Comparing the Party Platforms of the Two Major Parties
Abortion
2012 Democratic Party Platform
2012-National-Platform.pdf
The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a
woman’s right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy, including a safe and
legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay. We oppose any and all efforts to
weaken or undermine that right. [p.18]
2012 Republican Party Platform
2012GOPPlatform.pdf
We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and 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 or
fund organizations which perform or advocate it and will not fund or subsidize
health care which includes abortion coverage. We support the appointment of
judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human
life. We oppose the nonconsensual withholding or withdrawal of care or
treatment, including food and water, from people with disabilities, including
newborns.... [p.14]
We oppose the FDA approval of Mifeprex, formerly known as RU-486, and similar
drugs....[p.34]
[W]e support repeal of the remaining sections of McCain-Feingold, support
either raising or repealing contribution limits, and oppose passage of
the DISCLOSE Act or any similar legislation designed to vitiate the Supreme
Court’s recent decisions protecting political speech in Wisconsin Right to Life v.
Federal Election Commission and Citizens United v. Federal Election
Commission. [p.19]
Campaign Finance
Our opponents have applauded the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens
United.... In stark contrast, we believe we must take immediate action to curb
the influence of lobbyists and special interests on our political institutions. [p.12]
Commerce:
Minimum Wage
We will raise the minimum wage, and index it to inflation. [p.10]
Commerce:
Small Businesses
President Obama and the Democratic Party are committed to... tax cuts for small
businesses that make new investments, hire more workers, or increase wages.
[p.10]
We will reform the tax code to allow businesses to generate enough capital to
grow and create jobs.... [p.2]
Commerce: China
This administration has doubled the rate of trade cases brought against China by
the last administration.... [p.10]
[A] Republican President will insist on full parity in trade with China and stand
ready to impose countervailing duties if China fails to amend its currency
policies. Until China abides by the WTO’s Government Procurement Agreement,
the United States government will end procurement of Chinese goods and
services. [p.13]
The President is committed to continuing to fight unfair trade practices that
disadvantage American producers and workers, including illegal subsidies, nontariff barriers, and abuse of worker rights or environmental standards. [p.11]
Commerce: Unions
Democrats believe that the right to organize and collectively bargain is a
fundamental American value. [p.9]
We will continue to vigorously oppose “Right to Work” and “paycheck
protection” efforts, and so-called “Save our Secret Ballot” measures whenever
they are proposed. [p.10]
We will restore the rule of law to labor law by blocking “card check,” enacting
the Secret Ballot Protection Act, enforcing the Hobbs Act against labor violence,
and passing the Raise Act to allow all workers to receive well-earned raises
without the approval of their union representative. We demand an end to
the Project Labor Agreements; and we call for repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act....
[p.8]
We support the right of States to enact Right-to-Work laws.... [p.8]
We will aggressively enforce the recent decision by the Supreme Court barring
the use of union dues for political purposes without the consent of the worker.
[p.8]
Commerce: Women
[W]e are committed to passing the Paycheck Fairness Act.... [p.10]
Crime
[We will continue] to invest in proven community-based law enforcement
programs such as the Community Oriented Policing Services program.... We
created the Federal Interagency Reentry Council in 2011.... We support local
prison-to-work programs.... [p.20]
[W]e support mandatory prison sentencing for gang crimes, violent or sexual
offenses against children, repeat drug dealers, rape, robbery and murder. We
support a national registry for convicted child murderers. We oppose parole for
dangerous or repeat felons. [p.37]
[W]e enacted the Fair Sentencing Act.... [p.20]
In solidarity with those who protect us, we call for mandatory prison time for all
assaults involving serious injury to law enforcement officers. [p.37]
We have increased funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program over
the last four years, and we will continue to expand the use of drug courts....
[p.20]
We are committed to ending violence against women. We support reauthorizing
the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act and oppose the proposals by
Republicans in the House of Representatives.... [p.20]
Federal criminal law should focus on acts by federal employees or acts
committed on federal property – and leave the rest to the States. Then Congress
should withdraw from federal departments and agencies the power to
criminalize behavior....[p.38]
Crime: Death Penalty
We believe that the death penalty must not be arbitrary. DNA testing should be
used in all appropriate circumstances, [and] defendants should have effective
assistance of counsel.... [p.20]
Courts should have the option of imposing the death penalty in capital murder
cases. [p.37]
Defense: Spending
In our current fiscal environment, we must also make tough budgetary decisions
across the board – and that includes within the defense budget. [p.29]
Sequestration—which is severe, automatic, across-the-board cuts in defense
spending over the next decade—of the nation’s military budget would be a
disaster for national security.... [p.40]
Defense:
Gays in the Military
The President’s record, from ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in full cooperation with
our military leadership... reflects Democrats’ belief that all Americans deserve
the same chance to... serve their country.... [p.17]
We will enforce and defend in court the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in the
Armed Forces.... [p.43]
Defense:
Women in the Military
Education
[President Obama's] Recovery Act represented the largest education investment
since President Johnson.... [p.3]
We are committed to ensuring that every child in America has access to a worldclass public education so we can out-educate the world and make sure America
has the world’s highest proportion of college graduates by 2020. [p.5]
[W]e have helped states and territories develop comprehensive plans to raise
standards and improve instruction in their early learning programs and invested
in expanding and reforming Head Start. [p.5]
We support the advancement of women in the military.... We support military
women’s exemption from direct ground combat units and infantry battalions.
[p.43]
We support the innovations in education reform occurring at the State level
based upon proven results. Republican Governors have led in the effort to
reform our country’s underperforming education system, and we applaud these
advancements. [p.35]
We support... block grants and the repeal of numerous federal regulations which
interfere with State and local control of public schools. [p.36]
[W]e support the English First approach... [p.36]
Education:
Sex Education
Democrats support evidence-based and age-appropriate sex education. [p.18]
We renew our call for replacing “family planning” programs for teens with
abstinence education....[p.36]
Education:
Student Loans
[W]e doubled our investment in Pell Grant scholarships and created
the American Opportunity Tax Credit worth up to $10,000 over four years of
college, and we’re creating avenues for students to manage their federal student
loans so that their payments can be only 10 percent of what they make each
month. [p.5]
The federal government should not be in the business of originating student
loans; however, it should serve as an insurance guarantor for the private sector
as they offer loans to students. [p.37]
Energy
President Obama has encouraged innovation to reach his goal of generating 80
percent of our electricity from clean energy sources by 2035. Democrats support
making America the world’s leader in building a clean energy economy by
extending clean energy incentives.... [p.7]
We will end the EPA’s war on coal.... Further, we oppose any and all cap and
trade legislation. [p.16]
We support more infrastructure investment to speed the transition to cleaner
fuels in the transportation sector. [p.7]
Democrats will fight to cut tax subsidies for Big Oil while promoting job growth in
the clean energy sector.... [p.7]
Harnessing our natural gas resources needs to be done in a safe and responsible
manner, which is why the Obama administration has proposed a number of
safeguards to protect against water contamination and air pollution. We will
continue to advocate for the use of this clean fossil fuel, while ensuring that
public and environmental health and workers’ safety are protected. [p.7]
We call for timely processing of new reactor applications currently pending at
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. [p.16]
We will respect the States’ proven ability to regulate the use of hydraulic
fracturing, continue development of oil and gas resources in places like the
Bakken formation and Marcellus Shale, and review the environmental laws that
often thwart new energy exploration and production. We salute the Republican
Members of the House of Representatives for passing the Domestic Energy and
Jobs Act.... [p.17]
As soon as possible, we will reverse the current Administration’s blocking of
the Keystone XL Pipeline.... [p.47]
Environment
Democrats are committed to balancing environmental protection with
development, and that means preserving sensitive public lands from exploration,
like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Pacific West Coast, Gulf of Maine, and
other irreplaceable national landscapes. [p.7]
We support opening the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for energy exploration
and development and ending the current Administration’s moratorium on
permitting; opening the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
(ANWR) for exploration and production of oil and natural gas; and allowing for
more oil and natural gas exploration on federally owned and controlled land.
[p.16]
We stand with growers and producers in defense of their water rights against
attempts by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to expand jurisdiction over
water.... [p.17]
[P]ublic access to public lands for recreational activities such as hunting, fishing,
and recreational shooting should be permitted on all appropriate federal lands.
[p.18]
All efforts should be made to make federal lands managed by the U.S. Forest
Service available for harvesting. [p.18]
Environment:
Climate Change
We affirm the science of climate change, commit to significantly reducing the
pollution that causes climate change.... [p.20]
We also call on Congress to take quick action to prohibit the EPA from moving
forward with new greenhouse gas regulations....[p.19]
Democrats pledge to continue showing international leadership on climate
change, working toward an agreement to set emission limits in unison with other
emerging powers. [p.21]
Environment: Endangered
Species
The Lacey Act of 1900, designed to protect endangered wildlife in interstate
commerce, is now applied worldwide, making it a crime to use, in our domestic
industries, any product illegally obtained in the country of origin.... This
unreasonable extension of the Act not only hurts American businesses and
American jobs, but also subordinates our own rule of law to the legal codes of
195 other governments. It must be changed. [p.14]
Foreign Policy: Treaties
[T]he Congress--the Senate through its ratifying power and the House through its
appropriating power--shall reject agreements whose long-range impact on the
American family is ominous or unclear. These include the U.N. Convention on
Women’s Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty as well as
the various declarations from the U.N. Conference on Environment and
Development. [p.45]
We strongly reject the U.N. Agenda 21 as erosive of American sovereignty, and
we oppose any form of U.N. Global Tax. [p.45]
[T]he Republican Party does not accept the jurisdiction of the International
Criminal Court. [p.45]
Foreign Policy:
Foreign Aid
[W]e will continue to respond to humanitarian crises around the globe. [p.29]
Foreign Policy:
Israel & Palestine
A just and lasting Israeli-Palestinian accord, producing two states for two
peoples, would contribute to regional stability and help sustain Israel’s identity
as a Jewish and democratic state. [p.26]
Gay Marriage & Rights
The parties have agreed that Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations. It
should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths. [p.26]
We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal
treatment under law for same-sex couples. We also support the freedom of
churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a
religious sacrament without government interference.[p.18]
Limiting foreign aid spending helps keep taxes lower, which frees more resources
in the private and charitable sectors, whose giving tends to be more effective
and efficient.[p.46]
[W]e envision two democratic states—Israel with Jerusalem as its capital and
Palestine....[p.49]
We reaffirm our support for a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as
the union of one man and one woman. [p.10]
We support the First Amendment right of freedom of association of the Boy
Scouts of America and other service organizations. [p.12]
We oppose discriminatory federal and state constitutional amendments and
other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex
couples who seek the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples.
We support the full repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and the
passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.[p.18]
Recognizing that gay rights are human rights, the President and his
administration have vowed to actively combat efforts by other nations that
criminalize homosexual conduct or ignore abuse. [p.31]
Gun Control and Gun
Rights
[W]e will preserve Americans’ Second Amendment right to own and use
firearms. We believe that the right to own firearms is subject to reasonable
regulation. [p.18]
We uphold the right of individuals to keep and bear arms.... [p.13]
We acknowledge, support, and defend the law-abiding citizen’s God-given right
of self-defense. [p.13]
[We] recognize ... the right to obtain and store ammunition without registration.
[p.13]
We condemn frivolous lawsuits against gun manufacturers and oppose federal
licensing or registration of law-abiding gun owners. We oppose legislation that is
intended to restrict our Second Amendment rights by limiting the capacity of
clips or magazines or otherwise restoring the ill considered Clinton gun ban.
[p.13]
Healthcare
We believe accessible, affordable, high quality health care is part of the American
promise, that Americans should have the security that comes with good health
care, and that no one should go broke because they get sick. [p.3]
We will continue to stand up to Republicans working to take away the benefits
and protections that are already helping millions of Americans every day. We
refuse to go back to the days when health insurance companies had unchecked
power to cancel your health policy, deny you coverage, or charge women more
than men. [p.4]
Congressional Republicans are committed to its [the Affordable Care Act's]
repeal; and a Republican President, on the first day in office, will use his
legitimate waiver authority under that law to halt its progress and then will sign
its repeal. [p.32]
No healthcare professional or organization should ever be required to perform,
provide for, withhold, or refer for a medical service against their conscience.
[p.34]
We likewise support the right of parents to consent to medical treatment for
their children.... [p.34]
Housing
President Obama took swift action to stabilize a housing market in crisis, helping
five million families restructure their loans... and giving tax credits to first-time
home buyers. [p.4]
[T]he President proposed to expand the successful neighborhood stabilization
efforts in his American Jobs Act. [p.4]
Policies that promote reliance on private capital, like private mortgage insurance,
will be critical to scaling back the federal role in the housing market... [p.5]
Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be wound down in size and scope....
[p.5]
The FHA ... must be downsized and limited to helping first-time homebuyers and
low- and moderate income borrowers. [p.5]
Immigration
[W]e won’t deport deserving young people who are Americans in every way but
on paper, and we will work to make it possible for foreign students earning
advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to stay
and help create jobs here at home. [p.6]
[T]he country urgently needs comprehensive immigration reform that brings
undocumented immigrants out of the shadows and requires them to get right
with the law, learn English, and pay taxes in order to get on a path to earn
citizenship. [p.13]
[A] policy of strategic immigration, granting more work visas to holders of
advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math.... [p.7]
[F]oreign students who graduate from an American university with an advanced
degree... should be encouraged to remain here and contribute to economic
prosperity and job creation. Highly skilled, English speaking, and integrated into
their communities, they are too valuable a resource to lose. [p.14]
We support changing the way that the decennial census is conducted, so that
citizens are distinguished from lawfully present aliens and illegal aliens. [p.19]
[W]e oppose any form of amnesty.... [p.25]
We insist upon enforcement at the workplace through verification systems....
[p.26]
The pending Department of Justice lawsuits against Arizona, Alabama, South
Carolina, and Utah must be dismissed immediately. The double-layered fencing
on the border that was enacted by Congress in 2006, but never completed, must
finally be built. [p.26]
[F]ederal funding should be denied to sanctuary cities that violate federal law...
and federal funding should be denied to universities that provide instate tuition
rates to illegal aliens....[p.26]
Infrastructure
We will fight for immediate investments for highways, transit, rail, and aviation
and for the creation of a national infrastructure bank to help modernize our
infrastructure. [p.8]
Infrastructure: Rail
Jobs
President Obama put forward the American Jobs Act.... We have already enacted
key parts of the American Jobs Act -- payroll tax relief, tax credits for businesses
that hire veterans, and an extension of unemployment insurance that also
included reforms like work-sharing, a "Bridge to Work" to help the long-term
unemployed reconnect with the labor force, and support for unemployed
workers looking to become entrepreneurs. [p.3]
[T]he President helped school districts save more than 400,000 educator jobs.
[p.5]
Thanks to President Obama’s recovery program, American manufacturers are
creating jobs for the first time since the 1990s, including more than 500,000 jobs
since the beginning of 2010. [p.8]
[R]eform of the 42-year old National Environmental Policy Act... [would] create
regulatory certainty for infrastructure projects, expedite their timetables, and
limit litigation against them. [p.13]
Amtrak continues to be, for the taxpayers, an extremely expensive railroad. It is
long past time for the federal government to get out of way and allow private
ventures to provide passenger service to the northeast corridor. The same holds
true with regard to high-speed and intercity rail across the country. [p.13]
[T]o spur job creation here at home, we call for a reduction of the corporate rate
to keep U.S. corporations competitive internationally, with a permanent research
and development tax credit, and a repeal of the corporate alternative minimum
tax. We also support the recommendation of the National Commission on Fiscal
Responsibility and Reform, as well as the current President’s Export Council, to
switch to a territorial system of corporate taxation, so that profits earned and
taxed abroad may be repatriated for job-creating investment here at home
without additional penalty. [p.2]
Nine federal agencies currently run 47 retraining programs at a total cost of $18
billion annually.... We propose consolidation of those programs into State block
grants so that training can be coordinated with local schools and employers.
[p.14]
President Obama and Democrats boldly rescued America’s auto industry, saving
more than one million jobs.... [p.8]
Medicare and Medicaid
GM and Chrysler have repaid their outstanding loans years ahead of schedule,
new American cars are inspiring pride, and the auto industry added more than
200,000 jobs in the last three years. [p.8]
We will... oppose efforts to block grant the [Medicaid] program.... [p.4]
Democrats adamantly oppose any efforts to privatize or voucherize Medicare.
[p.5]
President Obama is already leading the most successful crackdown on health
care fraud ever, having already recovered $10 billion from health care scams. We
will build on those reforms, not eliminate Medicare’s guarantees. The health care
law is closing the gap in prescription drug coverage known as the "doughnut
hole." [p.5]
The first step is to move the two programs away from their current unsustainable
defined-benefit entitlement model to a fiscally sound defined contribution
model. [p.22]
While retaining the option of traditional Medicare in competition with private
plans, we call for a transition to a premium- support model for Medicare, with an
income-adjusted contribution toward a health plan of the enrollee’s choice.
[p.22]
[T]he age eligibility for Medicare must be made more realistic in terms of today’s
longer life span.[p.22]
We propose... block-granting the [Medicaid] program to the States....[p.22]
Monetary Policy: Inflation
Native American
Sovereignty
Democrats support maximizing tribal self-governance, including efforts for selfdetermination and sovereignty of Native Hawaiians. [p.16]
Social Security
We will block Republican efforts to subject Americans’ guaranteed retirement
income to the whims of the stock market through privatization. We reject
approaches that insist that cutting benefits is the only answer. [p.5]
Stem Cell Research
Supreme Court
Taxes
[W]e will continue to nominate and confirm judges who are men and women of
unquestionable talent and character and will always demonstrate their
faithfulness to our law and our Constitution and bring with them a sense of how
American society works and how the American people live. [p.20]
We support allowing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest to expire and closing
loopholes and deductions for the largest corporations and the highest-earning
taxpayers. We are committed to reforming our tax code so that it is fairer and
simpler, creating a tax code that lives up to the Buffett Rule so no millionaire
pays a smaller share of his or her income in taxes than middle class families do.
We are also committed to reforming the corporate tax code to lower tax rates
for companies in the United States, with additional relief for those locating
manufacturing and research and development on our shores, while closing
loopholes and reducing incentives for corporations to shift jobs overseas. [p.7]
The Democratic Party opposes efforts to give additional tax cuts to the wealthiest
Americans at the expense of the middle class and investments in our future. [p.7]
President Reagan, shortly after his inauguration, established a commission to
consider the feasibility of a metallic basis for U.S. currency. The commission
advised against such a move. Now, three decades later, as we face the task of
cleaning up the wreckage of the current Administration’s policies, we propose a
similar commission to investigate possible ways to set a fixed value for the dollar.
[p.4]
As a matter of principle, we oppose the creation of any new race-based
governments within the United States. [p.9]
While no changes should adversely affect any current or near-retiree,
comprehensive reform should address our society’s remarkable medical
advances in longevity and allow younger workers the option of creating their
own personal investment accounts as supplements to the system. [p.22]
We oppose federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. [p.14]
We call for expanded support for the stem-cell research that now offers the
greatest hope for many afflictions–with adult stem cells, umbilical cord blood,
and cells reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells–without the destruction of
embryonic human life. We urge a ban on human cloning and on the creation of
or experimentation on human embryos.[p.34]
We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and
the sanctity of innocent human life. [p.14]
Extend the 2001 and 2003 tax relief packages—commonly known as the Bush tax
cuts—pending reform of the tax code, to keep tax rates from rising on income,
interest, dividends, and capital gains; Reform the tax code by reducing marginal
tax rates by 20 percent across-the-board in a revenue-neutral manner; Eliminate
the taxes on interest, dividends, and capital gains altogether for lower and
middle-income taxpayers; End the Death Tax; and Repeal the Alternative
Minimum Tax. [p.2]
We call for a Constitutional amendment requiring a super-majority for any tax
increase, with exceptions for only war and national emergencies, and imposing a
cap limiting spending to the historical average percentage of GDP so that future
Congresses cannot balance the budget by raising taxes. [p.4]
Taxes: Business
We want to cut tax breaks for companies that are shipping jobs overseas and for
special interests, and instead offer tax breaks to companies that are investing
right here in the United States of America.... [p.8]
We Democrats support lowering the corporate tax rate while closing
unnecessary loopholes, and lowering rates even further for manufacturers who
create good jobs at home. [p.8]
Technology
[President Obama's] administration will continue its fight against the exploitative
practice of employers fraudulently misclassifying workers as independent
contractors or white-collar workers to evade taxes or deny them protections and
overtime benefits. [p.9]
President Obama has committed to ensuring that 98 percent of the country has
access to high-speed wireless broadband Internet access. President Obama is
strongly committed to protecting an open Internet that fosters investment,
innovation, creativity, consumer choice, and free speech, unfettered by
censorship or undue violations of privacy. [p.9]
[We] support the current multi-stakeholder approach to Internet governance,
and oppose the extension of intergovernmental controls over the Internet. [p.31]
[W]e call for a reduction of the corporate rate to keep U.S. corporations
competitive internationally, with a permanent research and development tax
credit, and a repeal of the corporate alternative minimum tax. We also support
the recommendation of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and
Reform, as well as the current President’s Export Council, to switch to a
territorial system of corporate taxation, so that profits earned and taxed abroad
may be repatriated for job-creating investment here at home without additional
penalty. [p.2]
[A]ny value added tax or national sales tax must be tied to the simultaneous
repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment, which established the federal income tax.
[p.3]
[T]he FCC’s net neutrality rule... is trying to micromanage telecom. [p.24]
We call for an inventory of federal agency spectrum to determine the surplus
that could be auctioned.... [p.24]
We support the prohibition of gambling over the Internet and call for reversal of
the Justice Department’s decision distorting the formerly accepted meaning of
the Wire Act that could open the door to Internet betting. [p.39]
We oppose any diplomatic efforts that could result in giving the United Nations
unprecedented control over the Internet. [p.45]
Territories and Statehood
The American citizens who live in Washington, D.C., like the citizens of the 50
states, should have full and equal congressional rights and the right to have the
laws and budget of their local government respected without congressional
interference. [p.18]
We oppose statehood for the District of Columbia. [p.28]
We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted
to the Union as a fully sovereign state if they freely so determine.[p.29]
If local efforts in Puerto Rico to resolve the status issue do not provide a clear
result in the short term, the President should support, and Congress should
enact, self-executing legislation that specifies in advance for the people of Puerto
Rico a set of clear status options, such as those recommended in the White
House Task Force Report on Puerto Rico, which the United States is politically
committed to fulfilling. [p.16]
Voting
Democrats know that voter identification laws can disproportionately burden
young voters, people of color, low-income families, people with disabilities, and
the elderly, and we refuse to allow the use of political pretexts to disenfranchise
American citizens. [p.18]
Adapted from http://compare2012.returncontrol.com/
We oppose the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact or any other scheme
to abolish or distort the procedures of the Electoral College.[p.18]
We support State laws that require proof of citizenship at the time of voter
registration.... [p.18]