Posted on 05/09/2010 1:15:35 PM PDT by tonyome
Tea party activists said there were at least 100 convention delegates from one group, the Maine Patriots, as well as an unknown number from another group, Maine Refounders. Support for the new platform was fairly overwhelming, well beyond what could be attributed to the tea party alone. Efforts to table it were stomped, and it passed handily.
(Excerpt) Read more at pressherald.com ...
i. Term Limits: 12 years only, in any capacity.
1. Two Six year Senate terms
2. Six Two year House terms
3. One Six year Senate term and three Two Year House terms
ii. No Pension
iii. Congress participates in Social Security under the same rules as the general public.
iv. Congress can no longer vote themselves a pay raise.
________________
YES! YES! YES!
“Maine Republican Party Delegates Shock Establishment by Adopting Tea Party Platform”
How long until Snowe and Collins follow Snarlin’ Arlen out the door?
It is a long time until November, but I will do my best to stay focused on the prize.
WOW!!!!
i. Prohibit any public funding of advocacy groups such as ACORN, no matter what it or its affiliate organizations rename themselves...
i. Eliminate the Department of Education and restore schools to local control as specified in the constitution.
My least favorite...
j. Pass a Congressional reform act which includes the following provisions:
i. Term Limits: 12 years only, in any capacity...
Unless and until we reduce the size of the federal government, I do NOT want the bureaucrats to be running the place, and with term limits, every freshman class would be at a disadvantage against the well-protected, heavily unionized federal government workers.
Yes, very shocking, a platform that supports the Constitution and the founding principles of this country. Outrageous!
Thanks for posting the text. Overall, I’d give it fairly high marks. I might quibble about a few items and wish that a couple of important things were there that aren’t, but not bad.
Not that most Republican leaders will pay it any mind, mind you.
the left and their media will not stop either as they are sh%% scared of what the tea party stands for
Now if only the national Republican party would adopt the same platform, there may be enough previous non-voters to go to the polls to elect candidates who promise to adhere to these fundamentals and actually get enough Republicans in Congress to not only have a majority, but also be able to overturn an obama veto. And over time, maybe create a series of Constitutional amendments to mandate most of these provisions!
Next time, remember to add in a rule dis-allowing Unions to garnish paychecks for dues. Make them come and take dues directly from members.
Once you turn them into a collection agency, they are through.
Yellow Snowe and Floozy Collins will switch parties.
The Big MO as in Momentum!
Bask bask...Glow glow.
Activists stunning Republican platform win...
In what can only be seen as quite an impressive development a coalition of Ron Paul supporters and social conservatives have had their platform voted in at the Maine Republican Party Convention . The organization and effectiveness of this effort is quite frankly stunning. Due to a lack of organization and foot dragging the platform committee of the Maine Republican Party was blindsided by this effort.
The effect it will have on Maine politics could be quite epic in scope. It has certainly stunned the Republican Party Establishment and the Maine media.
The coalition that wrote the document came together via the tea party movement, however it goes far farther into the social conservative and conspiracy realm than some would have liked. Instead of merely sticking to the core values of fiscal restraint, free market and adherence to the Constitution(s) it delves into the areas of social and foreign affairs.
The Maine has been all over the story as one can imagine and has over-shadowed the major debate between the seven candidates for governor. As Matthew Gagdon says in his piece on the Pine Tree Politics site. www.pinetreepolitics.com/2010/05/09/maine-republican-platform-becomes-political-football/
"...my biggest problem with the platform is that it seems almost entirely written with the Federal government in mind. Certainly, with a Republican Party that has become consumed with opposing the growing Federal behemoth, that is to be expected to some degree, but in the end this is a document that is supposedly written to tell the Maine voters why they should support the Republican Party."
NewsOk makes the point that the tea party influence was downplayed. This is an interesting move and makes sense considering its divergence from the tea party core values. http://newsok.com/maine-gop-platform-nearly-overshadows-candidates/article/feed/157127#ixzz0nSlQGrpy
"While the Knox County group downplayed tea party influence, the platform's preamble acknowledged the tea party movement, describing it as "reminiscent of the principled revolt that led to the birth of the Republican Party in 1854."
What is of interest is how its being spun as being libertarian. The fiscal conservative aspects of the document are obvious attraction to libertarians. The social conservative aspect of the document would be quite a turn-off. Unfortunately the press are making the mistake of believing that Ron Paul followers are representative of all libertarians.
The document is quite long and rambling. Rather than merely sticking to the Constitutions of both the US and Maine it delves into many issues that are actually not the remit of the state. There is in fact very little mention of Maine at all.
Its unclear how this will go down with candidates. It seems fairly obvious that those who are running in Southern Maine which is less conservative might have a difficulty defending some of the stances. It remains to be seen how this will affect the governor candidates or whomever ends up winning the nomination.
Will a state-wide electorate be as keen as the activists who drafted the document? Or the nominee face the prospect of distancing himself from the document or risk alienating independents who will be key to any victory?
Pete Harring of Maine Refounders (paintmainered.ning.com/) sees the positive side to this and is very pleased that it has been passed.
"There is no more wishy washy statements in our Platform. This is a great accomplishment, there is no room for interpretation. Our core principles and values are clearly defined. The attendance and the energy that filled the air was absolutely inspiring. Our numbers are growing, True conservative values and the meaning of our Constitution is on the minds of many. Patriotism and common sense are alive and grow"
It remains to be seen whether or not this will help or hurt the Republican Party of Maine. The writers of this platform seem to believe that all conservatives in Maine are of the social variety. Or rather they hope that those concerned with social conservatives aspect of the platform will ignore these concerns for the overall theme of the document.
You can read the whole thing here (www.asmainegoes.com/content/new-language-gop-platform) and decide for yourself.
Its certainly going to make politics in Maine a far more interesting thing than has been of late. Its tossed a hand grenade of epic proportions into the Republican Party of Maine. We have no idea who the casualties are going to be.
The Democrats will be rubbing their hands with glee and be pouring over this document for issues to use in the forthcoming general election.
One has to wonder if it might provide a template for revised platforms in other states. And no doubt there are those who would like to replicate the success of the organizational efforts of the Knox country activists. How it was achieved was nothing short of brilliant.
This should send a shiver through every Republican Party state organization. Is this a return to the “as Maines so goes the nation” days of old?
David Brooks has to be devastated.
Love the platform. An issue that has no been addressed is that those politicians that get their power from the economically disadvantaged, have a vested interest in keeping those voters economically disadvantaged.
I say that rather than saying that politicians cannot vote themselves a raise, have their pay tied to the national average income.
A politician will only earn a certain percentage above the national median family income, and said politician must pay from these funds and only these funds for any staffers hired by said politician.
If this were to pass, politicians would have a vested interest in seeing that everyone prosper economically, especially when you consider that raising the average is easier when the poor earn more, than when the rich earn more.
Years ago I saw this happen on a county level. It was quite interesting, but until we elect candidates who don’t simply give lip service to the party platform...it’s just a show.
If this keeps up I wonder if there might result a two party split. The conventional Republican Party, and the Tea Party Republicans.
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