‘92 REPUBLICAN CONVENTION : Dueling Platforms: How Planks Stack Up : OPPOSITION RECORD

DEMOCRATS

“The last 12 years have been a nightmare of Republican irresponsibility and neglect. America’s leadership is indifferent at home and uncertain in the world. . . . Republican mismanagement has disarmed government as an instrument to make our economy work and support the people’s most basic values, needs and hopes. The Republicans brought America a false and fragile prosperity based on borrowing, not income, and so will leave behind a mountain of public debt and a back-breaking annual burden in interest.”

REPUBLICANS

“The Democrats would revise history to rationalize a return to bigger government, higher taxes and moral relativism. . . . The Democratic Party has forgotten its origins as a party of work, thrift and self-reliance. But they have not forgotten their art for dissembling and distortion. The Democrats are trapped in their compact with the ideology of trickle-down government, but .they’re clever enough to know that the voters would shun them if their true markings were revealed.”

VISION OF THE FUTURE

DEMOCRATS

“We call for a revolution in government--to take power away from the entrenched bureaucracies and narrow interests in Washington and put it back in the hands of ordinary people. . . . To make this revolution we seek a New Covenant to repair the damaged bond between the American people and their government that will expand opportunity, insist upon greater individual responsibility in return, restore community and ensure national security in a profoundly new era.”

REPUBLICANS

“Unlike our opponents we are inspired by a commitment to profound change. Our mission combines timeless beliefs with a positive vision of a vigorous America: prosperous and tolerant, just and compassionate. . . . We believe in the traditional family values and the Judeo-Christian heritage that informs our culture. We believe government has a legitimate role to play in our national life, but government must never dominate that life.”

ECONOMIC GROWTH

DEMOCRATS

“The only way to lay the foundation for renewed American prosperity is to spur both private and public investment. . . . The President and Congress should agree that savings from defense must be reinvested productively at home. . . . For the private sector, instead of a sweeping capital gains windfall to the wealthy . . . we will create an investment tax credit and a capital gains reduction for patient investors in emerging technologies and new business.”

REPUBLICANS

“The latest Democratic scam is to raise taxes for ‘investment’--a code word for more government spending. A Republican Congress will foster investment where it does the most good, by individuals within the private sector. . . . . . . Congress should follow the lead of President Bush . . . in passing the federal enterprise zone program that will empower communities by reducing government regulation and taxation.”

TAXES AND THE DEFICIT

DEMOCRATS

“In place of the Republican supply-side disaster, the Democratic investment, economic conversion and growth strategy will generate more revenues from a growing economy. We must also tackle spending by putting everything on the table, eliminate non-productive programs, achieve defense savings; reform entitlement programs to control soaring health care costs, cut federal administrative costs by 3% annually for four years . . . apply a strict ‘pay as you go’ rule to the new non-investment spending and make the rich pay their fair share in taxes. . . . We will provide long overdue tax relief to families with children.”

REPUBLICANS

” . . . We will oppose any attempt to increase taxes. Furthermore, Republicans believe that the taxes insisted on by the Democrats in the 1990 budget agreement were recessionary . . . (and) should ultimately be repealed. Deficits have grown as Democratic Congresses have . . . allowed spending to become uncontrolled. A Republican Congress, working with a Republican President, will consider non-Social Security mandatory spending portions of the federal budget when looking for savings.”

HEALTH CARE

DEMOCRATS

“All Americans should have universal access to quality, affordable health care--not as a privilege, but as a right. . . . We will enact a uniquely American reform of the health care system to control costs and make health care affordable; ensure quality and choice of health care providers; cover all Americans regardless of pre-existing conditions; squeeze out waste, bureaucracy and abuse; improve primary and preventive care.”

REPUBLICANS

“Republicans believe government control of health care is irresponsible and ineffective. . . . We endorse President Bush’s comprehensive health care plan which . . . will make health care more affordable through tax credits and deductions that will offset insurance costs for 95 million Americans and make health care more accessible. . . .”

AIDS

DEMOCRATS

“We must be united in declaring war on AIDS and HIV disease . . . provide targeted and honest prevention programs, make drug treatment available for all addicts who seek it, guarantee access to quality care, expand clinical trials for treatments and vaccines and speed up the FDA drug approval process.”

REPUBLICANS

“We must succeed in slowing the epidemic’s spread. . . . We must recognize . . . that prevention is linked ultimately to personal responsibility and moral behavior. We reject the notion that the distribution of clean needles and condoms are the solution to stopping the spread of AIDS. Education designed to curb the spread of this disease should stress marital fidelity, abstinence and a drug-free lifestyle.”

CIVIL RIGHTS

DEMOCRATS

“Democrats will continue to lead the fight to ensure that no Americans suffer discrimination or deprivation of rights on the basis of race, gender, language, national origin, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation or other characteristics irrelevant to ability. We support the ratification of the equal rights amendment, affirmative action, stronger protection of voting rights for racial and ethnic minorities . . . and continued resistance to discriminatory English-only pressure groups.”

REPUBLICANS

” . . . We support the Bush Administration’s vigorous enforcement of statutes to prevent illegal discrimination on account of sex, race, creed or national origin. . . . We reject efforts to replace equal rights with quotas or other preferential treatment. . . . We oppose efforts by the Democratic Party to include sexual preference as a protected minority receiving preferential status under civil rights statutes.”

ABORTION DEMOCRATS

“Democrats stand behind the right of every woman to choose, consistent with Roe vs. Wade, regardless of ability to pay, and support a national law to protect that right. . . . The goal of our nation must be to make abortion less necessary, not more difficult or more dangerous.

REPUBLICANS

“We believe the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. . . . We therefore reaffirm our support for a human-life amendment to the Constitution. . . . We oppose using public revenues for abortion and. . . .”

THE FAMILY

DEMOCRATS

“Governments don’t raise children; people do. People who bring children into this world have a responsibility to care for them and give them values, motivation and discipline. Children should not have children. We need a national crackdown on deadbeat parents, an effective system of child support enforcement nationwide and a systematic effort to establish paternity for every child.”

REPUBLICANS

“For more than three decades the liberal philosophy has assaulted the family on every side. Today its more vocal advocates believe children should be able to sue their parents over decisions about schooling, cosmetic surgery, employment and other family matters. . . . The ultimate agenda of contemporary socialism (is) to liberate youth from traditional family values by replacing family functions with bureaucratic social services.”

IMMIGRATION

DEMOCRATS

“Democrats support immigration polices that promote fairness, non-discrimination and family reunification and that reflect our constitutional freedoms of speech, association and travel.”

REPUBLICANS

“Illegal entry into the United States . . . threatens the social compact on which immigration is based. . . . We will increase the size of the Border Patrol in order to . . . stop illegal immigration and will equip the Border Patrol with the tools, technologies and structures necessary to secure the border.”

NATIONAL DEFENSE

DEMOCRATS

“A post-Cold War restructuring of American forces will produce substantial savings beyond those promised by the Bush Administration, but that restructuring must be achieved without undermining our ability to meet future threats to our security. . . . The United States must be prepared to use military force decisively when necessary to defend our national interests.”

REPUBLICANS

“Republicans are for a controlled defense draw-down, not a free-fall. . . . U.S. defense spending already has been reduced significantly. . . . Yet any defense budget, however lean, is still too much for the Democrats. . . . SDI is the greatest investment in peace we could ever make.”