Birthdate: 1961-08-04


Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii


Hometown: Chicago, Illinois


Family:

• Spouse- Michelle Robinson Obama;



Religion:

• United Church of Christ.

• Barack and Michelle Obama resigned their membership in the Trinity United
Church of Christ in Chicago where Barack had been a member for twenty years.
The resignation followed offensive comments by Rev. Michael Pfleger and Rev.
Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.


Education:

• Franciscus Assisi Roman Catholic Primary School, in Jakarta,
Indonesia, from kindergarten  through the 3rd grade; 

Obama was registered on January 1, 1968, under the name Barry Soetoro an
Indonesian citizen whose religion was listed as Islam.

" Israella Pareira ‘Iis’ Darmawan, 63, Senator Obama's kindergarten teacher,
remembers him as an exceptionally tall and curly haired child who quickly
picked up the local language and had sharp math skills. He wrote an essay
titled, 'I Want To Become President,' the teacher said."

His third grade teacher: Fermina Katarina Sinaga "asked her class to write an
essay titled 'My dream: What I want to be in the future.' Senator Obama wrote
'I want to be a President,' she said."

•  Sekolah Dasar Nasional Menteng No. 1 or the Basuki school,
in Jakarta, Indonesia, 4th grade; 

• Punahou School in Hawaii from the 5th grade to the 12th
grade;

• Occidental College in Los Angles, California for two years;

• Columbia University in New York, New York, BA in political
science, 1983;

• Harvard Law School, J.D., 1991 graduated magna cum laude or
in the top ten percent of his class;

• When asked about his best and worst grades or subjects in school, Obama
replied, "graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law and a D in 8th grade
French".





Military Service:

• None.


Career:

• Senator, United States Senate, 2005-present; 

• Senator, Illinois State Senate, 1997-2004; 

• Center for Neighborhood and Technology; 

• Chicago Annebery Challenge; 

• Cook County Bar; 

• Cook County Bar Association Community Law Project; 

• Board Member, Joyce Foundation; 

• Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights under the Law; 

• Leadership for Quality Education; 

• Member, Trinity United Church of Christ;
 
• Board Member, Woods Fund of Chicago



Present Position:

U.S. Senator from Illinois



Barack Obama position on the War in Iraq:

• Obama was an stark opponent of the war as an Illinois state senator and
campaigned against the war in his 2004 Senate bid. He had said, I am not
opposed to all wars, I am opposed to dumb wars.

• Obama is opposed to the present troop increase, supports a phased
redeployment.  In January 2007, he introduced the Iraq War De-Escalation Act
with a goal of removing all combat troops from Iraq by March 31, 2008.

• He has said in the April, 2007 debate, "there's no military solution to this.
We've got to have a political solution, begin a phased withdrawal, and make
certain that we've got benchmarks in place so that the Iraqi people can make a
determination about how they want to move forward."




Barack Obama position on Immigration:

• Obama supports amnesty / permanent legalization for illegal aliens and
temporary legalization for illegal aliens as guest workers.
 
• He supports granting citizenship to illegal aliens already in the country as
long as they pay the fines and back taxes, learn English, do not violate the
law and go to the end of the line to become citizens.

• He supports efforts to build a fence along the Mexican border.
 
• He backs the use of additional personnel, infrastructure and technology to
safeguard American borders and ports.

• Obama advocates tougher laws to keep illegal aliens from finding jobs and
would create a program for employers to easily verify an applicant's
immigration status.




Barack Obama position on Health Care:

• He claims that medical bills and health related issues are the number one
cause for personal bankruptcy. 

• A priority for Obama would be to promote affordable, accessible, and
high-quality health care.

• Obama would mandate that all children have health care coverage.

• He would create a national public insurance program that would allow
individuals and small businesses to buy affordable health care similar to that
available to federal employees. 

• He supports universal health care, and believes that the government should
buy prescription drugs in bulk to reduce costs. 

• His plan would require all employers to contribute toward health coverage for
their employees or toward the cost of the public plan.

• He wants hospitals to be graded on performance and switch to more
cost-effective, computerized record keeping system.
 
• Obama would create a national health insurance exchange to reform the private
insurance market. 




Barack Obama position on Abortion:

Pro-Choice


• Obama strongly supports a woman's right to have an abortion as protected by
the Constitution and stated in May 2007, "A woman's ability to decide how many
children to have and when, without interference from the government, is one of
the most fundamental rights we possess. It is not just an issue of choice, but
equality and opportunity for all women."

• He is a strong supporter of the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973 and stated, “I
have been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving
women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority as President. I oppose any
constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's decision in that
case."

• In the Illinois Senate, he voted against a bill to ban late-term abortions
because it did not contain a clause to protect the life of the mother.

• During a 2007 Democratic debate, Obama said that he trusts women to make
their own decisions about whether or not to have an abortion and added that
this should be done in conjunction with her doctors, her family and her
clergy.

• Obama strongly opposes restrictions on medical procedures used during late
term abortions.





Barack Obama position on National Security:

• He voted against the original Patriot Act and later for bills reauthorizing
the act as a compromise, believing the new version is still better than what
the White House originally proposed and does modestly improve the Patriot Act
by strengthening civil liberty protection without sacrificing the tools that
law enforcement needs to keep us safe.

• Obama wants Homeland Security money targeted more towards high-risk areas
such as nuclear facilities, chemical plants and ports.
 
• He introduced legislation to enhance disaster preparedness and to strengthen
the security of chemical plants and drinking water security.

• He wants more quality tracking of nuclear technology and spent nuclear fuel
so that it doesn't end up in terrorist hands.




Barack Obama position on the Environment:

• Believes global warming will bring devastating consequences if not recognized
and stopped. 

• Obama supports capping emissions and giving incentives to corporations that
cut greenhouse gases.




Barack Obama position on Trade:

• He voted for a free trade agreement with Oman.

• He voted against CAFTA, the implementation of free trade with Central
America.



Barack Obama position on Social Security:

• Senator Obama opposes privatization of the Social Security system.

• He supported the interests of the Alliance for Retired Americans 100 percent
in 2005.

• He believes the system is faulted but can be fixed with relatively minor
changes. 




Barack Obama position on Prescription Drugs:

• He supports giving Medicare the ability to negotiate lower drug prices.

• Obama supports efforts allowing American seniors to purchase lower priced
prescription drugs in Canada and bring them back into the U.S. 



Barack Obama position on the Budget:

• Obama would require disclosure of all congressional pet projects and force
lawmakers pay for any new spending or tax breaks through new revenue and cuts
in other programs.



Barack Obama position on Energy:

• Obama supports more using more renewable energies, phasing out incandescent
light bulbs by 2014 and requiring new vehicles to be able to run on biofuel.

• He wants to look into clean coal uses as a way of freeing the US from foreign
oil dependency. 

• Obama proposed giving US automakers help with health coverage in exchange for
more hybrid production. 

• He would invest $150 billion over 10 years in production technology and
development of biofuel and other renewable energies.

• He favors cutting emissions standards by 80 percent by 2050.




Barack Obama position on the Economy:

• He supports tax incentives for companies that keep jobs in the US.

• He believes that the NAFTA agreement should be renegotiated to protect the
American economy. 

• Obama suggests a $75 billion plan for the economy would offer a $500 tax
rebate to families and a $250 Social Security supplement to seniors. 

• He also would put more money into unemployment insurance.
 
• He would give federal money States hardest hit by the housing crisis.
 
• He would stop mortgage fraud and predatory lending with legislation that he
proposed two years ago.




Barack Obama position on Education:

• Obama Addressing a mostly African American crowd outside Atlanta in July 2008,
“You can’t find a job unless you are a really, really good basketball player.
Which most of you brothers are not. I know you think you are. But you’re not.
You are overrated in your own mind. You will not play in the NBA. You are
probably not that good a rapper. Maybe you are the next Little Wayne, but
probably not. In which case you need to stay in school.”

• Obama opposes school vouchers.

• Obama believes that the problems with education in the US are that the ‘No
Child Left Behind Law’ has failed, students have been neglected, high dropout
rate, teacher retention, and soaring college costs. 

He believes that the goal of the ‘No Child Left Behind Law’ was the right one,
but unfulfilled funding promises, inadequate implementation by the Education
Department and shortcomings in the design of the law itself have limited its
effectiveness and undercut its support.

He states that America has one of the highest dropout rates in the
industrialized world with only 70 percent of U.S. high school students
graduating with a diploma and that African American and Latino students are
significantly less likely to graduate than white students.

He believes that teacher retention is a problem with thirty percent of new
teachers leaving the job within their first five years in the profession.

He says that 2 million academically qualified students will not go to college
because they cannot afford it because our complicated maze of tax credits and
applications leaves too many students unaware of financial aid available to
them.

• Obama proposes the comprehensive "Zero to Five" plan to provide support to
young children and their parents. His plan places key emphasis at early care
and education for infants, believing that it is essential for children to be
ready to enter kindergarten. Obama would create ‘Early Learning Challenge
Grants’ to promote state "zero to five" efforts and help states move toward
voluntary, universal pre-school programs.

• Obama would improve quality and quadruple the ‘Early Head Start’ program and
increase funding for ‘Head Start’ program.
 
• Obama wants to provide affordable and high-quality child care to ease the
burden on working families.

• Obama would reform the ‘No Child Left Behind Law’ starting with funding of
the law. Obama believes teachers should not be forced to spend the academic
year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests. He would
improve the assessments used to track student progress to measure readiness for
college and the workplace and improve student learning in a timely,
individualized manner. Obama also wants to improve the NCLB's accountability
system so that we are supporting schools that need improvement, rather than
punishing them. 

• Obama wants to make math and science education a national priority by
recruiting math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession and
would support efforts to help these teachers learn from professionals in the
field. He would also work to ensure that all children have access to a strong
science curriculum at all grade levels. 

• Obama would address the dropout crisis by passing his legislation to provide
funding to school districts to invest in intervention strategies in middle
school - strategies such as personal academic plans, teaching teams, parent
involvement, mentoring, intensive reading and math instruction, and extended
learning time.

• Obama would expand high-quality after school opportunities by doubling the
funding to the main federal support for after school programs and serving one
million more children.
 
• He would expand summer learning opportunities with the "STEP UP" plan which
addresses the achievement gap by supporting summer learning opportunities for
disadvantaged children through partnerships between local schools and community
organizations.
 
• Obama supports college outreach programs like GEAR UP, TRIO and Upward Bound
to encourage more young people from low-income families to consider and prepare
for college. 
• He supports transitional bilingual education and would help ‘Limited English
Proficient’ students get ahead by holding schools accountable for making sure
these students complete school.
 
• Obama would recruit teachers by creating new ‘Teacher Service Scholarships’
that would cover four years of undergraduate or two years of graduate teacher
education, including high-quality alternative programs for mid-career recruits
in exchange for teaching for at least four years in a high-need field or
location. 

• Obama would prepare teachers by requiring all schools of education to be
accredited. He would also create a voluntary national performance assessment so
we can be sure that every new educator is trained and ready to walk into the
classroom and start teaching effectively. Obama would also create Teacher
Residency Programs that would supply 30,000 exceptionally well-prepared
recruits to high-need schools. 

• He wants to retain teachers with a plan that would expand mentoring programs
that pair experienced teachers with new recruits. He would also provide
incentives to give teachers paid common planning time so they can collaborate
to share best practices. 

• Obama wants to promote new and innovative ways to increase teacher pay that
are developed with teachers, not imposed on them. Districts will be able to
design programs that reward accomplished educators who serve as a mentor to new
teachers with a salary increase. Districts could reward teachers who work in
underserved places like rural areas and inner cities. And if teachers
consistently excel in the classroom, that work can be valued and rewarded as
well. 
• Obama wants to make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new
American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit
will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for
most Americans, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average
public college or university and make community college tuition completely free
for most students. Obama would  also ensure that the tax credit is available to
families at the time of enrollment by using prior year's tax data to deliver
the credit when tuition is due. 
• Obama wants to streamline the financial aid process by eliminating the
current federal financial aid application and enabling families to apply simply
by checking a box on their tax form, authorizing their tax information to be
used, and eliminating the need for a separate application. 






Barack Obama position on the Foreign Affairs:

• He wants more quality tracking of nuclear technology and spent nuclear fuel so
that it doesn't end up in terrorist hands. 

• Obama believes that the US needs to provide more assistance towards ending
the conflicts in Africa. 




Barack Obama position on Tax and Taxation:

• Obama wants to allow the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 to expire as scheduled
for Americans earning more than $250,000 a year. 

• He would raise taxes on capital gains and dividends and give tax breaks for
low and middle-income Americans.

• He proposes a $500 per person or $1,000 per family payroll tax credit for
middle class taxpayers.

• Obama opposed the suspension of the federal gas tax during the 2008 summer.

• He supports a universal mortgage tax credit of 10 percent. 

• Obama advocates the elimination of income taxes for seniors making less than
$50,000 and would simplify their tax filing process.

• He wants to close corporate tax loopholes and end deductions for industries
such as oil and gas.

• He plans to introduce tax penalties for US companies that keep their profits
overseas.




Barack Obama position on Iran:

• Obama would engage in direct talks with Tehran including offering some
economic incentives if Iran stopped operations in Iraq and cooperated on
nuclear issues.
 
• He has refused to say if he would consider military action if Iran were not
abandon its nuclear weapons program.
 
• Obama said he continued to favor an incentive package that is aimed at
getting Iran to drop its nuclear ambitions.

• He proposed a resolution in the Senate to reverse designation of Iran's
Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.

• Obama accused McCain and President Bush of what he called dishonest and
divisive attacks over his willingness to talk to Iran.  Without mentioning
Obama's name, President Bush compared those who would negotiate with terrorists
and radicals, to the appeasers of Nazi Germany prior to the Second World War.

• In July 2008, Iran test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles that
Iranian officials said were aimed at showing the country’s ability to counter
Israeli or American attacks.  Obama responded, “I would want to talk to the
national security team to find out whether this indicates any new capabilities
on Iran’s part. At this point, the reports aren’t clear. It’s still early, but
I think what this underscores is the need for us to create a kind of policy
that is putting the burden on Iran to change behavior. And, frankly, we just
have not been able to do that over the last several years, partly because we’re
not engaged in direct diplomacy.”  He also stated that Iran is a ‘grave threat’
and that we should gather our allies together in a serious effort to apply
sanctions in Iran.  He noted that American exports to Iran have increased
during the Bush years.



Barack Obama position on Guantanamo:

• Obama has been critical of U.S. detention policies and says too many prisoners
languish in Guantanamo without fair trials.

• As a senator, Obama voted YES on preserving habeus corpus for Guantanamo
detainees.  He stated, "Why don't we close Guantanamo and restore the right of
habeas corpus, because that's how we lead, not with the might of our military,
but the power of our ideals and the power of our values. It's time to show the
world we're not a country that ships prisoners in the dead of night to be
tortured in far off countries. We're not a country that runs prisons which
locks people away without ever telling them why they're there or what they're
charged with. We're not a country which preaches compassion to others while we
allow bodies to float down the streets of major American cities. That's not who
we are."

• He strongly opposes the use of interrogation methods that cause physical or
emotional suffering. 

• Obama voted YES on requiring CIA reports on detainees & interrogation
methods. Amendment to provide for congressional oversight of certain Central
Intelligence Agency programs.

• In May 2008 while campaigning in North Carolina, Obama said, “We can set the
highest standards around the world for human rights and rule of law and close
Guantanamo and restore habeas corpus." 




Barack Obama position on Business and Labor:

• He has for the most part supported the interests of the United Auto Workers
and the AFL-CIO.

• Obama believes that workers should have the freedom to choose whether to join
a union without harassment or intimidation from their employers. Obama
cosponsored and is strong advocate for the Employee Free Choice Act, a
bipartisan effort to assure that workers can exercise their right to organize. 
He will continue to fight for EFCA's passage and sign it into law. 

• Obama has fought the Bush National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) efforts to
strip workers of their right to organize. He is a cosponsor of legislation to
overturn the NLRB's "Kentucky River" decisions classifying hundreds of
thousands of nurses, construction, and professional workers as "supervisors"
who are not protected by federal labor laws. 

• Obama supports the right of workers to bargain collectively and strike if
necessary.  He would work to ban the permanent replacement of striking
workers.

 • Obama would raise the minimum wage, index it to inflation and increase the
Earned Income Tax Credit. 




Barack Obama position on Same Sex Relationships:

• Obama believes in gay equality.

• He is a supporter of civil unions, but not same-sex marriage.

• Obama believes that the same-sex marriage issue should be decided by
individual states.

• In January 2008, Obama addressed homophobia in the African-American
community.  He was speaking to 2,000 worshippers on the eve of the Martin
Luther King Jr. holiday at one of the nation’s premier black churches,
Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King once preached. He stated, “If we
are honest with ourselves, we’ll acknowledge that our own community has not
always been true to King’s vision of a beloved community, we have scorned our
gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them.” 



Barack Obama position on the Deficit:





Barack Obama position on Stem Cell Research:

• Obama supports federally funded embryonic stem cell research.



Barack Obama position on Gun Control:

• Obama addressed the June 2008 Supreme Court decision striking down the
District of Columbia's gun ban by saying, “I have always believed that the
Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms, but I also
identify with the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children
from the violence that plagues our streets through common-sense, effective
safety measures. The Supreme Court has now endorsed that view, and while it
ruled that the D.C. gun ban went too far, Justice Scalia himself acknowledged
that this right is not absolute and subject to reasonable regulations enacted
by local communities to keep their streets safe.”

• Obama has a history of supporting gun control. 

• Obama supports a ban on assault weapons and concealed weapons.

• He would crackdown on unscrupulous gun dealers.

• He voted against prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers. 




Barack Obama position on Marijuana Law:

• Obama has publicly admitted to using illegal drugs in the past. “Junkie.
Pothead. That’s where I’d been headed: the final, fatal role of the young
would-be black man,” He wrote in his 1995 book, ‘Dreams of my Father.’


• He believes that if the best way to relieve pain and suffering is through use
of medicinal marijuana then it's something 'he's open to'.

• Obama pledged to end medical marijuana raids in the 12 states that allow
medical marijuana use.

• He has stated that there is no difference between medical marijuana and
morphine when it comes to just giving people relief from pain.

• Concerning medical marijuana Obama stated in March 2008, "When it comes to
medical marijuana, I have more of a practical view than anything else. My
attitude is that if it's an issue of doctors prescribing medical marijuana as a
treatment for glaucoma or as a cancer treatment, I think that should be
appropriate because there really is no difference between that and a doctor
prescribing morphine or anything else. I think there are legitimate concerns in
not wanting to allow people to grow their own or start setting up mom and pop
shops because at that point it becomes fairly difficult to regulate. 
I'm not familiar with all the details of the initiative that was passed (Oregon
Medical Marijuana Act) and what safeguards there were in place, but I think the
basic concept that using medical marijuana in the same way, with the same
controls as other drugs prescribed by doctors, I think that's entirely
appropriate. 
I would not punish doctors if it's prescribed in a way that is appropriate.
That may require some changes in federal law. I will tell you that...the
likelihood of that being real high on my list is not likely. What I'm not going
to be doing is using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state
laws on this issue simply because I want folks to be investigating violent
crimes and potential terrorism. We've got a lot of things for our law
enforcement officers to deal with."

• Obama believes the disparity between sentencing crack and powder-based
cocaine is wrong and should be completely eliminated. 

• He would give first-time, non-violent offenders a chance to serve their
sentence, where appropriate, in the type of drug rehabilitation programs
designed in changing bad behavior. 



Barack Obama position on the Minimum Wage:

 • Obama would raise the minimum wage, index it to inflation and increase the
Earned Income Tax Credit. 

• He has voted for increases in the minimum wage.




Barack Obama position on Civil Liberties:

• As a young comminity activist Obama helped 150,000 African Americans register
to vote.

• Obama worked as a civil rights attorney for more than a decade litigating
employment discrimination, housing discrimination, and voting rights cases.

• His record in the Illinois State Senate focused heavily on civil liberty and
rights.  He passed one of the country's first racial profiling laws and helped
reform a broken death penalty system. 

• In the U.S. Senate, Obama has been a leading advocate for protecting the
right to vote, helping to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act and leading the
opposition against discriminatory barriers to voting.

• He would expand Hate Crimes Statutes by passing the Matthew Shepherd Act, 
strengthening federal hate crime legislation, and stengthening enforcement at
the Department of Justice. 

• Obama would combat employment discrimination by working to overturn the
Supreme Court's recent ruling that curtails racial minorities' and women's
ability to challenge pay discrimination. He would also pass the ‘Fair Pay Act’
to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work and the ‘Employment
Non-Discrimination Act’ to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation
or gender identity or expression. 

• Obama will provide job training, substance abuse and mental health counseling
to ex-offenders, so that they are successfully re-integrated into society. He
will also create a prison-to-work incentive program to improve ex-offender
employment and job retention rates. 

• He would ban racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies and provide
federal incentives to state and local police departments to prohibit the
practice. 

• Obama would end deceptive voting practices by signing into law his
legislation that establishes harsh penalties for those who have engaged in
voter fraud and provides voters who have been misinformed with accurate and
full information so they can vote.  

• Obama voted NO on extending the Patriot Act's wiretap provision extending the
authority of the FBI to conduct "roving wiretaps" and access business records.



Barack Obama position on Capital Punishment:

• Obama supports the death penalty.

• He believes that the death penalty 'does little to deter crime' but supports
it for cases in which 'the community is justified in expressing the full
measure of its outrage'.
 
• As an Illinois lawmaker, Obama worked with law enforcement officials and
wrote a bill mandating the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all
capital punishment cases.  He also sought other changes in a system that had
produced wrongful convictions.

• Obama  was involved in reforming the broken Illinois capital punishment
system.




Barack Obama position on China:

• He wants to enforce all standing trade agreements with China.

• Obama advocates reducing the amount of US debt held by Beijing.

• He has threatens to take China 'to the mat' if it is found to be manipulating
the value of its currency.