| 
Joe Biden | 
Sarah Palin |
Abortion | Supports abortion rights. Supports Roe v. Wade. Opposes public funding for abortion. Supports a partial birth abortion ban. | Opposes abortion rights in almost all cases, including rape and incest victims. Supports an abortion only if the mother's life is in danger. |
Economy | Opposes 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, and wants to eliminate tax breaks for those in the top 1% of the income bracket. | As mayor, Palin cut property taxes and increased sales taxes in Alaska. She also has said that she supports eliminating taxes that "inhibit businesses," like license fees and tire taxes. |
Education | Wants to create more tax deductions for tuition in order to encourage higher education and make it more accessible. Says No Child Left Behind needs more resources but is also fundamentally flawed. | Believes that creationism should be taught alongside evolution in public school (but not to the extent of adding it to the required curriculum). Wants to target early education programs to at-risk groups and forward funding for K-12 schools to allow better planning. |
Energy Policy/
Environment | Supports a "cap-and-trade" environmental policy that would regulate emissions and encourage new technologies to reduce greenhouse gases. | Says that global warming isn't caused by humans and has promoted oil and natural gas resource development, especially encouraging drilling in ANWR in her home state of Alaska. |
Health Care | Supports health care reform and would encourage the states to seek out alternative health care systems.
| Believes that health care should be market- and business-driven. Wants flexibility in government regulations to allow competition and believes more affordable health care can be achieved through competition. |
Iraq War | Voted for military force in Iraq. Opposed to a troop increase. Supports a plan that would decrease troops by the end of 2007. | Has said that though she supports the Bush administration's Iraq war deployments, she wants to create an exit plan. |
Same-Sex Marriage | Supports same-sex civil unions, and opposes a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage. | Opposes same-sex marriage and believes that spousal benefits should be reserved for heterosexual married couples. Supported the 1998 Alaska amendment that banned gay marriage in her home state. |
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