Democratic Party's Stance: Six Important Goals

Here are the six goals and what the party says about each:

1. Honest Leadership & Open Government: This goal is a pledge by the Democratic Party to enforce ethics and accountability in government by creating new rules, ending unethical relationships between lawmakers and lobbyists and abolishing the trading of official business for gifts.
   
   
2. Real Security: In this goal, the party states: "We will protect Americans at home and lead the world by telling the truth to our troops, our citizens, and our allies."
   
   
3. Energy Independence: This is the party's environmental stance that aims to reduce dependence on foreign oil, eliminate the billions in subsidies that go to gas and oil companies and use money saved to invest in alternative energies for a cleaner America.
   
   
4. Economic Prosperity & Educational Excellence: This two-part goal includes creating more jobs for Americans within the United States, raising minimum wage, establishing fair trade agreements to increase economic opportunity and paying the national debt.
   
   For education, the Democratic Party aims to make college more affordable and expand educational opportunities for all.
   
   
5. Health Care for Everyone: This goal includes providing affordable health care for everyone, improving prescription drug coverage and investing in stem cell and other medical research.
   
   
6. Retirement Security: This goal promises to protect Social Security and fight for pension reform.

Continual Issues in Left-Wing Politics

• Abortion: Abortion divides the Democratic and Republican parties. The Democratic Party's platform favors a woman's right to choose and supports the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade that declared abortion a constitutionally protected right.
  
  The current Republican Party, heavily influenced by the Christian right, favors government interference in reproductive rights in general, which includes abortion and birth control.
  
  
• Affirmative Action: Affirmative action has been a hot topic for a number of years as way to ensure equal opportunity, with the Democratic Party mostly in favor of it and the Republican Party mostly against it.
  
  
• Economics: In economics, the party's stance focuses on assisting the poor and keeping spending and, therefore, the national debt under control.
  
  
• Environment: Left-wing politics in general favor environmentally friendly policies and conservation and have worked to develop renewable energy, stop global warming and increase regulation of greenhouse gases.
  
  
• Equality: The Democratic Party repeatedly calls for more equal opportunities, no matter a person's income, in both the cost and quality of health care and education. They also favor equality for all in social issues and oppose discrimination of any sort.
  
  
• Gun Control: Gun control issues split along party lines. Some Democrats agree with the Republican Party's platform on fewer firearm restrictions, while other Democrats want strict gun control measures.

Current Issues of the Democratic Party Platform

• Minimum Wage: On May 25, 2007, Congress passed the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 that gradually increases the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour.
  
  
• Same-Sex Marriage: Just as controversial as the subject of abortion in recent years is the subject of same-sex marriage. The Republican Party attempted to pass an amendment to the Constitution called the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) on June 7, 2006, but the Democratic Party voted against it and the amendment failed to pass.
  
  
• Stem-Cell Research: Left-wing politics favor stem-cell research and want to provide federal funding for it. Congress passed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, but President Bush vetoed it on July 19, 2006.
  
  
• War in Iraq: The Iraq War has also divided the two political parties. The Democrats have been staunchly against sending more troops to Iraq. They recently passed the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007, that provides funding for the war through September 2007. An earlier version that Congress passed included a timeline for the troops' withdrawal from Iraq, but President Bush vetoed it. However, the Democrats did manage to tack onto this act the Fair Minimum Wage Act, $5 billion in tax breaks for small businesses and $6 billion for hurricane relief.