What are Obama's and Romney's plans for the next four years?

President Obama and Mitt Romney have participated in three debates, held hundreds of campaign events and fundraisers and aired dozens of political ads, and through all of that, they have spoken thousands upon thousands of words over the course of the campaign. Sifting through attacks, platitudes and snappy slogans completely unrelated to their policy proposals turns up indications of what each has promised if elected on Nov. 6.

Below, we've pulled together, in their own words, their plans on six major issues facing the nation.

Jobs:

President Obama

In a new "blueprint" released by the Obama campaign Tuesday, which is a compilation of the president's policies he has either said on the campaign trail or during the debates, he promised continued investment in education by hiring "100,000 math and science teachers." He prioritized investment in energy (explained below) and manufacturing, an industry where he promises to create 1 million jobs by creating "a new network of 15 to 20 manufacturing innovation institutes...to ensure the next generation of products are invented and manufactured here."

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Obama mocks Romney for "sketchy" jobs plan, "binders full of women"

In addition, he promised "two million workers for good jobs that actually exist through partnerships between businesses and community colleges" and an increase in jobs by "taking on China's unfair trade practices through a new trade enforcement unit to level the playing field."

Finally, direct job creation would come from funds saved from ending the war in Afghanistan, which the Congressional Research Service estimated in 2011 would cost another $500 billion through 2021. He said he would put "Americans back to work rebuilding roads, bridges, runways and schools here in the United States." 

Romney

Instead of federal job training programs, Romney would give federal funds to states to "fashion the programs to meet the needs of their own workers." Another element of his job training plan, as mentioned during a campaign speech in Bedford Heights, Ohio, on Sept. 26, is to create "re-employment accounts, where a person has an account they can use to get the training they feel they need for the job of their future."

Romney has repeatedly said he would create 12 million jobs over the next four years. Up to 4 million would be in the energy sector, according to his plan detailed in an Abingdon, Va., speech on Oct. 5. "It's been calculated that if we're really serious about energy, really take advantage of the energy resources we have, that you're going to create some 3.5 to 4 million jobs."

• Fact-checking the first presidential debate

Romney offered a series of jobs-related executive orders he would implement "on day one" to spur job creation. One is to direct the Treasury Department to "list China as a currency manipulator." He also said in Wisconsin on March 31 that he would direct "all agencies to immediately initiate the elimination of Obama-era regulations...and then cap annual increase in regulations at zero dollars."

Taxes:

President Obama

Taxes have been at the center of the debate as Mr. Obama charges Romney with wanting to raise taxes on the middle class and Romney charging the president with being interested only in raising taxes.

The president's position on taxes has been consistent. "I have said that for incomes over $250,000 a year, that we should go back to the rates that we had when Bill Clinton was president," Mr. Obama said during the first presidential debate on Oct. 3 in Denver. Tax rates during the Clinton administration tapped out for high-income earners at 39.6 percent, which was lowered to 35 percent with the Bush-era tax cuts passed in 2001 and extended in 2011. The president reiterated in his "Blueprint for America" that he would extend the middle-class tax cuts.

As a job creation measure to boost the manufacturing sector, Mr. Obama said he would cut "tax rates on domestic manufacturers" and end "tax deductions for companies shipping jobs overseas."

Romney

Romney has advocated tax reform that includes lowering rates across the board by 20 percent. In an Oct. 9 interview on CNN, Romney said he would make up for lost revenue of lowering rates "with additional growth and with putting a limit on deductions and exemptions, particularly for people at the high end."

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Second presidential debate: Taxes

Until broad tax reform makes it way through Congress, Romney told Radio Iowa on July 10 that the current tax code should be extended "over a sufficiently long period for us to put in place a restructuring of our entire tax code." He was referring to an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts that are one component of the looming fiscal cliff economists warn about.

As for corporate taxes, the candidates' positions differ little. "Governor Romney and I both agree that our corporate tax rate is too high, so I want to lower it, particularly for manufacturing, taking it down to 25 percent," Mr. Obama said during the Oct. 3 debate in Denver. Romney did not object to that statement.

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[Taiyabali]

So much is being said about Jobs, Taxes,Spending/Deficit, Energy, Entitlements: Social Security and Medicare, Health Care. These are extremely important issues, no doubt about that, but I would like to believe that Americans also look beyond the USA when they choose the man to be their president for the next four years. For example, few will doubt that the world is a safer place now, with Obama as President than it was before he was elected. There is a sense of betterness, for the want of a better word, across the globe. I believe he has done a great job, considering the mess he inherited. He appears to have this ability to go about his job without too much flamboyancy. He has laid a good foundation for the next four years and I am sure he will deliver the goods. If he loses, which to me is most unlikely, Romney will definately gain from what Obama has sowed.
He is reaching out to the world in a manner which will definately hold the USA in good stead. He is the man of the hour. I would rate him in the same class as Ahramam Lincoln. I am hoping and praying he wins and contiues to make our world a better place. I am also convinced Obama will win. Good luck Obama!

[KelliALB]

Does anybody else find it suspect that he could not have released this prior to the debate? There is a reason behind this, beyond the obvious, leaving no ability for Romney to personally question him, he also clearly has the media in his pocket and they will promote this garbage as gospel. His plan for jobs is the same regurgitation that has failed us for the last 4 years. First he lies, not unusual, and states he has added 5 million new jobs, this is laughable and far from the actual 325,000, which if you take into account the tax-payer money used to create those jobs, they are running at a cost of over a $million each. We have consistently lost manufacturing jobs over the last 4 years, just do the research. He has promised to add jobs and create oil and coal production jobs, well even IF he does, which he has actually decimated these industries, but IF he does, we wont be able to use it, he has a mandate in place to use 80% of renewable energy for energy useage here, so that doesnt make sense. On taxing the wealthy, he fails to say just how much that will create. The numbers have been calculated, and the total is 80 billion a year, that falls drastically short of the trillion dollar deficit we are running now. This man has NOTHING to offer. He has created many more poor, that does not equate to caring for them, he has increased the debt by 5 trillion in less then 4 years, yet castgated Bush for increasing it by 4 trillion in 8 years, and has blamed Bush and the republicans this whole time. Nevermind that he had control of both houses for the first 2 years, and never passed a budget, and nevermind the TRUTH that the house has passed 299 bills in the last 2 years, yet the senate has stalled on all of them except 71. It not for lack of trying on the republicans end.He has lied over and over, about Libya, about Romney's ideals, about GM. He is dangerous with foreign policy, what did he mean when offering more flexibility to Russia? How could he suggest that Israel return to 67 borders? He has funded and placated our enemies and refuses to say the words, islamic terrorism. Barry Soetoro has got to go plain and simple. We can not afford it financially or security wise.

[sjc_1]

How can Mutt cut taxes, increasing the deficit $500 billion per year, increase military spending $230 billion per year and reduce the deficit? This is beginning to sound like Reagan, who tripled the national debt with such nonsense.

[William-Eggeman]

"hire 100,000 math and science teachers." Anyone actually stop to think about this comment? What 100k teachers will they replace? How will struggling schools meet budgets if no one is replaced? Why not take under performing teachers out of circulation (not fired) and have them retrained. Not hard to see what teachers are doing well and which aren't just look at the progress reports. Why only focus on Math and Science? What about English reading and writing are not important? Physical Education isn't important? Kids are not active or motivated so why would being a better math or science student create an America that can compete in the global market place or be more innovative? My thoughts would be start children one year earlier in school, better training for the teachers, stronger curriculum for the students and give incentives to teachers who excel. Let the parents and progress reports be a way to grade to teachers performance. Above all quit babying kids these kids. Too many are growing up as self entitled ******* thinking they deserve everything but won't work for anything.

You need a clear cut plan you can't just throw 100k teachers into a struggling area and think that will fix it. Much like throwing billions of dollars at undeserving companies thinking that would fix anything.

I do understand people have who they like for whatever reason but you need to look at the fine print not the catchy titles and stop taking things and blowing them out of context just because you heard some else do it. Form your own opinions. Seriously binders and bayonets? Get over it more important things that are getting worse are the economy, jobs, debt and THE FUTURE OF THIS ONE GREAT COUNTRY!!!!

[cubscout09]

280,000 teacher positions were lost in the great recession.
The American Jobs Act includes a 5% surtax on AGI above $1,000,000 to restore teaching positions as well as Police, Firefighters and other public safety positions we lost. Patriotic millionaires are all for it.

Creating 100,000 science and math teaching positions is exactly like Mitt Romney's proposal for Massachusetts Public Schools, only 100 times bigger.

[William-Eggeman]

"hire 100,000 math and science teachers." Anyone actually stop to think about this comment? What 100k teachers will they replace? How will struggling schools meet budgets if no one is replaced? Why not take under performing teachers out of circulation (not fired) and have them retrained. Not hard to see what teachers are doing well and which aren't just look at the progress reports. Why only focus on Math and Science? What about English reading and writing are not important? Physical Education isn't important? Kids are not active or motivated so why would being a better math or science student create an America that can compete in the global market place or be more innovative? My thoughts would be start children one year earlier in school, better training for the teachers, stronger curriculum for the students and give incentives to teachers who excel. Let the parents and progress reports be a way to grade to teachers performance. Above all quit babying kids these kids. Too many are growing up as self entitled ******* thinking they deserve everything but won't work for anything.

You need a clear cut plan you can't just throw 100k teachers into a struggling area and think that will fix it. Much like throwing billions of dollars at undeserving companies thinking that would fix anything.

I do understand people have who they like for whatever reason but you need to look at the fine print not the catchy titles and stop taking things and blowing them out of context just because you heard some else do it. Form your own opinions. Seriously binders and bayonets? Get over it more important things that are getting worse are the economy, jobs, debt and THE FUTURE OF THIS ONE GREAT COUNTRY!!!!

[pjsuther]

Past is Prologue. Check this out to see what a Romney presidency could look like:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governorship_of_Mitt_Romney

[infoworker]

What economists say about Romney's tax plan...

Catherine Rampell
Catherine Rampell, economics reporter at The New York Times, wrote of the Romney campaign's tax promises in a recent blog post: "Not all of those principles can coexist so long as basic arithmetic survives."

David Frum
David Frum, contributing editor at Newsweek and The Daily Beast, recently wrote: "Romney's tax cut plan doesn't work. I'm a Republican, I support Romney, etc. But you can't cut that much in such a stagnant economy and expect to break even. Even with a deductions cap, it just won't happen."

Ezra Klein
Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein wrote in August that "the Tax Policy Center's analysis has removed all doubt" that Romney's tax plan is mathematically impossible.

Mark Zandi
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, recently said on CNN that when it comes to Romney's tax plan, "the arithmetic doesn't work as it is right now."

Josh Barro
Bloomberg View columnist Josh Barro wrote in a recent column that the six studies that the Romney campaign uses to claim the candidate's tax plan is mathematically possible "individually and collectively...fail the task."

The Tax Policy Center
The Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank, recently concluded that Mitt Romney's tax plan is mathematically impossible without raising taxes on the middle class

Larry Summers
Harvard economist Larry Summers, a former top adviser to President Barack Obama, recently compared Mitt Romney's tax plan to a hamburger and ice cream diet. He said: "It's easy to say that 'My plan is to eat ice cream sundaes and chocolate cake and hamburgers as much as I want, my plan is to lose 60 pounds, and my plan is to avoid painful exercise, and those are all my objectives and I'm committed to every one of them.'"

Paul Krugman
The Nobel Prize-winning economist wrote in a New York Times blog post in August: "Romney's tax plan is now a demonstrated fraud — big tax cuts for the rich that he claims would be offset by closing loopholes, but the Tax Policy Center has demonstrated that the arithmetic can't possibly work

[Rafterman11]

Yeah Smokey, when in doubt, just declare them a "left loon" and automatically in the argument.

Because we all know that the economist field is just crawling with lefties. LOL.

[timtlc2]

David Stockman on Mitt Romney (Newsweek last week):

"...Mitt Romney was not a businessman; he was a master financial speculator who bought, sold, flipped, and stripped businesses. He did not build enterprises the old-fashioned way—out of inspiration, perspiration, and a long slog in the free market fostering a new product, service, or process of production. Instead, he spent his 15 years raising debt in prodigious amounts on Wall Street so that Bain could purchase the pots and pans and castoffs of corporate America, leverage them to the hilt, gussy them up as reborn "roll-ups," and then deliver them back to Wall Street for resale—the faster the better."

Mitt's claim to the Presidency as a master businessman is a fraud according to Stockman, no Obama sympathizer. A very fiscally conservative, main street REPUBLICAN

[betterusa]

If Obama is reelected and since he cannot run for President another time (22nd amendment); he will do probably less to help this country for another 4 years. Promise, promise, promise but nothing will change. He is not committed to work with Republicans in Congress so nothing will change. He will not create more jobs, he will not create more energy independence and gas will go over $5 at the pump and the US dollar and credit rating will continue to slide. It amazes me that the Libya lie is retorted by Dems that since Bush lied, it's okay for Obama to lie. We all see the charts and statistics of his administration and how inept it has been and he can only blame Bush for so long (funny how Reagan did not blame Carter for a bigger mess of unemployment). Are the Obama supporters so blind that they did not have their eyes open the last 4 years? Possibly most are living off the government and do not care about the future of the U.S. I know I will vote for a stronger America in less than 2 weeks.

[Rafterman11]

Republicans were committed to not work with Obama from the day he was elected.

And keep the "most are living off the government" lie alive. It just confirms your level of ignorance to the world around you.

[betterusa]

Rafterman: Dems controlled Congress Obamas first two years so your statement is garbage.

[wfw3536]

I find it funny that yesterday Obama finally shared his economic plan with the American people. I guess he didn't trust us with these important details until 2 weeks before the election, or maybe it is because they are the same failed ideas Obama has tried for the last 4 years.

[Rafterman11]

Still waiting for details on ANY Romney plan.

[Rafterman11]

Obama, like all politicians, spins. Spinning is taking your positions and picking and choosing to make them sound better or more effective than they really might be. This is why 'cons get confused and say Obama lies all the time. He does not lie, he spins and, as I said, that's pretty much a trait of all politicians.

Romney, on the other hand, LIES. He literally switches his positions depending on the group he's talking to. The Romney at the debates sounded like a nice, moderate guy, not he far right winger he portrayed before and after. He derides the 47 percent to one group in private, then says he's for the 100 percent when in front of the public. He invents Romneycare, then says Obamacare, almost the same d@mn thing, is terrible and he will repeal it.

Love them or hate them, at least Obama is consistent in his positions and doesn't change them for his audience.

[Rafterman11]

Obama has been consistent on his positions and so, no, its not lying. If Romney would have had the same message the last year (he hasn't), then I could have made the same spin comment about Romney. There's nothing worse than a flip flopper. John Kerry was a flip flopper. You know how that turned out for him.