Julie, thank you for your questions. What state are you residing in?
Regarding the following issues:
-Abortion
-Death Penalty
-Euthanasia
-Government Funded Faith Based Initiatives
The Reform Party generally considers those to be social issues which we do not take a national stance on. Our members range from liberal to conservative on these issues and advocate for or against them outside the party structure. We would expect our candidates to focus on our core issues both during their campaign and once elected, even if that means accepting the current status quo on these issues for 4 years until the core problems facing the country are resolved.
Regarding poverty, we take a pragmatic approach. We support a reasonable minimum wage (unlike the Libertarians and Republicans) but we believe all public assistance programs need to have a way to work your way out of them. In the current jobs climate, we realize this is very difficult and again, unlike the Republicans we tend to accept the fact that in extreme circumstances the government has to carry the load so individual citizens don't suffer.
Also with respect to poverty, we understand that our nation's policies the last 2-3 decades have heavily favored the wealthy at the expense of working Americans and the poor. The number of poor have increased as a result. That needs to be fixed.
With respect to gun control, we do not have a clear consensus on that issue. I think most of our members support the right of individual gun ownership, but many seem to accept what they consider reasonable regulation.
With respect to immigration, we generally support legal immigration and oppose illegal immigration on a purely 'rule of law' and economic basis. This leaves the question of what to do about illegal immigrants who are already living in the US and have been for many years. That is a very difficult problem and requires balancing humanitarian considerations, impacts on communities, and the need foster respect for legal processes. As we saw in the 1980s with the Reagan amnesty, simply doing that alone does not address the long term problem and may actually encourage a subsequent surge in illegal immigration. Likewise, mass deportations is neither practical, nor economically feasible, and would be socially traumatic to entire communities. They key is a balanced approach that addresses current illegal immigrants, makes illegal immigration less desireable, increases border security, and holds companies that hire (and exploit) illegal immigrants accountable.
With respect to education, that tends to be a VERY local issue. Some areas, such as mine, have underfunded schools and underpaid teachers who are doing a good job despite some onerous restrictions on how they teach. Other areas have bloated administrative salaries, excessive benefits costs, underperforming teachers, and do-nothing school boards. In general, we believe that a one-size-fits-all approach will not work, because the funding mechanisms and teaching environment are so different from district to district, county to county, and state to state. We believe that teachers who excel should be rewarded and that a quality education is critical to our nation's future. We also believe that college tuitions are out of control.
Social Security has to be saved as a supplemental retirement for those who can not afford to invest otherwise or who fall on hard times. The only way to do that for current and near-retirees is by increasing taxes to cover the money the government 'borrowed' for so many years. That is the only short term solution and any politician who tells you different is simply lying through his teeth. Longer term, we need to set the expectation that people my age (40) and younger should expect to retire later and receive fewer benefits so we can make social security solvent for those who really need it in future years. We also need to make alternatives more attractive to younger generations so they do not rely on Social Security as their primary retirement income but as a backup.
I hope this answers your questions.
David Collison
Chairman, Reform Party National Committee
2008-2012
The Reform Party
Honest Leadership, Real Solutions
