Cowlitz County Republican Central Committee
Platform 2010 – 2012

Preamble

We, the Republicans of Cowlitz County, hold that our representative republic was founded as one nation, under God, on principles that are clearly and simply outlined in the Constitution of the United States. Republicans are dedicated to promoting and preserving these principles. We affirm and defend the words of our founding fathers as stated in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, which among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” These rights may not be taken away by man. We believe that our success as a nation has resulted from our individual freedom and from the free enterprise system that makes individual initiative worthwhile. We feel that the continued success of the United States is tied to following the rule of law.


Taxes and Government Spending

We believe that the tax on an individual's income is excessive and that a reduction in the size of bureaucracy at all levels should be implemented immediately. No new programs, departments, or spending should be added. Spending can be cut because government is not being run efficiently and there is too much waste in government spending. We recommend immediate privatizing of services wherever practical. We seek the repeal of all laws or policies that restrict or hamper such privatization. We believe that any future legislation should include a revenue source and identify the Constitutional authority for such legislation.


Health Care

Republicans believe that the quality of our health care system is inversely proportional to the level of governmental involvement. We support keeping the health care system a private enterprise. We support tort and liability reform to assist in lowering the cost of health care. Individuals should be allowed to buy health insurance policies across state lines to increase competition for the benefit of consumers.


Family

We believe the family unit is the most effective place to raise our young people and implant the important ideas and values of our society and that marriage is between one man and one woman. We also believe that government has the responsibility, through the passage and enforcement of laws, to protect and respect all human life from conception to natural death.


Property Rights

We believe that next to the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the right of property is the most important individual right guaranteed by the Constitution and that it has contributed more to the growth of civilization than any other institution established by the human race. We believe that agencies should not be given unfettered authority to issue new regulations without legislative oversight and that government condemnation of private land for the purpose of generating more tax revenue or for private gain should be prohibited. No laws or regulations meant to protect wildlife may be enacted or enforced that result in taking away private property rights without current market-level compensation. The value of property or property rights taken must result in immediate property tax reduction for as long as the property and/or rights are held.


Individual Rights

Republicans recognize that the first ten amendments to the Constitution are there to protect the individual’s rights from intrusive and controlling government. The framers of the Constitution understood that an armed citizenry is basic to a free people. We affirm that all of the amendments under the Bill of Rights have equal merit. Diminishing the importance of any one of the ten devalues the remaining amendments.


Welfare

We believe that public assistance should be temporary and must not be allowed to become a permanent way of life and that those receiving public assistance should give back to society in some way.


Education

Republicans decry the deterioration of academic achievement as demonstrated by the average pupil test scores in the state’s school system. We support the idea of bringing competition into the schooling marketplace. Therefore, we support the right of parents to choose their child’s learning venue, whether that is public, private, parochial, charter, or home schooling. State schooling dollars should go to the education venue providing the service. All pupils must be required to meet State standards of learning. State content-based standards should be raised and accountability for the standards strictly required of all education venues. All venues must teach in English, only, except for foreign language instruction classes. Decisions concerning education in Washington State and Cowlitz County are of local concern and should be made locally.


Crime

To improve the safety of our families and others in our community, we support swift and appropriate sentences for those found guilty of any crime. We hold that individuals must be held responsible for their crime(s), without regard to their previous life experiences. We resist the increasing tendency to federalize certain crimes. We hold that crime is of local concern and is most efficiently dealt with on the local or state level. We believe that local law enforcement should enforce all laws of the land. Judges should administer the law, not make law.


Illegal Immigration

Illegal immigration is a crisis for our country. It opens the door for drugs, criminals, and potential terrorists to enter our country and is straining our economy, adding costs to our judicial, healthcare, and education systems. We believe that securing our borders is the most effective
way to deal with the issue of illegal immigration and that this should be done in conjunction with implementing an ID check program for employees, imposing sanctions against employers who hire illegal immigrants, and instituting a guest worker program for some businesses such as agriculture.  
 
The 10 Cannots:
 
* You cannot bring about prosperity discouraging thrift.
* You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
* You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
* You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
* You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
* You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
* You cannot further brotherhood of men by inciting class hatred.
* You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
* You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative.
* You cannot really help men by having the government tax them to do for them what they can and should do for themselves.