Whatcom County Republican Party Platform
Respectfully submitted by the Platform Committee to the Whatcom County Republican Party and Passed by the Convention Delegates, March 15, 2008
Committee members:
Kerry Chappell, Don Hansey, Larry Helm, Gerrit Kuiken,
Hugh Pottle, Aaron Rupp, and Chair- Eileen Sobjack.
PREAMBLE
The Ten "Cannots" - Authored by William J. H. Boetcker - (1873-1962) Noted American Conservative and influential Public Speaker
- You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
- You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
- You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.
- You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
- You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
- You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
- You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
- You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
- You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence.
- And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.
Quoted by Ronald Reagan - 1992 Republican Convention Speech
INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
1) WE SUPPORT the United States Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, Washington State Constitution, and Whatcom County Home Rule Charter as originally intended as protecting Individual Rights, not creating collective rights.
2) WE BELIEVE government closest to the individual is best.
3) WE BELIEVE that all political power is inherent and rests in the people. All governments at every level derive their just power from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights.
4) WE BELIEVE all humans are created equally and should be treated equally and equal justice is not well served by granting special protections based on personal choices or behavior.
5) WE BELIEVE with our founding fathers, that an individual's rights and freedoms are limited at the point where they infringe upon the rights and freedoms of other individuals. Each individual must be held responsible for the consequences of his actions.
6) WE SUPPORT the U.S. Bill of Rights' Second amendment as the foundation that protects all other individual rights. No State should be able to set standards separate from the Bill of Rights which infringes on this basic human right to carry arms for self defense.
7) WE BELIEVE that private property ownership forms the bedrock of the free enterprise economic system.
GOVERNMENT
8) WE BELIEVE that the word "God" should stay in American Culture including the Pledge of Allegiance, "In God we trust" on our coinage and that religious crèches/Ten Commandments displays should be allowed on government property.
9) WE SUPPORT state legislation to require documentary proof of citizenship and residency at the time of applying for Driver's licenses and/or voter registration and call for a one-time re-registration of all Washington State voters.
10) WE BELIEVE that one language unifies the peoples of our country and we support actions to make English the official language of the United States. Ballots should be printed in English only and all naturalized citizens must demonstrate a proficiency in English.
11) WE SUPPORT State political Parties right to determine their Primary Election procedures on the basis of commonly held values & principles, select and designate their representative candidates and provide for designation of a party preference at voter registration as a prerequisite to vote in a primary.
12) WE STRONGLY OPPOSE any efforts to change the present state's initiative process or new signature gatherer's requirements.
13) WE SUPPORT state legislation to include robust ballot count auditing procedures that randomly hand count a minimum of 5% of all votes cast, comparing these hand counted voter verified ballot voting totals to final machine counted voting totals thereby assuring vote count accuracy & process integrity.
14) WE OPPOSE all increases in taxation for any reason but at the very least we support the reinstatement and a return to the citizen's approved I-601 Initiative Spending Limits which limited state budget year to year increases to the total percentage of population growth plus inflation.
15) WE BELIEVE that all levels of government should turn over to the private sector those activities that could be done more effectively and efficiently by private industry, and that selection of such private industry be conducted in a way that promotes fair competition.
16) WE OPPOSE special tax measures (usually school) elections held apart from General Elections under the guise of "emergency" provisions, unless a real emergency exists, in which case such instances should be rare exceptions, rather than the rule.
17) WE SUPPORT relief from government regulations, which limit market driven expansion of refineries in Washington State, where fuels are produced safely and in compliance with Environmental Regulations.
NATIONAL DEFENSE AND FOREIGN POLICY
18) WE WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE AND COMMEND President Bush for his continued pro-active resolve in conducting the world wide war on Islama-facist terrorists which results are evident in there being no 9-11 attacks on American soil since Sept. 11, 2001.
19) WE UNDERSTAND while it is not possible to guarantee perfect safety for all Americans, we commend all our fine professionals in the military, Homeland Security, law enforcement/emergency response agencies, and intelligence agencies that are working tirelessly to keep us secure and are grateful to them all.
20) WE RECONGNIZE the supreme sacrifice paid by those nearly 4000 military members in the War-on- Terror, and urge full care & Veteran's Administration support of any of those military disabled and wounded as long as it is needed, as well as all their dependent families of the fallen and wounded.
21) WE ALSO HONOR the sacrifice of those from other allied nation's military and the Iraqi/Afghanistan security forces, which have restored democracy to their nations and must complete this great task we have begun.
22) WE CONDEMN politically expedient "cut & run" pronouncements by politicians which undermine both our own and allies military's morale while encouraging our enemies.
23) WE COMMEND Gen. Patraeus and his Iraq Surge strategy success & urge it's employ in Afghanistan hot-spots. Much progress has been made and complete victory is very possible with continued resolve.
24) WE URGE re-deploy of Iraq surge troops within Iraq as areas are pacified to those areas not yet pacified. As Iraq is pacified, we recommend troops be re-deployed to Afghanistan and border areas which are not yet pacified. Afghani borders would be secured and a foothold denied the Taliban terrorists.
25) WE BELIEVE all strategic/tactical troop movements world wide should be held secret and date certain time tables not be revealed to our al Qaeda enemies who then would simply await their implementation to redouble their efforts destabilizing evacuated areas.
26) WE SUPPORT punishing nations who assist terrorists.
27) WE CONTINUE TO SUPPORT AND URGE renewal of the Patriot Act which has resulted in information that have destroyed terrorist leadership networks world-wide, disrupted their planning/financing and weapons movement and kept them on the run.
28) WE SUPPORT continued and reinvigorated UN/NATO ally diplomatic efforts and employing the International Atomic Energy Agency to deny Iran developing/possessing Nuclear Weapons. There is no greater danger.
29) WE URGE continued 6 nation (United States, Russia, China, Japan and Republic of Korea) efforts to remove N. Korea's Nuclear Weapons as soon as possible.
30) WE COMMEND President Bush's renewed efforts to rekindle the log-jammed Israel/Palestine peace efforts thought the Annapolis Conference and urging affected Middle-East nation's involvement which are key to resolving these seemingly intractable differences. This effort is vital to long term Middle-East peace.
31) WE URGE re-doubling development efforts and expedited deployment of anti-missile systems wherever needed to protect both our nation and our allies from future nuclear-tipped/WMD missile attacks by rogue nations.
32) WE WELCOME extension of the world's most successful alliance in expanding NATO to protect those nations receiving threats from an increasingly hostile Russia.
33) WE COMMEND Homeland Secretary Chertoff's support of the REAL ID Act, which requires all states to issue driver's licenses/ID card requiring original citizenship documents.
34) WE URGE implementation of REAL ID Act that will provide both border agents and employers to be able to quickly determine both travelers and potential employee's citizenship status.
35) WE SUPPORT securing our nation's borders as a first priority - building/completing the American/Mexico border fence with the highest possible urgency and hiring 20,000 more border patrol.
36) WE OPPOSE illegal alien amnesty in any form and would require all those present in our country must return to their native country and abide by the immigration process as any others.
37) WE SUPPORT preserving our military's discipline, morale, harmony, and effectiveness as a fighting force, (not as a social experiment), which precludes allowing overt homosexuals to serve in the military.
38) WE OPPOSE women serving in any combat or combat related ship, vessel, craft and or unit or serving in situations where enemy capture is likely to prevent female military member's capture scenario atrocities.
39) WE SUPPORT permitting military recruitment on any public funded educational campuses.
ECONOMY, TAXES, BUSINESS AND JOBS
40) WE BELIEVE that tax simplification, at all levels should be a top priority.
41) WE URGE relief from huge unfair periodic Property Tax Assessments - based upon current resale value resulting in as much as 80% property tax increases. These large tax increases drive out long time homeowners, (mostly older retirees and fixed income families) from living out their lives in their own homes.
42) WE BELIEVE businesses should lead the way making Washington State business friendly both in taxation and regulation. We should encourage and protect heavy industry zoning. We should be building for our own infrastructure before other nations' infrastructure.
43) WE SUPPORT decreasing Worker Compensation Insurance rates through state legislative reforms that include simplifying rate calculations and claims verification.
44) WE SUPPORT reforming costly state mandated employer health care plan inclusions and liability insurance requirements that have caused premium rates to skyrocket and have forced employers to either cut jobs or go out of business.
45) WE URGE passage of Line Item Veto and presidential authority to control federal (deficit) spending, showing restraint and responsibility by temporarily freezing discretionary spending unrelated to the War on Terrorism, defense, and homeland security.
46) WE SUPPORT, President Bush's call to Congress to make the 2001-2003 federal tax cuts permanent and repeal of all estate "death" taxes.
47) WE SUPPORT the elimination of all federal, state and local non-funded mandates.
48) WE REQUEST legislation requiring all WACs to be reviewed by the appropriate legislative committee to determine if proposed WACs meet the intent of the written law.
49) WE SUPPORT legislation that would support limiting state agencies ability to write WACs (Washington Administrative Code) on new law to only three years.
50) WE BELIEVE in passing binding limits on controlling runaway jury awards and personal injury liability claims in order to foster a favorable business and employment environment.
51) WE SUPPORT federal tax credits for small businesses to help purchase health insurance coverage for their employees and their families.
52) WE SUPPORT encouraging small business growth and more jobs in our state through increasing the Small Business and Occupation Tax Credit.
53) WE BELIEVE that the state and county government should not force an employee to join a union to have a job.
54) WE BELIEVE unions should be required to obtain specific individual member's permission to spend any portion of either member's union dues or nonmember's involuntarily solicited bargaining fees for political advocacy, and properly report such donations/expenditures.
TRANSPORTATION
56) WE SUPPORT Initiative 984 "Reduce Traffic Congestion" which provides for three top priorities: opening up car pool lanes to all drivers during off-peak travel times, synchronizing traffic lights on heavily traveled arterials and boosting roadside assistance crews. It is funded by establishing traffic congestion account under the state auditor, earmarking 15% of vehicle sales taxes, single drivers fees paid for off- hours car pool lane use, construction tolls that don't disappear after the project's bills are paid, the percentage of public works project spending currently earmarked for art purchases & local government's fees collected from red-light violation cameras. Excess funds would be used for additional programs aimed at easing traffic jams.
57) WE SUPPORT transportation budget equity between individual counties - fairly apportioning state gas tax moneys collections per county vs. that county's expenditures in that county to insure no one county or area such as Seattle/King County receives a disproportional share to build floating bridges or Alaska Viaduct rebuilds, and the like at the expense of (more rural) counties. Nor should any state wide collected transportation revenue be unfairly apportioned or diverted to urban area mass transportation projects not directly benefiting rural areas.
58) WE SUPPORT legislation providing for voter stakeholder formation of area specific transportation taxing districts, to solve local highway & transportation problems and deficiencies, allowing for special projects such as; the I-520 Floating Bridge expansion, rebuilding the Alaska Viaduct, building more Spokane I-90 lanes, rapid speed transit and the like.
59) WE OPPOSE the D.O.T. reallocation of project specific budgeted transportation current-law funds or unilaterally prioritizing transportation fund use/projects, without local affected government(s) prior coordination and approval.
60) WE SUPPORT an energy initiative that uses the Free Market to determine fuels selection. We encourage tax rebates for research and development to develop efficient fuel sources to include petroleum, tar sands, nuclear, solar, wind, hydrogen and bio fuels, as determined by market forces.
61) WE SUPPORT immediately opening North Alaskan ANWAR oil fields and any other fields to reduce ever-increasing gas pump prices.
LOCAL ISSUES
62) WE REQUEST that the Whatcom County Council develop an enforcement policy for land-use violations that is based on a priority of identified science based environmental damage, instead of a policy of responding only to citizen complaints.
63) WE EXPECT the Whatcom County Council to treat the present land zoning as a covenant with property owners and only change the current zoning after early, informative and continuous, direct regular or registered mail notice is sent to each individual impacted landowner.
64) WE SUPPORT the private citizens, known as the "minutemen", who are donating their time and equipment to help with border enforcement.
65) WE SUPPORT "Property Fairness" which provides for compensation for all eminent domain private property takings by the government that are not used or no longer needed for it's original condemnation use and must first be offered to the original owner at the original takings price.
66) WE BELIEVE industrial redevelopment of the GP waterfront properties to be vital for the restoration of Bellingham industrial middle class, its general economic health and reasonable taxation of its private properties.
67) WE COMMEND the recent availability of the one-day-a-week Veterans Administration (VA) van-provided clinic and URGE continued efforts to build a full-time all inclusive locally-sited permanent Clinic to serve our veterans and retired/disabled military personnel's health needs.
68) WE SUPPORT limiting the annual growth of local tax revenues to no more than the sum of the rate of annual population growth plus the annual rate of the cost of living index.
69) WE SUPPORT minimizing urban sprawl into Whatcom County agricultural lands by increasing housing density within all city limits.
70) WE OPPOSE all Federal government and State Legislature/Agency unfunded mandates on local governments such as arresting, prosecuting, jailing illegal aliens and assigning bureaucratic administrative tasks that only benefit state govt. needs and the like.
71) WE OPPOSE funding the proposed Bellingham City Library using a disproportionate share of joint Whatcom County Library System funds and at the expense of County libraries.
72) WE REQUEST that the Whatcom County Building Code be updated and put into a format that is easy to read in layman's language.
73) WE OPPOSE arbitrary and/or regularly mandated septic systems inspections, as we trust individual homeowners to manage and maintain their own homes. We do not object to targeted septic inspections, which directly stem from real and present problems, such as high fecal counts downstream of drain fields.
CRIME
74) WE ENCOURAGE the rapid completion of a new expanded main jail to eliminate the increasing maintenance expense of the existing jail and to eliminate the expense of renting jail space from nearby counties. The new jail in Irongate is minimum security only and will not solve the jail population problem.
75) WE SUPPORT an increase in patrol sheriff deputy personnel to insure a reasonable response time to emergencies in the unincorporated areas of the county.
76) WE SUPPORT the Citizen's Initiative measure titled, 936 Jessica's Law Plus which will ensure tougher sentences for sex offenders and we reject Governor Gregoire's signing of weaker legislation .
77) WE CONTINUE to oppose the legalization of controlled substances.
78) WE DEMAND that the government impose mandatory sentences for drug offenders.
79) WE OPPOSE restoring felon's voting rights unless they have met all the previous requirements including, successfully serving their sentence, paid any fines and petitioned the court for restoration, providing proof thereof to re-register.
FAMILY
80) WE BELIEVE that traditional marriage, as defined as the union between one man and one woman and the family unit are essential elements in the foundation of a healthy society, and the government has a duty to protect that foundation.
81) WE SUPPORT a United States Constitution amendment that defines as marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
82) WE AFFIRM the rights of parents and support parental rights of authority over their minor children. We affirm that parents have the primary rights, responsibility and authority over their minor children in all medical procedures, social and legal matters.
83) WE AFFIRM the principles of the Declaration of Independence that all humans from conception to natural death - born and unborn - are created equal and are "…endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…among [which]…are LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
84) WE BELIEVE in adoption as the "life affirming" alternative to abortion, and oppose all human cloning and the unethical Embryonic Stem Cell Research; but affirm and encourage all umbilical cord blood and placentas and adult stem cells for Research.
EDUCATION
85) WE BELIEVE parents, not the state have the primary authority and responsibility for educating their children, therefore we support educational policies that promote input and involvement by parents and the local school community.
86) WE SUPPORT educational choices, such as, school tax credits, voucher systems, charter schools, home schooling, and private schools, in addition to public school.
87) WE BELIEVE that the Whatcom County Treasurer shall refund to citizen property tax payers, a sum equal to 10% of his or her primary residence property tax, for each qualifying child completing one year in a qualifying alternative school. This occurs upon application for the refund. A maximum of two children or 20% for household would be allowed.
88) WE SUPPORT curriculum, which focuses on basic academics of reading, writing, mathematics; includes teaching of the Constitution, civics, US history; capital based economics and provides opportunities for vocational training and daily physical exercise programs.
89) WE SUPPORT the student's right of prayer in school.
90) WE OPPOSE the promotion and teaching of alternate lifestyles in the classroom.
91) WE SUPPORT sex education programs that promote abstinence before marriage.
92) WE SUPPORT the role of Local School Boards to end strikes through legal means using the court system because illegal teacher strikes disrupt children's education.
93) WE SUPPORT teaching English as our official and primary language.
94) WE BELIEVE that children with developmental disabilities that prevent them from passing the WASL, should be exempt from the Washington State WASL graduation requirements.
HEALTHCARE AND RETIREMENT
95) WE BELIEVE that the private sector of our economy offers the greatest potential for creativity and efficiently addressing the health care needs of our citizenry.
96) WE SUPPORT efforts to improve and optimize the benefits of market-oriented solutions to health care delivery, such as Medical Savings Accounts, and the competitive aspects of the new Medicare Part D prescription drug program.
97) WE SUPPORT efforts to implement Federal and State tort reform into our legal system, and in particular to apply such reforms in the area of medical liability as a way of addressing rising health care costs.
98) WE SUPPORT legislation to provide Americans with the option to invest a portion of their Social Security Taxes into Private Personal Retirement Accounts.
99) WE OPPOSE federal socialized mandatory healthcare.