Since 1984, the first year I was able to vote, I have voted Republican. Although in this last election I wasn't happy with the Rep. choice for President, I was very happy with the VP pick. To be fair, the Rep. Platform was 67 pages long, and so I cut and pasted out the key parts, and left the dripping word wrangling out of it.
In red.
The Republicans.
National Defense: Peace through strength, an enduring peace, based on freedom and the will to defend it. The waging of war . and the achieving of peace . should never be micromanaged in a party platform, or on the floor of the Senate and House of Representatives for that matter. In dealing with present conflicts and future crises, our next president must preserve all options. It would be presumptuous to specify them in advance and foolhardy to rule out any action deemed necessary for our security.
Yes. A Strong military is fundamental to a strong country.
The gravest threat we face . nuclear terrorism demands a comprehensive strategy for reducing the world.s nuclear stockpiles and preventing proliferation. The U.S. should lead that effort by reducing the size of our nuclear arsenal to the lowest number consistent with our security requirements and working with other nuclear powers to do the same.
No. Giving away our strongest weapon in the hope our enemies do is stupid.
Border security is essential to national security. We oppose amnesty.
Yes. An Iron wall should protect us from the outside, from people who are attempting to enter illegally. If this wall is indeed iron, or in the form of something else, is immaterial to the concept of a secure border.
Immigration:
In our multiethnic nation, everyone . immigrants and native-born alike . must embrace our core values of liberty, equality, meritocracy, and respect for human dignity and the rights of women.
One sign of our unity is our English language.
Yes. The strength of the nation has been in people coming here to make a better life for themselves.
The all-volunteer force has been a success. We oppose reinstituting the draft, whether directly or through compulsory national service.
No. I think two years of national service would be good for the country and the youth.
Republican leadership has made religious liberty a central element of U.S. foreign policy.
Yes. Worship whatever graven images you want.
The United States participates in various international organizations which can, at times, serve the
cause of peace and prosperity, but those organizations must never serve as a substitute for principled American leadership. As a matter of U.S. sovereignty, American forces must remain under American command.
Yes.
We strongly support the long-held policy of the Republican Party known as the .Mexico City policy,. which prohibits federal monies from being given to non-governmental organizations that provide abortions or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other countries.
Yes.
To shield the members of our Armed Forces and others in service to America from ideological prosecutions, the Republican Party does not accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over Americans.
We have already seen the mockery to justice the UN has become. The ICC is just as bad.
Israel is a vigorous democracy, unique in the Middle East. We reaffirm America.s commitment to Israel.s security and will ensure that Israel maintains a qualitative edge in military technology over any potential adversaries.
Our one friend in the ME. We should stand by her.
Republicans will uphold and defend our party.s core principles: Constrain the federal government to its legitimate constitutional functions.
Yes.
Balance the budget. Period.
Judicial activism is a grave threat to the rule of law because unaccountable federal judges are usurping democracy, ignoring the Constitution and its separation of powers, and imposing their personal opinions upon the public.
Yes.
Preventing voting fraud is a civil rights issue. We support the right of states to require an official government-issued photo identification for voting and call upon the Department of Justice to deploy its resources to prevent ballot tampering in the November elections.
A photo ID should be in the possession of every citizen and required for any government provision and necessity.
The census should count every person legally abiding in the United States in an actual enumeration.
LEGAL persons in this country.
Economic freedom expands the prosperity pie; government can only divide it up. That is why
Republicans advocate lower taxes, reasonable regulation, and smaller, smarter government.
The Republican Party will put a stop to both social engineering and corporate handouts by simplifying
tax policy, eliminating special deals, and putting those saved dollars back into the taxpayers. pockets.
Yes.
We affirm both the right of individuals to voluntarily participate in labor organizations and bargain collectively and the right of states to enact Right-to- Work laws.
I’m torn on Unions. I’m not favorable to them but see where they have helped in the past. BUT- a Union that works to its own benefit? Not so much.
The Republican approach to eliminate frivolous lawsuits has advanced in Congress through efforts like the Class Action Fairness Act and in many states through the adoption of medical liability reforms, which we will continue to pursue on the federal and state level.
End these lawsuits and lower health care costs significantly. Not to mention plenty of other costs in other things.
Greater international trade, aggressively advanced on a truly level playing field, will mean more American jobs, higher wages, and a better standard of living.
Free Trade. That’s what it’s about.
We oppose attempts to hamper agricultural production with heavy-handed mandates, including any
expansion of the Clean Water Act to regulate ditches, culverts, converted cropland, and farm and stock ponds. We reaffirm traditional state supremacy over water allocations and will continue to make available renewable rangeland under sound environmental conditions. We support greater investment in conservation incentive programs to help rural communities improve and sustain environmental quality.
The Clean Water act would destroy a huge amount of Agriculture in the US.
Our current dependence on foreign fossil fuels threatens both our national security and our economy and could also force drastic changes in the way we live.
Stop buying foreign oil. Develop US energy sources including nuclear, wind, solar, our own oil and gas reserves. Build better cleaner cars.
Republicans believe the key to real reform is to give control of the health care system to patients and their health care providers, not bureaucrats in government or business.
Yup. Get the lawyers out of medical care.
Education is a parental right, a state and local responsibility, and a national strategic interest.
Focus on the basics. Teach English and working skills. Show the children that their country is good and will be good to them. Prepare them for the real world.
Criminals behind bars cannot harm the general
public.
Nuf said.
We will continue the fight against producers, traffickers, and distributors of illegal substances through the collaboration of state, federal, and local law enforcement.
Want to win the war on drugs? Stop pretending that it’s not a war.
We uphold the right of individual Americans to own firearms, a right which antedated the Constitution and
was solemnly confirmed by the Second Amendment.
Hell, I’ll go you one better. At the end of their two year national service (which would include a military basic training of eight weeks- but doesn’t require military service for two years. There are other national service things that could be done.), all citizens would be issued an automatic assault rifle. You lose it if convicted of a crime.
We consider discrimination based on sex, race, age, religion, creed, disability, or national origin to be immoral, and we will strongly enforce anti-discrimination statutes. Precisely because we oppose discrimination, we reject preferences, quotas, and set-asides, whether in education or in corporate boardrooms.
Yup.
We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment.s protections apply to unborn children. We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it.
In the absence of a national amendment, we support the right of the people of the various states to affirm traditional marriage through state initiatives.
Uh…not so much. I see this as two separate issues. One: Marriage for monetary benefits and Two: Marriage within religious beliefs. If you simply want to give your benefits to whoever- or what ever- buy a license through the state. You want a church wedding, be prepared to follow that church’s belief system.
Our Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion and forbids any religious test for public
office, and it likewise prohibits the establishment of a state-sponsored creed.
Freedom of religion isn’t freedom from religion.
At the center of a free economy is the right of citizens to be secure in their property. Every person has the right to acquire, own, use, possess, enjoy, and dispose of private property.
Come and try to take the land of a trained and armed citizen.
