It’s NOT about Trump!

I know he would disagree, but it’s really not. 😉

I’ve been asked more than once, “How can someone like YOU support a president like TRUMP?!” The quick answer usually starts out something like this: “Yes, President Trump has a bit(?) of a checkered past and says a lot of things people shouldn’t say (understatement), but don’t we all have plenty of issues?”  Then I move on to explaining that, while there actually is a lot that I do like about President Trump (gasp), what I really love are his policies.  

In this election, the policies of the candidates could not be any more different.  I believe our country, as we know it, is hanging in the balance.  I know this sounds dramatic, but reading the Democrat National Platform and the Republican National Platform, I realized our two parties have completely diverged. I would imagine that most conservatives and probably even most moderates would be surprised at how far the Democrat party has been pushed to the extreme left on the political spectrum.  Here are some of the important issues and the candidates’ or parties’ positions:  

1. Taxes and Regulation: Republicans favor smaller government, less taxation, and fewer regulations. The President passed the largest tax cut in our country’s history and eliminated a record number of stifling regulations.  Democrats promise to eliminate those tax cuts and impose the largest tax hike in our country’s history, implement expansive regulations, including plans to ban fracking and eliminate fossil fuels, engage in income redistribution, and grow government’s authority over our lives. 
2. Right to Bear Arms: Our right to protect ourselves, our families, our homes, our schools, our churches, etc. is on the ballot. Republicans promise to vigorously defend the right to keep and bear arms, secured to us in our 2^ndAmendment. Democrats promise expansive gun control, including bans, confiscation measures, and removal of liability protections for sellers (meaning gun sellers could be held civilly liable when their guns are used to commit a crime).
3. Sanctity of Life: President Trump has vigorously fought to protect the unborn, including supporting the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (requiring lifesaving medical care for infants who survive failed abortions), and a ban on taxpayer funding for abortion. Biden and Harris opposed the “Born-Alive” Act, have opposed restrictions on late-term abortion as well as bans on dismemberment abortion, support taxpayer funding for abortion, and are considered to be the most pro-abortion ticket in our country’s history. 
4. Freedom of Religion: President Trump supports legislation to protect people of faith from being forced to violate their convictions, and supports the view that churches are an essential service.  Biden and Harris support legislation that will prohibit people of faith from asserting their religious convictions as a defense to discrimination claims and have not supported the church as an essential service.
5. Parents’ Rights and Education:  Republicans view parents’ rights as preeminent in raising and educating children, with the government’s role viewed as secondary and inferior to that of the parent. They support parental involvement and prize educational choice and voucher programs to allow tax dollars to go toward private- or other schools of parents’ choosing.  Democrats view government as the superior authority, supporting legislation that undermines parents’ rights to make educational, emotional, spiritual and medical decisions for their children and opposing school choice and vouchers.
6. Gender Policies:  Democrats support legislation prohibiting counseling for children (or adults) for the treatment of unwanted gender dysphoria and legislation allowing biological males to compete in female sports and use girls’/women’s dressing rooms. Republicans oppose these policies.
7. Freedom of Speech vs Censorship: The mainstream media, Hollywood, Big Tech, and academia have aligned with the left in imposing increasing restrictions (including actual censorship) for speech that doesn’t fit with their own accepted narrative. President Trump has fought hard against viewpoint discrimination aimed at conservatives by those institutions and against dishonest reporting and censorship.
8. Law & Order: Biden and Harris have supported reallocation of funding for police departments, supported bail funds for the release of jailed rioters, and have supported sanctuary cities, discouraging local law enforcement from cooperating with US immigration officials. Republicans oppose reallocation of law enforcement dollars, oppose sanctuary cities, support US immigration enforcement efforts, and support federal reinforcements to assist riot-impacted communities. 
9. Ending the Filibuster and Packing the Court: Biden and Harris will consider adding justices to the Supreme Court to manipulate the Court’s balance. This will allow them to easily push through their most extreme policies with the Court’s cooperation. Most concerning, it will allow them to grant statehood for DC and amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants, which will virtually guarantee Democrat control of the Senate and change the electorate in a way that will likely give Democrats permanent control of the presidency (see below).
10. Immigration & Amnesty: Democrats support taxpayer funded healthcare for illegal immigrants, and Biden and Harris intend to grant amnesty for up to 22 million illegal immigrants and eliminate voter ID laws, which will shift the balance of the electorate to the left, likely giving Democrats an insurmountable advantage in future elections. (As a reference point, 2016 outcome was largely attributed to a mere 77,000 votes across 3 battleground states.)
11. Statehood for Washington, D.C. & Puerto Rico: Democrats intend to grant Statehood to Washington, D.C. and would consider statehood for Puerto Rico as well, which would together provide 4 more reliably-Democrat seats in the Senate. Democrats currently only need 4 seats to re-take the Senate, so this would ensure Democrat control.

I encourage you to read the entire platforms for a comprehensive look at the parties’ policy positions.  Voting for the candidates who share our priorities and are committed to preserving the freedoms guaranteed to us by our Founding Fathers and our Constitution may require us to overlook personality preferences and other lesser considerations in 2020.  Your vote will help determine which of two very distinct courses we will choose for our country.  

Every vote matters, and every race matters.  Vote all the way down the ballot, from federal to local, to elect leaders who share our passion to preserve the values that make this country the freest and most noble country in the world.