Brown County, TX
Republican Party

2006 STATE REPUBLICAN PARTY PLATFORM

• Fiscal Responsibility – The State Legislature has consistently spent surplus revenues on new programs and services rather than returning excess tax revenues back to the taxpayers. The Party urges our state and federal legislators to exercise fiscal responsibility by reducing spending. We endorse the appointment of a commission comprised of Texas citizens and business owners to identify cost savings and reductions in state government. The Party also supports a “cap” on government spending at all levels (local, state, and federal), adjustable based only on average family income and population growth or decreases.
• Unfunded Mandates – We oppose all unfunded mandates by the federal and state governments. The effect of mandating services without funding is a tax increase for local government.
• Downsizing the Federal Government – We support the downsizing of the federal government in order to re-establish states’ rights guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. We further support the abolition of federal agencies involved in activities not delegated to the federal government under the original intent of the Constitution Furthermore, any bill or joint resolution that is passed by Congress that provides for the establishment of a new Federal program should contain a provision that eliminates one or more current Federal programs of equal or greater cost.
• Balanced Budget – We support full disclosure of all “on” and “off” budget spending. We demand that our federal legislators vote only for balanced budgets, and that the Social Security Fund never be used to balance the budget. In case of a budget surplus, it should never be used to increase spending. We also support zero-based budgeting.
• Government Services – We support privatization of most government services. Public funds should not be used to fund or implement any private projects such as high–speed rail, sports stadiums or space exploration. Waste and Fraud in Government Contracts – We are opposed to waste and fraud in government contracts and recommend the Attorney General of the United States investigate fraud and misuse of government funds in government contracts prosecuting those found to be responsible. We also believe that all government contracts should be awarded by competitive bids. We also support the repeal of the Davis Bacon Act. We encourage the government to follow fair business practices.
• Congressional Retirement System – We recommend that the Congressional retirement system be abolished. Congressional Pay Raises – We support the elimination of the independent pay raise committee and recommend that all pay raises must be passed like all other bills. We support the separation of congressional pay raises from the pay raises of all other government officials in order that they be voted on as separate bills with a recorded roll call vote.
• Faith-Based Charities – We oppose any restrictions by the IRS or any other government rules on taxpayer contributions to faith-based charities. We support new incentives to encourage more faith-based charitable contributions from all U.S. taxpayers, corporate and individual.
• Aid to Foreign Nations – We oppose aid to any foreign nation that denies its citizens’ religious freedoms.
• Repeal of Fee Award Act – We support the repeal of the Civil Rights Attorneys’ Fee Awards Act, which pays attorneys fees to sue the government and to suppress freedom of religion. Corporate Welfare/Business Subsidies – We do not support governmental subsidies, tariffs, bailouts, or other forms of corporate welfare that are used to protect and preserve businesses or industries that have failed to remain relevant, competitive, and efficient over time. The cost of such corporate welfare becomes the burden of the tax-paying public. We encourage our government to allow a free market economy to prevail both domestically and internationally.
• Sunset Laws – We support a mandatory sunset law for the State of Texas that would automatically terminate all agencies or programs if they are not re-enacted by the Legislature every ten years. We also support the establishment of a sunset policy for federal agencies patterned after the Texas Sunset Law. Teacher Insurance Funding – We oppose the state’s taking over the responsibility of providing insurance for public school employees. These employees are not employees of the state, but of the local school districts. The benefits and the costs of providing those benefits should be determined and paid for by the employer of those employees, the local school district, which ultimately is responsible to the local community for its actions.
• Government Lobbying – We support legislation that opposes the hiring of lobbyists paid for by any tax dollars.
• Budget And Appropriations Process – We believe that much of the tax and spend problem in our country is the unethical manner in which the budgeting and appropriations processes are mismanaged. We demand that Congress institute reforms that eliminate the unethical politicization of appropriations. We are opposed to the trading of votes based on pork sharing and promises of financial and other help during reelection campaigns. We oppose the awarding of funds by state government departments to programs of their choice without legislative approval and call for the Public Health Committee of the Texas Legislature to reevaluate and closely monitor the state and federal funds awarded by the Texas Department of Health.
• Rural and Volunteer Fire Departments – We call upon the Texas Commission on Fire Protection to recognize the need for, and contributions of, rural fire departments, and to refrain from limiting their effectiveness by imposing unreasonable and unfunded mandates upon them. We also call upon Congress to overturn the rules of the U. S. Department of Labor restricting volunteerism by paid firefighters and emergency medical technician personnel.
  
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