Ron Paul (Republican)
Paul's campaign centers on limiting taxes and government.
Competitiveness & Innovation
Paul's ideas on maintaining competitiveness can be viewed within the larger prism of his support for lower taxes and a smaller federal government.
STEM Education & Workforce
Paul wants educational policies to be determined by states and localities and would seek to abolish the Education Department if elected. He is a proponent of home schooling.
As President, he would push for the tracking of all visa holders but would oppose a national ID card and current laws allowing insurance companies to access medical information.
Better Health for Americans
Paul is an OB/GYN doctor and touts a bill he authored, HR 1094, that would define life as beginning at conception. He opposes federal funding of stem cell research but does so on "limited government" grounds. This means he would vote against the funding of any stem cell research - not just embryonic. In a May 3 GOP debate he said "the market should deal with it, and the states should deal with it."
Paul opposes increasing the Food and Drug Administration's powers to regulate products.
Energy & Environment
Paul sees a free market as a means to curb pollution. The "key to sound environmental policy," he says, "is respect for private property rights." He has pushed to curb government spending and tax subsidies he sees as harmful to the environment.
He supports tax credits that encourage the use of alternative energy sources (e.g. wind, solar).
National & Homeland Security
Paul seeks to overturn the Patriot Act.
Governance
Paul would seek to limit the powers of the federal government, which would impact the federal agencies that fund scientific R&D.
