Posted on 07/13/2002 1:09:01 AM PDT by GOPcapitalist
The full article is very lengthy, so in the interest of brevity I posted below the segment of the article (for full article see link above) specifying the positions he took against the Texas Republican Platform. There were a total of 46 planks in the survey. Perry disagreed with 50% of them. He partially agreed with 16 additional planks, and fully agreed with only 7 planks.
Where Perry, platform diverge
Highlights of Gov. Rick Perry's responses to questions about the Republican Party of Texas platform:
* The party opposes ballot initiatives and referendum votes as a bypass of "checks and balances." Perry said he "would be open to initiative and referendum with a high threshold for getting on the ballot."
* The party wants only registered voters to serve as jurors. Perry backs current law that allows all Texans except felons to serve on juries.
* Perry opposes the party's call to abolish "motor voter" laws that simplify voter registration and its call for re-registration of all voters every four years.
* Perry does not support his party's calls for life sentences without parole for habitual felony offenders and the extension of the capital punishment provision to allow the death penalty for rapists.
* Perry does not believe there is "sufficient citizen or legislator support" to abolish the Texas Lottery, as proposed in the party platform.
* Perry does not agree with his party's call for abolition of the Texas Education Agency's regulatory authority.
* Perry opposes his party's call for the "termination" of bilingual education programs in Texas.
* The Texas GOP platform calls for "a single standard for college admission for all students based on merit and ability, without regard to the school from which they graduated or class standing" -- as opposed to the top-10 percent law crafted to increase minority representation in state universities. Perry said he backs the law to "ensure that top-performing students from all parts of Texas have access to our state institutions of higher education."
* The party wants to scuttle programs that steer government contracts to minority-owned businesses. Perry said he supports the current system, which he says "encourages purchasing from Texas' historically underutilized and startup businesses."
* Perry shuns the state party's call for a radical overhaul of state and federal taxes, including a national sales tax to replace the federal income tax and other major levies.
* The platform says it "is in the best interest" of the United States to "rescind our membership" in the United Nations. Perry noted his disagreement with "many" U.N. policies but said it "is not currently in America's best interest to pull out."
* The platform said, "The current greatest threat to our individual liberties is overreaching government controls established under the guise of preventing terrorism." Said Perry: "I believe the Bush administration is properly balancing domestic security and individual liberties."
* Perry does not back his party's call for repeal of the minimum wage law.
Voters are now having to choose between a weasel or a snake. The "Republican" Party is amidst of being ideologically hijacked.
Personally, I mean repealling income tax on a national level and seriously reforming property taxes in the state. As for a state income tax, Perry's certainly not doing much to make the fight against one easy for us. His big spending tendencies have pushed state spending over the budget line, inciting the Dems to renew their calls for one.
So you think that party loyalty outweighs party principle? If that is the case, then why are you mad at me? You should be mad at Rick Perry as he's the one shunning the Republican Party, is he not?
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