Official Website
Our Campaign Platform
Education
Education Reform
Education reform has been an ongoing issue especially in America for many years. The biggest problem with this issue is that American students have almost always scored significantly lower than other countries in academics, and local governments have been constantly searching for ways to improve our school system. It is controversial primarily because officials cannot agree on what is the best way to educate students. They have observed other countries and tested out different methods, but despite these efforts, we have still done consistently poorly compared with other countries. The CITIZEN’s Party has concluded that the best way to improve our system is to stick with higher, traditional standards for basic academic skills such as reading, writing, and math. We also believe that is important to teach innovation, creativity, social skills, teambuilding, and technology related activities and classes to prepare students for real world work, while maintaining basic, essential skills. We strongly believe that this method of combining the “old “with the “new” will be the best way to help our students succeed in whatever field they desire.
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Education
Standardized Testing
Over the years, there have been many concerns regarding the effectiveness and effects of state and standardized testing. This has been a major controversy for a long time, because it has been observed that many students stress unnecessarily over test scores and as a result retain little to none of the knowledge they have learned. The big question is this: should students prioritize a test score, or the knowledge itself? The members of the CITIZEN’s Party firmly believe that it is crucial to ensure that our students are internalizing and applying the things they learn at school, as opposed to studying and forgetting for a test. This is our belief because we have seen in our own experience the negative effects on students who stress unnecessarily over tests but are unable to apply their knowledge to the real world. If our candidate won the election, she would ensure that tests would not be prioritized so highly and would ensure that every student is learning as opposed to simply passing a test that may or may not be testing how much of the information they have actually retained.
Wages
Raise Minimum Wage
The controversy of minimum wage is whether we should or should not raise the minimum wage. the current federal minimum wage is $7.85 . The idea for a minimum wage was proposed by F.D.R. and was shot down by the Supreme Court. After a while the Supreme Court DID vote in favor of minimum wage and over time it has been raised to what it is now. It is our belief, however, that the minimum wage is still much too low and it should be raised to 15 dollars an hour. The minimum wage has not kept up to inflation's standards so it would help the lower class in their struggle to stay afloat. Also raising minimum wage would create a ripple effect, raising wages for all workers in the United States. Denying a US citizen a stable, high minimum wage strictly contradicts our view of the rights of every man and woman.
American Value of Life
Death Penalty
Death penalty is a very big issue because it is hard to tell if this punishment is morally right or not. This has been an issue ever since the beginning of civilizations. Rulers have used this to enforce their rule for centuries. However, in modern day it depends on the state’s decision. Crime is still abundant even in places where this penalty is enforced. However, we think it should be implemented country-wide as a last resort resort option. We believe it should be used only when necessary because taking a life is a very serious thing. Although it will not wipe away crime completely, supporting this option may reduce crime. Therefore, we think that the death penalty should only be used for people who have a serious criminal record already and pose a threat to the well-being of the US citizens.
American Value of Life
Abortion
The CITIZEN's party is strongly against abortion. Some may argue that if we are for death penalty as a last resort, we should be for abortion as well. However, these are two very different scenarios. Regarding death penalty, the people being punished in this way are punished because of their own choices; they chose to live a life of crime that they know very well could end in their deaths with this penalty in place. The murder of an unborn child in the womb is completely different. The child did not bring the punishment on them self; it was initiated against them, and they have no say in the matter. Although some may deny it, studies show that an unborn baby is as alive and able to think as any one of us, contrary to the belief that the baby isn't "actually alive" until birth. It is against a human's natural rights for someone else to be authorized to take their life. We firmly believe that it is a woman's responsibility to accept any child that is given to her by God, especially when there are other options like putting the child up for foster care if the mother cannot physically care for him or her.
The 2nd Amendment
Gun Control
We believe that taking away a citizen's right to own a gun is not only unconstitutional, but a violation to human rights. This is a very controversial topic because guns are the source of violence in hundreds of thousands of instances. However, this does not mean it is right to take away someone's right to own a gun. People are convinced that taking away guns will solve the problem, but it will only make things worse. The gun isn't evil; the person using it for harmful purposes is. Taking away everyone's guns will only make the average US citizen unable to protect themselves from those who will still find a way to get a gun and use it against others. We think that everyone should own a gun except those with criminal records and mentally unstable individuals. This does not mean, however, that anyone can report that they think someone else is "mentally unstable" and have their gun taken away; this would defeat the purpose of our policy. Therefore, it is our firm belief that the 2nd must stay in place.
Foreign Issues
Global Democracy
Ever since we gained our Independence from England, we have been trying to help other countries gain their independence and then helping establish a democracy there. This has always been a given, and it wasn't challenged for decades. There is an argument against spreading democracy like this, and that is that our "help" isn't always friendly. Yes, some counties welcome our assistance when trying to gain independence and start a new government, but just as many don't. The CITIZEN's party has concluded that we should give aid to those who ask for it, not try to spread it to places that don't want it. For example, protests in Hong Kong have been on the rise, and their main message is that they want a democracy. The people of Hong Kong have been begging the US to help them, but we have been hesitant because of our already rocky relationship China. On the other hand, we have been fighting wars in the middle east for the greater part of two decades under the mission of spreading democracy. Under Sophia Katz, the US will rethink where they are using their resources and focus our troops on places that are asking for assistance like Hong Kong, instead of trying to force it on places that don't want it in the middle east.
Foreign Issues
America's Borders
One of today's most controversial topics is the subject of our southern border with Mexico. On one side of the argument are the people who say that it is our duty to let Mexicans come here undocumented and provide them with refuge. On the other hand are the people that say that it is disastrous to the economy to allow this. It is our belief that we should not be letting these people in illegally for several reasons. Our main one is that when people come here illegally, they don't have to pay taxes or work, but they still get all the benefits of an American citizen and then some, such as free health care. The Americans that are working hard to sustain themselves and their families are the ones that need to pay for all the free stuff given to the illegal immigrants who aren't contributing at all to the economy. We offer them every chance to become a documented citizen, but instead they smuggle themselves in illegally because that way they don't need to work or pay taxes. Every life has value. This is why if Sophia Katz becomes becomes president, she will gladly help anyone who legally immigrates here, but work to keep out those who are attemtping to illegally cross the border into America.
Foreign Issues
Trade with Other Countries
Another controversial issue is what other countries we should be open to trade with. Many people want to ban trade with certain countries that have a negative past with the United States instead of opening up to them again. For example, trade and travel between Cuba and the United States was banned back in 1962, and since the then the ban was lifted. Currently, however we have a trade ban with Cuba once again. Should we be restricting travel and trade to countries like Cuba for something that happened over half a century ago? We believe that the best solution is is to limit trade and travel between these counties and the US, but not restrict it altogether.
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Foreign Issues
Venezuelan Economic Crisis
We should not support countries that have terrible living conditions and worsening economic status that leads their people to flee. In times like these when people are suffering from a humanitarian crisis, their government needs help. The government of Venezuela had kept the economy growing steadily for many years until their rise to socialism gave way. Our party does not support crisis's like these because we see the lives that are in distress because the country became too greedy for their own good. We fight for those who have no freedom, and we fight for the people under a corrupt monarchy who have no say, but we will not risk our soldiers' lives to try to take control of an already crumbling government. We believe that the US should welcome refugees from countries like this and help them become US citizens, but not try to fix economic crisises of other counties that have already fallen to a corrupt government.