PREAMBLE

Throughout the world people dare to dream of freedom, of opportunity, of a beautiful country in which to grow, to raise their family, to worship God in their own way without fear. The embodiment of the Conservative Dream in America is Texas. Our Texas. It is we who strive to protect our culture from destruction, our children from predators, and our dear country from those who would waste it. It is we who preserve the embattled conservative
traditions that have made our nation the greatest in history. It is we who have upheld human dignity and opposed buying or selling of human life in slavery or in test tubes. We know that free people and free markets can solve the challenges that plague or threaten all Americans. We are the party of ideas, of innovation, the party of the Information Age. We are the bottom-to-top party of the people, not the top-to-bottom party of the state. We
are the Republican Party of Texas. We offer specific, concrete, creative yet prudent change. God bless Texas and God bless America.

We respectfully submit that the grass roots of this Party have properly written its platform, with ideas and planks drawn from neighborhood precincts across our State. This platform is indeed the heart and soul of our Party. We encourage all Republican candidates and officeholders to champion these critical issues clearly and forthrightly before the people of Texas and America.

We thank our officeholders for already putting into law the following former plans: Jessica’s Law; Seat Belts for School Buses; the Defense of Marriage Act; the banning of most government funding of human embryo stem cell harvesting; and giving school districts the ability to pool insurance.

PRINCIPLES

1. We respect and cherish the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and our Founders’ intent to restrict the power of the federal government over the states and the people. We believe self-government, based on personal integrity of a proper moral foundation, is the best government. This is best balanced with limited civil government, coupled with public trust, to provide collectively for the people those services not efficiently achieved individually.

2. We believe that human life is sacred, created in the image of God. Life begins at the moment of fertilization and ends at the point of natural death. All innocent human life must be protected.

3. We believe that good government is based on the individual, and each person’s ability, dignity, freedom, and responsibility must be honored and recognized. We believe equal opportunity is a right and a privilege but equal outcome is not. We insist that no one’s rights are negotiable and that individual freedom demands personal responsibility.

4. We believe that government spending is out of control and needs to be reduced. We support fundamental, immediate tax reform that is simple, fair, and fully disclosed.

5. We believe that traditional marriage is a legal and moral commitment between a natural man and a natural woman. We recognize that the family is the foundational unit of a healthy society and consists of those related by blood, marriage, or adoption. The family is responsible for its own welfare, education, moral training, conduct, and property,

6. We believe that a well-educated population is fundamental to the continued success of our Republic; and that parents have the right, as well as the duty, to direct their children’s education. This right should include choices among public, private, home and religious schools. Competition improves education.

7. We believe that the future of our country depends upon a strong and vibrant private sector unencumbered by excessive government regulation.

8. We believe that a strong America ensures a free America. While we recognize that our nation is the primary leader in the global community, we must also vigorously protect the sovereignty of the United States.

9. We believe in peace through strength. We take a principled stand to preemptively defend the citizens of the United States against all foes, foreign or domestic, whose goal is to destroy our American way of life. Freedom is never free, and we honor all those who have served our nation to protect our liberty, especially our men and women in uniform, who unselfishly and courageously defend our country.

10. We believe all Americans have the right to be safe in their homes, on their streets, and in their communities. We support enforcement of the laws through the Courts imposing swift and sure justice with stiff penalties, truth in sentencing, and respecting the rights of law-abiding citizens, while opposing judicial activism.

LOCAL AND STATE PRIORITIES

Over the next two years, the Republican Party of Texas encourages its officeholders and grassroots to work towards enacting the following:

• Promote adult stem cell research with public funds, and prohibit public funds for research that     destroys human embryos.

• No Mandates Without Funding – reduce the indigent healthcare burden for counties and local   government.

• Truth in Sentencing – fully inform juries as to the actual length of the sentence.

• Judicial Sentencing – empower our judges to assign punishment in felony cases.

• Law enforcement should make Child and Sex Abuse and Methamphetamine Drug Manufacturing their top priority. Stricter sentencing for Methamphetamine traffickers is needed.

• Protect the authority of the State Board of Education to manage the Permanent School Fund and control textbook content; expand the cap on charter schools; and remove funding for bilingual education.

• Abolish the School Property tax – we can fully fund public schools using surplus revenue, existing budget resources, consumption taxes, and funds released by cutting unnecessary expenditures.