3-1 We Believe in America REPUBLICAN PLATFORM This platform is dedicated with appreciation and reverence for: The wisdom of the Framers of the United States Constitution, who gave us a Republic, as Benjamin Franklin cautioned, if we can keep it. Paid for by the Committee on Arrangements for the 2012 Republican National Convention Not Authorized By Any Candidate Or Candidate’s Committee www.gopconvention2012.com REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 2012 Preamble The 2012 Republican Platform is a statement of unsustainable debt produced by a big government who we are and what we believe as a Party and our entitlement society, or a positive, optimistic view of vision for a stronger and freer America. an opportunity society, where any American who The pursuit of opportunity has defined America works hard, dreams big and follows the rules can from our very beginning. This is a land of opportu - achieve anything he or she wants. nity. The American Dream is a dream of equal op - The American people possess vast reserves of portunity for all. And the Republican Party is the courage and determination and the capacity to hear party of opportunity. the truth and chart a strong course. They are eager Today, that American Dream is at risk. for the opportunity to take on life’s challenges and, Our nation faces unprecedented uncertainty through faith and hard work, transform the future with great fiscal and economic challenges, and under for the better. They are the most generous people on the current Administration has suffered through the earth, giving sacrificially of their time, talent, and longest and most severe economic downturn since treasure. the Great Depression. This platform affirms that America has always Many Americans have experienced the burden been a place of grand dreams and even grander re - of lost jobs, lost homes, and lost hopes. Our middle alities; and so it will be again, if we return govern - class has felt that burden most acutely. Meanwhile, ment to its proper role, making it smaller and the federal government has expanded its size and smarter. If we restructure government’s most impor - scope, its borrowing and spending, its debt and tant domestic programs to avoid their fiscal collapse. deficit. Federalism is threatened and liberty retreats. If we keep taxation, litigation, and regulation to a For the world, this has been four years of lost minimum. If we celebrate success, entrepreneurship, American leadership, leadership that depends upon and innovation. If we lift up the middle class. If we economic vitality and peace through strength. hand over to the next generation a legacy of growth Put simply: The times call for trustworthy lead - and prosperity, rather than entitlements and indebt - ership and honest talk about the challenges we face. edness. Our nation and our people cannot afford the status That same commitment must be present both quo. We must begin anew, with profound changes in here at home and abroad. We are a party that knows the way government operates; the way it budgets, the difference between international acclaim and taxes, and regulates. Jefferson’s vision of a “wise and world leadership. We will lift the torch of freedom frugal government” must be restored. and democracy to inspire all those who would be Providence has put us at the fork in the road, free. As President Reagan issued the clarion call to and we must answer the question: If not us, who? If “tear down this Wall,” so must we always stand not now, when? against tyranny and oppression. We will always sup - That is the choice facing the American people port and cherish our men and women in uniform this November. Every voter will be asked to choose who defend our liberties with their lives. between the chronic high unemployment and the As we embark upon this critical mission, we are i REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 2012 not without guidance. We possess an owner’s man - has ordained.” Values matter. Character counts. ual: the Constitution of the United States, the great - Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan understand these est political document ever written. That sacred great truths. They share a positive vision for document shows us the path forward. Trust the peo - America – a vision of America renewed and strong. ple. Limit government. Respect federalism. Guaran - They know America’s best days lay ahead. It will tee opportunity, not outcomes. Adhere to the rule of take honest results-oriented, conservative leadership law. Reaffirm that our rights come from God, are to enact good policies for our people. They will protected by government, and that the only just gov - provide it. ernment is one that truly governs with the consent We respectfully submit this platform to the of the governed. American people. It is both a vision of where we are The principles written in the Constitution are headed and an invitation to join us in that journey. secured by the character of the American people. It is about the great dreams and opportunities that President George Washington said in his first inau - have always been America and must remain the gural address: “The propitious smiles of Heaven can essence of America for generations to come. never be expected on a nation that disregards the May God continue to shed his grace on the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself United States of America. Governor Bob McDonnell Chairman Senator John Hoeven Congressman Marsha Blackburn Co-Chair Co-Chair ii REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 2012 Table of Contents 1 Restoring the American Dream: Rebuilding the Economy and Creating Jobs 9 We The People: A Restoration of Constitutional Government 15 America’s Natural Resources: Energy, Agriculture and the Environment 21 Reforming Government to Serve the People 31 Renewing American Values to Build Healthy Families, Great Schools and Safe Neighborhoods 39 American Exceptionalism iii iv REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 2012 Restoring the American Dream: Rebuilding the Economy and Creating Jobs We are the party of maximum economic freedom motes substantial economic growth and reducing and the prosperity freedom makes possible. Prosper - regulation encourages business formation and job ity is the product of self-discipline, work, savings, and creation. Knowing that, a Republican President and investment by individual Americans, but it is not an Congress will jumpstart an economic renewal that end in itself. Prosperity provides the means by which creates opportunity, rewards work and saving, and individuals and families can maintain their inde - unleashes the productive genius of the American peo - pendence from government, raise their children by ple. Because the GOP is the Great Opportunity Party, their own values, practice their faith, and build this is our pledge to workers without jobs, families communities of self-reliant neighbors. It is also the without savings, and neighborhoods without hope: means by which the United States is able to assert together we can get our country back on track, ex - global leadership. The vigor of our economy makes panding its bounty, renewing its faith, and fulfilling possible our military strength and is critical to our its promise of a better life. national security. This year’s election is a chance to restore the Job Creation: proven values of the American free enterprise system. Getting Americans Back to Work We offer our Republican vision of a free people using The best jobs program is economic growth. We their God-given talents, combined with hard work, do not offer yet another made-in-Washington pack - self-reliance, ethical conduct, and the pursuit of op - age of subsidies and spending to create temporary or portunity, to achieve great things for themselves and artificial jobs. We want much more than that. We the greater community. Our vision of an opportunity want a roaring job market to match a roaring econ - society stands in stark contrast to the current Admin - omy. Instead, what this Administration has given us istration’s policies that expand entitlements and is 42 consecutive months of unemployment above 8 guarantees, create new public programs, and provide percent, the longest period of high unemployment expensive government bailouts. That road has cre - since the Great Depression. Republicans will pursue ated a culture of dependency, bloated government, free market policies that are the surest way to boost and massive debt. employment and create job growth and economic Republicans believe in the Great American prosperity for all. Dream, with its economics of inclusion, enabling In all the sections that follow, as well as else - everyone to have a chance to own, invest, build, and where in this platform, we explain what must be done prosper. It is the opposite of the policies which, for to achieve that goal. The tax system must be simpli - the last three and a half years, have stifled growth, fied. Government spending and regulation must be destroyed jobs, halted investment, created unprece - reined in. American companies must be more com - dented uncertainty, and prolonged the worst eco - petitive in the world market, and we must be aggres - nomic downturn since the Great Depression. Those sive in promoting U.S. products abroad and securing policies have placed the federal government in the open markets for them. A federal-State-private part - driver’s seat, rather than relying on energetic and en - nership must invest in the nation’s infrastructure: trepreneurial Americans to rebuild the economy from roads, bridges, airports, ports, and water systems, the ground up. Excessive taxation and regulation im - among others. Federal training programs have to be pede economic development. Lowering taxes pro - overhauled and made relevant for the workplace of 1 REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 2012 the twenty-first century. Potential employers need hension of the average citizen. A reformed code certainty and predictability for their hiring decisions, should promote simplicity and coherence, savings and the team of a Republican President and Congress and innovation, increase American competitiveness, will create the confidence that will get Americans and recognize the burdens on families with children.