Points of the Republican platform

Summarized by David Plouff and Carol Adamson

The Republican Platform opposes Stem Cell Research.
Stem Cell research isn’t news any more. Scientists in laboratories all over the world work to find ways to use stem cells to repair or replace human tissue. Stem Cells are used in bone marrow transplants, provided for adults and children suffering from leukemia. Hopefully, researchers will find ways to apply their findings to dread diseases such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons. The Bush administration has tried to stop this research in the USA. More information must go out to a broader public regarding the process of using stem cells. One famous Republican proponent of this research is Nancy Reagan.

The Republicans don’t even mention protecting equal pay for equal work.

The Republicans support huge tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans.
No one likes to pay taxes, but right now in America their are many children who don’t get the ordinary inoculations prescribed by the international community to protect against disease–not only to protect individuals, but to guard against epidemics. There are hundreds and hundreds of bridges in America that are in dire need of repair (think Minnesota and the bridge over the Mississippi), there are thousands and thousands of bright young people who cannot afford to go to college, and millions of families who can’t afford health care. Waterworks and sewers must be maintained. Qualified teachers employed and afforded opportunities to develop knowledge and skills in their fields. Schools and hospitals and emergency services must be constantly updated, ports and airports and communications must be kept secure, our military establishment must be kept ready and well-trained and equipped. Farmers and householders must be afforded security after natural disasters. The Levees and wetlands of the Mississippi must be strengthened. An on and on.How can it be that the richest people in the nation ought to get tax cuts? We’ve got a lot to pay for ordinarily, and now we’ve got Fannie and Freddie and Iraq and Afghanistan and the black hole of funds that seemed to have disappeared without leaving hardly a trace.We have a national debt in the trillions! Common sense and arithmetic tell me that tax cuts for the rich is not the solution.

Republicans almost completely ignore the $10 billion we’re spending every week in Iraq.

Republicans make no exceptions. Women will not have the right to choose abortion– even in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother.
That’s altogether too clear. In addition, many Republicans oppose sex education in the schools. They sometimes allow sex education if it is limited to advocacy of total sexual abstinence before marriage. How can young people navigate their emotions without knowing anything about their own biological/psychological/sexual development? Better sex education could afford young people with strategies for abstinence. A few years back, teen-age motherhood was a leading social problem in the US. It probably still is. The Republicans stand to worsen the problem, not solve it.Looks to me like most of the people–especially women–will be getting a bum rap just with these few notions from the current Republican Platform.

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