2010 WASHOE COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY PLATFORM
Adopted March 13, 2010
At The Washoe County Republican Party Convention
Respectfully Submitted by Thomas F. Dickman, Chairman,
Washoe County Republican Platform Committee
PREAMBLE AND PRINCIPLES
As Washoe County Republicans, We establish this platform of our common beliefs, which are grounded in the time-proven principles that have made America the greatest nation on earth:
- Our Constitution is the Supreme Law of the land; and we believe this precious document demands that government at all levels be limited in power and authority.
- This nation was established by men humbly seeking the guidance of Almighty God.
- We believe in equal rights, equal justice under law, and equality of opportunity for all.
- The strength of our nation lies with the individual acting in self-restraint, leaving an inheritance of freedom for our children’s children.
- Individual initiative through a free enterprise system has brought this nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity.
- The power of the federal government must be strongly bound by the chains of the Constitution and the consent of the governed to allow maximum individual achievement through freedom.
- Private property rights are fundamental to our freedom.
- Whenever American citizens are attacked, it is the duty and responsibility of our government to ensure that the perpetrators and any sponsoring organization are brought to justice.
- The individual’s right to keep and bear arms is fundamental to deterring tyranny and must be preserved without political meddling.
- All Americans must keep more of the money they earn, spending as they deem proper by limiting and eliminating excessive taxation.
- The best government is that which governs least, while protecting fundamental Constitutional rights.
- As Americans, we recognize American exceptionalism and we should preserve our own national strength while working to extend freedom throughout the world.
We believe the Republican Party is the best vehicle for translating these ideas into successful self-government.
Washoe County Republican Party 2010 Platform
Budget and Taxation, State and Federal
We strongly support those in public office who resist higher taxes and fees, and seek to reduce the size, cost and scope of government at all levels.
We believe the residents of the State of Nevada are not under taxed and that state government is not underfunded. We believe our current budget crisis is the result of years of overspending. We do not believe government can tax the state or the residents into prosperity.
We oppose raising taxes or fees of any kind to fund the current budget shortfall. Any tax increase will ultimately fall on the backs of Nevada residents and visitors who are already in economic distress. Taxes on business are ultimately passed on to the consumer.
We support the current Nevada constitutional prohibition on personal income tax, and that same prohibition should also apply to businesses. Gross receipts taxes and selective taxes on specific businesses will ultimately drive business away from our state.
True tax revenue growth can only be accomplished by freeing the private sector and the engines of commerce to grow and employ people.
The current federal budget deficit amounts to generational theft and is fundamentally immoral. The federal budget should be balanced except in times of declared war to specifically support declared war.
We oppose TARP, bailouts and stimulus spending which add to the federal deficit and debt. Private business should always be encouraged to succeed and prosper, but must also be allowed to fail in the free market.
In a capitalist economy, risk taking results in rewards and failures. We strongly oppose government interference through excess regulation and bailouts as it impedes the natural process of creation of prosperity through free markets.
We encourage transparency in the collective bargaining system with public employees. All processes of public money expenditure should be completely open to the public.
Entitlement programs have become underfunded ticking time bombs that have been ignored for too long. We encourage honest reforms that will truly address the issues instead of passing them along to become even larger issues in the future.
We support elimination of the inheritance tax, alternative minimum tax and double taxation of corporate dividends.
The Bush tax cuts should be made permanent.
Constitution
We believe the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is obvious and self-explanatory as written; “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
We believe the tenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States is obvious and self-explanatory as written; “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.”
We strongly urge the Nevada Attorney General to defend the rights of the State of Nevada and her people as defined by the Tenth Amendment.
We oppose usurpation of State sovereignty by Federal mandate or economic coercion.
We oppose the legislature’s circumvention of Nevada’s Constitutional Marriage Amendment by passing domestic partnership legislation.
Education
We support charter schools, private schools, home schools, vocational schools, vouchers and other means of competition to the current public school system. Creating competition to the current public school system will raise the level and quality of education just as competition provides the best products in the private sector.
Simply spending more money on education will not guarantee a better education.
We advocate having more local control in individual schools to be able to meet and exceed existing standards.
Proven mastery in subject matter should qualify an individual to teach without being required to hold a teaching certificate.
Elections
A photo ID or other system of voter identification should be adopted and used at the polling places to maintain election integrity.
We do not support same day voter registration.
We encourage the Registrar of Voters to aggressively purge the voter rolls of those who are ineligible to vote.
The State Attorney General should be proactive in combating and prosecuting voter fraud.
We oppose the effort to appoint Nevada judges rather than have them stand for election to fill a vacancy. We do not agree with any effort to curtail or eliminate our constitutional right to vote for every elected position.
We oppose any legislation, encroachment or limitation of our constitutional right to vote using a secret ballot, such as in the proposed Card Check legislation.
Energy
The United States is facing a major energy challenge which conservation alone cannot fully resolve. Our dependence on foreign oil threatens national security.
We believe high energy costs negatively impact our economy. The failure to address our energy needs harms most those who can afford it least.
We support full and immediate development and utilization of America’s domestic oil, gas, coal, solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, hydrogen and nuclear resources, as well as developing other sources of energy.
We believe the free market should determine the development of energy resources, free from government regulation, subsidy or mandate.
English as Official Language
We support legislation making English the official language for conducting business at all levels of government.
Freedom of religion – Not freedom from religion
We support freedom of religion as protected by the United States Constitution. We recognize the importance of religion in achieving the goals of any society, that is, to instill virtue in the citizens. We reiterate our long-held belief that the Constitution provides freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.
We believe the First Amendment forbids government from restricting belief-based practices that provide for reciprocal freedoms for others. Belief systems (political, religious, philosophical) that require adherents to violate the rights of others are blights on civil society. The First Amendment recognizes that robust expression of belief, symbolic or spoken, is welcomed in a free society and does not constrain the freedom of other people.
We believe freedom is crippled when government favors expression of one interest over another. Similarly, freedom ends when citizens can be required to violate their strongly held beliefs.
Global Warming, or Climate Change
We do not agree with the concept that global warming is a man-made disaster resulting from increased carbon dioxide or other so-called greenhouse gases. Throughout time the earth has experienced natural warming and cooling cycles.
We view any kind of cap and trade legislation as a punitive tax and a revenue redistribution scheme the will only benefit those directly involved in trading that false currency of carbon credits. We oppose worldwide carbon credit treaties which will demand the United States surrender our sovereignty.
Health Care
The United States and the State of Nevada enjoy quality health care and we oppose government takeover of our health care industry.
We believe competition in the private sector will provide the highest quality health care for the lowest cost. Government intervention and further regulation will only diminish availability and quality, and will increase the cost of health care.
We support addressing frivolous health care lawsuits by having legal costs be paid by the party filing the suit, should that suit be lost in court.
We support the option to purchase health care insurance across state lines to encourage competition and reduce cost.
We oppose rationing health care based upon the perceived value of the patient.
We support the right of people to supplement any existing insurance plan, government or otherwise, with additional insurance or their own personal assets.
Immigration
We welcome all people from all nations, races and cultures who enter our country legally and support the freedoms and principles of the United States of America.
We applaud those who become naturalized citizens through the legal process and do not condone those who have entered or will enter this country illegally.
We oppose amnesty, government benefits or other special treatment for aliens who have entered or will enter the United States illegally.
We support effective enforcement of visa timelines for those who are visiting, studying or working in the United States.
We strongly support securing our borders for purposes of protecting national health, welfare and security and the prevention of illegal immigration and criminal activity.
Federal, state and local agencies should be empowered and required to enforce immigration laws.
We do not support automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to foreign visitors or to those who are here illegally. We do not believe the original intent of the Fourteenth Amendment (adopted in 1868) was to confer citizenship on children born to illegal aliens.
Military and Veteran Issues
The primary role of our military is to protect and defend the Constitution and the citizens of the United States of America. To achieve that purpose, the United States should have and maintain the most capable and technologically advanced military in the world.
We urge our government to fully fund and support our military as necessary to meet the demands of modern warfare.
We reiterate our strong support for military personnel.
We strongly support improved care and continued fiscal support for our military families and veterans.
We support the policy of “Don’t ask – Don’t tell” in its current form.
National Security
We support the efforts to eliminate anti-U.S. terrorism at home and abroad. We support taking the fight to those who seek to harm the United States by aggressively targeting terrorists as well as those who support them.
Intelligence is truly America’s first line of defense and an essential tool in defending our nation. We should incorporate new technologies and strategies that will increase the effectiveness of the military, intelligence agencies and the Office of Homeland Security.
We believe that foreign terrorists apprehended either in the U.S. or abroad should be brought to justice before military tribunals and not given Miranda rights or civil trials.
Protection of Marriage
We support Nevada’s Protection of Marriage Amendment that defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman. We support the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). We also support the maintenance of the social and economic privileges of traditional marriage.
Recognition of Israel
We support Israel as a sovereign State and a valuable democratic ally, and recognize her right to exist and defend herself off setting spending decreases.
Sanctity of Life
We affirm the sanctity of life and the inherent dignity of each human being from conception to death.
The unborn child has a fundamental right to life and should be welcomed in life and protected under law.
We believe every woman considering abortion deserves informed consent to include ultrasound and the disclosure of all physical and emotional risks.
We support parental notification for minors considering abortion and enforcement of statutory rape reporting laws.
We support the ban on partial-birth abortion.
We support legislation that recognizes as a legal victim any “child in utero” who is injured or killed as the result of a crime.
We oppose taxpayer funding for abortion and for organizations that advocate or provide abortions. Medical professionals, health care facilities and insurers should not be forced to participate, provide or pay for abortions or conscience-violating and life-ending procedures.
We oppose assisted suicide, euthanasia and the non-consensual withholding of medical treatment.
We oppose cloning of complete human beings.
We support scientific research that utilizes adult stem cells and/or stem cells recovered from the byproducts of live births for treatment and cure of disease and oppose embryonic stem cell research.
We support the revision of current adoption legislation to facilitate the adoption of children by loving parents as an alternative to abortion.
Sovereignty
We believe protecting the sovereignty of the United States is one of the highest duties of our government. Any organization, country, treaty or effort that would seek to compromise or weaken our sovereignty is contrary to our national interest.
No other entity should have authority to supercede our laws or impose any taxes on our citizens.
Term Limits
We support term limits for federal offices just as we support term limits for local and state officials in Nevada. Government should be of, by and for the people, not by career politicians.
Unfunded Mandates
All government mandates should be fully funded by the mandating authority. The mandating authority should not raise taxes to fund those mandates, rather there should be Washoe County Republican Party
Yucca Mountain
We support the continued development of Yucca Mountain as a viable repository for spent nuclear fuel and for the reprocessing of this material for future applications, predicated upon sound and proven scientific principles.
Yucca Mountain is positioned to become a world-class nuclear research and science facility contributing to the energy security of our state and nation. Discoveries in energy, medicine and other future applications can and should be the domain of the State of Nevada.
We recognize that billions of dollars already have been invested in developing the infrastructure at the site, which will have been wasted if the site is abandoned.
The development of Yucca Mountain has created high paying construction jobs and in the future will provide many more quality jobs ranging from administrative to scientific research and nuclear applications for Nevada workers.
Accepted March 13, 2010
