What’s In the Republican Policy Platform? You Need to Know.

What’s in the official platform for the Republican Party in 2012: the most conservative in modern history.

Since the mid-term elections of 2010 when the tea-party helped sweep in very socially conservative politicians, we have seen, by one indicator, a 300% increase in new laws about abortions rights… and that’s just one aspect of the Republican platform that has been adopted for 2012 before the RNC.

To all Republicans who are registered as a republican because you believe in small government: this is not your party anymore. When you take the time to total everything up, the Democratic party wants a smaller government than Republicans. The Republican platform literally enters into your private life, intrusively so, while Democrats are happy just trying to help people – at least the Democrats aren’t dictating your behavior. If you want to stay registered as a republican because of small government and lower taxes, that’s fine – but unless you vote out all the extremists in the party, then the US government will get deeper and deeper into your personal space… literally.

Some key aspects of the 2012 Republican Party Platform

• ABSOLUTELY NO ABORTION IN CASES OF RAPE OR INCEST. The proposal for a “human life amendment” passed without any friction in 2012 for the republican platform. The human life amendment does not have exceptions for rape or incest.
• BANNING CERTAIN FORMS OF CONTRACEPTION. This includes so called “Plan B” options or the Morning After Pill. But more importantly, the Human Life Amendment has repercussions that extend extremely deep into constitutional issues like Privacy and even our concept of Freedom from governmental intervention.
• BE PROUD OF MANDATORY ULTRASOUNDS. The GOP “salutes” states that have implemented the infamous “transvaginal probe” laws. The mandatory ultrasounds, even if a woman’s doctor says she does not need it, and definitely if a woman says she doesn’t want it – that doesn’t matter – in Republican-land, the government mandates that woman have a transvaginal probe… because they say so. Google it. There are many diagrams of what that really means. How’s that measure up against “Small Government” ?
• SAME-SEX COUPLES GET NO LEGAL RIGHTS. They took this issue further than before as well, going as far as completely rejecting civil unions as well. Basically, it is perfectly clear now that if you are gay, then the republican party things you are sub-human: you do not deserve the same rights as “normal” republican people. How’s that working for you and the concept of freedom?
• PAPERS PLEASE LAWS NATIONWIDE. If anyone can point to a time in history when it was a good idea to give a government the right to request papers of all its citizens in this way then I might listen… but we all know taking this step is NOT something that supports freedom or small government. It’s knocking on your door and asking if have a right to even be here.
• WOMEN AND GAYS IN THE MILITARY: More digressions to the 1950’s for the Republican Platform. They use the term “experimentation” in the military when it comes to how women and gays “are allowed to serve” in the military. Haven’t we covered all these social issues already? Why rewind the clock of social progress?
• NO TAX INCREASES. EVER… MOSTLY. War is the exception (or course). Tax increases require a super-majority to approve (this is what the republican platform wants). So basically, no tax increases ever. BUT since the republicans still seem to love war so darn much, that’s the exception when taxes can be increased (at least they’ve seemed to learn from the Bush era that cutting taxes and starting two wars tends to cause problems with the deficit).
• NO STATEHOOD, MORE GUNS FOR WASHINGTON DC. FRC’s Perkins, who recently blamed Obama and the Southern Poverty Law Center for the shooting at FRC’s Washington headquarters (EVERYTHING is Obama’s fault in the eyes of these people, it’s amazing). Perkins requested…. and won…  a piece of the platform urging the DC Council to expand gun rights. (Because there’s not enough gun violence in DC already). The same section also opposes DC statehood, which would allow the District to govern itself and put an end to Congressional attempts to impose abortion bans on DC.

At some point average republicans should start realizing that the republican party is no longer their party. You don’t have to like big social programs and turn into a raging liberal… but you have to admit that the republican party has taken social conservatism too far to justify itself as being a legitimate party for an entire nation.

Not voting for them is the only way to stop it. Voting Democrat won’t make you a turncoat (though some republicans will say it does). Voting Democrat means you want people in office who are willing to find solutions, not impose evangelical beliefs on an entire nation.

Want the government out of your personal business? Vote for a democrat.