The New America Foundation

The New America Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing the United States.

Presidential Promises: A Review of Campaign Proposals to Promote Savings and Asset Building is the report by the New America Foundation that describes the policy proposals made by Senators Obama and McCain during the course of the presidential campaign. To read the report, click here.

The Illinois Asset Building Group (IAGB)

The IAGB is a diverse statewide coalition invested in building the stability and strength of Illinois communities through increased asset ownership and asset protection. The following analysis of the presidential candidate positions was compiled by the IAGB.

The information compiled by the IABG was obtained from the candidates' websites: www.johnmccain.com & www.barakobama.com

Access to Higher Education

Reform & simplify the student loan process by simplifying higher education tax benefits to encourage more families to claim benefits and federal financial aid to ease the administration of these programs.

Retirement Savings

Reform Social Security by supplementing the current system with personal accounts and call for a bipartisan discussion on the looming financial challenges of entitlement programs.

Worker Training

Create a National Commission on Workplace Flexibility and Choice to bring together a bi-partisan group of leaders representing workers, small and large employers, labor, and academics to make recommendations to the President on how modernizing our nation's labor laws and training programs helps workers better balance the demands of their job with family life and allows workers to more easily transition between jobs.

Consumer Lending

Support subprime mortgage borrowers through a new "HOME Plan," under which eligible subprime borrowers will be able to trade their current mortgage for a manageable loan that reflects their home's market value.

Access to Higher Education

Make college education affordable through the American Opportunity Tax Credit, a $4,000 refundable tax credit available at the time of enrollment in college.

Retirement Savings

Create an automatic workplace pension plan that requires employers who do not currently offer a retirement plan to enroll their employees in a direct-deposit IRA account that is compatible to existing direct-deposit payroll systems; employees may opt-out.

Expand Retirement Savings Incentives for Working Families by creating a savings match at 50 percent of the first $1,000 of savings for families that earn less than $75,000 a year. The savings match will be automatically deposited into designated personal accounts.

EITC

Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit by increasing the number of working parents eligible for EITC benefits; increasing the benefits available to parents who support their children through child support payments, increasing benefits for families with three or more children; and, reducing the EITC marriage penalty.

Consumer Lending

Provide mortgage borrowers with a simplified borrower metric, the Homeowner Obligation Made Explicit (HOME) score.