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1996-07-08
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From the Radio Free Michigan archives
ftp://141.209.3.26/pub/patriot
If you have any other files you'd like to contribute, e-mail them to
bj496@Cleveland.Freenet.Edu.
------------------------------------------------
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ GRRR! Newsletter - Volume 94, Edition 1 +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
--November 19, 1994--
Government REFORM REFORM REFORM!
This is the first edition of a new periodic electronic newsletter.
The purpose of this newsletter is to track the progress of the
agenda and actions that are coalescing now to "Take Our Country Back!"
It is my intention that this will result in a monthly Newsletter
tracking the latest revisions to the table of issues below as
well as relevant news items in a "watchdog" role.
Editor: Robert Bryan Reinhardt (Abingdon, Maryland)
Email: breinhar@tomahawk.welch.jhu.edu
Anonymous FTP: tomahawk.welch.jhu.edu:pub/politics/reform
----
I embarked on this project because after the past couple years of
listening to the UWSA, the Libertarian Party, some Republicans,
and now the Constitution Party; all of whom seem to be working for
the common goal--I had to ask the inevitable question...
+++Can't we all work together?+++
Incidentally, I don't mean to exclude Democrats, or anyone else;
in fact I hope that our movement is as inclusive as possible. I
limited this study to organizations that are primarily focused on
reforming our government, i.e. less and better government, vs.
where we've been heading. Beyond that, I'll let the "coalition
agenda" that I've attempted to document below, speak for itself.
This information is derived from the following sources used as
reference: The 1994 Republican "Contract With America," the
1992 book _United_We_Stand_ by Ross Perot, founder of United
We Stand America (UWSA), the 1994 Libertarian Party Platform,
and the 1994 Constitution Party Platform.
This has the potential to play a role in defining the "Reform Coalition"
or "Liberty Coalition" or "Tea Party"--whatever we end up merging to
become by 1996. I figure, either one of two things are going to happen.
One, our reform movement coalesces to take over the core of the
Republican Party, and through their actions we get the job done, or
barring that, a new "coalition" Third Party will come together in
1996 to throw both parties out and "Take Our Country Back" firsthand.
I proceed from that premise, and I offer this tool to help us go down
both of these paths. In the first instance, the Republican Party
has <2 years to show us what they've got. We can use this tool along
with the results of their actions to track their progress along the
way. In the second instance, if we find the Republican's aren't
going to do the whole job, we've undertaken an exercise to get
us ahead of the game in developing the platform issues for the
new Third Party.
I will need help in updating and maintaining this, as well I would
appreciate one-paragraph submissions of "editorials" reporting on
progress or lack of it on these issues within the political spectrum.
So, the call for "Associate Editors" goes out. Send me email if
you're interested in helping with this on an ongoing (probably
monthly) basis.
I have attempted to list a brief one-liner of every agenda item
espoused by each of the references. The entries in the table
uses the following format:
R U L C #
-----------------
O - AnAnAnAnAn # # # # #
Where "O" is one or more "sponsoring" organizations, consisting of:
R "Republican Party"
U "UWSA/Ross Perot"
L "Libertarian Party"
C "Constitution Party"
Where "AnAnAnAnAnAn" is a brief description of the specific issue, and
Where "#" is a numeric value illustrating the value of each organizations
position on the specific issue. In the last column, # is the total of
all the organizations studied to find a value, which I use to sort these
tables by, giving an illustration of those issues which we as a coalition
most agree on, to the least. The # values I used mean the following:
2 "Directly Compatible in Principle" or "Specifically in their agenda"
1 "Compatible with their overall movement"
0 "No clear opinion on the issue" or "No guess was made (by me)"
-1 "Directly Incompatible in Principle"
or "Specifically opposed in their agenda"
Note: The reason I did not make the scale from {2...-2} is because
my goal is to emphasize the "Coalition" of these collective agendas, with
less concern over those items which are in conflict. I believe, with
the -1 scoring for those items, they items will show up clearly enough.
I don't want to focus on what we disagree on, but what we AGREE on.
The only difference from the above key to this table is that in the left
most character of the description column, I indicate by "O" one or more
organizations who directly sponsor the issue in their agenda; for the
"Republican Contract With America" (the only part of the Republican
agenda used in this study so far) these are indicated by a number 0-10,
which corresponds to the points in the "Contract," 0 indicates all the
issues that were specified as occuring on "day one" of the new Congress.
At this time I won't editorialize the findings below, I submit this as
a "FIRST DRAFT" to the Electronic Townhall Community. The editorial
will develop as this study progresses. Please read the "Afterword"
section after the tables, as I will provide some additional editorial
information about this data and identify next steps in this effort.
The important thing to get right in this "first draft" is the information
in the first column, identifying the various "issues" with their
respective organizations. I'm sure some of you will assist me in
correcting my "scoring" of each organizations stand on the issue. This
one final point before getting into this. Obviously, both the
"abbreviation" of the issues and the "scoring" for each organization
relative to each is purely my own opinion based on how I interpreted
the reference documents. Each document has it's varying degrees of
clarity and conciseness, so this is a challenge. "0" scores are
indicated by a blank space " " to hopefully make this a little
easier to read. In some cases U, L, or C, I may have simply chosen
not to render a guess if I could not clearly tell using the
references at hand. In the case of R (the Republicans) I only put
a score on those issues that they specifically define in their
"Contract," of course these are all "2's". This was done for two
reasons. One is that I want this to contrast the Republican
agenda so that we can all see where we stand relative to them, since
they are the ones we need to CLOSELY WATCH during the next two years.
Secondly, after a couple revisions to this I hope this becomes clean
enough a document that I can submit it to representatives of the
Republican Party to give them a chance to "score" themselves,
in public if you will. Inquiring minds want to know. (If they don't,
then eventually we will do it for them).
I hope this isn't too complicated. After discussion, and several
working "revisions" it should get easier to manage and we can
use this as a tool in our efforts to "Work Together" to "Take
Our Country Back". This isn't easy to do in ASCII text for
generic electronic broadcast, but the effort is worth it I think.
R U L C #
---------------------
CONGRESS RULES TO CHANGE ON DAY 1
0 - Comprehensive audit of Congress 2 2 2 2 8
0,U - Cut number of house committee staff by 1/3 2 2 2 2 8
0 - Require committee meetings open to the public 2 2 2 2 8
0 - All laws apply equally to members of Congress 2 2 1 2 7
0 - Require 3/5 majority to pass any tax increases 2 1 1 1 5
0 - Implement zero-baseline budgeting 2 1 1 1 5
0 - Limit the terms of committee chairs 2 1 1 4
0 - Ban proxy voting in committee 2 1 1 4
R U L C #
---------------------
BUDGET AND SPENDING REFORM
1 - Amendment - Tax limitation 2 2 2 2 8
1,L - Amendment - Balanced budget 2 2 2 1 7
U,L,C - Don't fund unneeded programs 2 2 2 6
1,U - Amendment - line-item veto 2 2 1 5
10 - Additional savings in budget to offset costs 2 1 1 1 5
U - 15% cut in discretionary spending 2 1 1 4
U - Normalize the federal retirement system 2 1 1 4
L - Stop funding comms. organ. with public money 2 2
R U L C #
---------------------
CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND RIGHTS REFORM
2 - Crime truth-in-sentencing 2 2 2 2 8
2 - Good-faith exclusionary rule exemptions 2 1 1 1 5
2 - Effective death penalty provisions 2 1 1 1 5
2 - Fund prison construction & law enforcement 2 1 1 1 5
L,C - Repeal laws restr. use of private property 1 2 2 5
C - Policy reform, uphold State's rights 1 2 2 5
C - Punish guilty, show society leniency 2 1 2 5
2 - Cut in social spending from recent crime bill 2 1 1 4
U - Violent offenders 3 strikes and out; no parole 2 1 1 4
U - Literacy & Skills pre-req. for prisoner release 2 1 1 4
U,L - Abortion is a woman's choice 2 2 4
L,C - Law enforcement uphold Individual rights 2 2 4
L - Cease practice of pre-trial seizure of property 2 2 4
L - Repeal any law that restricts freedom of speech 2 2 4
L,C - Uphold the RKBA and other self-defense 2 2 4
L - Respect freedom of religion; treat all equally 2 2 4
L,C - Respect the privavy of information on people" 2 2 4
L,C - Oppose any form of government ID card" 2 2 4
L,C - Oppose universal use of SSN for personal ID" 2 2 4
L,C - Repeal all laws regulating drugs and vitamins" 2 2 4
L,C - Repeal laws pertaining to "victimless" crimes -1 2 2 3
L - Ban law enforcement "instant-punishment" 2 2
L - Uphold individual's rights to self-defense 2 2
L - Cohabitation not a defense against rape charges 2 2
L - Ban involuntary committment to mental institutions 2 2
L - Stop funding R&D in behavioral research & treatment 2 2
L - Repeal National Firearms Act of 1934 2 2
L - Repeal Federal Gun Control Act of 1968 2 2
L - Stop & Ban compulsory youth service programs 2 2
L - Ban laws restr. private R&D of encryption methods 2 2
L - Cease selective service compulsory registration 2 2
L - Amnesty to all who have been accused of draft evasion 2 2
L - Stop discharging service members for being homosexual 2 2
L - Repeal the UCMJ, military has same rights as rest 2 2
L - Amnesty for all who have entered the U.S.A. illegally 2 2
L - Repeal all laws that use any basis of discrimination 2 2
L - Reform rights of Native American Indians 2 2
U - Drug treatment to help addicts recover 2 -1 1
U - Mandatory drug testing for prisoners 2 -1 1
U - Abortion educ. for prev. & Incentives for adoption 2 -1 1
U - Give Drug War Chief more budget/enforce authority 2 -1 -1
R U L C #
---------------------
WELFARE & ENTITLEMENT REFORM
3 - Prohibit welfare to minor mothers 2 2 2 2 8
3 - Deny increased AFDC for additional children 2 2 2 2 8
3 - Two years and out provisions with work req. 2 2 2 2 8
3 - Cut spending for welfare programs 2 2 1 2 7
C - Return the job of charity to charitable orgs. 2 2 2 6
7 - Raise social security earnings limit 2 1 1 1 5
7 - Repeal 1993 tax hikes to S.S. benefits 2 1 1 1 5
C - Phase out the Social Security program 1 2 2 5
C - Eliminate Entitlement Programs 1 2 2 5
U - Control costs of Social Security 2 1 1 4
U - Control costs of government retirement 2 1 1 4
U - Control costs of medicare 2 1 1 4
U - Control costs of medicaid 2 1 1 4
U - Raise medicare taxes for wages >$130,000 2 2
7 - Tax incentives for private long-term insurance 2 1 -1 -1 1
U - Form a public/private partnership in health care 2 -1 -1
R U L C #
---------------------
FAMILY REINFORCEMENT REFORM
4 - Rights of parents in childrens education 2 1 2 2 7
5 - American dream savings accounts 2 2 1 1 6
4 - Elderly dependant care tax credit 2 1 1 1 5
5 - $500 per child tax credit 2 1 1 1 5
5 - Repeal of marriage tax penalty 2 1 1 1 5
4 - Child support enforcement 2 2 4
4 - Stronger child pornography laws 2 1 3
L - Respect childrens rights; never wards of the State 2 1 3
4 - Tax incentives for adoption 2 1 -1 -1 1
R U L C #
---------------------
FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND DEFENSE REFORM
6 - No U.S.A. troops under U.N. command 2 1 2 2 7
6,C - Strengthen national defense and funding 2 1 -1 2 4
U - Foreign govt's should pay their share of US presence 2 1 1 4
U - Reform the UN, NATO, GATT, IMF, & World Bank 2 1 1 4
U - Implement Fair Free Trade Agreements 2 1 1 4
C - Non-interference in affairs of other nations -1 2 2 3
L - Abolish U.S. Court of International Trade 2 2
U - Help countries that seek to stabilize pop. growth 2 -1 -1
R U L C #
---------------------
ECONOMY AND BUSINESS REFORM
8 - Unfunded mandates reform 2 2 2 2 8
8 - Capital gains cut and indexation 2 1 2 1 6
8 - Strengthen the regulatory flexibility act 2 1 1 1 5
L,C - Repeal all tariffs and quotas 1 2 2 5
8 - Risk assessment/ c.b.a. 2 1 3
U - Reform banking regulation to ease credit 2 1 3
U - No capital gains tax for small business 2 1 3
U - Stop subsidizing mining & timber industries 2 1 3
L - Halt inflationary money policies 1 2 3
L - Remove all gov't impediments to free trade 1 2 3
L - Repeal all controls on wages, prices, production 1 2 3
L - Uphold right to have employee unions 2 1 3
L - Ban gov't "back to work" orders 2 1 3
L - Repeal consumer protection; which just dictates 2 1 3
8 - Neutral cost recovery 2 2
L - Repeal and ban "no-fault" life insurance 2 2
L - Repeal "Blue Sky" laws which repress risky ventures 2 2
L - Repeal "Insider Trading" Laws 2 2
L - Abolish the F.T.C.; gov't stop authorizing monopolies 2 2
L - Repeal Robinson, Patman, Sherman, Clayton AT laws 2 2
L - Policy of strict separation of "business & state" 2 2
L - Privatize or abolish S.B.A. and other gov't loan orgs. 2 2
L - Remove all legal privilege from public utilities 2 2
8 - Small business incentives 2 1 -1 2
U - Tax incentives for small business 2 -1 1
U - Make public investments for technology R&D 2 -1 1
U - Incentives to develop environmental solutions 2 -1 1
U - Assist communities transition from industries 2 -1 1
U - Energy & Fuel conservation program 2 -1 1
U - Incentives for alternative energy devlopment 2 -1 1
U - Enterprise zones to rebuild inner cities 2 -1 1
R U L C #
---------------------
LEGAL REFORM
L,C - Judges inform jury's of their sovereignty; FIJA 2 2 4
C - Government cannot leg. morality; keep law a-religious 2 2 4
C - Maintain strong local police forces 1 1 2 4
9 - Loser pays laws for legal reform 2 1 3
9 - Reasonable limites on punitive damages 2 1 3
9 - Reform of product liability laws 2 1 3
L - End the doctrine of "Sovereign Immunity" for the Gov't 2 1 3
L - Ban court orders gagging news of criminal proceedings 2 1 3
L - Permit victims to direct prosecution in criminal cases 2 2
L - Gov't restitution of personal losses when found innocent 2 2
L - Judiciary allow pre-emptory challenge of judges 2 2
L - Criminal restitution for victims when convicted 2 2
L - Reform jury to all-volunteer only 2 2
L - Ban use of "insanity" as a defense from guilt 2 2
L - Abolish Congressional "sub-poena" power" 2 2
R U L C #
---------------------
POLITICAL REFORM
10 - Term limits 2 2 4
U - Hold elections on Saturday & Sunday 2 1 3
U - Release no info. until all polls close 2 1 3
L - Stop using gov't secrecy to keep info. from public 2 1 3
L - End gov't control over political parties 2 1 3
U - Restrict Campaign contributions to $1000 2 2
U - Curb Political Action Committees 2 2
U - Reform FEC, from 6 to 5 members, stagger terms 2 2
U - Shorten campaign season to 5 months 2 2
U - Require equal free air time for federal cand. 2 2
U - Make voter registration easier 2 2
U - Eliminate electoral college; use popular vote 2 2
U - Ban foreign campaign contributions 2 2
U - Rewrite foreign registration & lobbying laws 2 2
U - Forbid former off. from rcving foreign money 2 2
U - Reorganize the legislative process 2 2
U - Turn in excess funds to the Treasury 2 2
U - Implement an electronic town hall 2 2
U - Reform gov't hiring & firing policies 2 2
R U L C #
---------------------
TAX REFORM
U - Equalize and simplify our tax code 2 1 1 4
L,C - Repeal the 16th amendment 2 2 4
C - Abolish IRS; return to excise taxes; nat'l sales tax 2 2 4
U - Eliminate farm subs. for giant corporations 2 1 3
U - Limit mortgage deductions to $<250,000 2 2
U - Raise marginal tax rate on very wealthy 2 2
U - Increase tobacco & gasoline taxes 2 2
U - Reform lax tax treatment for foreign companies 2 2
R U L C #
---------------------
EDUCATION REFORM
U - Treat parents as consumers of education 2 1 3
L - Repeal compulsory attendance in public schools 2 1 3
U - Nat'l education standards; schools accountable 2 2
U - Establish comprehensive pre-school program 2 2
R U L C #
---------------------
OTHER GOVERNMENT INSTITUTION REFORM
C - Audit of the U.S.A. gold reserves 1 2 2 5
L - Congressional investigation of CIA and FBI 2 1 3
L - Repeal all monetary legal tender laws 2 1 3
L - Abolish the Federal Reserve 2 1 3
L - Abolish the F.D.I.C. 2 1 3
L - Abolish the F.H.L.B.S. 2 1 3
L - Abolish the R.T.C. 2 1 3
L - Abolish the N.C.U.A. 2 1 3
L - Abolish the N.C.U.C.L.F. 2 1 3
L - Abolish the FCC; people own the airwaves 2 2
L - Abolish the CIA 2 2
L - Abolish the BATF 2 2
L - Abolish the INS and Border Patrol 2 2
L - Abolish the S.E.C. 2 2
L - Oppose gov't regulation of energy 2 2
L - Abolish the N.R.C. and D.O.E. 2 2
L - Abolish E.P.A.; make polluters responsible for cleanup 2 2
AFTERWORD
---------
Well, obviously once the Libertarians, and UWSAr's, and
Constitutionalists out their in cyberspace flame me :) with
their "corrections" to my scoring on their issues, etc.--
this illustration will become more complete and the overall
ranking (sorted by total #) will change. I think this is
one of the greatest benefits in this effort, which is--
as a result to get a real "coalition priority list" and identify
those things we don't agree on, for further discussion,
etc. I won't update the Republican's scores on non-Contract
issues unless someone points me to the printed reference that
I can verify their position. I want the final product to
provide some accountability to the current "ruling party".
Naturally, anyone correcting me on their own party, or even
new information will need to cite the reference else it won't
help me (online text files is best).
I can see this report growing into a useful tool for a lot of
us. It certainly is a learning experience for me. We can all
get more out of this if those of you who like this method of
documenting and analyzing this process take some time to submit
modifications and additions to it. If I've left out a group
that you think has a significant enough consitituency or something
more than one or two special interest issues that would be
compatible with this "coaltion," then please send me the info.
All comments and follow-up should be directed to me via email at:
breinhar@tomahawk.welch.jhu.edu
If you send your follow-up only to the newsgroup, echo, or mailing
list you see this in, there's a good chance I won't see it.
Thanks in advance for all your help and ensuing flames.
Observation #1 - Who supports "the Contract" the most?
------------------------------------------------------
Offline from this report, I took just those issues presented
in the "Contract With America" as that is the center of all
mainstream conversation right now. There are 44 separate issues
in that Contract. You probably didn't think it was that many,
but if you pick it apart line by line and make a list that's
what you'll get, and that's what I did. All of it is included
above, but it is not sorted specifically by "Contract items," so
I offer the following quick observation based on my own data.
For 44 issues, obviously the Republicans are given a 100% in
support of the Contract because they wrote it. The others
support the Contract within their own platform as follows:
*UWSA - 64% (56 out of 88 possible points)
*Libertarian Party - 45% (40 out of 88 possible points)
*Constitutiuon Party - 49% (43 out of 88 possible points)
One could observe that the UWSA is the big winner in comparison
to the other "reform" groups in regard to how much of their
agenda is compatible with "the Contract." I pose this question,
is 64% good enough?
Again, this observation may change once members of these various
groups send me corrections to my scoring of their stand on
various issues.
Observation #2 - What do each of the groups care most about?
------------------------------------------------------------
From looking at the bulk of the issues each group has the most
concern with I observe that:
*UWSA - Focus is on reforming the political process and tax code.
*Libertarian Party - Focus is on reforming the law and policies
regarding individual rights and freedoms and free'r markets.
*Constitution Party - Focus is on preserving the Constitutionality
of what our government does, hoping to reverse past mistakes, and
preserve the Republic.
My editorial is that if these groups (we) come together to implement
the best of the combined reform platforms, even leaving out those
few things we disagree on in principle; this country has a chance
to make it, as the Republic and beacon for freedom it was intended to be.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ GRRR! Newsletter - Volume 94, Edition 1 +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
--November 19, 1994--
----
Copyright (c) 1994 by Robert Bryan Reinhardt
You may freely redistribute this document provided that you
include the entire original text without modification.
------------------------------------------------
(This file was found elsewhere on the Internet and uploaded to the
Radio Free Michigan archives by the archive maintainer.
All files are ZIP archives for fast download.
E-mail bj496@Cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
