Political positions of the Republican Party

Political positions of the Republican Party

The platform of the Republican Party of the United States is generally based on American conservatism, in contrast to the social liberalism of the Democrats. Contemporarily, the party’s economic conservatism involves support for lower taxes, free market capitalism, deregulation of corporations, and restrictions on labor unions. The social conservatism includes support for gun rights and other traditional values, often with a Christian foundation, including restrictions on abortion.

About Political positions of the Republican Party in brief

Summary Political positions of the Republican PartyThe platform of the Republican Party of the United States is generally based on American conservatism, in contrast to the social liberalism of the Democrats. The party consists of moderates, sometimes described as establishment Republicans, and members of the Tea Party or Freedom Caucus, who have been described as populist, right-wing, and far-right. Contemporarily, the party’s economic conservatism involves support for lower taxes, free market capitalism, deregulation of corporations, and restrictions on labor unions. The social conservatism includes support for gun rights and other traditional values, often with a Christian foundation, including restrictions on abortion. In foreign policy, Republicans usually favor increased military spending, unilateral action, and anti-Communist revolutions, especially during the 1980s and 1990s. Other Republican positions include restrictions on immigration, opposition to drug legalization, and support for school choice. Since the 1920s Republicans have generally been opposed to labor unions, which comprise a major component of the Democratic New Deal coalition. Most Republicans are opposed to minimum wage increases, believing that such increases hurt many businesses by forcing them to cut jobs and raise prices of goods and services. Republicans have a mixed record of supporting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Congressional Republicans and the Bush administration supported to reduce Medicaid’s growth rate; however, congressional Republicans expanded Medicare, supporting a new drug plan for seniors starting in 2006. In 2011, House Republicans overwhelmingly voted for a proposal known as The Path to Prosperity and for major changes to Medicare, Medicaid, and the 2010 health care legislation.

Republicans support increased health insurance portability, laws promoting coverage of pre-existing medical conditions, a cap on malpractice lawsuits, implementing a streamlined electronic medical records system, and tax benefits aimed to make health insurance more affordable for the uninsured and to promote universal access. At the state level, Republicans generally support various right to work laws that give workers the right not to participate in unions. At one point, Republicans supported the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, which gives workers the right to shop not to join unions. Most virulent opponents of labor unions have moved into the GOP Party, with most elected in 2010, including Governor Rick Perry of Texas, the most virulent opponent of union membership. Republicans generally oppose government funding for elective abortions. In 1896, the GOP platform pledged to \”renew and emphasize our allegiance to the policy of protection, as the bulwark of American industrial independence, and the foundation of development and prosperity. This true American policy taxes foreign products and encourages home industry. It puts the burden of revenue on foreign goods; it secures the American market for the American producer. It upholds the American standard of wages for theAmerican workingman.’’ In 2003, Congress passed the Medicare Modernization Act with bipartisan support creating Medicare Part D covering prescription drugs, It was signed into law by President George W. Bush. In 1996, Republicans introduced and strongly supported the welfare reform of 1996 and limited eligibility for welfare, successfully allowing many former welfare recipients to find jobs.