Part 5: Great American Families, Education, Healthcare, and Criminal Justice
1. American Values
a. families, schools, congregations, neighborhoods, are the pillars of a free society and create spaces where the power of government should not intrude
i. They reduce the need for government intervention
2. Marriage, Family, and Society
a. family is the foundation of civil society and the cornerstone of family is natural marriage (one man, one woman)
b. Strong families advance the cause of liberty by lessening the need for government in their daily lives
c. the loss of faith and family life leads to greater dependence on government
d. Republicans formulate public policy with attention to the needs and strengths of the family
i. While I agree that families are super important to society and we should do everything we can to encourage and strengthen families, I honestly feel that we are limiting ourselves by saying “it’s only a family if you have a married mom and dad” – because there are so many different types of families that can result in good outcomes for kids. We need to strengthen family relationships because in the end, that’s what is going to produce better kids.
e. Truths about traditional marriage
i. Children raised in a two-parent household do better physically and emotionally
i. I love this point because….drumroll please….studies have shown that this is ALSO TRUE for kids raised in a household with gay or lesbian parents. https://whatweknow.inequality.cornell.edu/topics/lgbt-equality/what-does-the-scholarly-research-say-about-the-wellbeing-of-children-with-gay-or-lesbian-parents/
f. oppose policies and laws that create a financial incentive for or encourage cohabitation
i. I had a hard time finding information on these laws, what they are, if anything has been done about them. If you know anything, let me know, I decided to give up.
g. Marriage is the greatest antidote to child poverty
i. This can totally apply to gay marriages!!
h. ¾ of government welfare spending goes to single-parent households
i. This makes sense…single parents are less financially stable. It’s definitely a good thing to encourage marriage
i. “The data and the facts lead to an inescapable conclusion: Every child deserves a married mom and dad”
i. Really? See my link above…kids with gay or lesbian parents end up doing just fine.
ii. That being said…I really wish this whole platform was annotated with references and links to studies. They’re saying that data and facts lead to this, but it’s frustrating that they don’t provide you with those data and facts. I would like to see what data and facts they are referring to.
j. Government should recognize marriage as between a man and a woman and actively promote married family life as the basis of a stable and prosperous society
i. We don’t accept the Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage and urge its reversal – we should return control of marriage to the states
1. I mentioned this in a previous section that talked about this, but I feel that it would be unfair to rip away marriage from so many who have waited so long. What’s done is done, let’s stop whining about it and move on with our lives.
ii. Oppose government discrimination against businesses or entities who decline to sell items or services to individuals for activities go against their religious views
1. This is a tricky spot because I feel like in some sense, this is important, but in another sense, I don’t think we should encourage bigotry. Baking a wedding cake for a gay couple is not putting a seal of moral approval on their marriage. To me it just seems ridiculous. I mean, we’re worried about government discrimination against these businesses/people, but what about the discrimination against LGBTQ individuals from these businesses? Don’t they deserve to be protected against discrimination too?
k. Support the First Amendment Defense Act to make sure adoption agencies don’t face discrimination because of their views on marriage and family
i. I feel like this one is tough too. I think if it’s a religious based adoption agency, they should be able to decide what kinds of couples they are willing to place babies with. But at the same time, I think that decision should be left up to the birth mother. Like, what if there is a mother who only has access to a religious adoption agency but is open to the idea of giving her child to a gay couple? Shouldn’t she be allowed to choose that? (And again, I’ll reference you to the study I linked above showing that children of gay parents end up doing just fine).
l. Republican initiatives have led to an increase in adoptions
i. Again, I would have loved a resource on this…I googled it but couldn’t find anything. So…how the heck do I know this isn’t just an empty claim?
m. States and community groups should help teens who have aged out of foster care to become independent.
n. remove marriage penalties from the tax code and public assistance programs
i. Yes. I read recently about a couple who was getting divorced because their daughter had special needs and they had a lot of medical bills and they didn’t qualify for Medicaid if they were married. This is wrong.
o. all federal programs should work to preserve the family unit
i. Looks like some good has been done by the Trump Administration in this area https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/adoption/allinadoptionchallenge/blog/executive-order/
3. A Culture of Hope
a. War on Poverty – poverty is winning
b. social safety net doesn’t lift anyone out of poverty – we should instead look to increase personal independence of people
c. intergenerational poverty has worsened since 1966
i. Couldn’t find a source that confirms this
d. Landmark Republican welfare reform of 1996 resulted in welfare rolls declining by half and 3 million children moved out of poverty.
i. https://www.history.com/news/clinton-1990s-welfare-reform-facts
e. Obama administration got rid of work requirement for TANF and made sure these families stay needy
f. Progressives want to keep people dependent so that government can redistribute income
g. reinstate work requirements.
i. I found this article really interesting https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/02/trump-isnt-waging-a-war-on-poverty-hes-waging-a-war-on-poor-people/
h. remove structural impediments that keep poor people from progressing, like over-regulation of start-up enterprises and excessive licensing requirements
i. greater state and local responsibility for public assistance programs
i. Pre-COVID poverty info under the Trump Administration https://www.npr.org/2019/09/10/759512938/u-s-census-bureau-reports-poverty-rate-down-but-millions-still-poor
ii. https://www.factcheck.org/2019/10/trumps-numbers-october-2019-update/
4. Education: A Chance for Every Child
a. Since the Constitution does not give the federal government a role in education, they should not be part of that effort.
b. Parents should be the ones directing their child’s education
i. Yes, they should, but DO THEY? There are so many parents out there who don’t have much of a choice in the matter because they are working so hard to make ends meet that all they can do is send their kid to whatever school is closest to their house or place of employment and hope for the best. I don’t know that just leaving everything up to the parents is necessarily the best approach here.
c. reject a one-size-fits-all approach to education and support a broad range of choices for parents and children at the state a local level
i. I like this idea in theory, but I’m not sure what that looks like in practice
d. Oppose the imposition of national standards and assessments, want to repeal Common Core
i. This is also a toughie for me because I think it makes sense to have a national set of basic standards, so that if I move to another state, my kid isn’t completely lost because that state is doing something totally different. Also, it helps make sure that kids have a similar education going into college. BUT, I do think that standardized tests are not a good measure of a child’s intelligence, and I also believe that teachers ought to be given more freedom with their curriculum and what and how the teach the standards.
ii. President Trump has not gotten rid of Common Core https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/promise/1351/elimnate-common-core/
iii. Every educator I know thinks Betsy Devos (our current secretary of education) is a horrible human being who has no place being in such a position. Every. One. On both sides of the political spectrum. https://educationvotes.nea.org/2019/03/22/devos/
e. We should have local control of schools, choice based and parent driven.
i. I’m just curious how this is supposed to solve the issues we are STILL having with segregated schools and the ones in poor neighborhoods (even in areas with school choice) doing so poorly and getting so few resources. There was nothing in this section about that either.
f. reject excessive testing and teaching to the test
g. teachers should be protected against frivolous lawsuits and be able to take reasonable actions to maintain discipline and order in the classroom
i. What exactly does this mean? Teachers can discipline their students however they want? Like….what does this mean???
h. “A good understanding of the Bible being indispensable for the development of an educated citizenry, we encourage state legislatures to offer the Bible in a literature curriculum as an elective in America’s high schools.”
i. Are we really saying that if you don’t have a good understanding of the Bible, you’re not an educated citizen? I don’t know how I feel about offering the Bible as an elective literature class. I feel like it might be better to offer a world religions class or a class that looks at lots of different religious texts. I don’t know. This sentence really just struck me as not ok, although I know many people would be all for it.
i. School districts should make use of teaching talent in the business community, STEM fields, and the military
i. More about this in another section
j. replace tenure systems with merit-based approach to attract the best teaching talent
i. The thing that is most glaringly frustrating here is there is absolutely 0 mention of teacher pay. ZERO. We are facing a national teacher shortage and every educator I know says it’s because they are paid too little and too much is expected of them. We do not take care of our nation’s educators and we need to do something about that. This section made no mention of this issue.
5. Academic Excellence for All
a. More money thrown at schools doesn’t equal better performance
b. the things that make a difference are choice in education, focusing on STEM subjects and phonics, ending social promotions, merit pay for good teachers, classroom discipline, parental involvement, strong school leadership
i. Actually, they’ve found that one of the best ways to increase performance in schools is DESEGREGATING them, which we still aren’t doing very well at. https://tcf.org/content/facts/the-benefits-of-socioeconomically-and-racially-integrated-schools-and-classrooms/
ii. https://hechingerreport.org/a-scholar-revives-the-argument-for-racial-integration-in-schools/
c. strongly encourage American history and civics classes to mainly use the documents of the founding fathers
i. I don’t get this. Of course it’s important to learn about the things the founding fathers wrote. We should teach and learn about the Constitution. But how is that giving us a well-rounded view of the history of our country. There is so much of our history (good and bad) that it’s written in the founding documents. This just seems restrictive and ignores too much else that is out there. I have this sneaky feeling this is in there because Republicans would like to only talk about the rosy parts of our history, because talking about anything negative is “unpatriotic.” The fact is, we cannot build a better America if we don’t understand where our weaknesses are and where we can improve. We can’t improve if we think we already are and always have been, perfect.
6. Choice in Education
a. Support Education Savings Accounts, vouchers, and tuition tax credits
b. “Empowering families to access the learning environments that will best help their children to realize their full potential is one of the greatest civil rights challenges of our time.”
i. School choice…oh what a can of worms. A lot of what I have found is that school choice sounds great but really isn’t. Here are a bunch of resources on the topic.
ii. https://adayinourshoes.com/vouchers-school-choice-bad/
c. Federal Title 1 money should follow the child to whatever school works best for them
d. expand DC Opportunity Scholarship Program as a model for the rest of the country
i. Democrats want to get rid of it
e. Support the English First approach and oppose “divisive programs that limit students’ ability to advance in American society”
i. There are actually significant benefits that come from a bilingual education and more parents are starting to choose those approaches for their children. There is no real reason why a student cannot be successful if they know more than one language. This feels discriminatory for me. http://users.rcn.com/crawj/langpol/Krashen-McField.pdf
f. replace “family planning” programs for teens with sexual risk avoidance education that sets abstinence until marriage as the responsible and respected standard of behavior.
i. this approach will empower teens to achieve optimal health outcomes
1. How in the world are we still clinging to this absolutely false notion that abstinence only approaches are the best??? There have been SO MANY studies that have shown that giving teens information about sex and how to be safe is much more effective. It is perfectly fine to encourage students to choose abstinence if that is what they feel is the right choice for them, but we have to understand that many are not going to choose that and we need to empower them to make healthy sexual choices within whatever parameters they and their parents determine is best.
g. Oppose school-based clinics that provide referral or counseling for abortion and contraception
i. I mean…what is the goal here? Because if we want to prevent teen pregnancy and abortion, we should be throwing our full support behind these clinics, because in places that have these clinics, there are substantially fewer teen pregnancies and abortions. https://www.contemporaryobgyn.net/view/impact-contraception-school-health-center
7. Title IX
a. This was originally meant to help women and girls have access to more opportunity. It does not include sexual orientation or other categories
i. So are we arguing that people of different sexual orientations or gender identities don’t deserve access to the same opportunities as their heterosexual, cisgendered peers?
b. Obama’s edict to the states concerning restrooms, locker room, and other facilities is “illegal, dangerous, and ignores privacy issues.”
i. So the Obama administration ruled that schools have to let students use the locker room or bathroom that matches their gender identity. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/obama-administration-to-decree-transgender-access-for-public-school-bathrooms
ii. Trump reversed it https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/22/516664633/trump-administration-rescinds-obama-rule-on-transgender-students-bathroom-use
iii. My personal feeling is….being transgender does NOT automatically make you a pervert or an inherently dangerous person. In fact, I would argue that the transgender individuals are in more danger on a daily basis than their cisgender peers. People like to fearmonger about how now creepers are just going to use whatever bathroom they want and use “gender identity” as an excuse. I think that’s ridiculous. Creepers are gonna be creepers, this is not going to change how creepy they are. And again, transgender individuals just want to live their life, they are NOT inherently more dangerous than anyone else. (Again, if you want to learn more about transgender individuals, I will direct you to the Listen, Learn and Love podcast, which has several enlightening interviews with wonderful trans folk).
c. sexual assault is a terrible crime that must be promptly investigated by civil authorities
i. guilt must be determined beyond a reasonable doubt
d. Those convicted of sexual assault should be punished to the full extent of the law.
i. This whole section literally caused me to laugh out loud because….there are literally dozens of women who have accused our current President of sexual assault. Does it mean he’s guilty for every one? Maybe not, but I feel like the fact that there are so many is telling. We need to start believing women by the way. Speaking out against sexual assault is traumatic and difficult, and we know that because of this there are many who stay silent.
e. Colleges and universities are not allowing the proper authorities to investigate assault claims
8. Improving Higher Education
a. there’s an ideological bias deeply entrenched within the current university system
i. students are being politically indoctrinated
iii. https://theweek.com/articles/860278/worked-website-that-rated-professors-political-bias-what-learned
iv. The above articles are both super interesting commentaries on this idea.
b. We should get rid of “safe zones” because college students don’t need protection from the free exchange of ideas
i. There are so many misconceptions about safe zones. Here are a few articles that help clear those up.
ii. https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/safe-spaces-college#1
iii. https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/12/12/18131186/college-campus-safe-spaces-trigger-warnings
c. condemn campus-based BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) campaign against Israel as anti-Semitic
i. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/27/world/middleeast/bds-israel-boycott-antisemitic.html
9. College Costs
a. college cost is rising faster than inflation
b. student debt exceeds credit card debt
c. we need new systems of learning to compete with traditional four-year schools
i. technical institutions
ii. online universities
iii. life-long learning
iv. work based learning in the private sector
d. a four-year degree is not the only path towards a prosperous and fulfilling career
i. I definitely agree with this very much. College is great but you can absolutely have a wonderful career going a different route.
e. Federal government should not originate student loans
f. bring down college costs by student financing through private sector participation
g. accreditation should be decoupled from federal financing and states should allow a wide array of accrediting and credentialing bodies to operate
i. It was hard to find information about what Trump has done for college tuition and student debt. But here are a few things. https://thecollegeinvestor.com/21636/trump-student-loan-forgiveness/
ii. https://www.vox.com/2019/3/28/18271083/trump-higher-education-act-student-loans
10. Restoring Patient Control and Preserving Quality in Healthcare
a. Repeal Obamacare – it has driven up prices for everyone, and raised drug prices
b. we need to replace it with an approach based on genuine competition, patient choice, excellent care, wellness, and timely access to treatment.
c. recover the traditional patient-physician relationship based on mutual trust, informed consent and confidentiality
d. reduce mandates and enable insurers and providers of care to increase healthcare options and contain costs
e. goal is to ensure that all Americans have improved access to affordable, high-quality healthcare
i. The only problem I see here is that since the Trump Administration has made efforts to roll back Obamacare, more and more Americans are living without insurance or access to high quality health care. I know that for many people (ourselves included) getting an insurance plan on the marketplace was a joke (when we tried it, we couldn’t find anyone who would take it.) But I also know that for many other people, Obamacare was a lifesaver. I don’t know the answer to the healthcare issues, but I definitely think there were good things about the Affordable Care Act.
f. states should regulate their local insurance markets
g. block grant Medicaid
i. I talked about this in a previous section – there are lots of negative opinions about block granting Medicaid
h. firmly against abortion – studies show it endangers the health and well-being of women
i. But also firmly against providing access to free contraceptives, which helps PREVENT the need for abortion.
i. promote price transparency so consumers know the cost of treatments before they agree to them
j. individuals and small businesses can form purchasing pools to expand overage to the uninsured
k. those with preexisting conditions who maintain continuous coverage should be protected from discrimination
i. https://apnews.com/5707eb98847a3c69632a2eea2e03a475
l. end tax discrimination against the individual purchase of insurance and allow consumers to buy insurance across state lines
m. repeal the 1945 McCarran-Ferguson Act
i. They are working on this. https://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2019-archive/june/ada-urges-senate-committee-to-support-repealing-mccarran-ferguson-antitrust-exemption
n. make homecare for seniors a priority
11. Protecting Individual Conscience in Healthcare
a. healthcare professionals should not have to choose between following their faith and practicing their profession
b. support the ability of organizations to provide healthcare coverage that is consistent with their beliefs
c. want legislation that would require parental consent for a daughter to go across state lines for abortion
d. Providers cannot withhold services because a patient’s life is deemed not worth living
e. call for a permanent ban on federal funding and subsidies for abortion and healthcare plans that include abortion coverage
12. Better Care and Lower Costs: Tort Reform
a. cap non-economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits
13. Advancing Research and Development in Healthcare
a. “the American People have the world’s best healthcare”
b. encourage stem cell research but don’t use embryos
c. ban human cloning for research or reproduction
d. ban the creation of or experimentation on human embryos for research
e. Mifeprex (an abortion pill) endangers women’s health
i. Apparently it’s actually very safe.
f. against over the counter sales of contraceptives
14. Putting Patients First: Reforming the FDA
a. FDA puts public health at risk because they delay, chill, and kill the development of new devices, drugs that can promote our lives and health
i. Again, I would love to see the reasoning behind this statement. I did a google search but had trouble finding anything substantial.
b. FDA should return to traditional emphasis on hard science and approving new breakthrough medicines
c. commend Right to Try legislation and want to extend that to all Americans
15. Advancing Americans with Disabilities
a. ABLE act and Steve Gleason Act were good things
b. Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act makes it easier for students with disabilities to pursue competitive employment
c. reauthorize IDEA
i. Apparently this is in the works
d. TIME Act encourages competitive employment for personal with disabilities
i. minimize separation of children with disabilities from their peers
e. oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide
16. Ensuring Safe Neighborhoods: Criminal Justice and Prison Reform
a. DOJ has urged leniency for rioters while turning a blind eye to mob attacks on peaceful citizens exercising their political rights (not sure exactly what this is referring to, something during Obama Administration since this is the 2016 platform)
b. President should restore the public’s trust in law enforcement and civil order by first adhering to the rule of law himself!!
c. President should not sow seeds of division and distrust between the police and the people they serve and protect
d. The Republican party is the party of “law and order” – and must make clear that every human life matters
i. About the phrase “law and order” https://www.npr.org/2016/07/28/487560886/is-trumps-call-for-law-and-order-a-coded-racial-message
ii. I really haven’t felt like I’m getting the “every life matters” message from our President…
e. a bipartisan presidential commission should purge the Code and the body of regulations of old “crimes”
f. Congress should codify the Common Law’s Rule of Lenity – requires courts to interpret unclear statues in favor of a defendant
g. “The essential role of federal law enforcement personal in protecting federal property and combating interstate crime should not be compromised by diversion to matters properly handled by state and local authorities.”
i. So…it shouldn’t be that big of an issue that states are wanting to handle the violence from protests on their own…
h. Mandatory minimum sentencing is an important tool to keep dangerous criminals off the streets
i. Modifications to it should be targeted at nonviolent offenders or those with mental health issues
i. the death penalty is constitutional
i. murder rate is “soaring” in our cities so states should be able to decide if they want to have the death penalty or not
ii. I looked back at 2016, since this is when this was written and found a few articles about this. Murder rates HAVE gone up. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/25/16360606/murder-rate-2016-fbi
iii. https://time.com/4651122/homicides-increase-cities-2016/
iv. By the way…a Trump presidency doesn’t seem to be solving this issue.
v. I disagree with the death penalty. Even if a person “deserves” to die, I don’t think we deserve to kill them, nor should we make anyone do it. I feel like if the death penalty exists, we should make sure that a person’s case is reviewed by more than one team of lawyers to make sure there weren’t any mistakes made. Read “Just Mercy” which is the reason why I have this opinion.
j. mandatory prison time for all assaults involving serious injury to law enforcement officers
k. protect the rights of victims and their families
l. persons in jail should be protected against cruel treatment from other inmates
i. Courts should not tie the hands of prison officials in dealing with these problems
1. What does this mean? Are we advocating for cruel punishments to go down in prison??
m. Opportunities for literacy and vocational education should be available to prisoners
n. children of prisoners should be of special concern in our communities
o. Pornography is a public health crisis
p. urge energetic prosecution of child porn
17. Combatting Drug Abuse
a. Marijuana is still federally illegal even though states are legalizing it
b. heroin deaths are a problem, along with opioids
c. physicians should limit prescriptions of opioids
d. Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act
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