io9 Roundup of Superhero, Political and Futurist Articles, Part 1

This weekend we've got a roundup of recent, relevant, and few just really cool, articles from the science, science fiction and fantasy blog io9.com. Stay tuned for all the parts.

• The weirdest political messages in the history of comics (Probably the best article of the list)
• 12 Facepalm Moments When U.S. Politicians Talked About Science and Technology
• Science Fiction’s Presidents Of The 21st Century 
• Who destroyed the White House best? (Includes both historical and fictional examples)
• Lavie Tidhar’s Osama wins World Fantasy Award
• Environmental Laws: A Defense Against Zombies?
• Alternate history maps of the 2012 US presidential election
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt probably didn’t have polio after all
• Do science fiction writers have “expertise” on future developments in science? 
• Futurist Magazine unveils its predictions for 2013 and beyond
• Are satellite orbits being compromised by global warming?
• What happens to women denied abortions? This is the first scientific study to find out.
• Are humans getting dumber?
• The U.S. will become energy independent by 2035 — but at what cost?

The Presidential Platforms

With the United States Presidential Election now less than a week away, this week we'll be summarizing the candidates platforms. Once again, all information and videos are taken directly from the candidates' websites, either in part or in whole, unless otherwise noted, with minimal alteration to clarify and streamline information.

Barack Obama
Summarized from Obama's Website

• On the Economy, President Obama wants to:
• Repeal the Bush tax cuts for households earning more than $250,000
• Lower taxes on the manufacturing industry
• Eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas
• Increase stimulus spending and tax cuts to grow the economy in the short term
• Cut spending and raise taxes on the wealthy to reduce the deficit to help the economy in the long term, which includes the creation of the Buffett Rule, which would tax individuals with incomes more than $1 million by a minimum of 3%, regardless of the source of the income.
• Maintain and possible increase stimulus spending and programs as needed
• Increase government regulation on the banking industry after all the deregulation by the Bush administration allowed Wall Street to cause the 2008 financial crisis.
• Increase prosecution on mortgage fraudsters and require full mortgage disclosure to make it harder for fraudsters to "steal" mortgages.
• Keep Social Security from privatization which would make it vulnerable to stock market fluctuation.
• On the Environment and Energy, President Obama: 
• Supports the creation of a mandatory cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions
• Created national standards for other toxic emissions 
• Has moved energy subsides from oil and coal to wind and solar
• Has continued to withhold approval on the northern leg of the Keystone XL oil pipeline over environmental concerns and the company's spotty record on preventing, containing and clearing up oil spills.
• Has forced BP to create a $20 billion spill response fund in addition to the clean up costs for the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, set a moratorium on permits for new offshore oil wells and stopped the granting of environmental waivers to oil companies
• On Healthcare, President Obama:
• Signed the 2010 healthcare overhaul bill, aka Obamacare, which calls for 
• patient protections like allowing coverage for pre-existing conditions
• not letting insurers cancel policies when patients get sick
• requiring individuals to buy health insurance or pay a fine
• Has been very openly critical of the Romney/Ryan plan to turn Medicare into a voucher system and significantly reduce its funding
• Wants to increase the number of people covered by Medicaid 
• On Education, President Obama:
• Reformed the No Child Left Behind law to better help students
• Created the Race to the Top program that has distributed billions of dollars to states that have begun to modernize their education systems
• Created a $10,000 college tax credit and increased Pell grants and other financial aid with a focus on turning community colleges into community career centers
• On Equal Rights, President Obama:
• Is the first US President to support same-sex marriage
• Pushed Congress into repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell and officially allowing gays to openly serve in the military
• Supports Roe v. Wade and criticized the Supreme Court decision that upheld the ban on partial-birth abortions
• On National Security, President Obama:
• Opposed the Iraq from the beginning and opposed further troop increases. When he was elected he ended the Iraq war on a more realistic timeline that the one the Bush administration had left
• Has seen significant gains in the Afghanistan war since taking office, including killing Osama bin Laden while he was being sheltered in Pakistan. 
• Has repeatedly called for using diplomacy and economic sanctions over military action with hostile nations like Iran, despite being rebuffed by those nation
• On Immigration, President Obama:
• Supports the creation of a path to legalization for illegal immigrants that includes learning English and paying fines
• Tougher penalties for hiring illegal immigrants
• Voted for the creation of a fence along the Mexican border
• Issued an executive order to not deport immigrants who had been brought to the US when they were under 16, are under 30, finished high school and have no criminal record

Mitt Romney
Summarized from Romney's Website

• On the Economy, Mitt Romney wants to: 
• make the entirety of the Bush tax cuts permanent
• cut taxes and regulations on businesses to encourage growth 
• cut non-security discretionary government spending by 5% to reduce deficit
• For individuals: 
• cutting marginal tax rates 20% across-the-board
• eliminate the estate/inheritance tax
• eliminate taxes on interest
• dividends and capital gains for individuals with incomes below $200,000
• repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
• For corporations:
• Romney has proposed cutting the corporate rate from 35% to 25%
• make the R&D tax credit permanent
• repeal corporate AMT 
• move to a territorial tax system where US companies will not have to pay US taxes on income earned overseas even when repatriated. 
• In order to pay for all these tax cuts, Romney has proposed eliminating all stimulus spending, certain tax deductions, such as mortgage interest deductions for second homes, state income and state property tax deductions, and has also stated there would be severe cuts to the Department of Education and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
• Remove most regulation on all businesses in an effort to facilitate growth.
• Let foreclosures happen, with the belief that enough of them will make the market "reboot"
• Privatize Social Security to let it try to reap the benefits of the stock market.
• On the Environment and Energy, Mitt Romney:
• Opposes any carbon emissions reduction legislation saying it would stifle business and make country that don't have any environmental regulations like China more attractive and would leave states to create their own emissions standards
• Supports the Keystone XL pipeline and would fast track it's construction by minimizing government oversight
• Would maintain the $4 billion in subsidies for oil and gas companies
• Has stated that he agrees that humans contribute to global warming and wants to put together a group to investigate how much this has impacted the Earth and what might be done to remedy the problem.
• Would create a $20 billion package for energy research and new car technology with a focus on replacing green jobs with "American competitiveness"
• Would increase the number of oil platforms and re-introduce environmental waivers for oil companies
• Would give states the power to determine whether drilling or mining should occur on federal land within them
• Has close ties to the oil and gas sectors, having accepted millions of dollars in campaign donations from them.
• On Healthcare, Mitt Romney:
• Created a similar healthcare program to Obama's for Massachusetts, but has since denounced the system as "not something Americans want" and would repeal Obamacare as soon as he able with an executive order despite the $250 billion that would cost
• Wants to allow insurance companies greater freedoms like removing the limited number of insurance companies each state can have in the hopes a more diverse market will make things better for consumers. 
• Wants to reduce Medicare funding and turn it into a voucher based system to allow private businesses to offer health insurance and select their own clients.
• Wants to greatly reduce Medicaid coverage and the number of people covered, as well as hand over majority of control to the states
• On Education, Mitt Romney:
• Has generally agreed with Obama's policies
• Wants to reduce federal government involvement and significantly cut the Department of Education
• Believes that federal student aid encourages tuition to increase
• Wants to privatize the federal student loan program
• On Equal Rights, Mitt Romney: 
• Opposes same-sex marriage and wants to federally outlaw gay marriage
• Supported Don't Ask, Don't Tell and was not in favor of the repeal 
• Opposes Roe v. Wade and would attempt to overturn it if elected
• Believes states should be allowed to ban abortions, even in cases of rape per the official Republican platform
• Would ban in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments
• Would shut down Planned Parenthood and other women's health support facilities
• On National Security, Mitt Romney:
• would call for an increase in American's military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Tightening economic sanctions even further than Obama on hostile nations
• Would not rule out using preemptive military force on these countries and violating the Geneva Convention when detaining terrorists.
• On Immigration, Mitt Romney:
• Would make English the official language of the US 
• Would "turn off the magnets like tuition breaks or other breaks that draw people into this country illegally"
• Wants to force immigrants to "self-deport" by making it impossible for them to find work and comfortable living conditions.
• Is in favor of promoting legal immigration, allowing more high-skilled immigrants into the country and make migrant visas easier to obtain.

Superheros, Equal Rights and Women's Health

And now, the superheroes shall comment on the candidates' equal rights and women's health platforms, and give a point for Obama, Romney or Undecided. Once again, some of these statements are direct or expanded quotes. Try to figure out which ones in the comments!

Batman

"Women have been very valuable to all of America, through their pluck and their heroism. Giving them and everyone else equal rights is something that should have been accomplished years ago."
Point for: Obama

Captain America

"Women are being hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We must help them however we can, and voting for Obama will go a long way in helping."
Point for: Obama

Blue Beetle

"Wow. Romney is being really discriminator towards women and homosexuals. Is that even legal?"
Point for: Obama

Shadowcat
"Having been involved with so many fights for people's rights, and I can tell you Romney that people like you who would deny some people their rights are always on the losing side, especially if I have a say in the matter."
Point for: Obama

Hellboy

"If you have two people with the same skills fighting the same monster, you should be giving them the same pay. Obama sees fit to do that."
Point for: Obama

The Question

"Romney's attempt to distance himself from the issue shows that he knows his opinion isn't popular with the public, and for good reason."
Point for: Obama

Spider-Girl  
"Nobody should suffer because we failed to help when we should have. Obama is seeking to help as many as he can."

Point for: Obama

Plastic Man

"A great man once said "Men are from Earth, Women are from Earth, Deal with It". I don't think Romney's dealing with it."
Point for: Obama

Aunt May

"President Obama is helping so many people. I want to help him help others."
Point for: Obama

Gran'ma Ben

"I've learned the hard way you can't go giving some people special treatment. You have to treat everyone equally, or things will go badly for everyone."
Point for: Obama

Mr. Incredible
"You can't go around denying people rights. Those people will be taken advantage of by others looking to exploit them. I'm glad Obama is fixing this."
Point for: Obama

Dr. Deseret

"We need to be making the effort to reach out to the gay community with understanding and respect after many years of strife and heartbreak. Romney clearly doesn't want to do this."
Point for: Obama

Crimson Avenger

"Obama's legal efforts to end inequality should be celebrated, not repealed."
Point for: Obama

Big Bertha

"Discrimination in any form is wrong. People need to look past what's on the outside and see people for who they really are. Romney has basically said he doesn't want to do that."
Point for: Obama

Linda Park-West

"Romney doesn't want to talk about these issues? Then I don't want to talk about him."
Point for: Obama

The Savage Dragon
"Abolishing hate crime task forces and cutting funding to hate crime prevention is a sure way to increase crime. If Romney did that to the whole country, there would be trouble, and I'd bring it right to him."
Point for: Obama

Tigra

"I don't think Romney knows about all of the services Planned Parenthood provides, and how crucial it is for some people. His ignorance is really starting to show."
Point for: Obama

Green Lantern

"Romney's actions are straight up discrimination. One bad lab accident and he could be a supervillian!"
Point for: Obama.

Luke Cage

"Would we be having this discussion if we replaced 'women' or 'gay people' with 'blacks'? So then why does Romney want to keep denying people the same rights?"
Point for: Obama

Superman

"Helping people shouldn't be about where they were born, who they are or what they wear. It's about what you do, It's about the actions you take. And I think Romney's taking the wrong actions."
Point for: Obama





Conclusion

Issue	Obama/Biden	Undecided	Romney/Ryan
Economy	19	1	0
Energy & Environment	19	1	0
Healthcare	20	0	0
Education	20	0	0
Equal Rights and Women's Health	20	0	0

I don't think anyone is surprised with this one. Romney's refusal to talk about the subject really hurts him. Do any of you agree with the superheroes' comments? If you think any of the heroes have been misrepresented, let me know in the comments!
Tomorrow I'll have an article on Captain America's new position, Sunday with some insight into presidential minds, and then on Monday I'll have a piece on Utilitarianism. If you have any suggests, feel free to post them in the comments.
~James

Equal Rights and Women's Health Platforms

For this week's issue, we'll look at candidates' platforms on Equal Rights and Women's Health. Once again, all information and videos are taken directly from the candidates' websites, either in part or in whole, unless otherwise noted, with minimal alteration to clarify and streamline information.

Barack Obama
Summarized from Obama's Website

• President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to help women fight back against pay discrimination. He understands that when women are paid less than men for the same work, it hurts the entire family.
• President Obama was the first sitting president to publicly announce his support for marriage for same-sex couples, and has always believed LGBT Americans should be treated fairly and equally
• President Obama repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” so that gay and lesbian service members no longer have to lie about who they are to serve the country they love.
• President Obama endorsed the Respect for Marriage Act, signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and extended hospital visitation and medical decision-making rights to LGBT couples. 
• President Obama has enacted policies that promote the hiring of people with disabilities, increased funding for students with disabilities, provide Americans with access to affordable health care, and improve accessibility standards.
• President Obama is putting an end to the health insurance company practice of charging women more than men for the same coverage.
• Thanks to Obamacare, many insurance plans are beginning to fully cover birth control without co-pays or deductibles as part of women's preventive care—potentially saving women hundreds of dollars every year.
• President Obama believes a woman’s health care choices are personal decisions, best made with her doctor—without interference from politicians.
• President Obama fought back against Republican attempts to defund Planned Parenthood, one of the largest providers of women’s health services, including breast and cervical cancer screenings, and birth control. Under Obamacare, health insurance companies now cover recommended preventive care like mammograms and cancer screenings, and are beginning to cover birth control without co-pays or deductibles.

Romney's Rebuttal


Romney offers no rebuttal to Obama's Equal Rights or Women's Health platforms on his website, so here an small interview by Romney from May, 2012 for as close a rebuttal by Romney on Obama's Equal Rights Platform I could find. I couldn't not find anything from Romney specifically addressing Obama's Women's Health platform, so if anyone knows of anything let me know and I'll update this article.

Mitt Romney
Romney offers no opinion about Equal Rights or Women's Health on his website, so here are some videos of Mitt Romney on the subjects. Apologies for the lack of straight up Romney-only debates
 speech, his lack of any official releases makes that difficult to do, but his position should still be made clear.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Obama's Rebuttal (Summarized from Obama's Website)

• Mitt Romney refused to say whether or not he would have signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law. 
• Mitt Romney would enshrine discrimination into the Constitution with an amendment to ban marriage for same-sex couples.
  
• Mitt Romney refused to support the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and would have left the policy in place.
  
• As governor, Mitt Romney cut funding for hate crimes prevention and abolished a hate crimes task force.
  
• Mitt Romney would repeal the Affordable Care Act and slash Medicaid, which many Americans with disabilities rely on.
• Mitt Romney would let employers, insurance companies, and politicians limit women’s health choices.
  
• Mitt Romney would repeal Obamacare, and give employers the authority to limit women’s access to common forms of birth control.
  
• Mitt Romney believes that Roe v. Wade should be overturned, and backed an extreme proposal to outlaw abortions even in the case of incest and rape.
  
• Mitt Romney would eliminate all federal funding for Planned Parenthood, and roll back all the benefits of health reform.
  

Conclusion
So in summary, Obama has been giving women more rights, in both the work place and with their medical needs and equal rights for LGTB people, while Romney literally supports making discrimination against women and LGTB people legal. That kinda sickens me...

Turn in Friday for the Superhero opinions. I don't think there will be any question which way the heroes side on this one though...
~James