believes amnesty hasn't worked in the past and that it won't work now. Romney says the U.S. must become more attractive for legal immigrants, and champions greater use of H1B visas to bring in skilled workers. He promotes harsher penalties for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants and wants to create an employment verification system that uses high-tech identification cards. He supports building a fence on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Iraq:
Romney has criticized the Bush administration for committing errors in Iraq, but supports the current troop surge strategy. He opposes an early withdrawal from Iraq, and has described Democratic attempts to set a deadline for withdrawal as "setting a date for surrender." He believes a quick withdrawal from Iraq, before the country has been stabilized, could trigger a larger regional conflict.
Taxes:
Romney believes the Bush tax cuts should be made permanent, and that even more tax cuts should be offered. He believes that keeping taxes low and simplifying the code will grow the economy. He also says he will fight to abolish the estate tax. Romney backs a savings incentive plan that would allow Americans to earn interest, dividends, and capital gains tax-free. He would also lower the corporate tax rate. Romney signed the 2008 presidential candidate "Taxpayer Protection Pledge," even though he has been critical of similar no-tax pledges in the past.
Economy:
Romney proposes simplifying regulations and bureaucratic processes for businesses in addition to tort reform, saying that both issues keep businesses from seeking out and retaining employees. He wants to trim local pork barrel spending in favor of national infrastructure projects that would benefit the national economy and to re-evaluate federal spending programs and entitlement spending to eliminate inefficiencies. He wants to curb federal spending by establishing a spending limit and by instituting the line-item veto to cut out unnecessary expenditures. Romney says to avoid a pending budget crisis, the federal government must trim down entitlement spending. He has expressed concern that American workers of this generation and future ones will be able to compete with economies in Asia.
Homeland Security:
Romney wants to clarify and streamline relationships with domestic security-related operations to enable clearer communication and more decisive action. He also wants to integrate national security structures. He wants to increase the size of the U.S. army by 100,000 troops. Romney wants to shift the focus of homeland security from response to prevention. He says effective prevention means that stronger international alliances and integration of federal actions with global and local efforts.
Education:
Romney is in favor of charter schools and school choice programs. He wants to put more of an emphasis on math and science education. He is proposing a federal home schooling tax credit to help reduce education-related expenses of parents who home school. He supports Bush's NCLB (No Child Left Behind) and wants to offer schools with good testing track records more leeway in evaluating student performance. Romney wants to focus more on individual student progress over school progress. Romney supports performance-based pay for teachers, which he believes will create incentive for good teachers moving to areas of need.
Health Care:
Romney wants to make all health care expenses tax deductible and divert some funds from emergency rooms treating uninsured patients to programs that would help needy uninsured patients to buy private insurance. He also favors malpractice tort reform. Romney supports giving states leeway as to how they spend their Medicaid funds.
Gordon B Hinckley
SALT LAKE CITY — The president of the Mormon church was remembered Saturday as a "giant among men" who cared deeply for others and devoted his life to the work of his faith.
Thousands of people, including some who waited overnight, packed the conference center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, capping a week of mourning for Gordon B. Hinckley. He died Sunday at age 97 after leading the worldwide church for nearly 13 years.
Thomas S. Monson, next in line to succeed Hinckley, spoke twice during the service, and described his friend as a "prophet to the people."
God sometimes places a "giant among men," Monson said. "President Hinckley was such a giant.
"He was our prophet, seer and revelator. He was an island of calm in a sea of storm. He was a lighthouse to the lost mariner. ... He comforted and calmed us when conditions in the world were frightening," Monson said.
During Hinckley's presidency, which began in 1995, the church experienced unprecedented worldwide growth, expanding to 13 million members in 160 countries. He established an education fund to help returned missionaries, grew the church's humanitarian work and built dozens of temples around the world.
RelatedStories
Mormon Faithful Honor Church President Hinckley to Begin Three Days of Mourning Mormon Church President Gordon B. Hinckley Dead at 97 "Disciplined and courageous, with an unbelievable capacity for work, he believed in growth," daughter Virginia H. Pearce said.
Next week, the church will dedicated its 125th temple, in Rexburg, Idaho, one of more than 75 built under Hinckley's direction.
"President Hinckley was about miracles," a senior bishop, H. David Burton, said as he spoke about temples and other milestones.
The world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang "My Redeemer Lives" to open the funeral in the 21,000-seat downtown conference center, one of four hymns during the 90-minute service.
Overflow seating was available in the Salt Lake Tabernacle and at least two other buildings. The service could be heard through speakers outdoors on Temple Square.
Hours before the funeral began, lines stretched out of the square, where free tickets were being distributed, and onto the sidewalk. Some people spent the night in freezing weather to get a pass, and volunteers distributed hot chocolate.
"There's nowhere else on Earth I'd rather be at this moment, even if it's freezing," said Michelle Miller of Salt Lake City, who was waiting to get in.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a Mormon, took time off the campaign trail to attend the funeral. Politicians from Utah, Idaho, California, Arizona, Nevada and Oregon attended, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, also a Mormon.
Hinckley will be buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, alongside his wife. His successor is expected to be named next week.
On Friday, faithful Latter-day Saints came by the thousands — some standing in line for nearly three hours — to walk by Hinckley's open casket to pay their respects during two days of public mourning, which drew 57,443 people, according to the church.
Many in attendance called the occasion bittersweet, saying they were sad for themselves, but comforted in their belief that the church president had been reunited with his wife, Marjorie, who died in 2004.
A ceremony performed inside Mormon temples binds families together for time and all eternity, said Jana Riess, a Mormon convert and the Cincinnati-based co-editor of "Mormonism for Dummies."
"I don't want to be too cliche, but this idea that Mormons hold fast to their eternal families makes an enormous difference in how they feel about death," Riess said.
Mormons also differ from other Christians in their belief that heaven will not be a place of rest, but one where the work of the church and individuals will continue — something Hinckley often mentioned in his speeches to members.
"We have things to do. Mormonism is a religion of activity and of mission," Riess said. "Part of that mission will be taking place in the afterlife. We believe people will still have the opportunity to make spiritual choices."
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