Posted on 11/08/2009 1:54:07 PM PST by MNJohnnie
Ok, I hear around Free Republic those who argue "the GOP is hopeless, Conservatives got to form a third party".
Now without debating the merits of if a third party is, or is not, the route to go for Conservatives, tell me what you put in the political platform of such a replacement party?
Think of it this way. You are actually writing the plank to put in the platform, what do you personally want put in there?
Neither will a GOP controlled by Liberals.
Yeah. And your point?
Strict adherence to the enumerated powers would be first and foremost.
Term limits: one term for Senators, three for Reps, two for Pres and VP.
Return the Senate selection to the State Legislatures, as was intended. The Senate should be the voice of the States in the Federal government structure, and the House should be the voice of the people.
Fair Tax in place of Income taxes, abolish the IRS and all forms of graduated income taxation. Scrap all excise taxes, as well.
Undertake an immediate review of the Constitutionality of EVERY Federal bureau, office, agency, and programs. Scrap those that do not pass muster.
“Never thought I’d say this, but the official Liberterian Party platform is lookin’ pretty good to me at this point.”
On Friday night I was looking on a thread about Rand Paul, who is running as a Republican for the Senate in Kentucky. I wanted to see if he was a fruitcake like his dad (a legendary Libertarian).
He was. He had national defense and a balanced budget swapped (he had a balanced budget first). In other words, what good is a balanced budget if you’re not defending your country and how well would that strategy have worked during World War 2, when our deficit in 1944 was something like $10T in today’s dollars (as percentage of GNP). If we had balanced the budget in 1944, no doubt the Libertarians would have been happy...and so would have the Germans and the Japanese.
So, me too, I’m interested in knowing what this third party would stand for, other than dividing Republicans down the middle so that the Dems can own this country for generations.
Constitution and Platform
Constitution
As free citizens of the United States and founders of America’s Independent Party, we stand in agreement with the founders of our American Republic. Following their example, we declare to the world that our first governmental premise is the self-evident truth that our rights to life, liberty and private property come from our Creator God and are therefore unalienable. With those patriots, we understand that just government can only exist by the consent of the governed.
Our pledge, individually and corporately, is to seek to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. We will diligently work to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, and thereby fulfill the stated purposes of the Constitution of the United States and this organization.
In recognition of the multitude of ways in which our nation’s leaders have departed from America’s founding principles, we hereby petition local, state and federal government for redress of such grievances, with the urgent imperative demand that each and every officer of government henceforth faithfully perform their sworn duty to defend innocent human life and constitutional republican governance.
Our work is dedicated to our God; to all the patriots who came before us in self-sacrifice for liberty; to all of those who now faithfully serve our country; and to the posterity that will enjoy the blessed fruit of all their labors.
Together, as Americans, let us find the principled grounds for cooperation that will allow us to fully restore moral government of, by and for the people.
E pluribus unum.
Platform
Preface
America's Independent Party has as its goal the return of our nation to a set of foundational principles. We call them "America's Principles." The word "principle" comes from a Latin root that means "first things." America's Principles are the "first things" that our country should consider in all of our domestic and foreign policies.
America's Independent Party recognizes that these "first things" are clearly defined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.
However, we also believe that there is room for debate over prudential policy matters within certain parameters of fundamental American political thought and a framework of ordered liberty. We seek a return to an approach to government that facilitates that respectful and necessary debate, but that never compromises the moral premises that made this country great.
Our civic duties
Though in civic terms we call ourselves "Independent," we fully acknowledge our utter dependence, as individuals and as a nation, on Almighty God and His divine Providence and Protection.
We also recognize, and seek to actively fulfill, our God-ordained obligations as individual citizens to the whole sovereign body of the people, as well as our responsibility to maintain standards of high moral character, both personally and in our public life.
Equal rights for our posterity
Because the stated ultimate purpose of the United States Constitution is "to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity," we recognize the personhood of all unborn children and their protection by the Fifth and the Fourteenth Amendments.
The right to life of all innocent persons, from fertilization to natural death, is God-given and unalienable. That is why we consider it to be a moral imperative to fully establish in law that Personhood is granted by our Creator to all human beings from the very beginning of their biological development.
For the principled man or woman, no compromise is possible concerning such a critical matter of life and death. We believe that violators of this supreme right, in words or actions, are unfit for any office of public trust, since any such violation constitutes the breaking of the oath of office and the ultimate destruction of the very basis of our liberty.
The “reason for being” of government, and of America’s Independent Party
The protection of the life, liberty, and private property of the people is the primary reason for the existence of human government, and more particularly, our precious American republican form of self-government. This is why we willingly accept no breach of the rights of the free exercise of religion, free speech, free press, free assembly, free association, and the right to petition government for the redress of grievances. We defend all of the enumerated rights listed in our Bill of Rights, and, in addition, all natural rights that are not enumerated, as per the Ninth Amendment.
The Right to Keep and Bear Arms
The right of self-preservation and self-protection is inherent in all persons, communities and societies, which is why we fiercely defend the indispensable provisions of our Second Amendment. Liberty cannot be protected if the people have been stripped of the physical means of doing so.
Restoring limited government
We seek to restore the intended balance between the three separate branches of our government, and to strictly limit government to the Enumerated Powers granted and expressed by the will of the people of the United States in our Constitution.
All existing functions of the Executive branch that are outside of those Enumerated Powers must be eliminated.
All spending and regulation by the Legislative branch that lies outside the Enumerated Powers must cease.
Judges who attempt to legislate from the bench, or who abandon the clear principles of our Constitution, must be checked if liberty and justice are to prevail in our society once again.
We demand a return to adherence to the provisions of the Tenth Amendment: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
Peace through Strength
We believe in a supremely strong, prepared, and well-equipped civilian-controlled United States military, and a bold, visionary and intelligent program of principled constructive engagement with the rest of the world. For us, "peace through strength" is not a mere slogan. It is the means of survival for our country in a very dangerous and often hostile world. Our friendship should be a sought-after possession of all men and women of good will everywhere in the world. Our enmity should be something that all rightfully fear.
As Ronald Reagan opposed and defeated the designs and desire of the Soviet Union to dominate the world and place it under the tyranny of their Evil Empire, we stand unalterably opposed to all who approve of, plan or commit terrorist acts. Since the first principle of America is the protection of innocent human life, any who would use acts of terrorism targeted at innocent civilians to forward their political, ideological or religious aims incur our effective and determined enmity.
Sovereignty
We completely oppose any action that surrenders the moral, political or economic sovereignty of the United States and its people, and demand the immediate restoration of that sovereignty wherever it has been eroded.
We demand the immediate securing and continuous vigilant maintenance of our sovereign territory and borders. We oppose any private or governmental action that rewards illegal entry into the United States in any way, and demand speedy and full enforcement of our laws concerning all such activities.
Repeal of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments
We consider the federal income tax to be destructive of our liberty, privacy, and prosperity. Therefore, we are working to bring about its complete elimination and the repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. We recommend that the current system be replaced by an equitable, simple, noninvasive, visible, efficient tax, one that does not destroy or even infringe upon our economic privacy and liberty.
We also call for the repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment. Its enactment greatly reduced the power of our state legislatures and state governments – which are much closer to the people – and damaged our system of federalism.
Marriage and the natural family
We seek the passage of a Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and oppose all attempts everywhere to redefine marriage as being anything but what it has always been: the union of one man and one woman. Since the natural family is the basic God-given institution of our civilization, and the nursery of our future, it must be protected from all who would destroy it.
America’s Principles work
America's Independent Party is a principled party, but it is also a practical party. We believe that America's Principles work whenever the people diligently put them into practice.
We invite all like-minded Americans to join with us in our fight to restore and protect Liberty.
Truly, this is intended to be AMERICA’S Independent Party.
Approved in Convention August 20, 2008
© 2008 America’s Independent Party
No S&!T
Somalia is a nation ruled by anarchy.
It can get much much much worse here then what we face now. You know it. You have seen it.
We may yet see it here but that time has not yet come.
And very large numbers of people like us are going to have to be murdered by the Government before it can happen here.
All RINOs would be forced to join the third party.
Conservatives would take over the GOP.
Sarah Palin will lead the way.
Opinion on Ron Paul?
Eliminate 'czars'. All cabinet level positions should be subject to Congressional approval.
Divest holdings in Auto and Banking industries, let them sink or swim. Stop the stimulus.
Cut taxes.
No Cap and Trade.
Get the government back out of health care. (No insurance mandate, tort reform).
Halt the propagation of additional gun control laws and roll back the current restrictions on law-abiding people.
Make English the official language. (If I can supposedly learn a new language in two weeks as the TV commercials say, why aren't those commercials presented in Spanish?)
Drill here, drill now. End obstructionist policies which will not even let the oil companies drill in areas they have leased with environmental safeguards in place.
Facillitate the development of energy infrastructure by private industry, including refineries, pipelines, power plants, and electrical distribution networks.
Close the borders, especially the Southern Border, as much as is possible, to unhampered infiltration.
No amnesty, just 60 days to go home. Americans are getting hungry out there, and they want the jobs.
End 'special treatment' in the form of set-asides, quotas, etc.
Civility, not political correctness should be the dominant meme, and no 'class' should enjoy unequal protection under the law. Do away with 'hate crime'. (A crime is a crime is a crime, let motivation be addressed at sentencing).
Put the means in place to verify the constitutional eligibility of all Federal candidates by producing the original or certified copies of documentation well in advance of the primary.
Keep our military strong; providing for the common defense of the states is a Constitutional mandate.
De-fund the NEA, let the market decide.
Cease providing funding to special interest groups.
Remove Federal mandates in re education, only standardized testing and oversight for comparison purposes. Let the school districts spend the money as they see fit, let the local people decide if that has been done correctly based on standardized test results.
No 'fairness doctrine'.
Sorry, the PLATFORM is neither the issue nor the party.
How about we just use the present GOP’s Platform, They aren’t using it.
“So yes, the Liberterians are lacking in certain areas. But they’re a damn’d-sight better than the dems and pubs where civil liberties are concerned.”
We’re all entitled to our opinions. To me, possibly, the single fastest way to lose our privacy is to have EVERY car trip we take entered into a database. CATO seems just fine with that, if that is the price for privatizing the roads (a concept which they love) - and CATO is a first and foremost a libertarian think tank.
So, to me, it’s obvious what a LIBERTARIAN viewpoint should be when it comes to car transportation - and that is that ALL highways should be free and that people should pay for them through the gas tax (or electricity tax, if cars become electric). Once you start collecting tolls, you, by definition, will have the infrastructure in place to monitor people’s movements - and if you privatize all of the roads, you will be tracking people from the second they start their engine. We had more privacy in Roman times that what we’re dealing with here.
If CATO cannot figure out something THAT SIMPLE, then I don’t see ANY benefit from Libertarians.
And what is the issue?
HAAAA short nasty and too the point. It was a beautiful thing.
This nation in on the ropes. If the senate goes along with the house, this nation is probably finished. By the time you replace the Republican party, there won't be anything left to fix.
There may not be anything left to fix anyway. RINOs exist because their voters like them. I don't buy it that a majority or even a plurality of Americans are conservative. Acting conservative makes you one as does voting that way. Saying you are in a poll doesn't.
GOP is walking dead. Nothing more than moderate liberals. I vote we go back to the Articles of Confederation using the Federalist Papers as a guideline.
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