Web Editor’s Note: This is Part Two of a two part series. To read the first article in this series, click here.
Election season has kicked off strong with ten Republican candidates seeking the GOP nomination against President Barack Obama, who will be running for re-election. Last week, The Prairie profiled half of the Republican hopefuls. We finish up where we left off last week by looking at these five politicians and their positions on the issues:
Michele Bachmann
U.S. Representative from Minnesota
ECONOMY
Bachmann opposes the debt ceiling increase. In return, she wants to cut spending, limit government, and decrease government salaries. She also wants to increase U.S. exports to other parts of the world and she supports offshore oil drilling.
HEALTHCARE
Bachmann supports block grants for Medicare and wants to “empower doctors to make the right decisions about the shape and form of your health care insurance.”
FOREIGN POLICY
Bachmann is an outspoken critic against Barack Obama, accusing him of “bending to dictators and babying radical Islamists.” Bachmann pledges to fully secure U.S. borders, win the terror war, and focus on Iran.
Ron Paul
U.S. Representative from Texas
ECONOMY
Paul proclaims “End the Fed” on his campaign website. He proposes that the U.S. should audit and eliminate the Federal Reserve System. He also wants to increase offshore drilling, provide tax credits for the use and production of natural gas vehicles, and abolish highway motor fuel taxes. Other taxes he wants to eliminate include the income, capital gains and death taxes.
HEALTHCARE
Paul believes that healthcare reform should “do no harm,” which he feels is something that Obamacare has failed at. Paul supports providing tax credits and deductions for all medical expenses and giving payroll deductions to workers who are primary caregivers for someone with a terminal illness. He also wants to prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to fund a national database of personal health information and reduce the burden of malpractice litigation on the healthcare system,
FOREIGN POLICY
Paul promises to make border security a top priority. He also wants to stop what he calls “unconstitutional power grabs” by the Patriot Act. Other initiatives he supports include abolishing the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), ensuring benefits for military veterans and ending nation-building in other countries.
Rick Santorum
Former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
ECONOMY
Santorum supports decreased government spending and repealing the death tax.
HEALTHCARE
According to the New York Times, Santorum wants to completely reform social security
FOREIGN POLICY
Santorum supports Israel and believes that Iran is a country of concern. He also supports the Patriot Act.
Rick Perry
Governor of Texas
ECONOMY
Perry plans to reduce non-discretionary spending by $100 billion. He also wants a full audit of every regulation passed since 2008. For taxes, Perry proposes a flat income tax rate of 20 percent and a reduced corporate income tax rate of 20 percent. Unlike some of his fellow GOP candidates, Perry opposes a federal sales tax. He also wants to eliminate the capital gains tax, the death tax and taxes on social security benefits.
