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ARE YOU A
REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT OR ?????
America
has prospered under the major two-party system because one party has
always served to check the excesses of the other. Both parties want what
they think is best for
America
but there are IMPORTANT differences in the way they would solve our
problems.
Read the statements
under each category and choose the one that best describes your
political position. Then click the compass to find out where you
fit on the political spectrum. To get back to the statements,
click "Go Back".
Man & Society
1. Each individual is responsible for his/her own place in society.
2.
Society is collectively responsible for each of its members.
Government and the
Governed
1. Government should
be limited to doing for people only those things they cannot do for themselves.
2. Centralized
government is necessary to solve the myriad of problems faced by
individuals.
Economic Policies
1.
The free enterprise system is the key to individual and national
prosperity.
2.
The free enterprise system cannot be trusted to provide
individual & national prosperity.
Foreign Policy
1. America
’s national & foreign interests are best served by a strong
defense posture.
2. America
’s national & foreign interests are best served by insuring a good
image abroad.
Government Spending
1.
Problems are better solved & money more effectively spent at
the community & state level.
2.
Funding & regulation by the federal government is necessary
to solve many problems.
Agriculture
1.
Farmers & ranchers should be allowed to operate without
government intervention.
2.
Farmers & ranchers should be subsidized &/or constricted
as needed.
Environment
1.
It is necessary to maintain a visionary balance of common sense
& environmental policy.
2.
Environmental policy should place protection of the environment
above economic factors.
The Constitution
& Bill of Rights
1.
The Constitution should stand as written & be applied
judicially as written-- unless the Constitution is changed through the
amendment process stipulated in Article V.
2.
The Constitution was written in a time that was very different
than the modern world and therefore needs to be viewed as a living
document, open to new interpretation by the Judicial Branch more fitting
for these times.
Party Affiliation
– True or False
1.
People who register as a Republican or Democrat totally agree
with the philosophy/platform &/or candidates of that party.
2.
Registered unaffiliated voters (Independents) have as much power
in the political process as those registered with a party affiliation.
DON’T BE A
DEPENDENT VOTER!
DEADLINE
FOR DECLARING A PARTY AFFILIATION OR CHANGING PARTY AFFILIATION IN 2008:
PRIMARY ELECTION -
7/14/08
GENERAL ELECTION -10/06/08
WHAT REPUBLICANS
ARE NOT:
Over the years a
number of misconceptions and distortions have been circulated about the
Republican Party. Any proposition repeated often enough, even if ill
conceived, can take on the aura of truth. One way to get the record
straight is with accurate answers to a few common questions:
Is the Republican
Party supported by Big Business and wealthy contributors?
Definitely not! In
fact, more than 80% of all funds received by the Republican Party are
contributed in amounts of less than $100. By comparison, the Democratic
Party receives more than 80% of its funds in contributions of more than
$100. Which is truly the party of the people? The answer is obvious.
Does the Republican
Party oppose social legislation?
On all the major
social legislation passed in recent years, voting records show strong
Republican support, without which these pro¬grams could not have passed
the Congress. Republicans recognize the need and actively support such
programs. They ask only that they be designed so that money and services
reach those for whom they are intended and are not absorbed by a huge
bureaucratic structure, as has been too often the case during Democrat
admini¬strations.
Is the Republican
Party against civil rights?
Abraham Lincoln,
the first Republican president--ended slavery in
America
. The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments were adopted by Re¬publican
Congresses during Republican Administrations. The first Civil Rights
Acts (1866 to 1871) were passed and signed into law by Republicans and
in 1957 the Eisenhower Administration sponsored the first civil rights
legislation since Reconstruction. On the five civil rights acts passed
between 1957 and 1968, 94% of Senate Republicans and 78% of House
Republicans voted in favor of civil rights. On the other side, only 69%
of the Democrats in the Senate and 65% of the Democrats in the House
voted for this legislation. Republicans are rightfully proud of their
record on civil rights.
Does the Republican
Party care about little guy?
Republicans believe
that the labor unionist, small businessman, white-collar worker and
farmer are better served by being left alone to manage their own
affairs. In 1953 a Republican Administration set up the Small Business
Administration to help private businessmen with professional advice and
aid in financing their concerns.
Republicans
believe people should not be treated as a mass but as individuals. They
believe the individual working, by him/her self or through well-managed
programs, within a society for the good of all is the key to a great
America
. Once a people lose the feeling that they control their own destiny,
when they come to depend on "the government" to solve all
their problems, then they also lose spirit. And a people without spirit
can never be a great.
Aside from the
mismanagement and waste of over-centralized administration,
Republicans recognize a greater danger in big government.
The Democrats would
solve
America
's problems with more money, more programs and more big government.
MAN
& SOCIETY
1. Cornerstone of
Republican philosophy is the belief that each person is an individual
who is responsible for his own place in our society. He/she is
encouraged to work to secure the benefits of that society for himself
and his family as well as for those who are unable to care for
themselves.
2. Democrats are
much more willing to subordinate the individual to the group. They
assume that society is collectively responsible for each of its members
and they place less emphasis on individual enterprise and initiative.
Go Back
GOVERNMENT
AND THE GOVERNED
1. Republicans
believe that government should be limited to doing for people only those
things, which they cannot do for themselves. The GOP is convinced that
government functions best at the local level where citizens can have an
effective measure of control over their own problems.
2. Democrats
contend that growing urban and national needs are making local and state
governments obsolete. They say power must be con¬centrated in big,
centralized government to solve modern problems.
Go Back
ECONOMIC
POLICIES
1. Republicans
believe that the free enterprise system has given this nation an
economic system second to none on earth. They seek to protect the system
against unwarranted government regulation and feel that artificial means
of controlling the economy should be used only when there is a clear
need.
2. Democrats
maintain that, besides benefiting only certain groups, the economy is
too complicated to be left to free enterprise alone and must be
constantly managed at the federal level. They are generally much quicker
to use economic gimmicks such as wage and price controls, tax increases
and cutbacks, surcharges and the like.
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FOREIGN
POLICY
1. Republicans
believe that American's have an international kinship with peoples
everywhere who seek the extension of freedom and human rights.
Republicans believe that our foreign interests are best served by a
strong defense posture and sound national economy.
2. Democrats often
seem overly concerned about
America
's image abroad and are prone to become involved in the affairs of
foreign countries. It is a fact that the four major conflicts of the
20th century--World Wars I and II, the Korean War and the
Vietnam
conflict--were entered into by Democrat administrations.
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GOVERNMENT
SPENDING
1. Republicans look
for ways to cut back or eliminate unnecessary and overlapping federal
programs. They believe in retaining more tax money at community and
state levels where it can be directly applied to local problems.
2. Democrats, by
the very nature of their dependence on big government, are forced to
seek more taxes to pay for large, less efficient federal programs.
Because they don't believe many problems can be solved at the state and
city levels, they try to funnel more dollars to the federal government.
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AGRICULTURE
1. Republicans
believe that farmers & ranchers must not be constricted by unwise
government controls. The GOP maintains that producers of food and fiber
should be permitted to operate as their own masters, rather than as
wards of the federal bureaucracy.
2. Democrats, since
the days of the New Deal, have tinkered with the farm economy by
imposing quotas and setting prices. In the process they have produced a
maze of government controls, which have resulted in needless
bankruptcies and lower profits for both large and small farmers.
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THE
ENVIRONMENT
1. Republicans
believe environmental problems can be solved however in implementing
solutions we must consider how they relate to other systems within our
society. We must create a balance between the needs of man & nature
if we are to ensure our quality of life and keep the high ideals we hold
for this nation. To find more about Conservation is Conservative visit
www.rep.org
2. Democrats tend
to view environmental issues as separate from other dynamics within the
whole system. As a result,
Democrats are more likely to implement reactionary restrictions &
regulations to protect the environment that may adversely affect other
parts of the system.
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THE
CONSTITUTION & BILL OF RIGHTS
Article V of the
constitution specifies that the constitution may only be amended by both
houses of the federal &/or state legislatures. The different views
of the constitution held by each party has lead Republicans to assert
that “Liberal judges are
guilty of legislating from the bench”.
Go Back
PARTY
AFFILIATION –TRUE OR FALSE
1.
False - Very few who belong to a party totally agree with all of
what the party stands for, does or the candidates it chooses. Instead,
they look at the total picture & choose the party, which will better
represent their personal beliefs & principles.
2.
False - Consider the
following
•
On Election Day, unaffiliated voters must choose between
candidate selected for them by Republicans & Democrats
•
An affiliated voter has at least 3 votes in a state election.
They may vote at the precinct caucus, the primary election & the
general election.
•
An unaffiliated voter has only one vote – the general election
Affiliating with a
political party does not force an individual to vote solely for that
party’s candidates. Registered
Republicans & Democrats have the same freedom as the unaffiliated to
cast their ballots however they see fit. Registered Republicans &
Democrats, however, have more power than their unaffiliated neighbors.
Those who call themselves Independent are actually totally Dependent on
the two major political parties.
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