At the University of Hawaii, Barack Sr. and Ann met. Ann was a student there while his father had a won a scholarship to the United States. Unfortunately for the couple, Barack Sr. had to leave to go back to Kenya. This resulted in the young Barack being raised by his single mother in Hawaii and in Indonesia for several years. Afterwards they moved to New York and there he graduated from Columbia University in 1983.
Barack then moved on to Chicago in 1985 in order to pursue his civic plans. He became a community organizer with Christian groups who seek to uplift the conditions of the people residing in a town beleaguered by crime and high unemployment. Barack believed in the cause of these groups but after some time he wanted to see changes effected to a wider populace. He then concluded that those changes must become definite and binding to all. From there, he aspired to change the nation’s laws and politics.
He then moved on and earned his law degree in Harvard in 1991. Even from there, he has proven his abilities and became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Right after law school, he went back to Chicago and practiced his profession as a civil rights lawyer and taught constitutional law. His advocacy and values led him to run for the Illinois State Senate where he won and served for eight years.
In the State Senate Barack learned the value of unity and working together. Although it has been a challenge for him to work with both the Democrats and the Republicans, he learned to set aside politics to be able to create programs and projects that will immensely help the working families. A good example of this was the state Earned Income Tax Credit, which provided more than $100 million worth of tax, cuts to families across the state in just three years. He also valued childhood education and pushed for its development and expansion in the state. He also tried to initiated changes in the penal system through working with law enforcement officials and coming up with the resolution of standardizing the video recording of the interrogations and confessions in all capital cases. This was due mostly to the large number of instances when death row inmates were found innocent.

Come 2004, Barack Obama Jr became the third African American, since the Reconstruction, to serve in the United States Senate. His arrival set a new definition to politics. His first act to be passed was the one he authored with Republican Senator Tom Coburn—a measure that was built on the aim of renewing trust to the government by allowing citizens to go online and learn how and where their taxes are spent. He also became the lead voice of the move to reform political ethics and remove corruption in Congress. He also became a champion of the veterans in the Senate. He moved to help the Illinois veterans obtain their disability pay while seeing to it that measures that will take care of the Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan were completed upon their return.

All in all, Barack has been truly the champion of the people of America. He had serve the advancement of people from all ages and has participated willingly and with conviction in their causes. In spite of all these accomplishments, Barack remains humble and not self-serving. With his wife, Michelle, and two daughters, Malia and Sasha, he aims to be the initiator of change in America and bring back its vision of being the country for the people.

Barack Obama presents different educational policies which are meant to improve the educational system in America. Obama points out several problems faced by the US educational system. First, he addresses the problem of funding for the educational system. Obama stresses that the inadequate implementation of funding by the Education Department and as well as the defects of the law contribute to the fact that there are less competent teachers employed in an American classroom.  Furthermore, because of the lack of proper and adequate funding for the educational system, most teachers leave their professions after five years or so because they are not given with their due pay.

Another case that Obama stresses is the fact that the US has a large number of dropout students, and children coming from an African American and Latin heritage are those who are not able to obtain a diploma. In connection to this, high school students are falling behind their levels when it comes to mathematics, reading and science. Most of the high school students tend to take remedial classes in these subjects because they are still not prepared for a higher level after they graduate from high school.

Barack Obama presents different solutions to these problems. First, he states that early childhood education should be provided with an emphasis so as a child would be ready for higher levels. He also stated that subjects such as math and science should be given a priority in elementary and high school levels, since most Americans drastically perform poor in these subjects. The curriculum offered in different schools will be strengthened all throughout, so that children will be ready for these subjects in higher levels. To address the dropout crisis, Obama emphasizes that there is a need for continuing programs which will help these students to improve on their studies, such as intensive instructions in reading, math and science and summer learning opportunities which will seek partnership from other institutions as well. Outreach programs and scholarship opportunities are also included in Obama’s plan to help those who have financial problems.

Obama stresses that there should be continuing mentoring programs for all teachers. These will pair off neophyte teachers with experienced ones and there will be some incentives for teachers for these common planning times. Also, Obama stresses that districts and schools will reward teachers who work in impoverished rural areas. Teachers who have proven to provide dedicated service will also be provided with incentives and rewards.

Barack Obama is currently a junior United States senator coming from an African-American descent. He was a graduate of Columbia University and took up law in Harvard Law School where he had the position as the president of the Harvard Law Review. Obama worked as a civil rights lawyer and community organizer before he eventually entered the government as a civil servant.

Since Barack Obama is notably a civil rights lawyer, it can be recalled that he has several platforms trying to combat the civil rights problems faced by the United States today. First, he states some problems that the country is facing at this time. He says that there is still a constant inequality when it comes to receiving one’s pay. As of today, there are women who are still underpaid for their jobs, and much more if she comes from the African American and Latin race, all of which receive only a fraction of what is earned by an average Caucasian man. Hate crimes, on the other hand, is also one impending problem of the country today. As of 2006, deaths and killings caused by hate crimes have radically increased to eight percent. Another civil rights problem faced by the Americans is the suppression of minority votes, which of course, should be given proper treatment and due suffrage in the nation. The problem of racism is also still prevalent in the industrialized United States. It was reported that most men and women hailing from an African American and Latin American descent are most likely to be suspected as guilty of a crime, most of which are drug related.

Because of these problems, Barack Obama has outlined several civil rights policy that he would like to integrate within the government so as everyone would have a fair treatment. Obama has plans to pass the Fair Pay Act and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The Fair Pay Act will enable women to receive an equal pay for their work done, which does not usually happen in most companies and institutions. On the other hand, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act will put an end to discrimination when it comes to races and sexual orientation. Obama has other campaigns in order to prevent, if not fully eliminate, harsh discriminations when it comes to races. Racial profiling by most of the federal law enforcement agencies will be stopped, and incentives will be given to those who are able to put an end to this discriminatory act.

Obama also gives priorities to voting practices done by the minority. People who are known to conduct frauds and other similar acts will receive their due penalties and sanctions. This is to ensure that everyone, regardless of their racial identity, will be provided with an equal opportunity to express their rights of to vote whomever they want.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama has presented several new plans which help the people to preserve what is left in the natural resources of the nation and as well as use these resources efficiently and effectively.

One of the plans of Obama’s environment policy is to produce more programs which will help cut down the need for oil imported from different countries, most notably in the Middle East and Venezuela. Oil prices are constantly increasing, and Obama believes that certain methods can be done to decrease the country’s dependency on oil from other countries. The use of plug-in hybrid cars is one of Obama’s options for this dilemma. By ensuring the use of hybrid cars which entail the use of more distinct power sources, America would obviously be less dependent to other companies which are known to sell oil in a large amount of price. Working to make sure that these cars are manufactured within the country is also one consideration that Obama wants to address.

In order to promote environmentalism, Obama also believes that the country should also work in the production of oil and natural gas. He will ensure that initiatives such as the drillings in the Bakken shale formation and the Natural Petroleum Reserve in Alaska will eventually become a reality so as there would be more sources for oil and natural gas within the country. Also, the construction of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline is one consideration that Obama would like to focus on. The pipeline is an excellent way for the country to produce natural gas so as it would not be dependent on other oil-producing companies. Moreover, the construction will be able to employ a thousand of people, obviously having its construction work in two ways.

Another environment policy that Obama would like to stress is the decrease of greenhouse emissions. The African-American presidential candidate will work his way to preserve energy, protect environmental habitats and produce more initiatives for green energy.

A significant policy for the Obama campaign involves the New Energy for America plan. This initiative will be done through several means which emphasize the conservation of energy and relief from rising energy problems. One plan is to provide energy rebates which will provide relief to families. Obama will require the oil companies to slash off a share from their profits so as to help poor and average families. This issue is obviously a problem for most Americans, and Obama feels the need to do something about it quickly.

Another issue to be addressed by Obama is to transform manufacturing centers into green technology sites. Obama says that people should not only focus on this aspect but also have a significant emphasis on modernizing the manufacturing centers so they could produce more environmental-friendly products.

Obama initially aims to increase fuel economy standards.  He will improve these standards by 4% each year while at the same time protecting the finances of domestic automakers. The plan specifically will save nearly half a trillion of gallons of gasoline and six billion metric tons of greenhouse gases.

Obama has had a history of pushing for federal investments in advanced vehicles. These investments are intended to save at least 150 miles per gallon of gas. With what he has started in the Senate, Barack will continue this initiative and invest on the research and development for advanced battery technology when he became the President. This larger funding is expected to encourage the private sectors and domestic automakers to import plug-in hybrids and other advanced vehicles. This purchase of advanced technology cars will also be programmed to incur a $7,000 tax credit and/or its conversion. Of course, Barack believes in the change from within and he intends to switch the entire White House fleet to plug-in hybrids as security permits and half of the purchases of the federal government would be of the same cars by 2012.

One other critical plan of Obama is to establish a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard to give leverage to the introduction of low-carbon non-petroleum fuels. The standard will require fuels suppliers to lower the carbon in their fuel by 5% in 2010 and by 10% in 10 years. This plan will provide incentives to the members of the private sector who will invest in advanced low-carbon fuels while ensuring that increase in biofuels production will not pose any danger to the environment.

These plans aim to gradually eliminate the dependence on oil by providing incentives to those who will subscribe to ways on conserving oil. One other side of his plans would be to incorporate the use of alternative energy fuels in the lives of the people. Obama believes that this could be done through imposing a mandatory rule wherein 10% of household electricity should be generated by alternative sources by 2012. Obama believes that this requirement would push the private sector to invest in renewable sources of energy and at the same time create thousands of jobs for the people, especially in the rural areas.

Obama also aims to develop and deploy clean coal technology through out the country. As a senator, he has intensely pushed for the commercialization of the clean coal technology in the country. He will continue to do this in the White House by cooperating with the DoE and by providing large returns to the private sector investments.

Obama believes that eliminating oil dependence and diverting this dependence on renewable energy sources may take longer, but the call to start the resolution of this problem has long been done and it should be addressed as soon as possible.

Obama takes up this challenge and tries to address this problem. He believes that the urgency of this problem cannot be overlooked and should be topmost in a government’s list of priorities. This problem of the United States can be stemmed from the country’s huge dependence on oil and other fossil fuels for energy. Obama believes that each individual has the responsibility to address this dependence to tackle climate change through a sustainable solution.

Initially, Obama plans to implement cap and trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists say it is imperative to reduce carbon release by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. The market mechanism of cap and trade system has been very effective before and Obama intends to implement likewise and encourage private citizens and businesses to develop economically efficient and incentive-inducing solutions to climate change. This policy will specifically mandate a complete auction of pollution credits. This auction intends to ensure that all industries be charged for their emissions as compared to the current practice of giving these valuable emissions to companies based on their past pollution records.

A minimal portion of the receipts incurred in this auction will be used for the development of clean energy, for additional investments in the advancement of energy efficiency, and to help develop future biofuels and clean energy vehicles. These measures are expected to help the economy and will contribute largely to the attainment of the emissions target. Further, this will also be used to augment state and federal funding to wildlife conservation and preservation managers with the aim of restoring habitats, creating corridors and options for wildlife migrations, and assist the wildlife in their adaptation to global warming.

The other aspect of Obama’s global warming policy is to make the United States the leader in tackling the problem of climate change and global warming. Obama recognizes that the US cannot solely defeat this problem; hence, international cooperation must be sought. Particularly, Obama initially aims to solicit the cooperation of China and Brazil as two of the leading developing nations in the world. He will also try to reactivate the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change and engage other countries in the organizations’ designs on resolving this crisis. He will also lead other countries, especially the Major Economies, and bring them together to develop general and particular measures to solve the problem of global warming.

At the domestic level, Obama aims to end the country’s dependence on oil, which largely contributes to the further worsening of the effect of global warming on the country. He has proposed several measures that are included in his New Energy for America plan. One of the better parts of this plan is to promote the use of alternative sources of energy thereby conserving less from the biofuels sources.

The country is facing security problems, which threaten the lives of its citizens in and out of the country. That is why presidential candidate Barack Obama has thought of several ideas on how to contribute to homeland security which will eventually protect not only the citizens of the nation but also the country itself.

First and foremost, Obama has stated the present impending problem of the country today, which has been put off with a warning during the 9/11 bombing. He stresses that there is a negligible security present in most of the transit systems and chemical plants in the country and the suggestions by the 9/11 Commission was recently ignored. Apparently, there seems to be a weak preparation when it comes to disasters, whether they are caused by natural or accidental means or worse yet, if they are caused by bouts of terrorism. Barack Obama believes that these things should receive more attention.

Obama has stated several plans to combat these problems. He believes that there should be outmost protection when it comes to the country’s chemical plants. As we all know, most terrorists plan to attack chemical plants for them to use for their plans of terrorism all over the world. Obama says that the present government has not pointed out significant and detailed means on security regulations in chemical plants. He says that he would come up with strategic plans, which establish definite security for everyone in this matter.

Barack Obama also has definite plans to help people during several accidents and disasters, which may come. Hurricane Katrina, for example, has taken the lives of many Americans, and there is no doubt that a similar experience may happen again although that is the last thing that we want to have. Nevertheless, Obama believes that there should be funds allocated for people who have been victims or disasters in the same context. In the same manner, Obama also stresses that there should be initiatives to reunite families who have been apart after a disaster strikes. He already introduced and passed a legislation creating a federal database, which enables a family to have definite access to emergency numbers, and in return, law enforcement officials will respond to them using only one number. In this manner, everyone would have equal access to a definite security procedure.

Last but not the least, radioactive releases are also one problem that the United States has to address. There are several nuclear power plants in the country, which release toxic byproducts that are harmful to one’s health. These instances are more often than not unintentional, but nevertheless, Obama believes that government officials and law enforcement agencies should be constantly vigilant regarding this matter because it might pose a serious health problem for all.

Obama has committed to institute immigration reforms in his illegal immigration policy within his first year in office.  Among the reforms included in the illegal immigration policy of Obama are:  the strengthening of the country’s borders, the regularization of the immigrant status application of millions of illegal immigrants, the implementation on fixes on the country’s immigration system, the crack down on employers intentionally employing illegal immigrants and the cooperation with Mexico to provide more jobs.

In his illegal immigration policy, Obama will bring out from hiding some 12 million, impose a small penalty and then lead them through legal immigration procedures.  This process, given the present bureaucratic immigration system, could still take some to complete.  That is why staunch immigration reform advocate Obama, upon his first year of presidency, will institute immigration reforms to cut through the bureaucracy and the high costs of legalizing an immigrant’s stay in the USA.

With Illinois Representative Luis Gutierrez, Obama enacted the Citizenship Promotions Act, a bill promoting the maintainance of immigration fees at reasonable levels.  This bill reversed the increase in fees imposed by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.  Obama has also undertaken measures to remedy the long processing period of identity verification and background checks by the FBI.  It is, in his opinion, processes like these that make it difficult for aspiring immigrants to submit to legal means.  Most of these illegal immigrants come to the country for work to support their families and often do not have much time and resources to spend dealing with the lengthy immigration procedures.

Preventive measures such as heightened security personnel and facilities in the country’s borders, removal of illegal immigration incentives and the development of the Mexican economy and employment outlook are also part of Obama’s illegal immigration policy.  He maintains that getting into the country through illegal means should be made difficult while opening up the country to immigrants with skills and technical capabilities for American jobs.

While seemingly contradictory to Obama’s employment platform that opens up job market opportunities to more of the country’s citizens, Obama’s illegal immigration policy undertakes to complement the American workforce by bringing productive illegal immigrants to legal mainstream and by instituting immigration reforms that will even the playing field.  As president, Obama can be counted on to continue fighting for a comprehensive immigration reform to benefit not only non-Americans but the American labor force and America’s economy as well.

Originally, Senator Joe Biden, supported the NAFTA or North American Free Trade Agreement; however, he soon changed his mind and now he supports the Democratic presidential candidate on its position that it has to be discussed further.
Joe Biden is also opposed to CAFTA – Central American Free Trade Agreement and any other free trade agreements among Asian countries such as Oman and Singapore. These agreements have resulted to decreased import and export tax between the United States and its partners, which have resulted for its exports to increase. This alone, is the major source of escalation of the United States’ economy as it tries to rise above from its recent economic decline.

Senator Joe Biden understands that competitiveness is one of the most important factors that could help improve their workforce. To make the American people more competent globally, he will empower them through giving them extensive education and training. He pioneered a legislation which is called the “College ACCESS” which grants individuals a $3,000 refundable tax to help them with their college tuition. Two years in pre-school education is another thing that he supports as well as the changing of funds from Iraq war to allocate more of the funds to pay extra teachers and reduce the number of students in every classroom.

Senator Joe Biden proposes for the cessation of soaring oil and gas costs. However, his proposal to neutralize the OPEC domination will definitely not work because they are not actually the cause or reason why the prices of oils all over the world are continuously increasing. He, however, supports the idea of investing and developing other options of energy and other innovations when it comes to new technologies that has something to do with oil and power generation.

Furthermore, he supports the policy that allows the middle class to be exempted from tax and the ending of the Alternative Minimum Tax provided that other forms and resources of tax income are aptly established. The continuation of Research and Development of Tax Credit and the Income Tax Credit is another proposal that he supports.

Barack Obama, the US Senator from Illinois, has decided to run for presidency and is currently receiving a lot of nods from Americans. He is the first African American US candidate who comes from a major political party, and has several plans which address the problem of national debt in the United States of America.

Most of Barack Obama’s plans are tagged as effective by most of the political analysts. Obama says that in order for the decrease the problem of national debt, the government should have an utmost fiscal discipline which can be done in several ways. First, there is a need to bring bag pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) budgeting rules. PAYGO asserts that the government should pay more attention to the expenditures of the nation and make sure that they do not contribute to the federal deficit of the nation. This method will be focusing on exercising financial restraint and allotting budget only for the most important expenditures that the government might make.

Another one of Barack’s plans is to reverse the tax cuts for the wealthy. During Bush’s administration, there were some several initiatives which give some tax breaks even for the wealthy businessmen in America. For Obama, this is a grim thought because this problem will cost a lot more for the nation by 2009. Obama will try to reverse the tax breaks or exemptions which will protect the tax cuts given to the poor to average families and for the wealthiest tax payers to contribute more in comparison with the values that they gave before.

Pork barrel is another issue which Obama would like to stress. He says that there is a need for an utmost transparency for most of the expenditures done by the government. He will make sure that some of the expenses done by the government will be open to the public so as they would be sure as to where their money goes.

Obama also states that the government should put more emphasis on efficient and accountable spending. Ensuring efficient government programs which are addressing the improvement of technology and livelihood will be put into consideration. Obama also says that the government should put an end to useless, expensive spending which puts the country in debt. Federal programs which are deemed futile because of its lack of financial sense will be put to end. Subsidies which are given to private student loan companies and as well as oil and gas companies will be stopped. Obama will also reevaluate the tax system so it would be fairer and more efficient for the tax payers, especially those who are included in the underprivileged families.