The Maine Republican Party may want to do things such as build an environment for job growth and improve students’ access to technical education, but you wouldn’t know it by reading the political platform it adopted at the GOP convention this weekend.
That’s because, even though a committee worked for months to update the party’s official opinions on various issues, Ron Paul supporters, and at least one person who helped write the new document, voted to reject it and adopt the version from 2010. That old version is not a fair representation of the whole party. Delegates would have been better off accepting broader perspectives in order to stay relevant.
The 2010 platform — the one that will continue to represent the party — upholds isolationist views such as to seal the border, eliminates the Department of Education, returns to the principles of the Austrian School of economics, freezes the flow of stimulus funds and opposes all United Nations treaties.
The new version had its distractions, too. It vowed to protect the American legal system from Islamic Shariah law and dismissed the state’s French heritage by affirming English as the official language of Maine. But it offered more of what the 2010 version did not: an inclusive tone.
Whereas the document from two years ago referred to the Republican Party as a faction striving against tyranny to “throw off those shackles of restraint and gather power and influence over the people,” the 2012 version offered a less alienating idea. It “humbly” asked a new generation to “assist us in restoring the Constitutional government envisioned by our founders.”
Instead of sealing the border — which could hinder trade — the 2012 document proposed to secure it. Instead of wanting to do away with the education department, it supported more local control and choice in education. Instead of reverting to Austrian economics — to limit the ability of the government to intervene in the economy — it emphasized controlling spending and reducing debt.
The 2012 document also outlined the accomplishments of the party, such as the Legislature passing a two-year budget with bipartisan support last year that instituted $150 million in tax cuts. The document praised enacting stricter sanctions for violations of welfare rules and imposing a drug test requirement for welfare recipients convicted of drug crimes.
If you’re a Republican, does it make sense to not include these items in your platform?
With the largest group of Mainers not enrolled in a party, language counts. And while many people view platforms as having little practical significance, they are used to appeal to the public. Estranging moderates will only exacerbate the political fervency that accomplishes little for Maine people.
The GOP has gone schizo.
Naw… it’s a simple case of Dirigo Foxiganda.
You know, when the only information you get about any political party comes from a biased source it is easy to assume that they have gone crazy.
This is why Democrats think the Tea Party is crazy, and why Republicans think OWS is crazy.
But they are just reporting what the GOP itself has created for it’s platfrom. The BDN did not make any of it up.
The biased news source didn’t write the platform. Simply reading that nonsense should be enough to convince most anyone how far to the right the GOP has moved.
Firstly, maybe I am reading the article incorrectly but basically it is stating that their platform is a small federal government, reasonable taxation, a balanced budget, and returning our country to it’s founding principles by restoring and maximizing our personal liberties. How in any way, are those bad things?
Secondly, if you only ever report the “crazy” of a particular group it surely makes them look crazy, if BDN posted articles all of the time about only the crazy things liberals do it would make them look crazy too, but they don’t ever do that.
Every Republican running for office should have to explain his or her allegiance to a party that promotes this gibberish. Good luck with that.
These guys are irrelevant. Nov. 6 should sweep them away.
We’ve only just begun to take this State back from Massachusetts.
The patients have taken over the asylum.
Naw, just Charlie leting them out for a while for recreation using pen’s pencil’s, paper and crayon’s. I can’t wait to see what’s next. Newt as the new Administrator of NASA ? Or Rick Perry as the next Attorney General ? How about Michelle as the next HHS Secretary ? Even Steven King couldn’t dream up this one !
IMO, anyone who votes for someone from any party that signs a pledge to someone other than the people they are supposed to be representing, doesn’t deserve my vote.
It seems that all but a small handful of the Republicans in Congress have signed a pledge of fielty to Grover Norquist. I can’t understand that. How can this one man demand the allegience of every politician running under the Republican banner?
So if we all have the same basic values that means we have signed some sort of pledge to whomever the left’s demon of the week is?
Exactly. Is there at the present time a pledge for the left to raise taxes? Or if they call for a reduction in taxes is there someone threatening them with a campaign to have them unseated?
Yes on all counts. When one of yours strays from the path they are unseated and they do lose their jobs. The parties are no different Pa you just choose to believe they are.
We each want the people who represent us to represent our values and when the party as a whole stops representing you, then you can either find another party or fix your own.
We are fighting to fix our own and in the process we want to reduce the debt that is going to destroy this country.
15 trillion this year.
I know you don’t have to pay it back but how much do you think we can stand?
So where is this pledge and who has signed it?
Dishonesty doesn’t help your cause.
Am I not reading the article correctly? If not, someone, please correct me. The article appears to be criticizing Austrian school of economics, and is somehow making more local control of schools out to be a bad thing? The article is criticizing Republicans for wanting a balanced budget, a small government that is representative of the people, and restoring our country to a country of personal liberty and responsibility.
I am going to assume that I am reading the article wrong, otherwise I fail to understand how any of those things are bad.
You know you’re reading the BDN right?
Well, considering it is an opinion piece I can’t really say that they are being biased, because that is the point of an opinion piece. But, if the author somehow views those as bad things then the opposite is more or less what has been implemented in North Korea, and in such a case they should probably do everyone a favor and move there and leave America alone. Besides, I hear North Korea is great, their authoritarian-communist state is really doing wonders for their people.
I don’t fault BDN for the tone of one opinion piece. I fault them for their tone in most opinion pieces as well as the slant when it comes to which stories are printed and when.
You should never put that many overgrown amygdalas in one room….
“Democrats Good; Republicans Bad.” Repeat.