RED and BLUE: America’s Two Political Parties SWBAT describe main beliefs of America’s 2 political parties and decide which party they belong to

What is a political party? A group of people who have similar ideas about how our country should be run.

Defense: How should we interact with other countries? This party believes in a limited defense. Will spend money when necessary and will fight when necessary, but would rather use diplomacy. This party believes in a very strong military—spends a lot of money on the army and is aggressive about American might.

Jobs and the Economy Supports labor unions and workers’ rights. Wants to raise minimum wages and to protect blue collar workers. The government starts from the bottom up (beginning with the workers) Government promotes job growth by giving company owners tax cuts. It starts from the top down, or trickles down (focusing on giving the company owners more money, which they’ll hopefully use to hire more people)

Taxes: Money, Money, Money This party would have wealthier people pay more taxes than the less wealthy. These taxes would then pay for better public education, roads, welfare, healthcare, and other government programs. This party believes in cutting taxes. They believe that people can make the economy grow faster and better than government programs can. This party would not put as much money into public programs—like education or welfare.

Religion This party is secular and believes in a full separation between Church and State. Religion plays no role in government or state functions. This party sometimes blurs the line between Church and State—we should honor our Christian traditions and heritage; it’s ok to justify decisions based on the country’s traditions.

Education This party wants education to be a national issue—it feels that states are not doing a good enough job and wants to make education equal and just throughout the country. This party wants each state to handle its own education and does not want education to be a national issue

Healthcare This party wants universal healthcare—meaning the government would make sure every citizen has access to healthcare. Healthcare is a natural right. This party wants private healthcare —they do not believe it is the government’s duty to provide its citizens with healthcare. Does not believe healthcare is a right.

Guns This party believes in gun control. It believes that hunting rifles with a permit are OK but would want to make all assault weapons illegal. This party believes that every citizen has the right to carry a gun, 2nd amendment issue.

Abortion This party wants to keep abortion legal. While it does not want anyone to have an abortion, it believes it is every woman’s right to choose. This party believes that abortion is murder and wants to make all abortions illegal at all times.

Gay Rights This party believes that gay marriages should be universally legal and have the same legal benefits as heterosexual marriages. This party does not believe the state should sanction homosexual and heterosexual marriages as being the same because gay marriage is non-traditional and immoral.

Questions??

Now YOU Decide Go through each of these issues and put a check next to which side you agree on. After you decide where you stand on each issue, count up your check marks and see which side you agreed with the most.