Important Political Issues

Gun Control

Gun violence has become an increasingly problematic issue in recent years. I believe that we should have stricter gun control. Though gun violence cannot be eradicated entirely, there should be measures put into place to reduce the amount of damage to the country. Measures such as comprehensive background checks and psychological tests should be a requirement in order to reduce the possibility of guns getting into the wrong hands. Guns should be made to be more difficult to acquire so that not just anyone could own one. In the US, over 100,000 people die from gun related violence with 72% of the most violent killings involve guns (www.ontheissues.org). If guns were made more difficult to attain and to the people less likely to abuse their rights, there would be less incidents.

Democratic Stance: The Democratic Party favors of stricter gun laws. They wish to implement comprehensive background checks and make guns more difficult to acquire. 

Republican Stance: Republicans are not in favor of stricter gun control. They believe every one should have access to guns to defend themselves.

Libertarian Stance: Laws that restrict guns are not effective. Like the Republicans, they believe that carrying guns reduces crime and deaths. 

Green Stance: The Green Party is in favor of stricter gun laws. They reference the Australian gun restrictions and how it has reduced crime rates in the country as the basis of their stance on the issue.

Constitution Stance: They are against prohibiting anyone from gaining access to guns. The Constitution Party cites the second amendment as the basis for their beliefs.They also wish to eliminate all government "Gun Free Zones" to "ensure the safety of the American people and their families" (www.constitutionparty.com).

Abortion

On the issue of abortion, I believe that it is the woman's choice whether or abort or not. Not everyone conceives on the same circumstances and I believe that people who do not want children should not have children. If abortion is illegal, children who are born to parents who did not want them will be/feel neglected and can lead to an increase in child abuse/abandonment in the country. Women should not be forced to have children if they do not wish to. But, abortion is not always about not wanting the child. Some women experience complications during birthing or their pregnancy and continuing to have their child will result in their deaths; there are also those whose children will be born with so many medical issues that their lifespan is not expected to be long. For those women, they are forced to give up their child for their safety and happiness. They do not want their child to have to suffer through life or have to watch their child die before them.

Democratic stance: Democrats are pro-choice, but they emphasize that it does not mean they're pro-abortion. They believe in making abortion more rare by support foster care and adoption services. Democrats also advocate to uphold Roe vs. Wade.

Republican stance: Republicans are pro-life. They believe that the Roe vs. Wade decision should be overturned and all life should be protected from conception to death.

Libertarian stance: Women have the right to abortion. Like Democrats, Libertarians are pro-choice and believe that abortion should be a choice. 

Green stance: They believe in maintaining abortion rights and providing free birth control. Greens also advocate federal funding for stem cell research.

Constitution stance: The Constitution Party is pro-life. They believe in protecting the "God-given personhood" of humans from conception to death "without exception" (www.constitutionparty.com). In the case of rape or incest, they claim that it is still "unconscionable to take the life of an innocent for the crimes of the father" (www.constitutionparty.com).

Environment

The condition of the environment is essential to the survival of the planet. Without sustaining life, there would be nothing. The effects of years and years of harmful behavior has caught up with us; climate change is only one of the many problems of our destructive behavior. There should be policies put into place to help lessen the damage. An unhealthy environment would also mean putting everyone's health at risk and bring tragedy. More people should take steps to protect the habitability of the planet for future generations.

Democratic stance: Democrats wished to invest in clean energies and fund more research. They also believed the country should move towards conservation.

Republican stance: They believe in the use of eminent domain and do not support the workings of the EPA. Green technology also costs too much and would take years to pay back.

Libertarian stance: Most believe that man do contribute to the harm to the environment, but it is not an issue the government can fix.  

Green stance: Greens stand up against the abuse of eminent domain. They support restoration of forests, shorelines, and also the ban of genetically modified foods.

Constitution stance: They believed there should be a balance between conservation, development, use, and preservation. The Constitution Party also supports reducing pollution. However, they do not believe that the damage to the environment are caused by man.

Immigration

Regarding immigration, I believe that illegal immigrants should not be randomly deported. This tears apart some families and only brings unnecessary sadness. Most immigrants come to America in hopes of a better life, not every one of them is a criminal or a threat to the nation. The government should provide a legal pathway for immigrants to gain citizenship, not make the process even more difficult. If the process is made more difficult, there would be more illegals because people would not stop trying to escape the political chaos in their country. The US is widely regarded by other countries as a "free" country and looks to it as a safe haven to escape from their country's political turmoil.

Democratic stance: Democrats support immigration and believe that it brings diversity to the country. 

Republican stance: Immigration should be limited and illegal immigration should be stopped because it damages the economy.

Libertarian stance: Illegal immigrants should not be randomly deported, only criminals. Provide easier access to work visas.

Green stance: The country should provide a legal pathway for illegal immigrants to gain citizenship. 

Constitution stance: Borders should be more strictly guarded. There should be a limit to the number of immigrants who cross the border into the country. 

Education

Education across the country should be less focused on teaching students only the concepts that are going to be on a test. I believe that education standards should move towards subjects that would be applicable to real life. Many students feel unprepared for the real world, with no knowledge or understanding of how the world operates. There should also be cuts to the cost of college; too many struggle with student debt and spend much of their lives being haunted by it. From the period of 2003 to 2013, the cost of college had risen 79% (www.ontheissues.org).

Democratic stance: Democrats support butting college costs and is against the No Child Left Behind program. They believe that public college education should be free for families who make under a certain salary.

Republican stance: Republicans believe that there should be a choice to which school children attend and they oppose Common Core standards. 

Libertarian stance: Libertarians wish to stop providing students loans because they believe it only increases tuition. They are also against Common Core and putting an end to the Department of Education.

Green stance: Public college education should be free. Like Democrats, they also were against No Child Left Behind and proposes to replace it with professional teachers.

Constitution stance: They also oppose No Child Left Behind and putting an end to the Department of Education. Religion should also be implemented into education.

Works Cited

Gemma, Peter. "The Constitution Party." The Constitution Party. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.
Issues2001.org. "OnTheIssues.org - Candidates on the Issues." OnTheIssues.org - Candidates on the Issues. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.