The Republican Party ideological stance makes more sense than that of the Democratic Party

I shall defend my arguments. My Opponent: "The Republicans believe in a "strict constructionist" philosophy, this means that the Constitution should be interpreted narrowly, which, if anything, limits personal and ideological freedoms." Actually, I believe a strict constructionist philosophy actually maximizes our personal freedoms. In a loose constructionist world, the rights guaranteed would change as the times do, which is quite behind the times. For instance, a person born in 1787 (when the constitution was written), and a person born in 1990 have the same rights because our rights transcend law. No law can ever take our rights away from us, law does not grant us rights, law doesn't take our rights away, law protects our rights. So, in a loose construction society, our rights would change depending our whatever the majority of society believes to be right. However, rights do not change, only circumstances do. Changing circumstances do not mean that our rights can be nullified for the sake of "progressiveness". An example of a current loose construction scenario, is when, I believe last year, the Supreme Court ruled that in order to be sentenced to death, one must have killed somebody. They used the 8th Amendment to justify this. In the opinion of the court it was written that "The public's perception of what is right and wrong has changed since the constitution was written in 1787, the court felt that the current law needed to represent the beliefs our society holds", in a nutshell. Since when is it the job of the Supreme Court to take public opinion polls instead or actually interrupting our constitution? A Supreme Court that believes in strict construction is absolutely necessary for the preservation of our country as we know it. Without S.C., a lunatic could become president and, if he had influence in the court, rob us of every right we have. My Opponent: "Though the Republican Party may support lower taxes, we (the citizens of the United States) are going to need money." Well, maybe you can get that money from the money you would otherwise pay for taxes? My opponent might have meant we need money for things such as healthcare and welfare. However, is it government's job to cater to our every need? No. The government's job is to protect us. My Opponent: "I would like to point out here, that at the time they were founded, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party stood for opposite their current ideals. They have virtually switched their ideologies over time - so essentially, you're saying the democrats made more sense on this issue." The Republicans believe in rights for every single American, as opposed to only minority groups. While the Republicans in the '50s and '60s were largely anti-civil rights, that was only because they thought that the states should decide civil rights issues. Today, the Republicans are anti-Affirmative Action because when you replace racism with racism, who wins? The ideals haven't changed that much. I will now dismantle my opponent's claims. My Opponent: "Democrats are generally progressive whereas the Republicans are not." The most progressive president we've ever had was Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), guess what party he belonged to? The Republicans. However, my opponent is stating the obvious. Most Republicans are "conservative" meaning that they want to "conserve" the way our country runs. So, it is just in there nature not to have big plans with even bigger costs. Conservation is the best way to conserve our rights, see the contention I made about Strict Construction earlier. My Opponent: "This means that the Democratic ideology is compatible with today's changing times." See above note on Strict Construction. My Opponent: "They support gay marriage, are pro - choice and realize the need for the poor and the elderly to be taken care of." The Point About Homosexual Marriage-Republicans have a respect for religion because our nation was founded on Christian principles and religion (and capitalism) has been what has made this country so great. The Point About Pro-Choice-While the Democrats support the rights of the mother to KILL a fetus, the Republicans instead speak up for something that can't speak up for itself, the fetus. Many democrats try to turn this into a religious issue and then use the secular argument, but abortion has nothing to do with religion, it has to do with the most fundamental human right: The Right to Life. The Point About the Poor and Elderly-The Republicans speak up for the rights of the American taxpayer who is forced into having to support these people with their pocketbook. The Democrats speak up for the rights of these parasites who drain our country of its wealth and productivity. The perfect compromise: Let the private sector care for these individuals. Charity is the best welfare and privatizing social security will maximize the rights of the taxpayer and the retiree. My Opponent: "Where as the ol' Republican ideology can simply stand for the fact that you'd have to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps." So supporting yourself is bad now? The only way to recognize the American dream is to truly be independent... My Opponent's rant about all the rights the Democrats "guarantee" How about the right of the taxpayer to their money? How about the right of a fetus to live? How about the right of the student to where the Jesus-save T-shirt to school, no matter how offensive it may be? How about the right of citizens to have private health insurance? How about the right of Americans to live in security from terrorists? What happened to these rights? The Democrat party is against every single one of them, its on the link you provided yourself. My Opponent: "This is honestly, a very pointless debate." Then why did you accept it? ==Conclusion== Republicans seek to maximize the rights of every citizen, preserve our rights guaranteed to use in the constitution, and to allow our country to grow and prosper through capitalism. VOTE PRO! However, since I don't like messing around with sources, you may give that point to her. Sources: www.gop.gov