A peek at the double life of the Texas Republican Party

Houston Chronicle ^ | October 12, 2003 | RALPH NADER

[Dog Gone]

The platform is the party's contract with the people." This noble sentiment has been used by both Republicans and Democrats in characterizing their state and national party platforms over the decades. It can become an embarrassing yardstick for any party that lives a double life.

Consider President Bush and his Texas State Republican Platform of 2002, which is still in effect. The authors and endorsers of this lengthy document were taking no chances. It says crisply that each "Republican candidate for a public or party office shall be provided a current copy of the party platform at the time of filing. The candidate shall be asked to read and initial each page of the platform and sign a statement affirming he/she has read the entire platform."

Signing on the dotted line is connected with the party giving the candidate financial and other support.

Then follows policy after policy of great specificity in direct opposition to what the Bush administration is doing and not doing. For example, the Texas Republican Party demands that Washington repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and get out of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. It is adamant against any gathering, accumulation and dissemination of personal data and information on law-abiding citizens by business and governments. It wants "all citizens" to be free from government surveillance of their electronic communications.

In a slam against Attorney General John Ashcroft, the Texas party believes that "the current greatest threat to our individual liberties is overreaching government controls established under the guise of preventing terrorism."

Remember, this is the Texas state Republican Party. It is President Bush's party -- the organization that launched his political career to the governorship and beyond. His friends and political allies run this party.

So it is remarkable to read that the platform demands the "elimination of presidential authority to issue executive orders, presidential decision directives ... and a repeal of all previous executive orders and administrative mandates." This policy would handcuff both George W. Bush and John Ashcroft.

In opposition to President Bush, his state party insists that Social Security funds "should not be commingled or spent with general revenues or invested in private or public corporate stock." And it adds, Social Security benefits should "be non-taxable," until private pensions replace Social Security.

Talk about abolishing government! The Texas Republican Party wants to terminate the U.S. Department of Education, (there goes Bush's "Leave No Child Behind" hoax), the Internal Revenue Service, along with the elimination of the personal income tax, inheritance tax, corporate income tax, payroll tax and the minimum wage.

That is not all. The party wants to close down the Department of Health and Human Services, Commerce, Labor, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and for good measure, the "position of surgeon general."

The platform has one demand that is quite sensible -- namely "the party does not support governmental subsidies, tariffs, bailouts or other forms of corporate welfare (including sports stadiums) that are used to protect and preserve businesses or industries that have failed to remain relevant, competitive and efficient over time."

President Bush made his fortune by getting Texas taxpayers to pay for the Texas Rangers' new baseball stadium. His government now expands corporate welfare on the backs of individual taxpayers, while allowing huge tax escapes for large multinational corporations.

If you want to read more, log onto www.texasgop.org/library/RPTPlatform2002.pdf. But if you've read this far, you may be asking how did this astonishing Texas GOP versus Bush come about. It has to do with the double life of the Republican Party -- the main party dominated by corporatists and the adjunct party relying on conservatives and libertarians to produce the margin of votes for victory in elections.

The corporatist Republicans give the platforms and the core ideological issues to the conservatives, pat them on the back at convention time and then move into office with the welcome mat for Big Business lobbyists and their slush funds.

This duplicity is illustrated by the large contributions that the national Republican Party takes from the gambling industry in return for political support. In contrast, the Texas party platform states that "gambling has had a devastating impact on many Texas families" and opposes "any further legalization, government facilitation, or financial guarantees relating to any type of gambling ... "

In a letter to President Bush, I called on him to engage in truth-in-advertising and let the voters of this country know which provisions of his own state party's platform he endorses and which ones he opposes. For all its faults, the media do not like forked tongues and will sooner or later demand "clarification."

As for the Democratic Party, why didn't it make hay with this platform, as the Republicans surely would have if the shoe was on the other foot. Why? Because the Democratic Party is hay.

Nader is a consumer advocate and former Green Party presidential candidate. Readers may write to him at: P.O. Box 19312, Washington, D.C., 20036.

[TheAngryClam]

Ol' Ralph seems to have a problem with this platform and W.

I wish that W actually followed this, rather than being the pseudo-conservative that he is.

[Support Free Republic]

The Free Republic Lifeform

"... This is a wonderful description of what Free Republic really is. It is a living and evolving Life Form to battle the left wingers and those who would destroy this country!

The Free Republic Life Form enables us to discover the truth about what is happening. We can avoid the spin of the major mediots as they work 24/7 to weaken this country. We come to the Free Republic Life Form to find the truth! ...

Free Republic needs a constant infusion of cash to keep the Free Republic Life Form alive, viable and to grow. If we believe in Free Republic, we must donate each month or quarterly to keep this incredible life form alive...

Good stewardship is what this world needs, not good intentions. Good conservative stewards will insure that the Free Republic Life Form continues to grow, be viable and thrives!"

Thank You for your support!

Click The Logo To Donate

Or mail checks to

FreeRepublic , LLC
PO BOX 9771
FRESNO, CA 93794

or you can use

PayPal at Jimrob@psnw.com

[SwinneySwitch]

Ralph Nadir, no bias there!:^}

[Dog Gone]

Actually, many of the platform planks are kooky. We engaged in a lengthy discussion of the Texas Party Platform earlier this year at this forum, and nobody here agreed with all of it.

[deport]

The corporatist Republicans give the platforms and the core ideological issues to the conservatives, pat them on the back at convention time and then move into office with the welcome mat for Big Business lobbyists and their slush funds.

---

Ralphie got close to the answer with the above paragraph...

[deport]

If I remember correctly President Bush then Governor didn't attend the party convention in 1998 when he was running for reelection.

[Dog Gone]

That's correct. He sent Laura to give a speech, but he wanted to disassociate himself from the Texas GOP platform.

In fact, no Republican candidate elected to statewide office endorsed the state GOP platform in 1998 or 2002.

[TheAngryClam]

Oh I know, I've read through it.

Ralph does hit on a good point if you change his rant about "corporatists" to "liberals," as we see all too often in the California GOP, with people like Brooks Firestone, Gerry Parksy, Duf Sundheim, Richard Riordan, and, most likely, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Actually, many of the platform planks are kooky. We engaged in a lengthy discussion of the Texas Party Platform earlier this year at this forum, and nobody here agreed with all of it.

Nobody, ANYWHERE agrees with it all. Over a ten year period it changes position on several matters, then changes back. We need to cut it's length be about 75% and get to the core of what we believe.

[squidly]

Surely no Democratic president or politician has ever done anything that was at odds with his home state party's stated platform. Surely not.

[Dog Gone]

What? You don't agree that we should abolish the FBI, Border Patrol, BATF, Secret Service, and US Marshalls?

From the platform:

Law Enforcement – According to Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, federal law-enforcement powers have criminal jurisdiction limited to the high seas, federal installations, and counterfeiting operations. The Party believes that most crime is local and that the states, according to the Tenth Amendment, reserve law enforcement authority. Implementing this policy would effectively eliminate the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which we would applaud. Many citizens have become concerned about the expansion of federal law enforcement authority and the use of military personnel and equipment against its citizens. The rights of American citizens must be respected.

[rapture-me]

"The candidate shall be asked to read and initial each page of the platform and sign a statement affirming he/she has read the entire platform."

Actually, this statement is false. It actually says no such thing. However one of the rules (Rule 43) does say...

Rule No. 43 - Candidate Platform Review Any candidate running as a Republican for any public office on any ballot in the State of Texas shall be provided a Texas Republican Party Platform by the Republican Party of Texas, upon which each candidate may indicate for each plank item whether the candidate agrees, disagrees, or is undecided, as to each plank item, with comments if desired. The SREC shall have the platform available to the candidates within two (2) months after the adoption of the RPT Platform by the RPT Convention Delegates. Candidates for federal or state at-large office should file the completed platform containing the candidate’s responses at the time of filing for office with the State Republican Party of Texas in Austin. District and local candidates should file the completed platform containing the candidate’s responses with their SREC member(s) or County Chairmen of the districts, or counties, respectively, in which they are running. The candidates completed platform shall be made available by the appropriate party official at reproduction costs to any person requesting such.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

What? You don't agree that we should abolish the FBI, Border Patrol, BATF, Secret Service, and US Marshalls?

Well I could live without the BATF!

[weegee]

I couldn't believe it. Here I thought that I was agreeing with Ol' Ralphie Boy for once and then I got to this sentence...

"The platform has one demand that is quite sensible..."

The platform is sensible; the elected officials who signed that platform go against the public's wishes and the party platform. Yeah, we have some RINOS, tell us something we don't already know. Mr. Nader seems disturbed by what we are asking for (and here I thought that Mr. Nader was going to take a stand against executive orders and domestic record keeping...).

We want the size of government reduced and this has the Greenie Weenie shaking to the core.

[weegee]

President Bush made his fortune by getting Texas taxpayers to pay for the Texas Rangers' new baseball stadium.

Does Ralph seriously believe that the new stadium is what made the Rangers a more valuable team? Has the value of every team ballooned since all across America MLB is helping to get new "retro" stadiums constructed at taxpayer expense?

[weegee]

It has to do with the double life of the Republican Party -- the main party dominated by corporatists and the adjunct party relying on conservatives and libertarians to produce the margin of votes for victory in elections.

Where else are we going to turn Ralphie? To the national socialist (Rats, Greens, Reds, Labor...) Parties?

I think that what frustrates Mr. Nader is that the leftist extremists are anarchist socialists who urge for an unlawful overthrow of our government to reduce intrusion into our lives while the conservative/libertarians are seeking a limited role that follows our constitution. The leftists who are the garden variety socialists seek to expand the role of government.

[weegee]

The border patrol doesn't seem to be doing a fully effective job, let's put the Texas Rangers on it instead.

The FBI has been ineffective for a long time (requiring an insider's whistleblowing to solve many cases).

The BATF is a tax regulating agency.

I do accept that there is a need for a Federal investigation group, be it FBI or US Marshalls (since some crimes occur in the jurisdiction of several states). I don't understand why the FBI was financing Hamas to see if money went to foreign terrorists. This is outside of the domestic US. Put the CIA on it.

Secret Service deal with money and their role has been expanded to include protecting the President (and I support this).

[weegee]

I've tried to explain to the libertarians that under our present system, legalizing drugs would just move the DEA under the BATF. So much for "legalize it and then tax the hell out of it". Also, the power to tax is the power to destroy.

On another thread (related to Rush's rehab) someone posted a monologue from Rush where he said that to truly fight the War on Drugs, it should be legalized and then legislated and litigated like tobacco is. A few liablity lawsuits at recreational drug manufacturers would take billions out of the producers hands.

[Eagle Eye]

Thanks for posting this. When I read it this morning in the paper, I missed that Nader had written it. But so what? It doesn't seem that anyone is having issues with the FACTS of the article, just that someone has the audacity to point out the disparities between what they say and what they do.

I'm also glad you posted it because I don't have internet access right now. Seriesly. It's a hugh problem for me right now.