Posted on 07/24/2002 3:47:01 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
REPUBLICAN LIBERTY CAUCUS
POSITION STATEMENT
As adopted by the General Membership of the Republican Liberty Caucus at its Biannual Meeting held December 8, 2000.
WHEREAS we believe that government has no money nor power not derived from the consent of the people;
WHEREAS we believe that people have the right to keep the fruits of their labor; and
WHEREAS we believe in upholding the U. S. Constitution as the supreme law of the land;
BE IT RESOLVED that the Republican Liberty Caucus endorses the following principles:
1.0 FEDERALISM
1.1 The power of the federal government should be limited, as per the tenth amendment to the U. S. Constitution.
2.0 EDUCATION
2.1 The U. S. Department of Education should be abolished, leaving education decision making at the state, local or personal level.
2.2 Parents have the right to spend their money on the school or method of schooling they deem appropriate for their children.3.0 HEALTH CARE
3.1 Free market health care alternatives, such as medical savings accounts, should be available to everyone, including senior citizens.
3.2 The federal entitlement to Medicare should be abolished, leaving health care decision making regarding the elderly at the state, local, or personal level.4.0 TAXATION
4.1 The tax system of the United States should be overhauled.
4.2 There should be a national debate discussing various alternative means of taxation including but not limited to a single flat income tax, repealing the income tax and replacing it with a national sales tax, and reducing spending to the point where the income tax can be repealed without the need to replace it with a national sales tax or any other form of taxation.
4.3 The capital gains tax should be *eliminated*.
4.4 The inheritance tax should be *eliminated*.
4.5 The new tax system should be implemented *promptly*.5.0 WELFARE
5.1 The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services should be abolished, leaving decision making on welfare and related matters at the state, local or personal level. All Americans have the right to keep the fruits of their labor to support themselves, their families and whatever charities they so choose, without interference from the federal government.
5.2 All able-bodied Americans have the responsibility to support themselves and their families.6.0 CRIMINAL JUSTICE
6.1 Every American has the right to keep and bear arms. We affirm our support for the second amendment of the U. S. Constitution.
6.2 All people, regardless of position in the public or private sector, should be held equally accountable under the law.
6.3 The *only* litmus test for Supreme Court or other judges should be their determination to accurately interpret, not amend, the Constitution. Judges have *no* authority to make new law.7.0 CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
7.1 Election campaigns should not be subsidized by tax payers.
7.2 No individual should be compelled to support a political candidate he or she does not support. Government should not empower trade unions to collect funds from their members for use as political contributions without their members' expressed consent.
7.3 All limits on campaign contributions should be eliminated.
7.4 There should be full and timely public disclosure of all the sources and amounts of all campaign contributions upon their receipt.8.0 FEDERAL BUDGET
8.1 There should be an amendment to the U. S. Constitution to require a balanced budget, provided it includes a supermajority requirement to raise taxes and provided it does not empower the judiciary to unilaterally raise taxes.
8.2 Honest accounting dictates that all federal expenditures should be on budget.
8.3 Each budget should be derived based upon the justification for and needs of each program, with no program being either budgeted for or increased automatically.9.0 GOVERNMENT REFORM
9.1 The U. S. Department of Commerce should be abolished, per the tenth amendment of the U. S. Constitution.
9.2 The National Endowment for the Arts should be abolished, per the tenth amendment of the U. S. Constitution.
9.3 The National Endowment for the Humanities should be abolished, per the tenth amendment of the U. S. Constitution.
9.4 The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development should be abolished, per the tenth amendment of the U. S. Constitution.
9.5 Subsidies to agricultural and other businesses should be eliminated.
9.6 Corporate taxes should be eliminated simultaneously and proportionally with the elimination of subsidies to businesses.
9.7 Recommendations by the Grace Commission and the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) should be reviewed and implemented, where possible, beginning immediately.
9.8 Privatization of government assets, management and services should be implemented for cost-effectiveness wherever applicable.10.0 TRADE
10.1 The U. S. government should inhibit neither the exportation of U. S. goods and services worldwide, nor the importation of goods and services.
10.2 The United States should not be answerable to any governing body outside the United States for its trade policy.11.0 DEFENSE
11.1 U. S. military should be deployed only where there is a clear threat to vital U. S. interests and only with the consent of the U. S. Congress.
11.2 It is the duty of the federal government to provide a system to defend against missile attacks.
11.3 No branch of the military should be put in harm's way without a clear entrance and exit strategy and a goal, which when achieved, constitutes victory.
11.4 U. S military personnel should always be under U. S. command.
11.5 U. S. armed forces should be all-volunteer.
11.6 Military draft registration should be eliminated.
11.7 Foreign aid is often more harmful than helpful and should be curtailed.12.0 PROPERTY RIGHTS
12.1 The government should not take private property without just compensation.
12.2 All unconstitutional regulation of private property should be repealed.13.0 DRUGS
13.1 While recognizing the harm that drug abuse causes society, we also recognize that government drug policy has been ineffective and has led to frightening abuses of the Bill of Rights which could affect the personal freedom of any American. We, therefore, support alternatives to the War on Drugs.
13.2 Per the tenth amendment to the U. S. Constitution, matters such as drugs should be handled at the state or personal level.
13.3 All laws which give license to violate the Bill of Rights should be repealed.
Entered into the record December 8, 2000
George Mason University Professor of Economics Walter Williams writes that the eighteen duties mandated to the federal government by our Constitution would account for approximately just one-third of the federal budget. The other two-thirds of the federal budget is, therefore, "extra-Constitutional" spending -- not authorized functions of the federal government. In other words, two-thirds of the hard earned money we are forced to send to Washington every year is spent by the federal government with no Constitutional authority.
Just as starters, I call for the federal government to display the same type of budgetary responsibility we would expect from a corporation and have a 15% across the board (except military) lay-off. Probably a 10% lay-off for each of the next five years thereafter would tend to bring the budget back in line. It would do a lot to promote Liberty and do a great deal for the economy, too.
That is where you always get hung up Jim. Replacing them with Republicans who are precisely the same (or worse) than the Democrats you are replacing.
Everything you stand for in the RLC info you posted above, is totally undermined by that ONE statement. They will NEVER, EVER do the things that you want in the RLC plan. NEVER, EVER.
Voting for Republicans instead of Democrats even if they are the same, is the most illogical thing you could possibly do. Your hopes are never to be realized with that strategy.
It seems hopeless to get you to change your mind. You are stuck, and they know it. They win, you lose, the country loses. GWB and his ilk are laughing at you. (So are Gephart, Clinton and Dashle) Sad as hell. Regards TJ
Are you, by the remotest possibility, confusing me with another toenail?
You're right Jim, for now.
If you stay with your strategy, you will wake up one morning, and you won't have any choices left. It's inevitable, your only hope is that it will occur after we are gone. Which of course leaves our kids and grandkids in slavery.
Please reread the whole exchange between JR and myself if you want to understand what I said.
Wow, I haven't even seen the name Gramsci written since I wrote a paper on Italian fascism in high school. Such things were still fresh in people's minds way back then and at least part of the class knew who he was.
Not so anymore, eh? Most people today don't even know what fascism was -- except to know that it wasn't good and they probably don't want any here. That's why they do not recognize that we already have strong tendencies in that direction. Very strong!
Same with socialism. Few Americans realize that there are different types of socialism. In the communist type, government outwardly owns all of the means of production. In the present type, government uses licensing and regulation to tightly control all of the means of production, agriculture, service, and sales. Government regulation, then, becomes the de facto standard for quality and performance and free market competition is greatly diminished. Look to medial care and the automobile industry as prime examples.
Of course, we all know about that part of socialism that concerns the redistribution of wealth. Yet, we tend to accept that simply because most of the nation grew up under that system and cannot imagine how life would be without big government as the nanny.
We have even given up our God to the alter of politically correct socialism. Today's "Christians" sit back in near silence as those on the far left continually defame our most personal beliefs. We have also become so complacent we now allow the socialist controlled government schools to teach our children the acceptance and practice of all sorts of deviant behaviors we know in our hearts to be improper.
The point is, they are winning. They keep the black population in a constant state of agitation against the white. They pit the Jews against the Christians. They protect the belligerents in society, explain away the terrorist helpers and disgrace all of our national heroes.
Most Americans, in turn, sit back and grumble a little, but say protesting is useless. Worse, when some others actually try to make a difference, instead of joining in to help, they make fun of the attempt -- calling it futile and impossible.
Except, it is far from impossible. Give me ten good political activists in each State and I will elect you a president. If we have three or four active RLC groups in each State -- active being the operative word here -- we will have significant change by the next presidential election.
Or, we can just sit back like many people are doing and accept our fate, as determined by that small group that is the socialist controlling force in this society.
Two points are indisputable: The socialists can be stopped by just a handful of good political activists simply because this Liberty thing gets infectious when presented to people properly. And, because the Republican Liberty Caucus is a club, we can also have fun while doing something constructive.
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