This is the the third in my installments on the Presidential Party Platforms. I’m reviewing and comparing the Democrat and Republican Party Platforms.  

I think it’s worth repeating that the Republicans decided to adopt the 2016 Party Platform. On the opening day of the 2020 convention, Republicans announced that they do not have a platform, but will follow Presidents Trump’s direction. Okay, now what? Lacking specifics, I’ll follow my original plan and compare the 2016 Republican Platform with the 2020 Democratic Platform.

The Democratic Party has about 12 pages addressing the economy. The Republican Party has seven pages under the heading Restoring the American Dream.

Just so I can keep everything straight, I put the information into a simple table, like I would for corporate goals. Pretty easy to understand; I think:  We will______________ by_____________ so that______________ happens.  The last column is the page number for your reference.

So here’s the Democrats’ Plan for the economy:

We will	By	So that	Page
Improve job quality and security	Passing the PRO Act and restoring workers’ rights, including the right to launch secondary boycotts	We raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour	14
Improve job quality and security	Repealing so-called “right to work” laws	We protect those who have been left without wage and hours for decades—including domestic workers and farmworkers—have the same rights as other workers.	14
Improve job quality and security	Increasing funding and staffing at the Department of Labor to aggressively enforce wage, hour, health, and safety rules	Employees who are being misclassified, including gig and platform workers, deserve wage and workplace protections including minimum wage and overtime pay	14
Support unions	Banning captive audience meetings, penalizing companies that bargain in bad faith, protecting all private-sector workers’ right to strike	Employers are held accountable if they interfere in workers’ efforts to organize	14
Aggressively enforce wage, hour, health, and safety rules across the economy	Increasing funding and staffing at the Department of labor	Taxpayer dollars stop flowing to employers who steal workers’ wages, violate labor laws, or engage in union-busting	14
Strengthen labor rights for public-sector employees	Passing the Public Sector Freedom to Negotiate Act	We have a guarantee for public-sector employees to bargain for better pay, benefits, and work conditions	15
Fight for at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for all workers and family units	Implementing a high-quality paid family leave system	New parents can recover from childbirth and bond with their newborns or adopted children and allow all workers to take extended time off to care for themselves or an ailing relative	15
Boost funds for grants to states to help low-income and middle-class families afford child care	Increasing the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit; Provide access to affordable, high-quality child care on a sliding scale	Parents don’t have to choose between keeping their kids safe and earning a paycheck	15
Improve compensation and benefits for child care providers and enact universal high quality pre-K programs for three- and four-year-olds.	Increasing the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit; Provide access to affordable, high-quality child care on a sliding scale	Parents don’t have to choose between keeping their kids safe and earning a paycheck	15
Invest in the engines of Job creation	Investing in resilient, sustainable, and inclusive infrastructure	USA has the world’s best infrastructure system.	15
Invest in the engines of Job creation	Investing in clean energy, clean transportation, energy efficiency, and advanced manufacturing	USA has the world’s best infrastructure system.	16
Repair, modernize, and expand our highways, roads, bridges, and airports	Installing 500,000 public charging stations; using safe modern, design approaches	Drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and others can safely share the road.	16
Launch our country’s second great railroad revolution	Investing in high-speed rail	We have public transportation that is affordable to all and accessible to people with disabilities	16
Upgrade our nation’s ports, lock and dam systems, and freight infrastructure	??	We create jobs	16
Increase demand for American-made ships	Ensuring U.S. cargo is carried on ships flying our flag	We create jobs	16
Ensure everyone has access to clean, reliable drinking water and safe wastewater systems	Replacing lead pipes, increasing investment in innovative water technologies	We create jobs	16
Close the digital 25  divide that deprives more than 20 million Americans of high-speed internet access	Investing in broadband and 5G technology, including rural and municipal broadband, and restoring the FCC’s authority to take action against internet service providers who violate net neutrality principles.	We create jobs	16
Ensure labor protection	Ensuring Davis-Bacon wage standards, project labor agreements, and domestic sourcing requirements	We create good, union jobs that expand the middle class	16
End  policies that incentivize offshoring;	Accelerate onshoring of critical supply chains, including in medical supplies and pharmaceuticals.	We support robust Buy America and Buy Clean standards for federally supported projects	16
Support domestic manufacturing and grow rural manufacturing jobs;	Expanding effective tax credits; invest in innovation hubs and government programs and	Small manufacturers have access to technical and business expertise so they can grow their revenues	16
Build a diverse pipeline of talent	Investing in career and technical education and high-quality job training programs including pre-apprenticeship opportunities and registered apprenticeship; invsting in adult literacy and other skills development programs.	All workers can access the good jobs that will be created	17
Support small businesses	Boosting funding for state small business grant and lending initiatives; increasing access to credit for small businesses in low-income and rural areas, including for unbanked or underbanked businesses; improving and expanding Small Business Administration (SBA) programs	Women- and minority-owned businesses have increased opportunities	17
Invest in the heartland and rural communities	Expanding U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ownership and operating loan programs	It’s easier for new and beginning farmers, ranchers, and foresters, including returning veterans, to start and grow their operations	17
Invest in the heartland and rural communities	Taking steps to limit foreign ownership of U.S. farmland and reforming agricultural subsidies to better support small- and mid-sized farms.	We protect family farms and promote food security	17
Expand domestic markets for family farmers and ranchers	Developing and growing regional food systems to deliver fresh, American-grown produce to schools, hospitals, Department of Defense installations, and other major public institutions	Small, mid-size, and traditional farmers can stay competitive.	17
Spark a revolution in agriculture and open up new revenue streams for farmers in energy and waste products, and grow bio-based manufacturing jobs.	Strengthening the Renewable Fuel Standard, supporting E15 blends, and supporting research, development, and deployment of advanced biofuels; expand popular, voluntary programs for sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices	U.S. agriculture sector is the first in the world to achieve net-zero emissions	17
Enforce labor and environmental protections for farmworkers,	Protecting workers from exposure to pesticides and extreme heat; strengthening enforcement of the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts and the Packers and Stockyards Act.	Small and mid-sized farmers are empowered	18
Put workers first	Negotiating strong and enforceable standards for labor, human rights, and the environment in the core text of our trade deals	We build a fair system of international trade for our workers	18
Take aggressive action against China or any other country that tries to undercut American manufacturing	Working with our allies to stand up to China and negotiate from the strongest possible position.	We build a fair system of international trade for our workers	19
Take steps to increases the supply of housing	Equalizing access to affordable credit and improving access to down payment assistance to help families of color, low-income families, and rural buyers purchase homes; creating a new tax credit of up to $15,000 to help first-time homebuyers, and making the tax credit refundable and advanceable	Homeownership is in reach for every American	19
Expand the number of affordable, accessible housing units on the market.	Expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit; build more affordable, accessible housing and retrofit existing housing in rural areas	Homeownership is in reach for every American	20; 22
Increase investments in public housing	Providing Section 8 housing support for every eligible family, and will enact protections to keep landlords from discriminating against voucher recipients.	We end homelessness	20
End using public policy to close neighborhoods off to Black families and other people of color	Enforcing the Fair Housing Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, and the disparate impact standard	Homeownership is in reach for every American	20
Make sure the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes	Reversing the Trump Administration’s tax; cracking down on overseas tax havens and closing loopholes that are exploited by the wealthiest.	We level the economic playing field	21
Curb Wall Streets Abuses	Strengthening and enforce Dodd-Frank financial reform law; update Glass-Steagall; back criminal penalties for reckless executives	We protect American workers from the impacts of future financial crises	21
Expand access to credit	Creating a public credit reporting agency	We ensure equitable access to credit and banking products for all Americans	21
Support the 10-20-30 funding approach, to direct at least 10 percent of federal funding to communities where 20 percent or more of the population has been living below the poverty line for 30 years or longer	Directing more federal investment to the communities most in need	We create jobs, improve and expand housing; modernize and expand transportation, clean water, wastewater, energy, and broadband infrastructure, and promote shared prosperity.	22
Make sure no child goes to bed hungry.	Increasing funds for food assistance programs; removing barriers that keep the formerly incarcerated from accessing food assistance	We end poverty	22
Protect individuals’ privacy and data rights while continuing to support and enable innovation in the technology sector.	Updating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act	We afford the same protections to digital content as physical content.	23
Tackle runaway corporate concentation	Reviewing mergers an acquisitions to assess whether any have increased market concentration, raised consumer prices, harmed workers, increased racial inequality, reduced competition, or constricted innovation	Encourage competition and inovation	23
Protect Social Security	Enacting policies to make Social Security more progressive; eliminating penalties that unfairly reduce public sector workers’ earned Social Security benefits; supporting reforms which better accounts for the challenges facing unpaid caregivers	All workers have the ability to save at work for emergencies and for retirement.	23
Protect Social Security	Rejecting efforts to cut, privatize, or weaken Social Security	All workers have the ability to save at work for emergencies and for retirement.	24
Make it easier to save for retirement beyond core Social Security programs	Supporting approaches to retirement saving that enable workers and retirees to prepare for and prosper in retirement	Working people can build their nest eggs faster	24
Make it easier to save for retirement beyond core Social Security programs	Reversing the Trump Administration’s regulations allowing financial advisors to prioritize their self-interest 24  over their clients’ financial wellbeing	Working people can build their nest eggs faster	24

Whew! That was a lot of work.  Next up….

The Republicans’ plan for jobs and the economy:

Oh now, that’s a little easier.  I did the heavy lifting in 2016.  I just needed to go back and find the page numbers.  A simple search did the trick.

We will	By	So that	Page number
Not divide people into winners and losers	Eliminating as many special interest provisions and loopholes as possible and curb corporate welfare	We don’t penalize thrift and discourage investment.	2
Level the international playing field	Lowering the corporate tax rate to be on a par with, or below the rates of other industrial nations	America is competitive.	2
Level the international playing field	Switching to a territorial system of taxation	Profits earned and taxed abroad may be repatriated for job-creating investments.	2
Prevent foreign governments from limiting American access to their markets while stealing our designs, patents, brands, know-how, and technology.	Broadening our trade agreements with countries which share our values and commitment to fairness	The interests of the U.S. workers are advanced.	3
Avoid future taxpayer housing market bailouts	Scaling back the role of government in the housing market	Homeowners and lenders are responsible.	4
Advance responsible homeownership	End government mandates to satisfy lending quotas to specific groups	We end discrimination in the mortgage industry.	4
Advance responsible homeownership	Reviewing federal environmental regulations	We make it easier and less costly for Americans to rent, buy, or sell homes.	4
Eliminate Federal funds for ferries, bike-share, sidewalks, recreational trails, landscaping	Remove the Highway Trust Fund programs	We end the current administration’s efforts to get people out of their cars.	5
Eliminate Federal funds for Amtrak	Allow private ventures to provide passenger service to the northeast corridor and high-speed intercity rail across the country	American taxpayers don’t subsidize public transportation	5
Create a partnership with individuals and industries for investment and innovation	Simplifying the tax code, reduce corporate rates, transition to a territorial system, and create incentives for investment and innovation.	We have a business climate that rewards risk and promotes innovation.	5
Create new jobs, give access to new markets, open opportunities to underserved populations, and expand consumer choices.	Paving the way for broadband deployment and completion on the internet and for internet services.   Encouraging the sharing economy and on-demand platforms	We are competitive in an open market	6
Improve the Electric Grid	Expediting siting processes and the thoughtful expansion of the grid	Our aging grid is replaced in seven to ten years.	6
Reduce the occupational licensing laws	Overturning the Dodd-Frank law	Millions of entrepreneurial careers open.	7
Annually audit the Federal Reserve’s activities	Advancing legislation already approved by the House	The Federal Reserve’s role is carried out in a more transparent manner.	7
Bring labor laws into the 21st century	Supporting the States to enact Right-to-work laws.	We protect economic liberty of the modern workforce.	7
Limit non-cash benefits of the federal workforce	Reviewing the unionization of the federal workforce for the effects on cost, quality, and performance of the civil service.	We align Federal compensation and benefits with most American employees and expedite firing of bad workers, tax cheats, and scammers.	8
Reduce the Federal Dept	Imposing caps on future dept, accelerate the repayment of the trillions now owed.	Our economy is strong.	8

Wow!

There’s one nice thing about the Republican Party adopting the 2016 platform. We can also check to see what progress has been made in the past almost 4 years. If you want to do that in a concrete way, please visit GovTrack.us and use the search bar.

I gotta say, that really helped me get a feel for what each party hopes to achieve and why.  Both parties want a healthy economy. In many cases, they have opposing views of how that can be achieved. No wonder it’s so hard to get things done in Washington. There must be some middle ground, don’t you think?

It’s not easy to compare the two Platforms. They don’t use the same style or organization.  But, I’m determined to give it my best shot.

What do you think?  Was this enlightening? Or just sort of boring?

Next up: Health Care.

Now that should be interesting. Are you with me?