There is something that made this country into a great nation. It survived the birth pangs of the Revolution. It held this country together through the most horrible times. It overcame the evils of its history. It conquered obstacles and inspired nations. That thing is the American Spirit, and it has been lost. It has been outsourced. It has been deployed overseas. It has been fenced in, detained, and defiled. We cannot allow this abuse to continue. It is time for Americans to get back to the business of being Americans.
The Texian Party believes that the following proposals, founded upon the American ideals of Liberty, Justice, republicanism, and federalism, will ensure good government and a high quality of life for Texans and all Americans now and in the future.
Strengthen Education
A highly educated citizenry should be the first priority of the Texas State Legislature as it is the only sure defense of republican government. A highly educated citizenry is also a highly paid workforce. While low skill, low wage jobs are being exported overseas, the Texas economy will remain strong. More important than economic concerns, however, is the need to ensure that the citizens of the next generation are capable of governing themselves and our nation and that they will not succumb to the socially destructive temptations inherent in democratic societies. Therefore, we propose:
-Implement a school voucher program to give parents more control over the education of their children. The state should recognize that it does not, and it should not, have a monopoly on education. Indeed, the responsibility to educate the next generation falls primarily on the family and the church. Parents who wish their children to have a better education than the state can provide often find that they are competing against their own tax dollars. School vouchers will eliminate that difficulty.
-Establish high statewide standards for public schools while allowing local districts to decide how best to meet those standards
-Collect tax revenue statewide and distribute evenly throughout the State to
ensure that every school district has the resources necessary to meet the high
State standards.
-Preserve local control of public schools. Public schools exist to serve the community, therefore the community should maintain control of its local schools.
-End tuition deregulation. Increase State spending on colleges and
universities to bring down tuition costs and make a college education more
affordable for all Texans.
-Improve art education in schools and universities so we can graduate a highly
intelligent and creative workforce.
Strengthen the States
The American Republic is founded upon the States, not as political subdivisions, but as independent Republics with Rights and Powers that should not be ceded to, or usurped by, the federal government. When the States are harmed, so too are Liberty and Democracy. The powers of government should be kept close to the People to encourage civic involvement. Therefore, we propose:
-Enforce constitutional limits on federal power.
-The States should ratify an amendment to the U.S. Constitution allowing the States, upon the concurrence of three fourths of them, to declare unconstitutional and void an act of any branch of the Federal Government.
-The States should ratify an amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing the Right of States to secede and clarifying that secession must be by treaty.
-Give States more control over domestic issues.
-Place social programs under the control of the States, with federal standards.
Strengthen the Republic
Our democratic Republic has fallen into the hands of the elite and powerful. If we wish for America to remain a beacon of Liberty for the world, then we must take back our government from the oligarchy that has unjustly usurped the Power of the People. Therefore, we propose:
-The States should ratify an amendment to the U.S. Constitution allowing Congress, by a two-thirds vote in both houses, to overrule a decision of the Supreme Court. Only the ultimate check of Democracy can prevent the Supreme Court from becoming a tyrannical council bent on the destruction of the Rights, Morality, and Welfare of the People of the United States.
-Impose term limits on Congress and the Legislature.
-Ban former congressmen and legislators from employment with lobbying firms for life.
-Ban high level government officials, including retired military officers, from lobbying firms for up to 5 years.
-Enact the four part plan to free elections.
-Ban campaign contributions from corporations, unions, governments, issue advocacy groups, PACs, lobbyists, and other groups. Campaign contributions should only come from individual U.S. citizens.
-Ban Congressmen, legislators, and government officials in all levels of government from accepting free gifts from lobbyists, corporations, unions, groups, and private citizens.
-Expand the faith-based initiative to get religious organizations more involved in social services.
Strengthen the Right to Life
The Right to Life is the first of the Natural Rights, and the most important. Without it, the other Rights are meaningless. Government is created to defend this Right. We believe that the Right to Life is absolute and cannot be taken by the government or society. Therefore, we propose:
-The States should ratify an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning abortion, and declaring that protection of Human Life is the paramount concern of the government of the United States.
-The death penalty should be abolished. Violations of the Natural Law should be punished by depriving the violator of one or more of his Natural Rights. However, the Right to Life is an absolute Right that cannot be taken away.
Strengthen the Middle Class
The middle class, that hallmark of a strong and stable economy, is shrinking. A concentration of wealth in an oligarchic upper class is just as economically harmful as Socialism. While the American economy has seen tremendous growth, the median income has remained flat, barely keeping up with inflation. The financial welfare of working class people is under attack by a government that is beholden to special interests, awards monstrously large bailouts to companies that engage in risky and predatory business practices, increases the debt burden on taxpayers of the present and future by running massive deficits with no sign of slowing down, abuses its power of eminent domain, enacts lopsided, unconstitutional free trade agreements, allows wages to be depressed by illegal immigration, allows high paying jobs to be sent overseas, all the while increasing the tax burden on middle class families. To improve the welfare of the American People, our government should cut taxes for the middle class first, dissolve the unholy union of government and business, and insist on fair trade, not free trade. Therefore, we propose:
Fiscal Policy:
-Reform the state and federal tax system to create a more progressive structure.
-Eliminate the Social Security tax cap.
-Lower state property taxes on middle class families.
-Eliminate loopholes that allow corporations to get around paying their fair share in taxes (i.e. prevent U.S. corporations from incorporating overseas in order to avoid paying U.S. taxes).
-Lower taxes on small business.
-Make everyday a tax free holiday. Exempt necessities such as clothing from the sales tax.
-Enact an amendment requiring the federal government to keep a balanced budget except when Congress declares war or in a state of national emergency.
Regulatory Policy:
-Enact smart and strong regulation of banks and the financial industry to end predatory and risky lending practices.
-Enact regulations to curtail exorbitant executive compensation.
Trade:
-Protect U.S. jobs by demanding reciprocal tariffs which prevent the U.S. market from becoming overrun with cheap goods from countries that impose exorbitant tariffs on U.S. goods.
-Free trade agreements should be based on the economic benefit for Americans, not free trade at all costs.
-Return trade regulation to Congress (as intended by the Constitution) by eliminating the fast track power of the president.
Labor & Wages:
-Change state and federal labor law to make it easier for workers to unionize.
-End the National Labor Relations Board's bias in favor of employers. The NLRB should be a neutral third party enforcing labor law.
Private Property & Small Farms:
-Protect home and small business owners by preventing government entities from using their eminent domain power for the sole purpose of promoting economic development. The Constitution requires that property taken through eminent domain be put to direct public use.
-Thomas Jefferson said, "Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country, and wedded to its liberty and interests, by the most lasting bonds."* Recognizing that being able to feed ourselves is essential to our national security, that the small farmer is the soul of America, and that the small farmer is the first line of defense of our natural resources and the safety and quality of our food, we support subsidies to help small farmers compete with foreign farmers and large corporate farms.
Immigration:
-Require employers to verify employee Social Security Numbers with the Social Security Administration.
-Impose heavy fines on employers who hire illegal immigrants.
Strengthen Security
We Americans wish only to live our lives in peace, enjoying the blessings of Liberty. However, our Liberty is threatened by radical foreigners bent on the establishment of an Islamic state in America, and a government that refuses to secure our borders, abdicates its Power to international bodies that are not concerned with the Welfare of the American People, allows illegal immigrants to pour into our country to steal our livelihood, and depletes the homeland’s first line of defense by sending the National Guard to fight wars overseas. Therefore, we propose:
-The United States should withdraw from the U.N., an anti·American, antisemitic, and thoroughly corrupt institution. It has failed to live up to the righteous ideals upon which it was founded and therefore it should be disbanded. A new international organization should be formed which should only accept Liberal Republics as members and should serve only as a forum for nations to voice their concerns, not as a world super-government.
-Increase border security. We should use the latest technology to enhance surveillance along our southern border to control immigration and improve the security of the homeland.
-Require state residents to show proof of citizenship before receiving social services or registering to vote.
-Keep the National Guard at home to defend the homeland.
-Support republicanism abroad. The security of our Republic is directly related to the security of foreign republics.
-Reform the president's war powers to prevent the deployment of U.S. troops in one theater of combat for more than two years without a formal declaration of war from the Congress.
-Ensure that our roads, highways, bridges, dams, and ports are safe, secure, and reliable.
Strengthen the Environment
Though disagreement remains over the extent to which man has harmed the natural world, it should be clear to all reasonable people that a frugal and conscientious use of the resources in God's creation is rightly expected of us. We are, by divine Law, required to be good stewards of the world created for our benefit. Therefore, we propose:
-Establish a cap and trade system that will put market forces to work in reducing carbon emissions.
-Invest in research into cleaner, carbon-free energy technology.
-Convert to carbon-free sources of energy, such as ethanol, wind, solar, and nuclear.
-Expand and improve State parks.
-Increase fines on heavy polluters.
-Increase surprise inspections at industrial sites.
-Ease traffic congestion to reduce pollution from cars by improving roads.
-Build new powerplants and expand existing ones, with a focus on clean, carbon-free technology.
For Further Reading:
Cicero, Marcus, and Michael Grant. On Government. London: Penguin
Classics, 1994.
Jefferson, Thomas et.al. The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas
Jefferson. New York: Modern Library, 1993.
Storing, Herbert, and Murray Dry. What the Anti-Federalists Were for. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.
Tocqueville, Alexis. Democracy in America. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006.
*letter to John Jay, Paris, August 23, 1785
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