Being a proud Republican is not easy in the state of Illinois.  This is especially at Niles West High School, where students proudly proclaim that they prefer the party with the donkey without any real knowledge of exactly what values the Republican Party hold. When you approach the average student at Niles West and ask a question about the Republican Party, odds are you’ll get a puzzled look or perhaps a rude, uncalled-for remark about Sarah Palin or George W. Bush. One reason for this lack of knowledge in the GOP is because we’re surrounded by pro-Democrat ideas and biased media.

It’s about time that someone shows the real side of the Republican Party (and not what someone hears from his mommy or MSNBC). I’m not writing this article to promote Mitt Romney or even to respond to someone’s views about issues regarding public schooling and college tuition; my goal is to simply give you the truth about what the Republican Party stands for.

A phrase that floats around the GOP during election season is “less government.” Although this does not describe the entire GOP, it sums up what actions we have to take in order to fulfill their greater goal: each individual is able to retain their rights. When the U.S. gained its independence from Britain in 1776, the Founding Fathers agreed that controlling government was not the way to go.  The US had just won their independence from a country built on a government that had done just that.

The Constitution identifies the limitations of the government and highlights the fact that every individual citizen is entitled to certain rights that the government can not infringe on. The Democratic Party generally seeks more control in the government than the GOP. Republicans believe that with less government control over the citizens, the people can live the actual definition of freedom, which is what our Founding Fathers wanted in the first place.

With less government power comes more power for the public. This pillar of the Republican Party is important and links other values that they have as well.

What exactly is “less government”? One way of reducing power from the national government is giving more power to local governments, such as state and city. This can be done by giving each state the freedom to spend money as they wish, on whatever they need and want. The citizens would receive more power because it is easier to satisfy the wishes of people of a smaller community, rather than all citizens across the country.

A modern-day example of the struggle between less and more government is the conflict between the Catholic Church and the Obama Administration. In the Medicare reform bill, or Obamacare, there is a rule that requires all medical organizations to administer abortions and contraceptives, regardless of the beliefs of that group. This means that Catholic hospitals, who don’t believe abortions and contraceptives are acceptable, must provide those services against their will and must violate their own consciences. Horrible right? Not only is this morally wrong of the Obama Administration, but it also violates the Freedom of Religion in the Bill of Rights. It demonstrates how the government can get too powerful and force people against their will, which exactly what our Founding Fathers were afraid would happen.

If you’re voting in November, be conscious of who you’re voting for because things are not always what they seem. You never know exactly what you’re voting for if you don’t know both sides of the story.