By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : Like the Democrats the Republicans too want to keep jobs in America, but instead of stopping tax breaks for companies that outsource they plan to do so by reducing corporate tax.
As the Republican platform or manifesto says the party supports “a major reduction in the corporate tax rate so that American companies stay competitive with their foreign counterparts and American jobs can remain in this country.”
The platform adopted on the truncated opening day Monday of the Republican national convention at St Paul, Minnesota to formally nominate John McCain as the party’s presidential nominee is not binding on the maverick candidate and if elected he may set his own course.
“America’s producers can compete successfully in the international arena -as long as they have a level playing field,” says the Republican agenda suggesting the current US tax code is tilted against them, with one of the highest corporate tax rates of all developed countries.
“That not only hurts American investors, managers, and the US balance of trade; it also sends American jobs overseas.”
Advocating free and fair trade, the party would “encourage multilateral, regional, and bilateral agreements to reduce trade barriers that limit market access for US products, commodities and services.”
Proposing a particularly “aggressive trade strategy” with regard to agriculture, the Republican platform vows to contest any restrictions upon US farm products within the World Trade Organisation and to work to make the WTO’s decision-making process “more receptive to the arguments of American producers.”
Pledging stronger action to protect intellectual property rights against pirating, the party platform says it “will aggressively oppose the direct and indirect subsidies by which some governments tilt the world playing field against American producers.”
Acknowledging that immigrants “seeking the American dream” are “contributing culturally and economically to our nation”, the Republican platform asks both government and the private sector “to do more to foster legally present immigrants’ integration into American life to advance respect for the rule of law and a common American identity.”
To this end, the Republican platform would encourage immigrants to learn English. As “our common culture is based upon a common language – English -and every child must learn English to have the opportunity to succeed in America,” it says.
Calling for the development of a strategy for foreign assistance that serves US national interest, the platform says “including the world’s poor in an expanding circle of development is part and parcel of the Republican approach to world trade through open markets and fair competition.”
Suggesting that it must also be a top priority of US foreign policy, the platform says Republicans “will target foreign assistance to high-impact goals: fostering the rule of law through democratic government, emphasising literacy and learning, and concentrating on the foundations for economic development.”
Describing nuclear energy as “a gift to mankind implanted in matter itself”, the Republican platform laments that “unwarranted fearmongering that has no relationship to current technologies and safeguards” has prevented the US from starting construction of a single Nuclear power plant in 31 years.
“Confident in the promise offered by science and technology, Republicans will pursue dramatic increases in the use of safe, affordable, reliable and clean nuclear power,” it says suggesting it would rejuvenate “the nation’s industrial and manufacturing base” and lead it away from its dependence on foreign oil.
Calling nuclear terrorism as “the gravest threat we face”, the Republican platform suggests that the US should lead the effort for reducing the world’ s nuclear stockpiles and preventing proliferation to counter this challenge.
It should do so by reducing the size of US Nuclear arsenal “to the lowest number consistent with our security requirements and working with other Nuclear powers to do the same.”
“In cooperation with other nations, we should end the production of fissile material, improve our collective ability to interdict the spread of weapons of mass destruction and related materials, and ensure the highest possible security standards for existing Nuclear materials wherever they may be located,” the platform suggests.