| Issue |
Republican Party |
Democratic Party |
Libertarian Party |
| Social Security |
Social security should be privatized (not to be confused with private savings accounts, but rather, private investments).
|
Social security should remain a government sponsored insurance plan for retirees. |
Believe in an "opt out" policy in which one can choose to privately invest (they believe this to be the better option) or go with a government sponsored social security plan. |
| Jobs |
Pro small business. Supports giving small businesses tax incentives so that more jobs can be created. |
Encourage businesses to keep jobs here and not outsource
them overseas. Supports unions and advocates for the rights
of low income workers. |
Free market should dictate the job market. |
| Economy |
Supports free market competition and entrepreneurship, corporate deregulation and cutting entitlement spending. |
Increase taxes to cut deficit. Believes large deficit negatively affects government services and that low deficits stimulate the economy. |
100% Free Market. |
| Security/Defense |
Believe in a proactive military and defense. Supports building weapons and technology that serve to protect our nation. Believe that peace is achieved through strong defense. Increase defense and research budget. |
Believe in a limited missile defense. Oppose nuclear buildup
in the U.S. Believe that peace is achieved through worldwide
relationship building. |
Believe in reducing nuclear arms in the U.S. Military should be used to protect people's livery and property only. |
| Legal/Tort Reform |
Supports tort reform and limiting victims compensation,
especially for frivolous lawsuits. |
Oppose tort reform and oppose limiting liability of doctors and/or businesses. |
Generally does not support tort reform. |
| Tax Reform |
Supports tax cuts, low interest rates and the repeal of the death tax penalty in effort to stimulate the economy. |
Generally supports raising taxes on the wealthy, lowering taxes for the middle class. |
Stridently opposes all government imposed taxes and employer withdrawal of employees money for tax purposes. |
| Immigration |
Generally supports closed or tight borders and tracking system for foreign travelers. |
Support illegal alien's ability and right to become citizens and giving them more protections under the law. |
Support open borders. |
| Faith |
Religion strongly associated with Republican party. Advocate free exercise of religion. |
Strict adherence between the separation between church and state. Promote secular issues and a more secular nation. |
Strong belief in separation of church and state and by contrast, Libertarians hold a strong belief in freedom of religion. |
| Education |
Promote school choice/vouchers and homeschooling. Supports voluntary student supported prayer in school. Opposes gender and race quotes in colleges. |
Oppose vouchers. Increase NCLB federal funding. Enact new taxes to decrease class size and hire new teachers. |
End government financial support of public schools, believe that all public schools should be privatized with tax credit for tuition. |
| Abortion |
Generally pro-life with emphasis on promoting alternatives to abortion. |
Generally pro-choice owning the mantra, "Safe, legal, rare." |
Adamantly pro-choice but oppose any government financial
aid to subsidize abortions. |
| Energy |
Oppose Kyoto treaty. Support tax incentives for energy production. |
Wish to find environmentally friendly energy sources and solutions. Oppose increased drilling, especially in the U.S. |
Supports deregulation and believes all government energy resources should be turned over to private ownership. Opposes government conservation of energy. |
| Heathcare |
Keep healthcare private. Would like to impose caps on malpractice
suits. Supports reformed medicare to give seniors more choices. |
Supports more federally funded healthcare programs. |
Strongly supports a complete separation of healthcare and state. Supports the deregulation of the healthcare industry. |
| Foreign Policy |
Spread Democracy. Supports UN reform. Wants to stop WMD proliferation countries. Believe that nations who support terrorist are just as bad as the terrorist themselves. |
Strongly supports worldwide coalitions and multi-national
programs. Supports aid for disadvantaged countries. Supports
the UN. |
End all foreign aid because it's the same as welfare for nations. Believes that aid perpetuates independence on your government. |
| Campaign Finance Reform |
Generally support soft money contributions from individuals but supports limiting it from corporations. Also supports full disclosure. |
Favor more regulation with spending limits on individuals and corporations. |
No restrictions on contributions form any legal resident. Believe that politicians holding an office should not be able to run for another seat until term is over. |
| Environment |
Supports privatizing federal land. Believe in cap and trade
market based air pollution reductions and that the market
should regulate itself. |
Generally puts the interest of the environment over business. Wants to maintain federal land under government control. |
Believes that land and animals should be sold to private organizations or ranchers and taken out of the hands of the government because private citizens will care for it better. |
| Guns |
Limited gun control. |
Strict gun control. |
No control whatsoever. |
| Gay Rights |
Oppose gay marriage. Supports constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. |
Generally supports gay marriage although Democrats remain largely divided on the issue, as some only support civil unions. |
Pro private choice and equality including marriage. |
