1. English National Language
2. No Amnesty — Wade

…add one more thing…which would be torn apart by the courts, but which bears considering:

Restrict currency transfers to Mexico. These “provisional” residents get their green cards, or whatever, they are permitted to take as much furniture, as many cars and appliances, clothes, and commodities as they want back to Mexico, or to ship ‘em back…which would please FedEx/UPS.

But, don’t let ‘em send money. Restrict the amount of US currency exported to Mexico. Don’t allow the dodge of buying pesos (or whatever) and wiring *THAT* back home.

When the economic sweetener is no longer filling Mexico’s coffers, maybe the flow will be staunched a bit. There’ll still be plenty of volunteers to come to El Norte — a tide which must be controlled if not stopped outright — but this will but a twist in the tail of the Mexican plutocrats, while profiting businesses here.

…just a modest proposal….

…no…back to discussing the eating of Irish children….

Puritan1648 on November 14, 2006 at 8:53 PM

This country has never had a viable 3rd party. It never will. Stop planning to find gold at the end of the rainbow. — spmat

…actually, the Republican Party missed being a third party by the slimmest of margins, with the collapse of the Whig Party. Many Whigs, when the party fell, went to some of the other parties around at the time (Anti-Masonic, “Know-Nothing”, that sort of thing).

Many old Whigs and Democrats bolted in 1861. If John Bell’s showing in the Constitutional Union Party hadn’t been quite as strong — building on Southern pro-union feeling and old Whig loyalties — or if Steve Douglas had bowed out gracefully, we’d've easily had a *nationally* elected president in John Breckinridge of Kentucky, the Southern Democrat candidate. Lincoln *NEVER* had a national mandate. He was, in effect, a regional third party candidate, who won by virtue of his three opponents splitting their vote.

…mind you, Bell’s vote might’ve gone Lincoln’s way, but Douglas’s would probably have swung Breckinridge’s way, putting him over the top.

It might’ve gone the other way, with Breckinridge bowing out in favor of Douglas. Any way you’d've sliced it, the 1860’s would’ve been entirely different without Lincoln in office, and without the baggage of abolitionism.

So, third parties are viable.

If the Republicans continue the splintering of the last week, it’s possible here, too. Not that Buchanan’s Reform, Perot’s Reform, or that poxy “Constitution” Party would stand a chance. The Libertarians would need a wake-up call to even know that an election was being held.

…but, a values-driven, on-message party? A party which consults the majority base and *LISTENS*? It’d give the Demo-Socialists a run for their money!

The thing would be to get one organized. That takes money.

Puritan1648 on November 14, 2006 at 9:04 PM

Let’s get moving! First, the platform….

…damnation…that was quick…been givin’ this some thought, eh?

1. Low taxes

…more than just low taxes, target taxes. *FIRST*, prioritize services, *THEN* tax to support those services.

Defense *FIRST*. That’s a constitutional mandate.

Infrastructure second, in support of interstate business and the freedom of the citizen to travel.

Social security is a dead, rancid albatross ’round the national neck, but two generations of seniors have been paying into it, so it’s gotta be solvent.

Agri-business and national business supports, focusing on family and small businesses, letting big business and farming pay for themselves.

Make money to education, particularly higher education, dependent on *APOLITICAL* results.

Not a dime for “the Arts”.

…any savings from the present system, pay down the Debt.

2. Strong Immigration enforcement

Lock the border down *FIRST*. Big wall, national policing, by military forces with top-cover, the whole nine, until the Border Patrol can be disbanded and reformed as an effective military force.

*THEN* begin to worry about making it hot for illegals, offering preferential treatment for those with clean records who exit and then re-enter under stringent, skills-based screening and tracking.

Repatriate *ALL* criminals except capital criminals.

Let those who go through the exit/re-enter process get into line for citizenship.

Make it *IMMEDIATELY* hot for the employers, enablers, and advocates of illegal immigrants (advocates being accessories to a federal crime) with fines, confiscations and jail time.

Repeal all H1B visas. Educate our own.

3. Pro-life

…*NOT* a lock-step, “look at my little wax model of an aborted fetus”, creepy pro-life effort. Recognize exceptions (incest, health of the mother). Let the partial-birthers be the “my way or the highway”-faction.

4. Small Government

…local sovereignty all the way.

Allow and support local governments who wish to prosecute those who interfere in local issues, such as the folks in Farmer’s Branch who’re up to their ears in out-of-town open-borders and “anti-racist”"advocates”.

Still, ensure that localities — like San Fran and the fashionably-Leftist burgs like Portland, Seattle, etc., enforce federal laws.

5. Tort Reform

…judicial reform is more to the point. Make “legislate from the bench” a dirty word…er…phrase….

6. Personal Responsibility

…that one’s hard to quantify, and harder to propogate. You run the risk there of morons, raised on “if it feels good, do it” — which is a lot of the last three generations — crying “Waaaaaah! I want my MTV!”

One idea: use the Justice Department to prosecute or assist in the prosecution of cases — and opt out of prosecuting, etc. — in cases where personal responsibility is in play, as in the cases of firearms liability and smoking liability.

Nobody started you smoking…no matter how much the tobacco companies withheld.

7. Pro-Gun

…absolutely! An armed society is a polite society!

If San Fran wants to neuter the Second Amendment, remind them that a local government — regardless of the support a new conservative party would give them — can’t pick and choose which of the Constitutions rights their citizens may have.

Prosecute gun crimes mercilessly. When in doubt, hamstring recalcitrant judges.

8. Freedom of religon, not Freedom from it

…push for a constitutional amendment defining “shall not establish” for what it is: the government won’t set up and pay for a state church, as in many countries in Europe. Private practice is neither encouraged *NOR* disadvantaged.

Public expressions of religious affiliation are handled the way public expressions of other affiliations — political, sexual, familial, racial — are handled. They’re permitted *UNTIL* they become a threat to the common peace.

Just as the ACLU fights for Nazis and Klansmen to march and spew, religious folk should be able to march. Speech as well as religious expression should be free for the *MAJORITY*, not only for the twisted minorities — Westboro Baptist, for instance — who prove the case and are sexy to defend.

9. Fiscal responsibility

…a balanced budget amendment.

10. Energy independence partly through utilizing our own oil sources.

…added to an initiative to build more refineries. Wind and solar power alternatives are sexy and all, but we need refineries. Tax breaks to encourage the use of ethanol! More flex-fuel cars!

11. ??
12. ??

Oh, wait! We had a party like that recently. What happened?!

…looks like it bled to death…and it was never *REALLY* all that keen on most of what you line out above. Some individual members and office-holders were, but the Party as a party was not.

For that matter, the Democrats were once closer to the model lined-out above than the Republicans were at any point…but look what happened *THERE*!

We can call our new party the Conservative Party since being a Republican doesn’t seem to have a meaning anymore. — BacaDog

…there is already one or a few parties out there with “Conservative” in the title. There’s that one in New York.

There’s never been a “National Party”, that I know of. Parties with two-part names are unwieldy, like “Constitutional Union”, “Free State”, “Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party” (the Lefties in Minnesota). Adding the word “real” smacks of sour grapes and novelty. Calling your party by euphamisms or “happy-happy-joy-joy” names — Peace and Freedom Party, Natural Law Party, Big P*nis Party — is an express ticket to oblivion.

We could call ourselves the “Whigs”…”Federalists” (would scare away the neo-Confederates)….

Conservative is good…is there nothing snappier?

In Britain, parties have colors…Labor is red (of course), the Tories are blue, Liberal-Democrats yellow (again, of course)…in the US, the press has assigned colors…Dems are blue, Republicans are red, Greens are…er…green.

Ideas?

…it’s all a nice idea…lot of uphill work, though…talking folks to jump ship and all….

Puritan1648 on November 14, 2006 at 10:08 PM

Ok, now we need a mascot or symbol. What should it be? — BacaDog

…OK…National Party…”The Nationals”….

I suggest the figure of the Minuteman statue (although I viscerally resist anything else in Yankeeland).

It reinforces the gun rights plank, and is very evocative. It’s often been logo’d.

6. Personal Responsibility

Point: gave this some thought. How do you quantify “personal responsibility”? It’s intrusive. I *SHOULD* be a given, so treat it like a given.

Instead:

*make #1 “Citizens Rights”. These could be sub-paragraphed as:

* “Personal Sovereignty”, as in “owning ones life, property and future without reference to community, state or any other power. This means not only personal privacy and protection from government and community intrusion, but the expectation that the citizen is his own boss”;

* “Local Sovereignty”, as in “owndership of the problem of serving the citizen. Solving problems and extending and funding services at the level closest to the citizen”;

* and “National Sovereignty”, as in “ownership and protection of our nation, state and local integrity, law enforcement, and upholding of national standards. America is a nation without reference to any other nation or group of nations”.

Then, of course, add the #’s 11 and 12 as discussed earlier.

Puritan1648 on November 15, 2006 at 12:57 PM