ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS FOR IOWANS

IMMIGRATION: The primary responsibility of the government is to the citizen.

Eliminate chain migration which gives control of immigration policy to aliens and foreign governments (1)

Secure our borders and discourage all those who violate them, alien and citizen, by enforcing immigration laws

End multiculturalism and bilingualism in public institutions, promote assimilation and unity of citizenship, allegiance to American culture, and English as the official language. (1)

EDUCATION:

Decisions on the education of our children must be as decentralized as possible.

Eliminate the federal Department of Education, since education should primarily be a local and state function. (1)

Eliminate tenure for government schoolteachers and college professors making them accountable for the quality of the education they provide. (1)

School vouchers for parents who choose to send their children to alternate schools.

ENERGY:

The government must allow and encourage the exploration of all forms of energy, to include nuclear, fossil fuels and alternative energy sources.

We must limit our dependence on foreign energy by utilizing domestic resources.

RIGHT TO LIFE:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness…” (3)

TAXES:

The Constitution of the United States Article I Section 8 lays out very clearly the power of the government to lay and collect taxes.

Eliminate the progressive tax because its purpose is the re-distribution of wealth and not to fund the constitutionally legitimate functions of government (1)

All residents of the country must pay taxes so they will have a stake in limiting its abuse (1)

Eliminate automatic withholding to bring full disclosure of the amount the government is confiscating from its citizens (1)

Eliminate the Death Tax, Corporate Income Tax (double taxation)

All federal income tax increases must require a supermajority vote of three fifths of the congress (1)

Limit federal spending to less than 20 percent of GDP. (1)

SIZE AND ROLE OF GOVERNMENT:

The primary purpose of Government is to do those things which the individual cannot do for themselves.  We believe in the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution as written, “The powers not delegated to the United Stated by the Constitution, nor prohibited by the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”.  Therefore we believe that the States maintain more power to govern than the Federal government and that the Federal government should govern only those things which are stated in the Constitution.  We believe that any government which cannot be held accountable to the governed is tyranny and that our Founders set in place checks and balances in an attempt to prevent this tyranny.

JOBS:

It is not the responsibility, nor is it possible for the government to “create” jobs.  However, it is possible for the government to affect the jobs of American citizens through over-regulation and over-taxing, which stifle entrepreneurs.  The free market solutions that have driven the most prosperous periods of the American economy are the only solutions which cannot only bring our economy out of weak times but take us into the 21^st Century from a position of strength.

The government must create tax incentives for those businesses which hire American citizens

Must limit regulation related to employer/employee relationships.

There must be a presumption against any new regulation.

AGRICULTURE & INTERNATIONAL TRADE:

Ensure all foreign policy decisions are made for the purpose of preserving and improving American society and the standard of living of American citizens

Reject all treaties, trade agreements, entanglements, institutions or enterprises that have as their purpose the supplantation of America’s best interest to an amorphous “global” interest (1)

Ensure that the American farmer is allowed the opportunity to succeed without excessive intrusion by government, activists, and environmental groups.

Tax incentives should be given to producers that keep money in the “family farm”

All foreign aid should have American agricultural products (ie; grain, livestock, machinery, etc.) as a pre-requisite to obtaining such assistance. (4)

ENVIRONMENT:

The “environment” has been hijacked and used by the left to implement more restrictions on the American people and industry.  As Iowans, we, more than most understand our relationship with our environment and work hard to preserve our natural resources.  The Federal government was not given the power and does not have the power to create or enforce any regulations based on the “environment”.

Eliminate the special tax-exempt status of environmental groups, since they are not nonpartisan charitable foundations (1)

Eliminate statutory authority granting environmental groups to bring lawsuits on behalf of the public (1)

Fight any effort to use environmental regulations to set industrial policy (cap and trade) (1)

RETIREMENT INVESTMENT:

We believe in the character and the ingenuity of the American people.  We also believe in the idea of personal responsibility.  It has never been in the power or in the best interest of the citizen to turn over his or her future to a government body for management and distribution.

Social Security must be phased out and the citizen should be given the opportunity to invest their own money in the way that they see fit.

Tax incentives for investment must be implemented to allow the American citizen to invest without fear of government intrusion.

The responsibility for one’s future does not lie with the government or other citizens, but in the individual.

Credit given to:

1. Mark Levin, Author of Liberty and Tyranny, A Conservative Manifesto

2. The United States Constitution

3. The Declaration Of Independence

4. Steve Rathje