Reform Party of Nebraska Platform
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Adopted at the Reform Party of Nebraska State Convention held on June 2,
2001 in Lexington, Nebraska.
IMMIGRATION
We recognize the continuing contributions to our
Nation of the legal immigrants who have come to the United States (US) with
the desire to become Americans. However, serious flaws in the current
immigration policy of the US have led to huge increases in population and
placed severe strains on the environment, economy, infrastructure of this
Nation and its Citizens, and threatens unity of our society.
We support the strengthening of the Immigration
and Naturalization Service for the proper screening of immigrants, the
apprehending and immediate deportation of illegal aliens, and the protection
of our borders. The Reform Party calls for an immediate moratorium on
immigration until immigration policies are changed to permit a reasonable
level of immigrants that are physically and mentally healthy, possess good
moral character and job skills that are needed by and will benefit this
Nation, as well as give the immigrant continuing financial stability so as to
not burden this Nation. Immigrants also shall not have committed a criminal
act that would be punishable in these United States as a felony. Foreign
worker programs to supply US labor shortfalls shall be specifically defined,
very temporary in nature and have a termination date. Additionally,
dual Citizenship between this Nation and any foreign Nation shall not be
allowed.
Illegal aliens by definition are not Citizens,
have broken the law by entering our Nation fraudulently, and should not be
afforded the same Constitutional protections as Citizens or legal immigrants.
We oppose the provision of government assistance to illegal aliens and believe
that children born to illegal alien parents while in this country should not
automatically be granted Citizenship. The Reform Party believes granting
amnesty to illegal aliens living and working in the US is an affront to US
Citizens and those entering our Nation legally; we therefore strongly oppose
amnesty for illegal aliens. We support strict penalties for those companies
who knowingly employ illegal aliens.
We support mandating English as the official
language of the State of Nebraska and of these United States, meaning that all
State and National business shall be conducted in English. No immigrant should
obtain permanent Citizenship until satisfactorily passing an English language
proficiency examination, and may provide their own interpreter to conduct
their government business until they are proficient in English. Language
barriers divide a society; we need to be united.
GUN CONTROL REFORM
The Right of Man to defend his Life, Liberty, and
Property is an unalienable Right granted by the Creator to Man. The Right “to
keep and bear arms” is acknowledged in the Bill of Rights as “being necessary
to the security of a free State” and in the Nebraska Constitution as existing
“for security or defense of self, family, home, and others.”
The Reform Party opposes any attempt to prohibit
the ownership of arms by Citizens, stands in defense of the US Constitution’s
Second Amendment, and resists any requirement to register arms or ammunition,
or any restriction on the availability or free use thereof. All present gun
laws that are contrary to these Constitutional Rights should be declared null
and void. Furthermore, the Right to bear concealed firearms shall not be
infringed. We support the establishment, by the States, of a national database
of convicted violent felons only that would enable a system of “instant
checks” to be implemented as a prerequisite to a gun purchase. However, it
should be illegal to keep a record of purchasers who did not appear in the
check.
AMERICA
FIRST TRADE POLICY
Free-trade policies of the United States have
caused this Nation to become the largest foreign debtor, are leading to the
destruction of the American middle-class by causing stagnated or reduced
income levels, are eroding national sovereignty by giving trade authority to
foreign bodies, and creating ever increasing trade deficits. Our Republic and
People are being threatened by a new global economy that imperils our
financial stability and economic independence. The Reform Party supports trade
with all Nations and believes America should extend trade relations to all
Nations on the same basis as they extend trade relations to us; trade must be
reciprocal and fair.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) have resulted in huge
numbers of American job losses, increased trade deficits, and other
detrimental effects to these United States. Therefore, the Reform Party
supports the immediate repeal of both NAFTA and GATT, and opposes any trade
agreements that are not clearly beneficial to the American Citizen.
Congress is not empowered by the States or the
People through the Constitution to abdicate or transfer its Constitutional
functions “to regulate commerce with foreign nations” to any other branch of
the government and most certainly cannot transfer its delegated responsibility
to a foreign entity. We support an end of American participation in all
international trade bodies and associations, including the WTO (World Trade
Organization), that seek to coerce changes in sovereign American laws with
international trade sanctions, panels, rulings, or treaties.
The US Constitution gives the President power “by
and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two
thirds of the Senators present concur.” Fast track authority only requires a
simple majority of the Senate - without their advice - to approve a trade
agreement negotiated by the President that, in fact and practice, will carry
the implications of a treaty. This is unconstitutional, and we therefore are
opposed to fast track authority.
The Reform Party believes that all trade
agreements and policies must be reexamined for equality and reciprocity.
Duties, Tariffs, and Excises are legitimate revenue raising measures upon
which our federal government may properly rely. These measures should be used
as a means to balance the fairness and equity concept and should be placed
upon foreign imports at the same level as American goods are taxed in other
Nations. Furthermore, imported foreign products should be labeled with a
country of origin label.
We oppose trading with any Nation that produces
goods with slave labor, or with any business that sells those goods. The
United States government should link trade and foreign policies to support
American jobs and standards of living, and to promote reciprocity in trade.
FOREIGN
AID and PUBLIC DEBT
The Citizens of this great Nation have exhibited
more generosity and compassion than all other governments combined in the
course of human history. The Citizens, Congress, and President have a duty to
provide for the defense of this Nation, but have no similar duty to provide
tax dollars for any foreign Nation (many of which do not in return support
us), and instead should focus on forgotten Americans here at home. Our Nation
has a debt of over $5,700,000,000,000 (5.7 trillion). American Citizens are
paying nearly $200,000,000,000 (200 billion) a year in taxes just to pay the
interest on this massive debt.
Because of this oppressive debt, America can no
longer afford to provide foreign aid without first borrowing the money from
future generations. It is now time for our Nation to put the interest of our
Posterity — our children and their children — above the interest of other
Nations. The Reform Party supports a moratorium on any new foreign aid and a
phase-out of current aid until the national debt is paid in full.
DEFENSE, FOREIGN POLICY,
and SOVEREIGNTY
To ensure security of this Nation, America must
rebuild its military might and reclaim American invincibility on land, sea,
air, and space. We support the maintenance of a strong, ready, and
well-equipped military. To guarantee availability of our arsenal, all
components, weapons, weapon systems and any other goods required by our
military should be manufactured and assembled domestically.
The Reform Party believes that any Citizen
“putting their life on the line” in defense of America should be able to count
on the government’s commitment to them. To that end, the Reform Party believes
that all the power and resources of these United States should be fully
exercised to return to American soil each and every American, whether dead or
alive, that was involved in any conflict or war, declared or otherwise,
anywhere in the world.
The Reform Party encourages a repeal of laws or
policies that call for the disarming of America and the placement of our
security in the hands of any foreign entity, such as the United Nations (UN).
Under no circumstance should this Nation commit American forces to serve, or
take an oath under, under any foreign entity, command, or flag, including the
UN and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). America should only commit
troops for clear and present national interests, and military troops currently
stationed in foreign Nations that don’t meet these criteria should be brought
home.
We believe that no international treaty, law, or
agreement may supersede the sovereignty of the US Constitution and this
Nation’s laws. In this spirit, we urge American withdrawal from any
organization that advocates a global government or would coerce changes in
American law, such as the UN, International Criminal Court (ICC),
International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and other usurpers of American
law. Withdrawal from many of these global organizations would do much to end
American meddling in the internal affairs of other Nations, and thereby
establish a proper non-interventionist policy.
JUDICIAL REFORM
Thomas Jefferson warned that the judiciary branch
of the federal government may have been given too much power and may ruin the
Republic and destroy Citizens’ Rights, and it now routinely creates
legislation from the bench. The Reform Party does not believe a judge can
exhibit “good behavior” by legislating law instead of ruling in accordance
with existing law consistent with the US and Nebraska Constitutions. Judges
should only interpret existing laws, not make new laws.
The Reform Party calls for reforming the judicial
branch and minimizing its political influence by believing that elections for
judges should not be based on political party affiliation, and by believing
that judges should be subject to a vote of retention or recall by the People
in their jurisdiction. We support requiring judges to inform juries of their
Rights, including the Right of Jury Nullification, as it is the final link in
the chain of checks and balances of our justice system. These Citizen juries
should label unjust, unconstitutional or obsolete laws as such. Additionally,
we support legislation ensuring that every court decision and opinion at every
jurisdictional level be publicly available.
EDUCATION
Education should be accountable to parents and
taxpayers, and the Reform Party believes in local control of public education
by parents and Citizens. Education should be free from any federal government
subsidy or interference, and the US Department of Education should be
abolished and its functions and funding returned to State and local control.
We believe that the function of the State government should be to collect
school taxes and dispense these funds on a proportionally equal per student
basis.
RIGHT TO LIFE
We support a US Constitutional Amendment to
overturn Roe vs. Wade and return the abortion issues back to the individual
States and legislatures to decide, rather than the US Supreme Court, which too
often acts as a non-elected legislature. There should be no taxpayer funds
provided for abortions.
ELECTION and CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
The Reform Party seeks the restoration of an
electoral process that is controlled by the People at the State and local
levels, and not by special interests. We seek to ensure that government
officials and candidates remain accountable to the People whom they are
elected to serve rather than other influence-seeking organizations.
To ensure that the voting process is
accountable to Citizens and free of manipulation, the Reform Party calls for
all ballots to be made of paper and to be marked with indelible ink by the
voter. Ballots should be kept in a clear plastic, locked box all day in full
view of the public. Counting of ballots should be done by hand where
practical. However, if electronic machines are used to count paper ballots,
they should not contain two-way modems or other communications devices in
order to eliminate any risk of remote manipulation, and the software code and
mechanisms of these machines must be open to public inspection. Comparison of
machine counts to hand counts should be conducted at random intervals to check
the machine’s accuracy. All counting should be done in public view, and the
results must be periodically posted in public view at the local precinct
level.
To increase participation in what is one of the
most important American duties, we call to prohibit the release of election
information until all polls across the Nation are closed, and support making
voting day a national holiday. We support the principles of “None of the
Above-New Election” and “Run-off” methods of electing public officials. We
believe that to ensure fairness on ballots, ballot positions for all
candidates and ballot questions should be determined by drawing, and that
proof of identity should be required prior to receiving a ballot.
The Presidential Electoral College ensures that
the interests of rural States and regions such as Nebraska are respected, and
that election of the highest office in the land is not conducted by mob rule.
Therefore, the Reform Party strongly opposes any attempts to abolish the
Electoral College. In accordance with the letter and spirit of the US
Constitution, the individual States may complete reforms of the current system
without federal intervention. Use by States of the “winner-take-all” system
minimizes the influence of rural and lowly populated regions. Therefore, we
support congressional district Presidential Electors casting their votes for
the candidate who received the highest number of votes in their congressional
districts, and are proud that Nebraska utilizes this more representative
system.
We support requiring those running for office to
receive at least 85% of total of all campaign contributions from within the
jurisdiction of the political office sought, and require all contributions to
be publicly reported within 48 hours of receipt. Furthermore, Political Action
Committees (PACs) and corporate contributions to candidates or political
parties should be limited to the level of individual contributors, and current
provisions prohibiting foreign entity donations to candidates and parties
should be enforced.
A fundamental Right of American Citizenship is a
free flow of speech and ideas. It is a farce to prohibit certain candidates
and ideas from being heard on the basis of polling results or other arbitrary
standards. We believe that every candidate appearing on a federal, State or
local ballot should be guaranteed full inclusion in public debates. For
Presidential elections, every candidate on enough State ballots to have a
chance of winning a majority of Electoral College votes shall be given full
inclusion in public debates. American Citizens should ask themselves and their
elected leaders why their elected plutocratic leadership might believe the
principles of Freedom of Speech do not apply to election of public officials,
debates, or fair ballot access laws.
The Reform Party believes that all power is
inherent in the People. To ensure the accountability of elected or appointed
government servants to the People, we support full Initiative, Referendum and
Recall Petition Rights for the People. However, full disclosure of financial
supporters of petition efforts should be required. We firmly believe that the
People are the Second House of Nebraska’s legislature.
FEDERAL TAXATION and FISCAL POLICY
Our Founding Fathers stated in the Declaration of
Independence that the very reason governments are instituted among men is to
preserve the Rights of Man, such as Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of
Happiness. The current federal government with its excessive taxation was
never the intent of our Founding Fathers and it certainly was never provided
for in the US Constitution. It has turned into a tax and spend creature that
is devouring the very People it is supposed to be serving, to the point where
many Citizens are beginning to resent and fear their own government.
The Reform Party agrees with our Founding Fathers
when they wisely omitted in the original US Constitution the Right of the
federal government to directly tax the Citizens of the United States. Since
1913, the People’s unalienable Rights have been seriously abridged, violated,
and diminished by the creation of the direct taxing authority of the federal
government upon its People. Therefore, the Reform Party supports a phase-out
and eventual repeal of Article XVI of the US Constitution and the abolishment
of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This would do much to remove the
federal government from the daily lives of the People and eliminate the high
costs associated with the preparation, collection and payment of income taxes.
Complete income tax relief would be offset by
using increased revenue from Tariffs and by greatly decreasing funding of
federal government programs. Congress should obtain budgetary funds by
applying and adjusting the Duties, Tariffs, and Excises, with additional
required funds obtained by apportionment to the several States according to
representation. Furthermore, the apportionment should be sent to the States
approximately 30 days prior to the congressional elections.
We must honestly balance our Nation’s budget, to
do otherwise will mean the financial enslavement of our Posterity through
exorbitant taxation and the eventual destruction of our Republic. In addition
to slashing spending, the Reform Party encourages Congress to function with
fiscal responsibility to ensure the continuation of this Republic by providing
to the American People an annually balanced budget, except in the case of war
or other national emergency, and then only with the approval of the president
and a two-thirds vote of the Senate and House. The Reform Party believes that
all expenditures, except for national security, be accounted for and the
practice of keeping off budget expenditures be abolished. American Citizens
are entitled to know how their tax dollars are utilized and the costs involved
in every government program.
We believe that any monetary system must be
constitutionally based and be free of manipulation from any special interest.
We support an examination of our current monetary system, including the
constitutionality of the Federal Reserve, and the effects of abandonment of
the gold and silver standard.
NATIONAL
POLITICAL REFORM
The closer government is to the People, the more
responsible, responsive, and accountable it is likely to be. The Preamble to
the US Constitution, plus the Ninth and Tenth Articles of the Bill of Rights,
makes clear that the US government has only those functions which are
explicitly assigned to it. We pledge to uphold these principles and to restore
to the States and to the People powers that are not specifically delegated to
the United States government by the Constitution, or by the States.
The Reform Party calls for the implementation of
the following agenda:
1) Congress shall make no laws that would impact
in any way whatsoever the Citizens of these United States without citing the
Constitutional authority to do so, and all previous legislation enacted by
Congress must be reexamined to meet this requirement.
2) Bring congressional and presidential pensions
and health care programs in line with that of federal employees as determined
by the General Services schedule.
3) Restrict the congressional mass mail franking
privilege, and prohibit gifts, meals, trips, junkets, or anything of value
paid for by special interests.
4) Prohibit current or former elected or appointed
officials from ever taking money, or anything of value from foreign
governments or foreign or domestic special interests, and prohibit current or
former government servants, elected or appointed, from ever working as a
foreign or domestic lobbyist.
5) Except in time of declared war, Congress should
meet from January 2nd until July 3rd each year. During the balance of the
year, members of Congress should live in their districts and work with
Citizens within their district.
6) To ensure representation in Congress by true
Citizen lawmakers, we support efforts by Congress to recognize the Rights of
States to impose term limits of three terms (6 years) for US Representative
and two terms (12 years) for US Senator.
AGRICULTURE
Family farmers ultimately derive their income from
the agricultural marketplace and have always been in a position of weakness in
selling their product to large processors and in buying their inputs from
large suppliers. Today, the position of the family farmer has become far
weaker as consolidation in agribusiness has reached all time highs. Farmers
have fewer buyers and suppliers than ever before. The result is an increasing
loss of family farms, the smallest farm share of the consumer dollar in
history, and a significant degradation of the domestic agricultural market
infrastructure. The current situation reflects a tremendous misallocation of
resources across the food chain. Lawmakers must strengthen competition policy
within the agribusiness sector to reclaim a properly operating marketplace.
The Reform Party urges lawmakers to strengthen
competition policy by:
1) Increasing enforcement of existing antitrust
laws, including the Packers and Stockyards Act.
2) Enacting a temporary suspension on mergers and
acquisitions between firms in the red meat and poultry processing sectors.
3) Prohibiting red meat processors from owning
livestock or livestock production operations.
4) Requiring all contracts between processors of
red meat and poultry to include a fixed base price negotiated at the time of
the agreement and the bidding and/or offering of such contracts are conducted
in an open, public manner.
5) Improving price reporting by processors as to
live animals and the meat trade.
6) Requiring contracts to be in plain language and
to disclose material risks, providing contract producers with a three-day
right to review contracts, prohibiting confidentiality clauses in contracts,
and by prohibiting processors from retaliating or discriminating against
producers who exercise rights including the right to join producer
organizations.
7) Requiring all food and agriculture related
grant and loan programs to target small to mid-sized farms and farmer-owned
businesses. This should not be limited to entities structured as cooperatives.
8) Requiring the Chicago Board of Trade to trade
only commodities that are actually in existence.
The Reform Party supports rigorous enforcement of
US food safety laws and advocates their application to all foreign
agricultural products at their point of entry into the United States.
Furthermore, to provide American consumers with the safest and best choices,
we support country of origin labeling for all imported agricultural products.
US producers' farm income is declining even when
exports have grown. Nor has an increase in volume provided a solution to this
problem. The reason is that a flood of agricultural imports (from beef to
citrus fruits under NAFTA over the last decade) has brought down commodity
prices and eliminated farmers' profit margins. Therefore, the Reform Party
supports suspending NAFTA, GATT, and opposes the planned Free Trade Area of
the Americas (FTAA).
