This week, WSPN presents our newest blog, The Disregarded Perspective, written by juniors Iliana Smalanskas and Christine Cocce. Every other Thursday, they’ll bring you their take on the latest political issues in Massachusetts and the nation at large.

Welcome to our new blog! Our goal is to analyze issues our nation faces from both Republican and Democratic standpoints, but with a tendency to lean towards the views of moderate Republicans. We feel this blog is necessary because the Republican standpoint is so often misrepresented and disregarded in our school. We hope that this blog will initiate more back and forth discussion between the two political parties.

As we began outlining the standpoints which our blog will represent, we found ourselves assessing our beliefs. The beliefs listed below are those of two moderate Republicans; however, this does not mean that our beliefs represent that of all moderate Republicans.

Spending/Finance:

We support the Republican Party’s funding proposals. Our nation’s current financial system allows for the government to spend excessively. Thus, we believe that the government should cut back their spending dramatically so that it is not necessary to raise taxes.

Illegal Immigration:

Our moderate standpoint also reflects the Republican belief that America needs to have stronger anti-illegal immigrant laws. Immigrants are cheap labor, and in a country with large unemployment rates, the jobs that illegal immigrants are taking should be going to legalized citizens who find themselves out of work.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy:

Unlike extreme Republicans, we oppose the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. We support openly homosexual people serving in our country’s military.

The Iraq War:

While the Iraq War is a focus of many debates, we decided that we do not have a stance on the initiation of war. However, it is now our responsibility to help the Iraqi people rebuild their nation. We cannot withdraw and leave their country in ruins.

Federal Health Care Program:

Personally, we are anti-universal health care, as we believe it takes away our choices and is a source of unnecessarily excessive spending. On the note of health, we take a stance that opposes stem cell research and abortion.

Government Surveillance:

The Patriot Act has caused frequent debate over the course of its nine years. While we support the Patriot Act and government surveillance, we believe that there should be laws to prevent misuse of these policies. Thus, we support them provided the people are protected from extreme surveillance that has no other purpose than to gain information on innocent citizens.

The Death Penalty:

The death penalty has been illegal in Massachusetts for about 30 years because of an amendment added to the Massachusetts constitution. We agree that the death penalty is not a justifiable punishment for prisoners and that when a criminal has committed first degree murder, the life sentence is sufficient. We believe that the rest of the nation should follow Massachusetts’s example and remove the death penalty from possible punishments. This is a direct contrast to the Republican Party platform which states they are in favor of the death penalty.

Hopefully these views will give you insight as to what this blog is about and will support. In our next blog, we will begin analyzing some of the issues our nation faces.