Presidential Agenda of John McCain

Keeping U.S. troops in Iraq until stability in that country is established is so much a part of John McCain's platform that one of his fundraising supporters told him: "'Everyone knows where you are on Iraq. Let's talk about the environment, pork barrel spending, health care, dependence on foreign oil,'" [source: The New York Times].

It's pretty clear how Senator McCain feels about pork barrel spending -- special riders attached to funding bills that generally only benefit a small constituency. "As president, John McCain will oppose spending money on projects that siphon away tax dollars collected for [i.e. wartime funding]" [source: John McCain.com]. "McCain has … been a consistent and loud voice against pork barrel spending..." writes the Chicago Sun-Times.

As a Senator, McCain spoke out in favor of a largely Democratic-supported bill to curb illegal immigration in part by establishing a path to citizenship for illegal aliens already in the United States. "But this effort must never entail giving away citizenship to those who have broken our laws," McCain wrote in an editorial in March 2007. "Rather it should require those who voluntarily come forward to undertake the hard work of reparation and assimilation that we expect." The candidate called for payment of fines and back taxes, as well as background checks and successful completion of English and civic exams as requites for naturalization of illegal immigrants already in the country [source: Union Leader].

McCain's policy on health care leans toward reducing costs over ensuring coverage. He "would allow drug imports from Canada to increase competition and drive down prices" [source: Go Health]. McCain has also called for tax credits of $2,500 to $5,000 for the uninsured to purchase coverage. He supports more competition among providers, as well as doctors receiving a set amount annually for services, with rewards for successful treatment [source: The New York Times].

The senator's economic plan calls for making the Bush tax cuts permanent, while also offering tax breaks to the middle class and repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax. McCain's platform is big on competition and free-market economy: He calls for lower taxes on investment money and banning taxes on technology like the Internet and cell phone industries. He's also looking to curb Medicare spending and is in favor of saving Social Security.

In the education arena, McCain is in favor of reform by supporting competition among schools. He supports charter schools funded through federally backed vouchers, as well as merit-based pay for teachers [source: Boston Herald]. "If a school will not change, the students should be able to change schools," says the candidate's official Web site.

Although in the past some feel that McCain's position on abortion has been unclear, on the official site for his 2008 campaign, McCain has taken a clear stance on the abortion issue. "John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned." The message continues that the decision to allow abortion should be left to the states.

He co-sponsored the partisan Climate Stewardship Act of 2007, which would establish a market for tradeable government-issued allowances for greenhouse gases, much like the current unregulated carbon trading model used by some companies in the United States [source: Library of Congress]. McCain is "the only [Republican candidate] who seems to recognize that there, in fact, is an environment" [source: EcoGeek]. "The fact is climate change is real," McCain told the Aspen Times in August 2007.

In modern American politics, it takes vast sums of money to run a successful campaign for president. Read about how John McCain raises money on the next page.