? McCain wants to lower trade barriers for US companies. 
Ninety-five percent of the world's customers lie outside our
borders and he says we need to be at the table when the rules
for access to those markets are written. To do so, he thinks
the U.S. should engage in multilateral, regional and bilateral
efforts to reduce barriers to trade, level the global playing
field and build effective enforcement of global trading rules.
He believes these steps would also strengthen the U.S. dollar
and help to control the rising cost of living that hurts our
families. 


? McCain says he will act to make American workers more
competitive. He wants to prepare the next generation of
workers by making American education worthy of the promise we
make to our children and ourselves.  We must be a nation
committed to competitiveness and opportunity. He would fight
for the ability of all students to have access to any school
of demonstrated excellence. He would place parents and
children at the center of the education process, empowering
parents by greatly expanding the ability of parents to choose
among schools for their children. 

? McCain would reform the Unemployment Insurance System by
depositing a portion of each workers Unemployment Insurance
Tax into a Lost Earnings Buffer Account (LEB). If an
individual becomes unemployed, the LEB may be used to cover
needed expenses, with a backstop of traditional UI if the
account is exhausted before 26 weeks. Workers would have an
incentive to preserve their LEB by getting back to work
quickly, and may be eligible for a re-employment bonus if they
get a new job quickly. The LEB would be portable, and upon
retirement, the property of the worker.

? McCain believes we should have a single, seamless approach
to job transition assistance. He thinks that the Unemployment
Insurance System must be more effective in helping those who
have lost a job. He would modernize and transform our current
programs by consolidating redundant federal programs,
strengthening community colleges and technical training and
giving displaced workers more choices to find their way back
to productive and prosperous lives. 

? McCain would reform training programs to provide quick
assistance to workers seeking new skills. He would give
workers access to a flexible training account that permits
them to pay for training at a community college and use
leftover funds to keep their health insurance. 

? McCain would provide special, targeted assistance for older
workers. He believes training is often inefficient for older
workers and those 55 years of age and older who have built up
an LEB would be eligible for a Lost Earnings Supplement. The
supplement of up to 50 percent of their earnings loss (up to a
maximum of $10,000) for two years would be rewarded for those
who find work inside 26 weeks.
		

• President Obama is a strong supporter of worker's
rights. He believes they should be given the right to bargain
collectively and strike if the need arises. He would see to it
that striking workers are not completely expelled from work.

• Obama believes in the Employees Free Choice Act which
is a bipartisan effort to enable workers to organize. The
essence of the Act is to give the employees a choice whether
to join a union or not and not simply be pressured into
joining.

• He opposed Bush's National labor Relations Board's
'Kentucky River' decisions to classify workers such as nurses,
construction workers as supervisors. They were not to receive
protection under Federal labor laws under this decision
therefore Obama cosponsored legislation against this.

• Obama intended to raise the minimum wages index it to
inflationary levels and thereby raise the Earned Income Tax
Credit.

• Obama supports the United Auto Workers and AFL-CIO and
the right of workers to bargain collectively and strike if
necessary.  While running for election he said that he would
work to ban the permanent replacement of striking workers.

• Obama believes that America's future lies in
developing new clean energy jobs which can be achieved by
mandatory limits on carbon pollution which will create a
stable business environment welcoming investments from
entrepreneurs in a new energy economy.

• Obama plans to invest in innovation and development by
giving increased access to capital and by cutting health care
costs and also by introducing a new Small Business Health Tax
Credit.

• He supports the setting up of a national
infrastructure bank to use public and private capital to fund
projects. He builds in creating jobs by rebuilding business
infrastructure.

• 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.