Issue	Republican Party	Democratic Party	Libertarian Party
Social Security	Social security should be privatized (not to be confused with private savings accounts, but rather, private investments).	Social security should remain a government sponsored insurance plan for retirees.	Believe in an "opt out" policy in which one can choose to privately invest (they believe this to be the better option) or go with a government sponsored social security plan.
Jobs	Pro small business. Supports giving small businesses tax incentives so that more jobs can be created.	Encourage businesses to keep jobs here and not outsource them overseas. Supports unions and advocates for the rights of low income workers.	Free market should dictate the job market.
Economy	Supports free market competition and entrepreneurship, corporate deregulation and cutting entitlement spending.	Increase taxes to cut deficit. Believes large deficit negatively affects government services and that low deficits stimulate the economy.	100% Free Market.
Security/Defense	Believe in a proactive military and defense. Supports building weapons and technology that serve to protect our nation. Believe that peace is achieved through strong defense. Increase defense and research budget.	Believe in a limited missile defense. Oppose nuclear buildup in the U.S. Believe that peace is achieved through worldwide relationship building.	Believe in reducing nuclear arms in the U.S. Military should be used to protect people's livery and property only.
Legal/Tort Reform	Supports tort reform and limiting victims compensation, especially for frivolous lawsuits.	Oppose tort reform and oppose limiting liability of doctors and/or businesses.	Generally does not support tort reform.
Tax Reform	Supports tax cuts, low interest rates and the repeal of the death tax penalty in effort to stimulate the economy.	Generally supports raising taxes on the wealthy, lowering taxes for the middle class.	Stridently opposes all government imposed taxes and employer withdrawal of employees money for tax purposes.
Immigration	Generally supports closed or tight borders and tracking system for foreign travelers.	Support illegal alien's ability and right to become citizens and giving them more protections under the law.	Support open borders.
Faith	Religion strongly associated with Republican party. Advocate free exercise of religion.	Strict adherence between the separation between church and state. Promote secular issues and a more secular nation.	Strong belief in separation of church and state and by contrast, Libertarians hold a strong belief in freedom of religion.
Education	Promote school choice/vouchers and homeschooling. Supports voluntary student supported prayer in school. Opposes gender and race quotes in colleges.	Oppose vouchers. Increase NCLB federal funding. Enact new taxes to decrease class size and hire new teachers.	End government financial support of public schools, believe that all public schools should be privatized with tax credit for tuition.
Abortion	Generally pro-life with emphasis on promoting alternatives to abortion.	Generally pro-choice owning the mantra, "Safe, legal, rare."	Adamantly pro-choice but oppose any government financial aid to subsidize abortions.
Energy	Oppose Kyoto treaty. Support tax incentives for energy production.	Wish to find environmentally friendly energy sources and solutions. Oppose increased drilling, especially in the U.S.	Supports deregulation and believes all government energy resources should be turned over to private ownership. Opposes government conservation of energy.
Heathcare	Keep healthcare private. Would like to impose caps on malpractice suits. Supports reformed medicare to give seniors more choices.	Supports more federally funded healthcare programs.	Strongly supports a complete separation of healthcare and state. Supports the deregulation of the healthcare industry.
Foreign Policy	Spread Democracy. Supports UN reform. Wants to stop WMD proliferation countries. Believe that nations who support terrorist are just as bad as the terrorist themselves.	Strongly supports worldwide coalitions and multi-national programs. Supports aid for disadvantaged countries. Supports the UN.	End all foreign aid because it's the same as welfare for nations. Believes that aid perpetuates independence on your government.
Campaign Finance Reform	Generally support soft money contributions from individuals but supports limiting it from corporations. Also supports full disclosure.	Favor more regulation with spending limits on individuals and corporations.	No restrictions on contributions form any legal resident. Believe that politicians holding an office should not be able to run for another seat until term is over.
Environment	Supports privatizing federal land. Believe in cap and trade market based air pollution reductions and that the market should regulate itself.	Generally puts the interest of the environment over business. Wants to maintain federal land under government control.	Believes that land and animals should be sold to private organizations or ranchers and taken out of the hands of the government because private citizens will care for it better.
Guns	Limited gun control.	Strict gun control.	No control whatsoever.
Gay Rights	Oppose gay marriage. Supports constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.	Generally supports gay marriage although Democrats remain largely divided on the issue, as some only support civil unions.	Pro private choice and equality including marriage.