American elections 6th of November 2012

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American elections 6th of November 2012 by Mind Map: American elections  6th of November 2012

1. Democrates- Barack Obama

1.1. Is the 44th and current president of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office

1.1.1. 15th Democrat to hold the office of President of the United States

1.2. Legislative career

1.2.1. Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996

1.2.2. Obama was re-elected to the Illinois Senate in 1998, defeating Republican Yesse Yehudah in the general election, and was re-elected again in 2002

1.2.3. In January 2003, Obama became chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee when Democrats

1.2.4. Obama was sworn in as a senator on January 3, 2005, becoming the only Senate member of the Congressional Black Caucus

1.2.5. In the 2008 presidential election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain

1.2.6. Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate

1.3. Signed legislation

1.3.1. He signed economic stimulus legislation in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Re-authorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010

1.3.2. Domestic policy initiatives include the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, and the Budget Control Act of 2011

1.3.3. In May 2012, he became the first sitting U.S. president to openly support legalizing same-sex marriage

1.3.4. In foreign policy, he ended the war in Iraq, increased troop levels in Afghanistan, signed the New START arms control treaty with Russia, ordered U.S. involvement in the 2011 Libya military intervention, and ordered the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden

1.4. Results of the Primary elections

1.5. Campaign pledge

1.5.1. Expand the earned income tax credit

1.5.1.1. Compromise

1.5.2. Extend child tax credits and marriage-penalty fixes

1.5.2.1. Promise kept

1.5.3. Eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses and start-ups

1.5.3.1. Compromise

1.5.4. Eliminate all oil and gas tax loopholes

1.5.4.1. Stalled

1.5.5. Increase the capital gains and dividends taxes for higher-income taxpayers

1.5.5.1. Promise broken

1.5.6. Expand the child and dependent care credit

1.5.6.1. Promise broken

1.5.7. Require publicly traded financial partnerships to pay the corporate income tax

1.5.7.1. Stalled

1.5.8. Create an international tax haven watch list

1.5.8.1. In the works

1.5.9. Close loopholes in the corporate tax deductibility of CEO pay

1.5.9.1. Stalled

1.5.10. Require economic justification for tax changes

1.5.10.1. Promise kept

1.5.11. Provide option for a pre-filled-out tax form

1.5.11.1. Promise broken

1.5.12. Create a mortgage interest tax credit for non-itemizers

1.5.12.1. Promise broken

1.5.13. Make permanent the Research & Development tax credit

1.5.13.1. In the works

1.5.14. Require automatic enrollment in 401(k) plans

1.5.14.1. Promise broken

1.5.15. Require automatic enrollment in IRA plans

1.5.15.1. Promise broken

1.5.16. Create a retirement savings tax credit for low incomes

1.5.16.1. Promise broken

1.5.17. End income tax for seniors making less than $50,000

1.5.17.1. Promise broken

1.5.18. Create a tax credit of $500 for workers

1.5.18.1. Compromise

1.5.19. Extend the Bush tax cuts for lower incomes

1.5.19.1. Promise kept

1.5.20. Repeal the Bush tax cuts for higher incomes

1.5.20.1. Promise broken

2. Republicans- Mitt Romney

2.1. Campaign pledge

2.1.1. Mitt Romney promises: more jobs, less debt, and smaller government. As governor, he delivered the opposite: a 47th-place finish in job creation, a $1 billion budget deficit, and around $750 million in new taxes and fees

2.2. Results of the Primary elections

2.3. Legislative career

2.3.1. He was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 2002

2.3.1.1. As governor, Romney presided over a series of spending cuts and increases in fees that eliminated up to $1.5 billion deficit. He signed into law the Massachusetts health care reform legislation, which provided near-universal health insurance access via subsidies and state-level mandates and was the first of its kind in the nation. During the course of his term, his positions or rhetorical emphasis on several social issues shifted more towards American conservatism

2.3.2. Romney ran for the Republican nomination in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, winning several primaries and caucuses but losing the nomination to John McCain

2.3.3. May 2012, he has won enough caucuses and primaries to become the party's presumptive nominee

3. Important Facts

3.1. Primary elections

3.1.1. Primary on the other hand is almost like a general election where polls are conducted through ballots for nominating a candidate for a particular party. In Primary, the voters choose a candidate through secret ballot, which is a feature of the general elections

3.1.2. 3 types of primary elections

3.1.2.1. Semi-open primary

3.1.2.1.1. A registered voter need not publicly declare which political party's primary that they will vote in before entering the voting booth

3.1.2.2. Open primary

3.1.2.2.1. In an open primary, voters of any affiliation may vote in the primaries of any party they choose. Every person can vote doesn't matter of which party

3.1.2.3. Semi-closed primary

3.1.2.3.1. Semi-closed systems, however, allow unaffiliated voters to participate as well. Depending on the state

3.1.2.4. Closed primary

3.1.2.4.1. People may vote in a party's primary only if they are registered members of that party prior to election day. Independents cannot participate

3.1.3. Electoral college

3.1.3.1. The winner of a federal state gets all the votes of the electoral college. The emphasis depends on the number of inhabitants

3.1.3.1.1. California 55 voices

3.1.3.1.2. Texas 34 voices

3.1.3.1.3. New York 31 voices

3.1.3.1.4. Florida 27 voices

3.1.3.1.5. Small states like Vermont, Wyoming etc. 3 voices

3.1.3.2. All together 270 voices

3.1.4. Dates

3.1.4.1. 3rd of Januar 2012 Iowa-Caucus (Beginning of the Primary election) 10th / 21th / 30th Januar 2012 New Hampshire- / South Carolina- / Florida-Primary March to June 2012 Primaries / Caucusses in any other federal state 6th of March 2012 Primary election in 11 federal states („Super-Tuesday“) 27th – 30th of August 2012 Nomination convention of the Republican, Tampa/Florida 03th – 07th of September 2012 Nomination convention of the Democrats, Charlotte/North Carolina 06th of November 2012 Presidential election

3.2. Caucus

3.2.1. A caucus is a meeting of party leaders to select candidates, elect convention delegates, etc. In a caucus, you must be part of a political party

3.2.1.1. Iowa holds the first and the most significant caucuses in the presidential election

3.2.1.1.1. Idaho, Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, Washington, Wyoming, Minnesota, Virgin Island, Missouri

3.2.1.2. But in caucus elections, the party members gather together in one place and publicly state whom they are going to support. In caucus, the members can hear speeches of various candidates and engage in discussions before choosing their candidate