GOP finally releases ‘most conservative national platform in history’
Here are several key sections, presented without comment (I highly encourage everyone to read the whole thing)
Fundamental Tax Principles
We oppose retroactive taxation; and we condemn attempts by activist judges, at any level of government, to seize the power of the purse by ordering higher taxes. We oppose tax policies that divide Americans or promote class warfare. Because of the vital role of religious organizations, charities, and fraternal benevolent societies in fostering benevolence and patriotism, they should not be subject to taxation, and donations to them
should continue to be tax deductible. In any restructuring of federal taxation, to guard against hypertaxation of the American people, any
value added tax or national sales tax must be tied to the simultaneous repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment, which established the federal income tax.Gold Standard?
Determined to crush the double-digit inflation
that was part of the Carter Administration’s economic
legacy, President Reagan, shortly after his inauguration, established a commission to consider the feasibility of a metallic basis for U.S. currency. The commission advised against such a move. Now, three
decades later, as we face the task of cleaning up the
wreckage of the current Administration’s policies, we
propose a similar commission to investigate possible
ways to set a fixed value for the dollar.The current Administration has chosen a different path with regard to labor, clinging to antiquated notions of confrontation and concentrating power in
the Washington offices of union elites. It has strongly supported the anti-business card check legislation to deny workers a secret ballot in union organizing campaigns and, through the use of Project Labor Agreements, barred 80 percent of the construction workforce from competing for jobs in many stimulus projects. The current Administration has turned the
National Labor Relations Board into a partisan advocate for Big Labor, using threats and coercion outside the law to attack businesses and, through ‘snap elections’ and ‘micro unions,’ limit the rights of workers
and employers alike.We will restore the rule of law to labor law by blocking ‘card check,’ enacting the Secret Ballot Protection Act, enforcing the Hobbs Act against labor violence, and passing the Raise Act to allow all workers to receive well-earned raises without the approval of their union representative. We demand an end to the Project Labor Agreements; and we call for repeal of
the Davis-Bacon Act, which costs the taxpayers billions of dollars annually in artificially high wages on government projects. We support the right of
States to enact Right-to-Work laws and encourage them to do so to promote greater economic liberty.Ultimately, we support the enactment of a National Right-to-Work law to promote worker freedom and to promote greater economic liberty. We will aggressively enforce the recent decision by the Supreme Court barring the use of union dues for political purposes without the consent of the worker.
We salute the Republican Governors and State legislators who have saved their States from fiscal disaster by reforming their laws governing public employee unions. We urge elected officials across the country to follow their lead in order to avoid State and local defaults on their obligations and
the collapse of services to the public.Constitution
We are the party of the Constitution, the solemn compact which confirms our God-given individual rights and assures that all Americans stand equal before the law. Perhaps the greatest political document ever written, it defines the purposes and limits of government and is the blueprint for ordered liberty that makes the U.S. the world’s freest, most stable, and
most prosperous nation.Its Constitutional ideals have been emulated around the world, and with them has come unprecedented prosperity for billions of people.In the spirit of the Constitution, we consider discrimination based on sex, race, age, religion, creed, disability, or national origin
unacceptable and immoral. We will strongly enforce antidiscrimination statutes and ask all to join us in rejecting the forces of hatred and bigotry
and in denouncing all who practice or promote racism, antiSemitism, ethnic prejudice, or religious intolerance. We support efforts to help low-income
individuals get a fair chance based on their potential and individual merit; but we reject preferences, quotas, and set-asides as the best
or sole methods through which fairness can be
achieved, whether in government, education, or corporate boardrooms. In a free society, the primary role of government is to protect the God-given, inalienable, inherent rights of its citizens, including the
rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Merit, ability, aptitude, and results should be the factors that determine advancement in our society. The Republican Party includes Americans
fromevery faith and tradition, and our policies and positions respect the right of every American to follow his or her beliefs and underscore our
reverence for the religious freedom envisioned by the
Founding Fathers of our nation and of our partyActivist judges
A serious threat to our country’s constitutional
order, perhaps even more dangerous than presidential malfeasance, is an activist judiciary, in which some judges usurp the powers reserved to other
branches of government. A blatant example has been
the court-ordered redefinition of marriage in several
States. This is more than a matter of warring legal
concepts and ideals. It is an assault on the foundations of our society, challenging the institution which, for thousands of years in virtually every civilization, has been entrusted with the rearing of children and
the transmission of cultural values.
A Sacred Contract: Defense of Marriage
That is why Congressional Republicans took the
lead in enacting the Defense of Marriage Act, affirming the right of States and the federal government not to recognize same-sex relationships licensed in other jurisdictions. The current Administration’s open defiance of this constitutional principle—in its handling
of immigration cases, in federal personnel benefits,
in allowing a same-sex marriage at a military base,
and in refusing to defend DOMA in the courts—
makes a mockery of the President’s inaugural oath.
We commend the United States House of Representatives and State Attorneys General who have defended these laws when they have been attacked in the courts. We reaffirm our support for a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of
one man and one woman. We applaud the citizens of
the majority of States which have enshrined in their
constitutions the traditional concept of marriage, and
we support the campaigns underway in several other
States to do so.Voter ID
Honest elections are the foundation of representative government. We support State efforts to ensure
ballot access for the elderly, the handicapped, military
personnel, and all authorized voters. For the same reason, we applaud legislation to require photo identification for voting and to prevent election fraud, particularly with regard to registration and absentee
ballots. We support State laws that require proof of citizenship at the time of voter registration to protect our electoral system against a significant and growing form of voter fraud. Every time that a fraudulent vote is cast,
it effectively cancels out a vote of a legitimate voter.
Voter fraud is political poison. It strikes at the
heart of representative government. We call on every
citizen, elected official, and member of the judiciary
to preserve the integrity of the vote. We call for vigorous prosecution of voter fraud at the State and federal level. To do less disenfranchises present and future generations. We recognize that having a physical verification of the vote is the best way to ensure
a fair election. ‘Let ambition counter ambition,’ as
James Madison said.Freedom of Religion
The first provision of the First Amendment concerns freedom of religion. That guarantee reflected Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia Statute for Religious
Freedom, which declared that no one should ‘suffer
on account of his religious opinion or belief, but that
all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to
maintain, their opinion in matters of religion….’ That
assurance has never been more needed than it is
today, as liberal elites try to drive religious beliefs—
and religious believers—out of the public square. The
Founders of the American Republic universally agree
that democracy presupposes a moral people and that,
in the words of George Washington’s Farewell Address, ‘Of all the dispositions and habits which lead
to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.’
The most offensive instance of this war on religion has been the current Administration’s attempt
to compel faith-related institutions, as well as believing individuals, to contravene their deeply held religious, moral, or ethical beliefs regarding health services, traditional marriage, or abortion. This
forcible secularization of religious and religiously affiliated organizations, including faith-based hospitals and colleges, has been in tandem with the current Administration’s audacity in declaring which faith related activities are, or are not, protected by the First Amendment—an unprecedented aggression repudiated by a unanimous Supreme Court in its HosannaTabor v. EEOC decision. We pledge to respect the religious beliefs and
rights of conscience of all Americans and to safeguard
the independence of their institutions from government. We support the public display of the Ten Commandments as a reflection of our history and of our country’s Judeo-Christian heritage, and we affirm the
right of students to engage in prayer at public school
events in public schools and to have equal access to
public schools and other public facilities to accommodate religious freedom in the public square. We assert every citizen’s right to apply religious values to
public policy and the right of faith-based organizations to participate fully in public programs without renouncing their beliefs, removing religious symbols,
or submitting to government-imposed hiring practices. We oppose government discrimination against businesses due to religious views. We support the First Amendment right of freedom of association of
the Boy Scouts of America and other service organizations whose values are under assault and condemn the State blacklisting of religious groups which decline to arrange adoptions by same-sex couples. We
condemn the hate campaigns, threats of violence, and
vandalism by proponents of same-sex marriage
against advocates of traditional marriage and call for
a federal investigation into attempts to deny religious
believers their civil rights.Abortion/Right to Life
Faithful to the ‘self-evident’ truths enshrined in
the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children. We oppose using
public revenues to promote or perform abortion or
fund organizations which perform or advocate it and
will not fund or subsidize health care which includes
abortion coverage. We support the appointment of
judges who respect traditional family values and the
sanctity of innocent human life. We oppose the nonconsensual withholding or withdrawal of care or treatment, including food and water, from people
with disabilities, including newborns, as well as the
elderly and infirm, just as we oppose active and passive euthanasia and assisted suicide. Republican leadership has led the effort to prohibit the barbaric practice of partial-birth abortion and permitted States to extend health care coverage to children before birth. We urge Congress to
strengthen the Born Alive Infant Protection Act by
enacting appropriate civil and criminal penalties on
healthcare providers who fail to provide treatment
and care to an infant who survives an abortion, including early induction delivery where the death of the infant is intended. We call for legislation to ban sex-selective abortions – gender discrimination in its
most lethal form—and to protect from abortion unborn children who are capable of feeling pain; and we applaud U.S. House Republicans for leading the effort to protect the lives of pain-capable unborn children in the District of Columbia. We call for a ban on the use of body parts from aborted fetuses for research. We support and applaud adult stem cell research to develop lifesaving therapies, and we oppose
the killing of embryos for their stem cells. We oppose
federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
We also salute the many States that have passed
laws for informed consent, mandatory waiting periods prior to an abortion, and health-protective clinic regulation. We seek to protect young girls from exploitation through a parental consent requirement;
and we affirm our moral obligation to assist, rather than penalize, women challenged by an unplanned pregnancy. We salute those who provide them with counseling and adpoption alternatives and empower them to choose life, and we take comfort in the tremendous increase in adoptions that has followed Republican legislative initiatives.American Sovereignty in U.S. Courts (Shariah Law)
Subjecting American citizens to foreign laws is
inimical to the spirit of the Constitution. It is one reason we oppose U.S. participation in the International Criminal Court. There must be no use of foreign law by U.S. courts in interpreting our Constitution and
laws. Nor should foreign sources of law be used in
State courts’ adjudication of criminal or civil matters.
The Lacey Act of 1900, designed to protect endangered wildlife in interstate commerce, is now applied worldwide, making it a crime to use, in our
domestic industries, any product illegally obtained in
the country of origin, whether or not the user had
anything to do with its harvesting. This unreasonable
extension of the Act not only hurts American businesses and American jobs, but also subordinates our own rule of law to the legal codes of 195 other governments. It must be changed. Just as George Washington wisely warned America to avoid foreign entanglements and enter
into only temporary alliances, we oppose the adoption or ratification of international treaties that weaken or encroach upon American sovereigntyEPA
We demand an end to the EPA’s participation in
‘sue and settle’ lawsuits, sweetheart litigation
brought by environmental groups to expand the
Agency’s regulatory activities against the wishes of
Congress and the public. We will require full transparency in litigation under the nation’s environmental laws, including advance notice to all State and
local governments, tribes, businesses, landowners,
and the public who could be adversely affected. We
likewise support pending legislation to ensure cumulative analysis of EPA regulations, and to require full transparency in all EPA decisions, so that the public will know in advance their full impact on jobs and the
economy. We oppose the EPA’s unwarranted revocation of existing permits. We also call on Congress to take quick action to prohibit the EPA from moving forward with new greenhouse gas regulations
that will harm the nation’s economy and threaten
millions of jobs over the next quarter century. The
most powerful environmental policy is liberty, the
central organizing principle of the American Republic
and its people. Liberty alone fosters scientific inquiry, technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and information exchange. Liberty must remain
the core energy behind America’s environmental
improvement.Activist Judges II
A Threat to the U.S. Constitution
Despite improvements as a result of Republican
nominations to the judiciary, some judges in the federal courts remain far afield from their constitutional limitations. The U.S. Constitution is the law of the land. Judicial activism which includes reliance on
foreign law or unratified treaties undermines American law. The sole solution, apart from impeachment, is the appointment of constitutionalist jurists, who
will interpret the law as it was originally intended
rather than make it. That is both a presidential responsibility, in selecting judicial candidates, and a senatorial responsibility, in confirming them. We
urge Republican Senators to do all in their power to
prevent the elevation of additional leftist ideologues
to the courts, particularly in the waning days of the
current Administration. In addition to appointing activist judges, the current Administration has included an activist and highly partisan Department of Justice. With a Republican Administration, the Department will stop
suing States for exercising those powers reserved to
the States, will stop abusing its preclearance authority to block photo-ID voting laws, and will fulfill its responsibility to defend all federal laws in court, including the Defense of Marriage Act.American Values
The institution of marriage is the foundation of
civil society. Its success as an institution will determine our success as a nation. It has been proven by both experience and endless social science studies that traditional marriage is best for children. Children raised in intact married families are more likely to attend college, are physically and emotionally healthier, are less likely to use drugs or alcohol,
engage in crime, or get pregnant outside of marriage.
The success of marriage directly impacts the economic well-being of individuals. Furthermore, the future of marriage affects freedom. The lack of family formation not only leads to more government costs,
but also to more government control over the lives
of its citizens in all aspects. We recognize and honor
the courageous efforts of those who bear the many
burdens of parenting alone, even as we believe that
marriage, the union of one man and one woman must
be upheld as the national standard, a goal to stand
for, encourage, and promote through laws governing
marriage. We embrace the principle that all Americans should be treated with respect and dignityObamacare
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act—Obamacare—was never really about healthcare,
though its impact upon the nation’s health is disastrous. From its start, it was about power, the expansion of government control over one sixth of our
economy, and resulted in an attack on our Constitution, by requiring that U.S. citizens purchase health insurance. We agree with the four dissenting justices of the Supreme Court: ‘In our view the entire Act before us is invalid in its entirety.’ It was the high-water
mark of an outdated liberalism, the latest attempt to
impose upon Americans a euro-style bureaucracy to
manage all aspects of their lives. Obamacare has
been struck down in the court of public opinion and
is falling by the weight of its own confusing, unworkable, budget-busting, and conflicting provisions. It would tremendously expand Medicaid without significant reform, leaving the States to assume unsustainable financial burdens. If fully implemented, it could not function; and Republican victories in the November elections will guarantee that it is n