Republican 2.0
A Republican 2.0 is a modern Republican that promotes the use of knowledge and research to create party platform rather than party platform to dictate knowledge.
We welcome free debate ALWAYS, as debate is a tool to reach the truth and enlightenment. You may not agree with everything we stand for, but you are free to debate, and since we are adaptable Republicans, you do have a chance to change our minds on any number of issues.
A Republican 1.0 will believe in certain ideas and never even think about researching alternative solutions and will not be adaptable to disarm Democratic strategies.
What is a Republican 2.0
A Republican 2.0 is adaptable to change, technology, utilizes the digital world to its fullest extent, and promotes education and knowledge to further the Republican ideology.
A Republican 2.0 is pragmatic and does not discriminate all kinds of Republican peers.
You can become a Republican 2.0 as well, to prepare for 2010 and 2012 elections with a new philosophical outlook. You are already half way there... You use the internet right? You use technology? You research topics before an argument with a Democrat right? You already have a job in which you constantly learn and self-improve right? You adapt to Democratic strategies by using their strategy against them no matter the cost?
What Policies and Platforms do Republican 2.0's Support?
We are inline with the Republican party in every-way. We vote Republican, but we also realize that our Independent and Democratic citizens of this country also have Republican ideals but cannot become a true Republican because of minor issues. We realize that we aren't always right, and so we promote researching topics before claiming certainty.
The Constitution
We support the United States Bill of Rights and the United States Constitution.
The right to freedom of speech and the right to bear arms as well as multiple other rights are very important to us.
Economy
We support economic policies not necessarily 100% one kind, though mostly Reaganomics and Supply-Side economics. We support economic policies that encourage small business, competition, capitalism, free-market, and fiscal responsibility.
We are 100% inline with general Republican economics.
We however, don't support Wall Street greed and don't condone companies that rip off the little guys or use money excessively to harm capitalism or competition. We are against monopolies.
We do believe consumers should be protected in every way.
We don't support socialism, communism, or other alterations to a capitalist system.
We support low taxes as a means to effectively grow businesses and to bring in business and innovation to this country.
Wars
We support the war in Afghanistan as well as the current war in Iraq. Not because we know for sure President George W. Bush knows what he's doing in Iraq but because we know that withdrawing is a mistake, though it will eventually happen but with victory.
We criticize President Bush for his mistakes in Iraq such as giving too much power to the Kurds and Shi'ites in the region.
We criticize President Bush for not securing Baghdad during the early days of the invasion and allowing the looting of Baghdad.
We criticize President Bush for disarming and disbanding the military in Iraq leading to the insurgency and not properly securing the borders where insurgents entered Iraq for the reason of Jihad.
We criticize President Bush for not properly explaining the intelligence and as to why we haven't found WMDs as of yet.
We praise President Bush for keeping the country secure through homeland security since 9/11 and for handling the Taliban.
We criticize the people who downplayed terrorism.
However, we support our troops and the Iraq war fully, as retreating in defeat is never an option unless in the face of a stronger enemy or part of a longer strategy, which is not the case in Iraq.
Foreign Policy
We support the rights of all freedom loving nations as well as treat all our NATO allies with respect.
We especially support the right of Turkey and Israel to defend itself against terrorism and enemies.
We support the current list of US declared terrorist organizations, and we see Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, and PKK as the greatest threat to peace in the Middle East.
We support free trade with all nations, because we know trade protectionist policies helped cause the Great Depression.
We support embargoes on freedom-hating nations, capitalism-hating nations, and terrorism-supporting nations.
We do support Diplomatic action first, and war as only a last resort.
We support giving US aid to US allies such as Turkey and Israel, but we condemn giving US aid to nations that lobbyist groups have convinced senators/representatives to give aid to. Only nations that provide something positive to the world and US security/well-being shall be rewarded. We propose major cut backs in aid to countries that do not support us or our goals.
We propose strong messages and action should be dealt to nations that oppress people, genocidal nations, and anti-freedom nations. Not military action unless absolutely necessary.
National Security
We support Homeland Security and the Patriot act strictly for the government to stop terrorist plots.
We Republican 2.0s are patriots, we don't have anything to hide from the government. Privacy is important but we cannot seriously harm our security efforts or intelligence gathering efforts just because we are paranoid that someone may be listening to us.
And don't worry, there are way too many calls in the world for anyone to be actually listening to your private matters. But those who are conducting illegal activities and then using OUR telecommunications to further their illegal activities is an OUTRAGE.
Privacy is a right, protecting someone's privacy from nosy employers and their rights to freedom of speech and from their thoughts and beliefs is definitely a right the government should provide.
National Defense
Border security is important. Foreign policy designed to weaken enemy nations is acceptable.
Funding any sort of terrorism or indigenous forces to revolt against another nation is not acceptable.
Using local forces to fight enemy combatants and terrorists is acceptable.
National defense is a priority in how our government spends its money.
We do support funding of high technology products like the F22 and F35 because it creates more jobs for the United States. However, reforms should be made for Defense acquisition programs to make sure our money is not being wasted and that companies being rewarded are using our nation's citizens in their jobs and buying domestically.
Nuclear proliferation should be encouraged, but we cannot eliminate all our nuclear weapons; they are vital defense against nuclear powers.
Nuclear weapons should be disarmed (in proportion to other nations) and weapons that prevent nuclear attacks should be researched and funded.
Biological weapons and chemical weapons development should not be a priority, but research about them and defenses for them should be a top priority as the enemy will definitely use it.
Energy & Climate Change
We don't support theories of Global Warming being caused by man. We believe climate change is a naturally occurring phenomena and more research should be done on our world's historical climates. We accept that our planet goes through hundreds of years of periods of cold and hot era.
We believe CO2 simply follows Temperature, and is not the cause of its variations.
We fully support Nuclear Energy.
We support alternative energies and would encourage investing in them fully, mainly the government providing incentives for research in alternative energies.
We never support going to war to protect oil interests.
We also support off-shore drilling and increasing oil production, especially refineries in the United States.
We don't support any taxes on businesses for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions unless it is seriously directly harming the environment or living conditions of people around them.
Environment should be protected and businesses should be encouraged to be more eco-friendly, but we do not support any sort of strict laws for such goals unless absolutely necessary.
Education
Education is a very important priority. Our children are our future.
We support paying teachers based on their skills, based on accreditation boards judging them as well as peers. Balanced teachers are always better, fear of lesser pay will make better teachers. Just like any other job evaluates its employees.
We oppose teaching Intelligent Design; evolution and religion can co-exist without conflict. Some may not agree but there is too much evidence to ignore.
We do not support religious schools (religious education belongs in our religious institutions and our parents/family) or the teaching of religion in schools unless it is professionally done from a sociological perspective or teaches the various world religions from an objective point of view.
We do not support affirmative action as it is an obsolete system created to fix injustices of the past. We now know that everyone now has an equal chance at getting accepted, and it should be based on their intelligence and performance.
We support testing students for evaluation as long as they are not unfair in anyway and are well tested themselves by peers and third-parties.
Social Issues
Republican 2.0s have amongst them supporters who are for gay marriage as well as supporters who are against gay marriage. It seems more of an issue of definition and preference/belief than anything else. It is not scientific therefore it is not a solidified position of a Republican 2.0. We acknowledge that homosexuals becoming married has no effect on us or society, except in the form of taxes (which some Republican 2.0s might object on that ground).
Gay Marriage and Homosexuality will always be a debate amongst society as a whole not just between Republicans and Democrats, but Democrats vs Democrats and Republicans vs Republicans. We don't need to take a side, but you can and still be a Republican 2.0.
Civil Rights should always be respected no matter the minority.
Human Rights as well should be respected.
Interrogation
Interrogation techniques are all conducted by interrogation experts, and they know interrogation, its effects and its consequences more than any of you.
Guantanamo
We do believe in the Geneva Conventions but we must also respect the realities of war and terrorism. Terrorists are not soldiers in the same form, they are not uniformed and they target civilians, therefore, interrogation techniques must be used on these individuals if it is determined that such techniques will positively lead to capture of other terrorists.
Each case is different, but we know that terrorists sent to Guantanamo Bay are mostly ones who have been caught in the battlefield using weapons against US soldiers.
Although there are cases of innocent people being captured, there are also cases where prisoners have been released and found to be working for the terrorists again. This is why we have lawyers and military courts for fair trial.
Guantanamo prison should not be closed down. However, it probably will be closed down by Barack Obama, and that shouldn't make us angry, but we should create a maximum security prison just for these types of terrorist prisoners where we can interrogate them for more intelligence on upcoming terrorist attacks.
We must be aware of the consequences of terrorism and our weaknesses in intelligence gathering versus an increasingly ever more sophisticated enemy.
Health Care
We must make health care more affordable, we must fix our system and perfect it as a wealthy nation and allow more people to be covered.
Nationalized health care is NOT the answer.
Health care is a right of everyone, but it is a right that we cannot provide through government. Instead people should be given the choice and power to receive health care.
Government makes it possible for people to abuse the system, such as refusing to work or pay taxes and still using the benefits of the US tax payer.
Government's role is to make companies be interested and motivated in helping the people afford health care.
Abortion
This debate is probably one of the hardest debates ever, and no one is really qualified to be 100% sure of the answer. The answer lies in when life begins, a question that makes it difficult for science to give us a clear answer.
Thus, it becomes a personal choice of belief. Religion should continue to teach the consequences of abortion but the government cannot dictate what someone wants to do with their body. If a women wants an abortion, she will usually have a very good reason and has thought about this question longer than you have, and it's her choice to make that decision.
A women accepts responsibility for the consequences of actions relating to religious beliefs. This is not an issue for government.
We do not agree with partial-birth abortion unless the woman's health is at risk.
Again this is a debate for all of society, not what one political party thinks. In other countries, this is not even an issue.
Drugs
We support the war on drugs. Drugs harm our children and Ronald Reagan didn't just create the war on drugs because he didn't like drugs but because he researched the issue heavily and found a solution.
Legalization of Marijuana? That is a slippery slope, next they'll want cocaine to cure sleep disorders. They'll want ecstasy to cure marital problems and depression as it was first used by psychiatrists in the past.
Education should be promoted by schools on the dangers of drugs. Knowledge about drugs, their effects on the human body, and societal and psychological effects on humans.
Families with strong values and education will have no problems keeping their children away from drugs. Drug money sends millions of dollars to organizations that do not like us very much, they even lead to funding terrorism.
If you enjoy a certain drug, think about how it has affected your life in a big picture form, rather than how you feel when you use the drug.
Immigration and Border Security
Illegal immigration is wrong, we perfectly agree with Ron Paul on this issue.
Similar to how he describes it in his website, we agree that:
1) Physically secure our borders and coastline as terrorists can use this to their advantage.
2) Enforce visa rules, this is important as 9/11 terrorists had expired visas and they were not caught.
3) No amnesty, our ancestors came here in the most difficult ways but legal ways, they are not special because they live closer to the United States. We will not reward 10-20 million immigrants who broke our laws.
4) No welfare, education, or health care for illegal aliens, tax payer money should be spent on legal immigrants who played by the rules.
5) End birthright citizenship, this promotes illegal immigrants from crossing borders or using boats to enter the United States.
6) True immigration reform should be promoted to ensure that immigrants apply legally and actually get it legally.
7) Immigrants coming from other countries with skills or education should be on the top of the list, and the legal immigration system should be sped up for those with higher skills and education.
8) Human traffic should be stopped at all costs. Border security is national security.
Space
We do support NASA research and technology. We assume that we are still in a cold war state when researching planets and space. Knowledge is key to a successful nation, and we can only learn more from the unknown.
Space exploration should be funded and most importantly space vision and propulsion systems.
Space defense from asteroids and comets should be a top priority for research as it is part of national security. And a very real threat.
Conspiracy Theories
A Republican 2.0 will always hear out any conspiracy theories but with skepticism in mind. There is no role of government involved with this.
Belief can become a very real enemy.
We do not support resolutions that deal with nationalist conspiracy theories such as the Armenian Genocide Resolution and other non-tangible and unverifiable interpretations or revisions of history and we object to any government role in such determinations. Government doesn't determine history.
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