With the GOP Convention being in some sort of limbo, I thought it would be an excellent time to review what the GOP stood for too long ago.
Take from GOP Platforms from the not-so-recent past and well after President Lincoln established the party.
1956
We are proud of and shall continue our far-reaching and sound advances in matters of basic human needs—expansion of social security—broadened coverage in unemployment insurance —improved housing—and better health protection for all our people. We are determined that our government remain warmly responsive to the urgent social and economic problems of our people.
America does not prosper unless all Americans prosper.
Government must have a heart as well as a head.
The record of performance of the Republican Administration on behalf of our working men and women goes still further. The Federal minimum wage has been raised for more than 2 million workers.
We shall continue vigorously to support the United Nations.
1960
We pledge continued vigorous enforcement of the civil rights laws to guarantee the right to vote to all citizens in all areas of the country.
We are confronted with major problems in the field of environmental health. We pledge strengthened federal enforcement powers in combatting water pollution and additional resources for research and demonstration projects.
The record of performance of the Republican Administration on behalf of our working men and women goes still further. The Federal minimum wage has been raised for more than 2 million workers.
1972
We gave top priority in the Federal Budget to environmental improvements. This fiscal year approximately $2.4 billion will be expended for major environmental programs—three times more than was being spent when President Nixon took office.
We stand with our President for his strategy for Peace—a strategy of national strength, a new sense of international partnership, a willingness to negotiate international differences.
[We support] an educational bill of rights for Spanish-speaking people, American Indians, and others who face special language problems in schools.
We recognize that programs involving work release, study release and half-way houses have contributed substantially to the rehabilitation of offenders and we support these programs. We further support training programs for the staffs in our correctional institutions and will continue to see that minority group staff members are recruited to work in these institutions.
We believe the correctional system not only should punish, but also should educate and rehabilitate. We are determined to press ahead with reform of the system to make it more effective against crime.
For drug abuse prevention and treatment we increased the budget from $46 million to over $485 million.
1980
We hail the teachers of America. Their dedication to our children is often taken for granted, and they are frequently underpaid for long hours and selfless service, especially in comparison with other public employees.
Mass transportation offers the prospect for significant energy conservation. In addition, both management and labor agree that ease of access to the workplace is an important factor in employment decisions and industrial plant location. Lack of adequate access is a major reason why businesses have moved out of crowded urban areas, resulting in lower tax bases for cities. To encourage existing businesses to remain in urban centers and to attract new businesses to urban areas, it is vital that adequate public and private transportation facilities be provided.
We reaffirm our commitment to the fundamental principle of fairness in labor relations, including the legal right of unions to organize workers and to represent them through collective bargaining consistent with state laws and free from unnecessary government involvement. We applaud the mutual efforts of labor and management to improve the quality of work life.
1984
We will provide adequate resources in programs ranging from food stamps to school lunches for the truly needy.
We continue to favor whatever legislation may be necessary to permit American citizens residing in the Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico to vote for president and vice president in national elections.
The Republican Party endorses a strong effort to control and clean up toxic wastes. We have already tripled funding to clean up hazardous waste dumps, quadrupled funding for acid rain research, and launched the rebirth of the Chesapeake Bay.
1988
President Reagan led the Congress in expanding Medicare coverage to include catastrophic health costs.
We affirm the right of all freely to form, join or assist labor organizations to bargain collectively, consistent with State laws.
The Republican Party has a long and honored tradition of preserving our nation's natural resources and environment. We recognize that the preservation, conservation, and protection of our environment contribute to our health and well-being and that, as citizens, we all share in the responsibility to safeguard our God-given resources.
1996
Because older Americans have built our past and direct us, in wisdom and experience, toward the future, we believe we must meet our nation's commitments to them by preserving and protecting Medicare and Social Security.
We want to make sure our most important programs - like Social Security and Medicare - are there when people need them.
2000
Gerrymandered congressional districts are an affront to democracy and an insult to the voters. We oppose that and any other attempt to rig the electoral process.
We commit ourselves to saving and strengthening Social Security. After years of neglect and delay, we will keep this fundamental commitment to the senior citizens of today and tomorrow.
More recently, the Republican-led Congress has enacted two historic pieces of legislation: the 1998 Transportation Equity Act for the Twenty-First Century and this year's Aviation Investment and Reform Act. These landmark laws represent an unprecedented federal investment in roads, bridges, transit systems, airports and air traffic control systems — without additional taxes. They simply unlock the transportation trust funds to invest the dollars motorists and the traveling public have already paid.
Today's Republican party stands in the proud tradition of Teddy Roosevelt, the first president to stress the importance of environmental conservation. We approach both the national and individual stewardship of natural resources in the spirit of his maxim: "The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value."