Obama and Romney: Where they stand on the issues – The Mercury

ECONOMY:

Obama: Term marked by high unemployment, a deep recession that began in previous administration and officially ended within six months, and gradual recovery with persistently high jobless rates. Unemployment rate jumped to 8.3 percent from 7.8 percent in February 2009, Obama’s first full month in office, and has remained above 8 percent ever since. The 38-month stretch of unemployment above 8 percent is the longest on records dating to 1948. But employers have added 3.6 million jobs since job creation turned steadily positive in March 2010. Businesses have added jobs for 25 straight months, pushing down the unemployment rate from 9.8 percent in March 2010 to 8.2 percent two years later. Responded to recession with a roughly $800 billion stimulus plan that nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated cut the unemployment rate by 0.7 to 1.8 percentage points. Continued implementation of Wall Street and auto industry bailouts begun under George W. Bush. Proposes tax breaks for U.S. manufacturers producing domestically or repatriating jobs from abroad, and tax penalties for U.S. companies outsourcing jobs. Won approval of South Korea, Panama and Colombia free-trade pacts begun under previous administration, completing the biggest round of trade liberalization since the North American Free Trade Agreement and other pacts of that era.

  Romney: Lower taxes, less regulation, balanced budget, more trade deals to spur growth. Replace jobless benefits with unemployment savings accounts. Proposes repeal of the (Dodd-Frank) law toughening financial-industry regulations after the meltdown in that sector. Proposes changing, but not repealing, the (Sarbanes-Oxley) law tightening accounting regulations in response to corporate scandals, to ease the accountability burden on smaller businesses. “We don’t want to tell the world that Republicans are against all regulation. No, regulation is necessary to make a free market work. But it has to be updated and modern.”

For the full Source Article visit:   http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20120503/NEWS06/120509774/-1/news/obama-and-romney-where-they-stand-on-the-issues