Democrats release 2012 party platform

Democrats have gathered in Charlotte, N.C., to officially nominate Barack Obama as the person they want to stay in the White House.

In advance of that, the Democratic National Convention delegates will vote today on their party's platform.

The Democrats, just the Republicans did in their official party policy document, devote a lot of language to taxes and the economy. That specific section of the Democratic platform is reprinted below:

Cutting Waste, Reducing the Deficit,
Asking All to Pay Their Fair Share

"After the previous administration put two wars and tax cuts weighted towards the wealthy on the nation’s credit card, and in the wake of the worst recession since the Great Depression, Democrats took decisive steps to restore fiscal responsibility to Washington. We reinstated the tough pay-as-you-go budget rules of the 1990s so that all permanent new spending and tax cuts must now be offset by savings or revenue increases. President Obama has already signed into law $2 trillion in spending reductions as part of a balanced plan to reduce our deficits by over $4 trillion over the next decade while taking immediate steps to strengthen the economy now. This approach includes tough spending cuts that will bring annual domestic spending to its lowest level as a share of the economy in 50 years, while still allowing us to make investments that benefit the middle class now and reduce our deficit over a decade.

We are committed to defeating efforts that would return us to the failed economic policies of the past, in which tax relief for the wealthy explodes the deficit and asks the middle class to shoulder that burden.

To help spur economic growth, President Obama and the Democratic Party cut taxes for every working family – providing $3,600 in tax relief to the typical family over the President’s first term in office – and we are committed to extending the middle class tax cuts for the 98 percent of American families who make less than $250,000 a year, and we will not raise taxes on them.

In order to reduce the deficit while still making the investments we need in education, research, infrastructure, and clean energy, the President has asked for the wealthiest taxpayers to pay their fair share. We have to cut what we don’t need in order to make room for the things we do need to grow our economy. We support allowing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest to expire and closing loopholes and deductions for the largest corporations and the highest-earning taxpayers. We are committed to reforming our tax code so that it is fairer and simpler, creating a tax code that lives up to the Buffett Rule so no millionaire pays a smaller share of his or her income in taxes than middle class families do. We are also committed to reforming the corporate tax code to lower tax rates for companies in the United States, with additional relief for those locating manufacturing and research and development on our shores, while closing loopholes and reducing incentives for corporations to shift jobs overseas.

The Republican Party has a different vision—instead of asking everyone to do their fair share and making investments we need for an economy built to last, they would slash taxes for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, let Wall Street once again write its own rules, and balance the budget on the backs of the middle class. Romney and Congressional Republicans share the same, distorted view of the economy and support the same, lopsided budget. Romney would roll back the tax relief Democrats provided to working families and college students, and would require massive new taxes on the middle class to pay for his $5 trillion tax plan that primarily benefits the wealthy.

The Democratic Party opposes efforts to give additional tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans at the expense of the middle class and investments in our future."

Beyond the economy: The Democratic platform also devotes much attention to global events, including the combat zones where American soldiers are stationed and/or starting to be pulled from, the continuing terrorists threat despite victories against al-Qaeda leaders and the death of Osama bin Laden and diplomatic initiatives to counter other concerns, such as global trade issues and the financial troubles facing Europe.

And Democrats emphasize the differences between the two major parties, noting:

"This election is not simply a choice between two candidates or two
political parties, but between two fundamentally different paths for our
country and our families.

We Democrats offer America the opportunity to move our country
forward by creating an economy built to last and built from the middle
out. … [Republicans] still believe the best way to grow the economy is from the
top down – the same approach that benefited the wealthy few but crashed
the economy and crushed the middle class.

Democrats see a young country continually made stronger by the
greatest diversity of talent and ingenuity in the world, and a nation of
people drawn to our shores from every corner of the globe. We believe
America can succeed because the American people have never failed and
there is nothing that together we cannot accomplish."

The focus on diversity is addressed in platform sections discussing the Democrats' support of issues concerning women, same-sex couples and immigration.

You can read the full Democratic 2012 platform on the party's website or you can download the PDF version to add to your collection of political documents.

You also might find these items of interest:

• $36 million in public dollars for political conventions
• Romney-Ryan tax plan details to be revealed after the election
• We all built it, together with our taxes