Comparison of 2016 Republican & Democratic Platforms
Full text of party platforms may be found at www.VotingInfo.net
Immigration
Democratic Platform:
“More than 11 million people are living in the shadows, without proper documentation…. Democrats believe we need to urgently fix our broken immigration system…and create a path to citizenship for law-abiding families who are here….”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 17)
Republican Platform:
“America’s immigration policy must serve the national interests of the United States…. Illegal immigration endangers everyone…. We oppose any form of amnesty….” (p. 25) “... [W]e support building a wall along our southern border....” (p. 26)
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 25, 26)
Judges
Democratic Platform:
“We will appoint judges who defend the constitutional principles of liberty and equality for all, and will protect a woman’s right to safe and legal abortion, curb billionaires’ influence over elections because they understand that Citizens United has fundamentally damaged our democracy…”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 25)
Republican Platform:
“We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life.” (p.13) “Only a Republican president will appoint judges who respect the rule of law expressed within the Constitution and Declaration of Independence….” (p.10)
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 13, 10)
Obamacare
Democratic Platform:
“Thanks to the hard work of President Obama and Democrats in Congress, we took a critically important step toward the goal of universal health care by passing the Affordable Care Act, which has covered 20 million more Americans and ensured millions more will never be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 34)
Republican Platform:
“Any honest agenda for improving healthcare must start with repeal of the dishonestly named Affordable Care Act pf 2010: Obamacare…. To simplify the system for both patients and providers, we will reduce mandates and enable insurers and providers of care to increase healthcare options and contain costs.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 36)
Human Life/Abortion
Democratic Platform:
“Democrats are committed to protecting and advancing reproductive health, rights, and justice. We believe unequivocally… that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion – regardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured. We believe that reproductive health is core to women’s, men’s, and young people’s health and wellbeing…. We will continue to oppose – and seek to overturn – federal and state laws and policies that impede a woman’s access to abortion, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 37)
Republican Platform:
“The Constitution’s guarantee that no one can ‘be deprived of ”life, liberty or property” deliberately echoes the Declaration of Independence’s proclamation that “all” are “endowed by their Creator” with the inalienable right to life. Accordingly, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 13)
Global Warming/Climate Change
Democratic Platform:
“Climate change is an urgent threat and a defining challenge of our time…. We believe America must be running entirely on clean energy by mid-century.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 27)
Republican Platform:
“We firmly believe environmental problems are best solved by giving incentives for human ingenuity and the development of new technologies, not through top-down, command-and-control regulations that stifle economic growth and cost thousands of jobs.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 22)
Planned Parenthood
Democratic Platform:
“We will continue to stand up to Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood health centers, which provide critical health services to millions of people.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 37)
Republican Platform:
“We oppose the use of public funds to perform or promote abortion or to fund organizations, like Planned Parenthood, so long as they provide or refer for elective abortions or sell fetal body parts rather than provide healthcare.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 13)
Voter ID
Democratic Platform:
“We will bring our democracy into the 21st century by expanding early voting and vote-by-mail, implementing universal automatic voter registration and same day voter registration…. We will continue to fight against discriminatory voter identification laws….”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 24)
Republican Platform:
“…[W]e support legislation to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote and secure photo ID when voting. We strongly oppose litigation against states exercising their sovereign authority to enact such laws.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 16)
Gun Control
Democratic Platform:
“… [W]e will expand and strengthen background checks and close dangerous loopholes in our current laws; repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms… and keep… assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines… off our streets.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 39)
Republican Platform:
“We uphold the right of individuals to keep and bear arms, a natural and inalienable right that predates the Constitution and is secured by the Second Amendment.”
“We oppose ill-conceived laws that would restrict magazine capacity or ban the sale of the most popular and common modern rifle. We also oppose any effort to deprive individuals of their right to keep and bear arms without due process of law.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 12, 13)
Religious Liberty
Democratic Platform:
“Democrats know that our nation, our communities, and our lives are made vastly stronger and richer by faith in many forms and countless acts of justice, mercy and tolerance it inspires. We believe in lifting up and valuing the good work of people of faith and religious organizations and finding ways to support that work where possible.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 19)
Republican Platform:
“We value the right of America’s religious leaders to preach, and Americans to speak freely, according to their faith. Republican believe the federal government, specifically the IRS, is constitutionally prohibited from policing or censoring speech based on religious convictions or beliefs, and therefore we urge the repeal of the Johnson Amendment.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 11)
Education/School Choice
Democratic Platform:
“Democrats are committed to providing parents with high-quality public school options and expanding these options for low-income youth. We support… great neighborhood public schools and high-quality public charter schools, and we will help them disseminate best practices to other school leaders and educators. Democrats oppose for-profit charter schools focused on making a profit off of public resources.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 34)
Republican Platform:
“We support options for learning, including home-schooling, career and technical education, private or parochial schools, magnet schools, charter schools, online learning, and early-college high schools. We especially support the innovative financing mechanisms that make options available to all children: education savings accounts (ESAs), vouchers, and tuition tax credits.””
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 34)
Marriage
Democratic Platform:
“We applaud last year’s decision by the Supreme Court that recognized that LGBT people – like other Americans – have the right to marry the person they love. But there is still much work to be done.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 19)
Republican Platform:
“We condemn the Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v. Windsor, which wrongly removed the ability of Congress to define marriage policy in federal law. We also condemn the Supreme Court’s lawless ruling Obergefell v. Hodges…. In Obergefell, five unelected lawyers robbed 320 million Americans of their legitimate constitutional authority to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 11)
Iran
Democratic Platform:
“We support the nuclear agreement with Iran because, as it is vigorously enforced and implemented, it verifiably cuts off all of Iran’s pathways to a bomb without resorting to war.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 43)
Republican Platform:
“We consider the Administration’s deal with Iran, to lift international sanctions and make hundreds of billions of dollars available to the Mullahs, a personal agreement between the President and his negotiating partners and non-binding on the next president…. Because of it, the defiant and emboldened regime in Tehran continues to sponsor terrorism across the region, develop a nuclear weapon, test-fire ballistic missiles inscribed with “Death to Israel,” and abuse the basic human rights of its citizens.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 46)
Foreign Policy and Treaties
Democratic Platform:
“Climate change poses an urgent and severe threat to our national security…. We are committed to a national mobilization… to address this threat on a scale not seen since World War II…. We will not only meet the goals we set in Paris, we will seek to exceed them…by slashing carbon pollution and rapidly driving down emissions of potent greenhouse gases….” (p.45) “Democrats believe that global institutions – most prominently the United Nations – and multilateral organizations have a powerful role to play….” (p.51)
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 45, 51)
Republican Platform:
“We intend to restore the treaty system specified by the Constitution….” (p.26) “We therefore oppose the adoption or ratification of treaties that would weaken or encroach upon American sovereignty….” (p.10) “We do not support the U.N. Convention on Women’s Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child,…the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty,…[and] various declarations from the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development…. We emphatically reject U.N. Agenda 21 as erosive of U.S. sovereignty, and we oppose any form of Global Tax.” (p.51)
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 10, 26, 51)
Thanks to Priests for Life
Full text of party platforms may be found at www.VotingInfo.net
Immigration
Democratic Platform:
“More than 11 million people are living in the shadows, without proper documentation…. Democrats believe we need to urgently fix our broken immigration system…and create a path to citizenship for law-abiding families who are here….”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 17)
Republican Platform:
“America’s immigration policy must serve the national interests of the United States…. Illegal immigration endangers everyone…. We oppose any form of amnesty….” (p. 25) “... [W]e support building a wall along our southern border....” (p. 26)
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 25, 26)
Judges
Democratic Platform:
“We will appoint judges who defend the constitutional principles of liberty and equality for all, and will protect a woman’s right to safe and legal abortion, curb billionaires’ influence over elections because they understand that Citizens United has fundamentally damaged our democracy…”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 25)
Republican Platform:
“We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life.” (p.13) “Only a Republican president will appoint judges who respect the rule of law expressed within the Constitution and Declaration of Independence….” (p.10)
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 13, 10)
Obamacare
Democratic Platform:
“Thanks to the hard work of President Obama and Democrats in Congress, we took a critically important step toward the goal of universal health care by passing the Affordable Care Act, which has covered 20 million more Americans and ensured millions more will never be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 34)
Republican Platform:
“Any honest agenda for improving healthcare must start with repeal of the dishonestly named Affordable Care Act pf 2010: Obamacare…. To simplify the system for both patients and providers, we will reduce mandates and enable insurers and providers of care to increase healthcare options and contain costs.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 36)
Human Life/Abortion
Democratic Platform:
“Democrats are committed to protecting and advancing reproductive health, rights, and justice. We believe unequivocally… that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion – regardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured. We believe that reproductive health is core to women’s, men’s, and young people’s health and wellbeing…. We will continue to oppose – and seek to overturn – federal and state laws and policies that impede a woman’s access to abortion, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 37)
Republican Platform:
“The Constitution’s guarantee that no one can ‘be deprived of ”life, liberty or property” deliberately echoes the Declaration of Independence’s proclamation that “all” are “endowed by their Creator” with the inalienable right to life. Accordingly, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 13)
Global Warming/Climate Change
Democratic Platform:
“Climate change is an urgent threat and a defining challenge of our time…. We believe America must be running entirely on clean energy by mid-century.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 27)
Republican Platform:
“We firmly believe environmental problems are best solved by giving incentives for human ingenuity and the development of new technologies, not through top-down, command-and-control regulations that stifle economic growth and cost thousands of jobs.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 22)
Planned Parenthood
Democratic Platform:
“We will continue to stand up to Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood health centers, which provide critical health services to millions of people.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 37)
Republican Platform:
“We oppose the use of public funds to perform or promote abortion or to fund organizations, like Planned Parenthood, so long as they provide or refer for elective abortions or sell fetal body parts rather than provide healthcare.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 13)
Voter ID
Democratic Platform:
“We will bring our democracy into the 21st century by expanding early voting and vote-by-mail, implementing universal automatic voter registration and same day voter registration…. We will continue to fight against discriminatory voter identification laws….”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 24)
Republican Platform:
“…[W]e support legislation to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote and secure photo ID when voting. We strongly oppose litigation against states exercising their sovereign authority to enact such laws.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 16)
Gun Control
Democratic Platform:
“… [W]e will expand and strengthen background checks and close dangerous loopholes in our current laws; repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms… and keep… assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines… off our streets.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 39)
Republican Platform:
“We uphold the right of individuals to keep and bear arms, a natural and inalienable right that predates the Constitution and is secured by the Second Amendment.”
“We oppose ill-conceived laws that would restrict magazine capacity or ban the sale of the most popular and common modern rifle. We also oppose any effort to deprive individuals of their right to keep and bear arms without due process of law.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 12, 13)
Religious Liberty
Democratic Platform:
“Democrats know that our nation, our communities, and our lives are made vastly stronger and richer by faith in many forms and countless acts of justice, mercy and tolerance it inspires. We believe in lifting up and valuing the good work of people of faith and religious organizations and finding ways to support that work where possible.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 19)
Republican Platform:
“We value the right of America’s religious leaders to preach, and Americans to speak freely, according to their faith. Republican believe the federal government, specifically the IRS, is constitutionally prohibited from policing or censoring speech based on religious convictions or beliefs, and therefore we urge the repeal of the Johnson Amendment.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 11)
Education/School Choice
Democratic Platform:
“Democrats are committed to providing parents with high-quality public school options and expanding these options for low-income youth. We support… great neighborhood public schools and high-quality public charter schools, and we will help them disseminate best practices to other school leaders and educators. Democrats oppose for-profit charter schools focused on making a profit off of public resources.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 34)
Republican Platform:
“We support options for learning, including home-schooling, career and technical education, private or parochial schools, magnet schools, charter schools, online learning, and early-college high schools. We especially support the innovative financing mechanisms that make options available to all children: education savings accounts (ESAs), vouchers, and tuition tax credits.””
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 34)
Marriage
Democratic Platform:
“We applaud last year’s decision by the Supreme Court that recognized that LGBT people – like other Americans – have the right to marry the person they love. But there is still much work to be done.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 19)
Republican Platform:
“We condemn the Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v. Windsor, which wrongly removed the ability of Congress to define marriage policy in federal law. We also condemn the Supreme Court’s lawless ruling Obergefell v. Hodges…. In Obergefell, five unelected lawyers robbed 320 million Americans of their legitimate constitutional authority to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 11)
Iran
Democratic Platform:
“We support the nuclear agreement with Iran because, as it is vigorously enforced and implemented, it verifiably cuts off all of Iran’s pathways to a bomb without resorting to war.”
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 43)
Republican Platform:
“We consider the Administration’s deal with Iran, to lift international sanctions and make hundreds of billions of dollars available to the Mullahs, a personal agreement between the President and his negotiating partners and non-binding on the next president…. Because of it, the defiant and emboldened regime in Tehran continues to sponsor terrorism across the region, develop a nuclear weapon, test-fire ballistic missiles inscribed with “Death to Israel,” and abuse the basic human rights of its citizens.”
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 46)
Foreign Policy and Treaties
Democratic Platform:
“Climate change poses an urgent and severe threat to our national security…. We are committed to a national mobilization… to address this threat on a scale not seen since World War II…. We will not only meet the goals we set in Paris, we will seek to exceed them…by slashing carbon pollution and rapidly driving down emissions of potent greenhouse gases….” (p.45) “Democrats believe that global institutions – most prominently the United Nations – and multilateral organizations have a powerful role to play….” (p.51)
(2016 Democratic National Platform, p. 45, 51)
Republican Platform:
“We intend to restore the treaty system specified by the Constitution….” (p.26) “We therefore oppose the adoption or ratification of treaties that would weaken or encroach upon American sovereignty….” (p.10) “We do not support the U.N. Convention on Women’s Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child,…the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty,…[and] various declarations from the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development…. We emphatically reject U.N. Agenda 21 as erosive of U.S. sovereignty, and we oppose any form of Global Tax.” (p.51)
(2016 Republican Platform, p. 10, 26, 51)
Thanks to Priests for Life
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