From constitution@earthlink.net Date: Mon, 24 Oct 94 11:34 PDT From: Constitution Party To: roc@xmission.com Subject: Hello Attached is a copy of our platform and a list of our founders. We are a new political party dedicated to defending the Constitution and returning our federal government to a Constitutional base. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Also, please send us any information on your organization as well. Thank you. We, the founders of the Constitution Party, hold that our federal government has consistently violated the Constitution of the United States. The Founding Fathers designed the U.S. government to serve us -- the people. It was not designed so that we the people would serve government. We no longer wish to see Americans dependent upon or enslaved by government. Generations of Republican and Democratic administrations have made it abundantly clear that they are incapable of managing the nation's affairs competently, justly, or legally. The CP is dedicated to ensuring the unalienable right of every American to Life, Liberty, Property and the Pursuit of Happiness by defending the Constitution of the United States and making certain that it stays the law of the land. The right to own one's life requires the rights to freedom and to property ownership in order to sustain that life. Therefore, the CP holds that no one has the right to dictate to anyone else how to live. It further maintains that no one holds a higher moral authority to compel anyone else to behave in a particular way. The CP maintains that each individual has the right to behave according to his or her self-determined moral principles, provided the pursuit of these principles causes no physical harm to any other person or his property. The CP believes that if there is no victim there is no crime. The CP believes that no entity, including a majority of voters or citizens, may take away or violate the rights of an individual. Accordingly, the CP calls for a reordering of national priorities. We aim to restore the right of every individual American to be a sovereign citizen, as well as the provision that all 50 states be free from federal interference so they can self-govern. Our goal is to create a truly free country where people will learn to be responsible for their own welfare. Upon achieving this goal, enterprise will flower, thereby creating an atmosphere of prosperity, abundance, tolerance, and compassion. Therefore, the CP offers the following platform to ensure our rights and those of our children: 1. Under no circumstance does the federal government have the power to violate the rights of an individual. 2. Under no circumstance does the federal government have the power to violate the sovereignty of the states as described in the 10th Amendment to the Constitution. 3. Each individual should be free to do whatever he chooses with his own person or property, provided he does not physically harm the person or property of another. People who physically harm others are to be forcibly segregated from the rest of society by government. It is society, not the criminal, that should be shown leniency. 4. The CP supports full private property rights. We reject the idea that federal government may dictate use of private property or confiscate property without full and just compensation pursuant to the limits of the Constitution. As a side benefit full individual property rights will insure a clean environment. 5. Each individual adult has the right to keep and bear arms, providing the owner has never been convicted of a violent crime involving the use of a weapon. 6. The CP advocates the maintenance of the strongest national defense force in the world. The CP does not advocate military interference in the affairs of other nations. The CP further believes that the US should protect its sovereignty by maintaining full control over its own defense systems and not turning them over to the United Nations. 7. The CP advocates full financial freedom. The CP believes that individuals have the right to keep all money or property they have earned, to provide for themselves and their families. The CP believes it is not government's business to know how much money you earn, where your money or property is kept, or to require you to keep records on its behalf. Accordingly, it believes that government has no right to use any of its agencies to intimidate people into revealing how much money they have or earn, with threats of jail terms and property seizures. Government has no right to force an individual to report how much money he or she deposits or withdraws from a bank. It also has no right to force an individual to report how much money he or she takes into or out of the country. These laws force Americans to spy and report on each other. This stance requires the elimination of the Internal Revenue Service and the income tax code, the elimination of all gift and estate taxes, as well as any other direct tax not authorized under the Constitution of the United States. To the extent revenue is needed to support the federal government, excise taxes (i.e. a national sales tax) are authorized in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. The elimination of these taxes would cause business to skyrocket, create millions of jobs, and significantly reduce unemployment and welfare lines. It would also reduce crime. The CP calls for repeal of the 16th Amendment or formal recognition by the government that it was never ratified by the states and is therefore illegal. 8. The CP calls for the reinstitution of sound money. This would begin with an audit of the nation's gold reserves. 9. The CP insists upon the elimination of the budget deficit. We will do this via a major downsizing of the federal government, the elimination of entitlement programs, and the elimination of burdensome interest payments on the national debt by ridding the American people of this debt once and for all. 10. The CP advocates the elimination of entitlement programs. Just as no individual has the right to steal from you, the government has no right to steal from you on behalf of others, that is, to redistribute your wealth. The money you earn belongs to you and no one else. How can you properly support yourself and your family while you are constantly being robbed? The price of personal freedom is individual responsibility. Consequently, it is not government's job to "save" people from poor choices, calamities, or the vicissitudes of life. At the same time, The CP encourages everyone, individuals and private institutions alike, in the strongest possible terms, to give to the charities of their choice, to care for the homeless, the helpless, and the needy. Charity is traditionally the work of religious organizations, individuals, private institutions and foundations. In contrast, entitlement programs run by the federal government rob individuals of the ability and desire to be charitable. The CP further believes that the elimination of entitlement programs will greatly alleviate the nation's immigration problem. The CP believes in phasing out the Social Security program after current obligations to the elderly are met. We believe retirement programs are best handled by the private sector. 11. The CP believes that federal government has no legal or moral authority in health care. The CP believes that government involvement in health care will adversely affect the health of the majority of Americans. The CP believes that federal government has no right to limit our choice of doctors, or medicines they prescribe, whether they be "alternative" or American Medical Association certified. Government also has no right to dictate what vitamins ought to be available. The CP opposes the proposed national health card. This card will ultimately be used as nothing less than a national tracking device that will result in the further loss of personal freedom. 12. The CP endorses full economic freedom. The CP believes that government should not set prices, set quotas, or create laws concerning hiring, firing, rents, wages, unionization, or any aspect of non-coercive private commercial behavior. This would be a boon to both small and large business. 13. Government does not have the right to legislate morality. Adult consensual behavior ("victimless crimes") such as that involving sexual activity, gambling, drug use, or assisted suicide are a matter of individual adult morality and not a matter of criminal law. The traditional organizations for discussion and persuasion regarding such issues include churches, synagogues, youth clubs, chambers of commerce, and other local social organizations. 14. The CP advocates a strong local police presence for violent crime. By eliminating laws against victimless crimes, police will be able to focus on violent crimes, making police more effective. The prison system will then have ample space to house violent criminals for the full course of their prison terms. The streets will be safe, the country's legal and prison systems will unclog, and vast amounts of money that add to the budget deficit will be saved. Nevertheless, a government that must break the law in order to enforce the law is not a government worth having. Therefore, law enforcement officers and agencies must be above reproach with regard to due process of law, personal privacy, freedom from unreasonable search and seizures, and all the other fundamental constitutional guarantees. The CP believes that any government agent or employee who does not abide by, or who violates, the Constitution should face mandatory criminal penalties. 15. The CP believes that all judges must be directed to inform every jury of its legal sovereignty under the Constitution in that it may find any defendant not guilty if it judges the law, even law upheld by the Supreme Court, to be defective, unwarranted, unconstitutional, or wrongly applied. The CP believes that we are at the beginning of a movement, a movement toward individual freedoms, as our Forefathers planned. We believe that people have had enough of the taxes and the intimidating tactics of an out-of-control, unaccountable government which has lost sight of its role as our servant. We believe it is time again to make the government accountable to us - the American people - and to restore our personal freedoms which have been slowly but systematically taken from us. We believe that if we as a people fail to act, the course on which the ship of state is currently set is clear: an accelerating bankrupt socialist police state. To all Americans who want to keep their rights: whether it be the right to speak your mind, the right to keep the money you earn, the right to use your property as you wish, the right to have a gun for the defense of your family from any threat including government, the right to engage in noncoercive behavior, the right to not wear a seatbelt or a motorcycle helmet, the right to practice (or refrain from practicing) any religion; the right to choose a doctor or the medicine of your choice, the right to end your life, or the right to begin a life -- these are your personal choices, not the government's. To all Americans who feel alienated from the politics of our system and are tired of being treated like juveniles: we understand your frustration and your desire for change. Come join us! No matter who you are or what you do, come join us. It's not whether you are on the left or the right, liberal or conservative, it's your individual rights that matter. * "Does the government fear us? Or do we fear the government? When the people fear the government, tyranny has found victory. The federal government is our servant, not our master!"..Thomas Jefferson. "A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits "..Thomas Jefferson. JOIN THE NEW CONSTITUTION PARTY TODAY! ------------------------------------------------------------------ Join the people from all walks of life who already have become members of the Constitution Party. Spread the word! Make copies of this Draft - Mail it - Fax it - Hand one out to everyone you know. WE WANT OUR COUNTRY "FIXED BY '96"... The Constitution Party P.O. Box 3305 Los Angeles, California 90212 Phone: (800) 932-9888 Internet: constitution@earthlink.net [ ] Yes! I want to join the Constitution Party. [ ] Yes! I want to become a Volunteer / Organizer. [ ]I want to help with a donation of $ [ ] Check [ ] Money Order Name:_____________________________ Phone:( )________________ Address:________________________________________________________ City:_____________________________ State:______ Zip:____________ ---------------------------------------------------------------- Constitution Party Founder Aaron Russo (Film Producer - Trading Places with Eddie Murphy, The Rose with Bette Midler; won an Emmy and had films nominated for various Academy Awards) Partial List of Founding Members Dr. Robert Atkins (Author) Larry Becraft, esq. (Attorney) Bill Benson (Author - The Law That Never Was) Bob Bishop (Editor, Goldmining Stock Report) Jim Blanchard (Author and Newsletter Writer) Doug Casey (Author of largest selling financial book in history) Bill Cooper (Radio Talk-Show Host) Vince Deniro (Historical/Political Researcher, Radio Talk-Show Host of America's Town Meeting) Larry Dodge (Former Libertarian Party Activist) Roger Fredinburg (Radio Talk-Show Host) Paul Hapenny (Screenwriter) Sheriff Richard I. Mack Graham County, Arizona (Author - From My Cold, Dead Fingers) Lynne Meredith (Legal Researcher/Author, Lecturer) Pat Murphy (Radio Talk-Show Host) Ron Paul (Former Republican Member of Congress) Bob Prechter (Author, Editor, Corporate President) Dr. Gus Prosch (Physician, Author) Maureen K. Salaman (Author, Lecturer) Scott Summers (Houston Foundation for Vietnam Veterans) James Turk (Author and Editor , Freemarket Gold & Money Report) Dr. Julian Whitaker (Author, Newsletter Writer) Neil A. White (Financial Services) Dr. Jonathan Wright (Author) Constitution Party