With this week’s Republican presidential candidate debates, last night’s State of the Union address and tonight’s upcoming GOP debate, we can all tell that the 2012 presidential race is starting to heat up. So, collegiettes, are you all ready for it?
There is a common notion in U.S. politics that American voters tend to cast their ballots according to party lines, not the actual issues at hand. That party politics, rather than individual citizens making fully informed decisions, dominate our campaigns.
In a sense, this strategy makes sense. Why waste time educating yourself about each and every candidate when you can get the basic idea by simply learning what party they each belong to? After all, this year’s Republican primary candidates all want to cut spending, lower taxes and repeal universal healthcare.
However, within each political party exist vast differences.
According to a Pew Research Center survey, the top priority for voters in the 2012 election is improving the economy and increasing jobs. Other important topics are health care, immigration, foreign policy and certain social issues. Here is an overview of the GOP candidates’ stance on those issues. I encourage you to read up and prepare to make a confident vote when the primary elections arrive at your state.
Mitt Romney
Economy:
“Believe in America: Mitt Romney’s Plan for Jobs and Economic Growth” delineates Romney’s stance on taxes and job creation. Although he wants to maintain the current tax rates on personal income, he plans to reduce the corporate income tax rate from 35 to 25 percent. He also plans to undertake a restructuring of government programs and services, which include the reduction of the federal workforce by 10 percent and the capping of federal spending at 20 percent of GDP.
Health Care:
Romney claims that as soon as he becomes elected president, he will issue an executive order to obtain waivers from Obamacare to all 50 states. He believes universal healthcare must be repealed completely and wants the power of health care to return to the states. He wants each state to find a health care solution that fits them best, because each state is different. Along with this, he wants Americans to be able to buy insurance from other states without extra fees and have the health care system work as a market, rather than a government program.
In order to provide health care access to low-income Americans, Romney plans to block-grant funds for Medicaid and the uninsured. Also, he will offer a tax deduction to individuals who buy their own insurance.
Immigration:
In issues of immigration, Romney said in the Tampa, Fla. Republican debate that his solution is “self-deportation.” The idea behind this is to make it almost impossible for illegal immigrants to find a job. With no jobs, there is no reason for them to remain here. Therefore, Romney assumes they will go back to their own country to find a job. In this manner, the U.S. government won’t have to round up all illegal immigrants to deport them.
To do this Romney proposes issuing a card to immigrants that will tell employers federal immigration data. He also aims to complete a fence around the U.S. -Mexico border to prevent further illegal immigration.
Foreign Policy:
Mitt Romney has adopted a very tough stance on foreign policy, with the idea that when America is strong, the world is safer. To strengthen our military, he plans to reverse the Obama defense spending cuts and set defense spending at a minimum of 4 percent of GDP. Cuts to missile defense would also be reversed to make our country defensible against nuclear attacks.
He stresses the danger of Iran and plans to eliminate the nuclear threat posed by them and other Middle East countries. Check his campaign website to get more details on how he plans to act towards China, Russia, the Middle East, North Korea and Latin America.
Social Issues:
Romney is anti-abortion, yet has been criticized for not signing an anti-abortion pledge in 2007. He opposes gay marriage and as president would defend the federal Defense of Marriage Act, banning the federal recognition of same-sex marriage.
Newt Gingrich
Economy:
Gingrich’s “21st Century Contract with America” explains how he is going to balance the budget, pay the debt and decrease unemployment. As president, he claims he will stop tax increases and promote tax cuts. He would eliminate the capital gains tax and reduce the corporate income tax from 35 to 12.5 percent. Gingrich also wants to institute an optional flat tax of 15 percent, which would allow Americans to file their taxes on a postcard. He claims this would provide a personal deduction of $12,000 for every American.
Health Care:
Gingrich wants to repeal universal health care and replace it with his “Patient Power” plan, which gives patients and doctors the ultimate responsibility to make decisions. The plan gives Americans the choice of a tax credit or a deduction of their health insurance cost. It also allows Americans to purchase insurance across state lines.
In regards to Medicare, Gingrich wants to create more choices and give seniors the option to choose a more personal system. He also wants to block-grant funds and reform Medicaid to give the states more freedom to customize health care plans to their needs.
His plan would reward quality care and would help individuals make informed choices when buying insurance. He also aims to stop health care fraud by moving from a paper-based system to an electronic one.
Immigration:
The first goal outlined in Gingrich’s immigration plan is to secure the border against illegal immigrants, terrorists and other threats. He proposes a “21st Century Visa Program” which would be more efficient and would promote tourism and legal immigration. This would also include an easier transition from a student visa to a high-skill visa, to encourage foreign students who study in the U.S. to stay here, rather than take their skills elsewhere.
Gingrich states that it is inhumane to deport every single illegal immigrant. Therefore, his plan includes a path to legality, but not citizenship, for those illegal immigrants who have been in the U.S. for a long time and have formed roots here. However, this would not go without punishment. These immigrants would be fined for their illegal status. And, he also indicates the need for a dignified deportation for those who don’t have any roots here, and a swift deportation for those who have committed crimes. As president, Gingrich would make English the official language of the United States.
Foreign Policy:
Gingrich stresses American exceptionalism in his foreign policy and states that we must protect not only ourselves, but also those who share our values. He thinks one of the main purposes of government is to keep America safe. We must understand that we are in a long war against radical Islamism in need of a unified grand strategy. This grand strategy means viewing the threats posed by Iraq, Afghanistan, and others as one, rather than several isolated dangers.
Gingrich also wants to reduce our dependence on oil from dangerous countries in the Middle East and implement an American Energy Plan.
Social Issues:
Gingrich is pro-life and plans to end taxpayer subsidies for abortion by repealing Obamacare. He also plans to cut funding for Planned Parenthood and reinstate the “Mexico City Policy,” which bans organizations that receive government funding from performing abortions anywhere.
Gingrich also does not support same-sex marriage and as president would enforce the Defense of Marriage Act, which federally defines marriage as being between one man and one woman.
Rick Santorum
Economy:
Santorum’s economic plan focuses on cutting taxes and spending. He proposes to cut spending by $5 trillion over the course of five years and return to the non-defense spending levels of 2008. He plans to limit federal spending to a maximum of 18 percent of GDP.
As for taxes, Santorum plans to reduce the corporate income tax to 17.5 percent and completely eliminate the corporate income tax for manufacturers. Personal income taxes would be cut and simplified and taxes for families would be reduced by tripling the personal deduction for each child. He would, however, increase the Research & Development Tax Credit from 14 to 20 percent.
Health Care:
Santorum wants to repeal ObamaCare and believes that through the competition of a market economy, health insurance costs will be reduced. His plan allows patients to purchase health insurance across state lines so that they can get access to the best insurance coverage. It also allows consumers to purchase insurance with pre-tax dollars.
As president, Santorum would block-grant Medicaid and allow states to implement the health care system that is best tailored to their specific needs.
Immigration:
Santorum states that the most urgent need in immigration reform is to tighten the border. He plans to expand the border fence and enhance physical border security. Once he has controlled the border, he wants to work to stop illegal immigrants already in the country from receiving benefits, such as in-state tuition, and plans to deport all illegal aliens involved in criminal activites. He also wants to make English the official language of the country.
Santorum’s plan calls for a workable guestworker program for farmers and is against the lottery system, which works by luck rather than what is good for our country.
Foreign Policy:
Santorum does not refer to our conflict in the Middle East as a War on Terror. Instead, he believes it is a War with Radical Islam. He states that the threat posed by our enemies in the Middle East is great and we need to reinvigorate our human-intelligence in those countries. We must also promote our values abroad, just like we did with the Soviet Empire in the 1980s.
His plan also calls for the support of Israel and a joint effort to eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat. He refuses to negotiate at any level with the “terrorist state of Iran,” and claims that energy independence is crucial to our safety.
Social Issues:
Santorum is strictly against abortion and has maintained a constant voting record that reveals that. In a recent CNN interview, he told Piers Morgan that even if his own daughter were raped, he would urge her to make the best of a bad situation and embrace the “gift of human life.” He also expresses his beliefs about the traditional American family and is against same-sex marriage.
Ron Paul
Economy:
Ron Paul’s “Plan to Restore America” includes cuts in spending of about $1 trillion during his first year in office. To do so, he would eliminate the Energy, HUD, Commerce, Interior and Education departments of the U.S. government and abolish the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). He believes the responsibility of security needs to be returned to private property owners.
Paul plans to reduce the corporate tax rate to 15 percent, end taxes on personal savings and extend all Bush tax cuts. He also wants to eliminate the Federal Reserve all together.
Health Care:
Like every other GOP candidate, Paul wants to repeal ObamaCare and return the power of health care to the patients and the states. He also plans to block grant Medicaid and other welfare programs, and provide tax credits and deductions for all medical expenses. He also wants to end the national database of personal health information.
He trusts the American people to know what dietary supplements and treatments are right for them and wants to stop the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from interfering in this process.
Immigration:
Paul’s views on immigration are to enforce border security and end birthright citizenship, which gives illegal immigrant parents citizenship if their child is born in the U.S. As a disincentive for illegal immigration, Paul wants to abolish the welfare state, and stop using taxpayer money to pay for benefits of illegal immigrants. By not rewarding illegal aliens, Paul says he would be protecting and encouraging legal immigration.
Foreign Policy:
Paul wants to end all foreign wars and involvement and stop foreign aid. He opposes military intervention in Afghanistan and wants to put an end to the concept of “nation-building,” which is increasing our debt and killing thousands of innocent lives. He wants to enforce the Constitutional law that only Congress can declare war before one is waged.
Social Issues:
Paul is a licensed OB/GYN and says that having delivered thousands of babies in his lifetime has only reinforced his pro-life beliefs. He believes that abortions should never be accepted and claims that in his years of medicine he never once found that a pregnant woman needed an abortion in order to save her life. As president he will work to overturn Roe v. Wade and prohibit funding for Planned Parenthood.
Although Paul does not support same-sex marriage, he believes marriage is not an issue for the federal government and would allow the states to deal with that matter.
Main sources:
http://www.mittromney.com/
http://www.newt.org/
http://www.ricksantorum.com/
http://www.ronpaul2012.com/
Additional sources:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2011/12/newt-gingrich-marriage-pledge-family-leader-/1
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/romney-stance-dream-act-magnified-florida-15409525
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2178/state-of-the-union-economy-jobs-iran-military-spending-social-security-medicare-immigration-tax-fairness-environment
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2012/