MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR:
The 2004 Texas Republican Party Platform– A Study in Hypocrisy and Extremism

I have just read the 2004 Texas Republican Party Platform. It is unabashedly homophobic, categorically anti-choice, remarkably anti-education, intransigently anti-worker, undeniably anti-Hispanic, and frighteningly anti-democratic. But that was pretty much to be expected. What is truly stunning is its self-indulgent disdain for ideals Americans hold dear – from its unapologetic commendation of the prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, to its call for abolition of the No Child Left Behind program, to its demands that would allow convicted felons to own assault weapons, to its repeated insistence that promoting and funding Christian religious institutions and beliefs is one of the few legitimate roles of government.

The platform also reveals rampant, unmitigated hypocrisy:

On the same day Ronald Reagan died of Alzheimer’s disease, the Republican Party of Texas reiterated its stubborn adamant opposition to the embryonic stem cell research, which offers the greatest hope of providing a cure for the cruel debilitating condition from which the former president so painfully suffered and ultimately died– and for which Nancy Reagan has so passionately publicly pleaded. How can these Republicans mourn the death of Ronald Reagan and simultaneously condemn the very research which might have relieved his grievous suffering, or at least that of others similarly afflicted?

On the same day President Bush was desperately seeking (and ultimately obtained) United Nations assistance and support for the reconstruction effort in Iraq, the Texas Republican Party passed a platform urging Congress to “immediately rescind our membership in . . . the United Nations,” to “eliminate any further participation [in the United Nastions],” and even “to evict the United Nations from the United States” (and to refuse to pay our debt owed to the UN for prior membership).

At the same time Governor Perry was talking about calling another special session of the Texas Legislature ostensibly to address the crisis in education funding in this state, the Republicans Party was adopting a platform calling for elimination of all funding from the No Child Left Behind program. (“We call for the abolition of the U.S. Department of Education and the prohibition of the transfer of any of its functions to any other federal agency.” One of the DOE’s functions, of course, is administration of the No Child Left Behind program and distribution of funds under it to local school districts.)

The Republican platform claims to “oppose any attempt to deprive the American people of their constitutionally protected right to elect their own Representatives,” but it is unclear whether that condemnation extends to efforts to of the Texas legislature to deprive Texans of their duly elected Members of Congress by partisan redistricting designed to achieve just that result.

Reading the platform one finds clause after clause evidencing the Texas Republican Party has been hijacked by the extremest of the extreme. In the area of law enforcement, for example, the platform calls for the FBI to discontinue investigations of interstate kidnaping, pornography, terrorism, drug cases, and corporate fraud (for example) (“the Party supports the limitation of the criminal jurisdiction of federal law-enforcement agencies to the high seas, federal installations, and counterfeiting operations”), and, of course, elimination of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The platform does (somewhat surprisingly) call for “revision of those portions of the USA Patriot Act . . . that erodes constitutional rights and essential [as opposed to non-essential, I suppose] liberties of citizens,” and it does proclaim that “the current greatest threat to our individual liberties is overreaching controls established under the guise of preventing terrorism” [Bravo!] but it does “urge reasonable use of profiling.”

On the subject of terrorism, the platform charges the President to “cancel the state of national emergency and Congress to repeal the War Powers Act.” There is a fascinating provision in the Homeland Security section of the platform where the Party”urges the Homeland Security Department to . . . not violate the constitutional rights of the citizens of the United States.” I wonder what the drafters had in mind or what conduct they were sufficiently concerned about that they felt compelled to “urge” the Bush Administration not to violate citizens’ constitutional rights.

One of the more remarkable planks expressly states, “we oppose any attempt to introduce direct democracy . . . into our state constitution.” These folks want nothing to do with democracy, and their platform specifically says so.

In one place the platform specifically opposes referendum as a part of government, and then on the same page, six paragraphs later, call for “two binding referenda” (in cases of annexation) (and later for a referendum on making the state’s Right-To-Work Law a constitutional amendment). That may not be hypocritical, but it sure is schizophrenic.

In the section on the environment, there’s nothing in the Republican platform other than a reaffirmation of “an individual’s right to own and use property without governmental interference” (if you want to pollute our air or waterways, go right ahead, as long as you do it from your own property, since everybody has a right to do whatever they want on their own property, other than engage in homosexual behavior there), opposition to the Endangered Species Act and the Kyoto Agreement and the Biodiversity Treaty, and a demand for the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency. You cannot find one other word in the Republican platform about preserving the environment (other than an expression of support for “private research and development of [alternate energy] sources, including spaced-based solar power”). On the contrary, the Party calls for Congress to “stop promulgation of unnecessary environmental regulation that . . . disrespects private property rights.”

To protect us from judges who might be inclined to enforce the Constitution, the platform call for “withhold[ing] appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in such cases involving abortion, religious freedom, and all rights guaranteed under the Bill of Rights.” If a case involves one of those topics, the Supreme Court of the United States should not be allowed to consider it, according to the Republicans. (Nothing is mentioned about the Court deciding who will be named President of the United States in the event a Democrat appears to have won the vote).

One good provision of the platform supports “prohibition of . . . electronic voting which lacks a paper trail.” The problem is, such a bill is presently pending in Congress; of the 141 co-sponsors of the bill, only six are Republicans (none from Texas). And the pending bill would amend the Help Americans Vote Act to achieve that result, but the Republican platform demands that the HAVA be repealed (together with “all Motor Voter laws.”)

On the subject of campaigns, the Republicans oppose any “so-called ‘campaign finance reform’ [which would restrict] the amount of individual or Political Action Committee campaign contributions.” (Government of, for, and by the highest bidder.) They do support “full disclosure of the amounts and sources of these funds.” I guess Tom DeLay didn’t get that part of the message; at least, he doesn’t believe in it or support it. Nor do his high-roller corporate sponsors in the Texas Association of Businesses or the Texas for True Mobility (believers in secret political contributions of unlimited amounts from corporations and other donors).

The area of religion and government is the place where the Republican platform most clearly reveals its vision for government as Republicans would like it to be – a religious theocracy, rather than a democracy. The platform reminds us that “the United States of America is a Christian nation” (even calling that portion of the platform the “Christian Nation” plank). It pledges to exert the party’s influence to “dispel the myth of the separation of Church and State,” It reaffirms the “right of . . . state and local governments to display symbols of our [that is, the Christian] faith” “We oppose any governmental action to restrict, prohibit, or remove public display of . . . religious symbols.” And while most government spending is condemned, “we believe that the faith-based initiatives . . . should continue to be funded by federal monies.” Federal spending for education and health care, for example, should be eliminated, but not spending for “faith-based initiatives.” In fact, the Republican platform recommends “faith-based rehabilitation programs should be used in place of incarceration.” And all Hate Crimes Laws should be “repealed immediately.” Another plank of the platform affirms, “it is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to own their dependence upon . . . the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures.”

On guns, the Party “reject[s] the establishment of any mechanism to process, license, record, register, or monitor owners of guns.” There goes instant background checks, elimination of the gun show exception to the Brady Bill, and come to think of it, the Brady Bill itself (a fitting tribute to President Reagan, don’t you think?). Another plank “urges Congress to remove any and all gun laws that infringe upon the U.S. constitutional rights of the citizens to protect their homes and communities.” On the face of it, that would mean no ban on assault weapons and repeal of any laws prohibiting convicted felons from owning or possessing guns, since they are still citizens and those bans infringe their rights to protect their homes, too.

On gays, lesbians, and transgendered individuals, the party is unequvocal: not content with simply opposing gay marriage or even calling for a constitutional amendment on the subject (though it does that), it also opposes civil unions or domestic partnerships, “supports legislation that would make it a felony to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple or for any civil official to perform a marriage ceremony for a same-sex couple,” and opposes all “custody of children by homosexuals.” Further, “no homosexual . . . should have the right to custody or adoption of a minor child, and . . . visitation with minor children by such persons should be limited to supervised periods.” As if that weren’t plain enough, the platform continues, “we oppose . . . adoption of children by homosexuals.” And the Americans with Disabilities Act should be amended to exclude homosexuals with disabilities from being able to make claims under the Act. The Party “recommends . . . the disqualification of homosexuals from military services [and] the immediate discharge of HIV positive individuals form the service.” And perhaps the most outrageous plank in the entire Republican platform contends that if someone engages in violent acts directed at homosexuals, but does so because of his or her opposition to the victim’s sexual orientation, that should not be considered a crime, because “we oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.”

On choice, the Republican party “urges the reversal of Roe v. Wade” and proposes a plethora of obstacles to a woman exercising her right to control her own body and make her own choices. Party candidates are warned to support “the entire platform” on this issue or lose any kind of financial support from the party or its contributors. This includes any Republicans who dare to support embryonic stem cell research (such as Nancy Reagan). Such renegades invoke the sharpest rebuke from the party. (Interestingly, this is the only section of the platform which would require withholding of financial support to candidates who disagree with particular aspects of the Party’s diatribe).

If the Texas Republicans have their way, the Social Security system would be phased out (in favor of private pensions based on individual retirement accounts – such as, I guess, the one the thousands of Enron retirees can count on now to provide a minimum level of sustenance during their retirement!) By the way, there’s not one single word about corporate corruption, misdeeds, or shenanigans or Enron or Halliburton or anything of that sort in the entire Republican platform. That silence speaks volumes.

The education plank advances the notion that “our education system is experiencing a spending crisis, not a funding crisis.” Texas, ranked 49th in the nation in per student expenditures for education, spends too much money on education, Republicans believe (according to their platform). This can be remedied, the platform claims, by eliminating “government-sponsored programs that deal with early childhood development,” with pre-school and kindergarten being phased out “as soon as possible,” with discontinuation of providing “a free appropriate public education to all children with special needs,” and with ending of “all state funding of higher education grants and scholarships,” as well as reductions in administrator salaries and the always popular but never achieved “eliminat[ion of] wasteful spending, fraud, and abuse of our tax dollars” (nowhere explained with specificity). At all events, “the Party urges the Texas Legislature to . . . not increase taxes even for funding of schools.” (The platform does “deplore the inordinate amount of time being forced upon teachers and students for state-mandated standardized test preparation to the detriment of basic academic instruction. Wasn’t that precisely the criticism which was aimed at President Bush’s and Secretary Paige’s education “plan” when they announced it?)

On taxes, the Republicans urge that “the IRS be abolished and the Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution [which allows an income tax] be repealed. We further urge that the personal income tax, inheritance tax, gift tax, capital gains tax, corporate income tax, and payroll tax [and all social security taxes] be eliminated.” On the state level, the Party urges repeal of the Texas Franchise Tax (the tax business corporations pay), abolition of all property taxes, opposition to a state income or property tax, reduction of the state sales tax, and prohibition of raising any current fees – “even to pay for education.” (Raising the sales tax to 9_% was passed by the Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives during the last special session to fund education. Apparently the rank and file thought that a very bad idea.) There is also a provision condemning any taxation of internet services, which, of course, is precisely what the Republicans had passed in the special session. If you think it’s hard to fund essential government services now, and you thought it was immoral to deny health services to so many poor children, for example, in the name of balancing the state’s budget, wait til you see what the Legislature would have to do with no franchise tax, no property tax, no gambling taxes, no increase in fees of any kind, and a reduction in the state sales tax. This is all truly breathtaking.

On issues of concern to the Latino community, the Republican platform is anything but friendly. It demands legislation establishing English as “the official language of Texas and of the United States of America,” and insists that “no governmental entity shall require any agency to publish public documents in a language other than English.” (That means, among other things, that ballots would no longer contain Spanish or Vietnamese translations, and neither would public notices.) The Republican Party platform calls for “termination of bilingual education programs,” as well as “elimination of day labor work centers.” It also seeks elimination of providing of “non-emergency medical care to illegal immigrants.” The Party also “opposes all forms of legal status for illegal immigrants irrespective of program name or race” and would eliminate providing public education for children of undocumented immigrants. Further, current laws providing for “automatic U.S. citizenship to children born to illegal immigrant parents” would be suspended, under the Republican platform, and “strong document verification [would be required] prior to the issuance of a Texas drivers license to anyone.”

Labor won’t be pleased with the Republican platform, either. It calls for minimum wage laws and prevailing rates laws to be repealed, and effectively rescinds affirmatively action. Not content with suppressing workers organizational rights in this state, it calls for a national right to work law (but no protections for workers whatsoever). It also includes a provision calling on the legislature to resist efforts to extend Workers Compensation coverage to all workers. It demands that union moneys not be used for political purposes without member consent, but declines to require shareholder approval before corporate money can be used for political purposes.

On the national level, the Texas GOP demands that the federal budget be balanced. That, of course, would require rescission of the Bush tax cuts and elimination of the recently enacted prescription drug benefit (giveaway to large pharmaceutical companies) – at least while we have 133,000 troops to pay for and supply in Iraq. Part of the Republican plan to take care of that deficit is to abolish “the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; the position of Surgeon General; the Environmental Protection Agency; the Departments of Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Resources, Education, Commerce, and Labor,” as well as the abolition of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Public Broadcasting System. On the other hand, the platform does call for “continued funding and development of the Strategic Defense Initiative,” and making permanent the Bush tax cuts. No other explanation is given as to how all that can be achieved (especially while all federal taxes other than a national retail sales tax are abolished) – and correctly so; it is impossible.

The platform does insist that “the military never be deployed except to defend against an invasion or in protection of the United States’ direct, vital interests.” That, of course, would preclude the recent invasion of Iraq, which the platform describes as having been waged “to protect them [the people of Iraq – not the people of United States] from the tyranny of dictatorial regimes.” Protecting Iraqis from dictators may (or may not) be a noble objective, but it surely is not required for the “protection of the United States’ direct, vital interests.”

On Iraq, “the Party commends President George W. Bush, his administration, and the U.S. Armed Forces in their strategy and execution of the War in Iraq.” Part of the “execution” of that war was, of course, the widespread torture and abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison. By commending the “execution” of the war without any exception or qualification for the prisoner abuse scandal, the Republican Party of Texas expresses approval of that treatment of the prisoners. There is simply no other way to read the platform statement on this issue, consistent with the English language.

Finally, rather than calling on the United Nations to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq, the Republican platform “urges Congress to evict the United Nations from the United States and eliminate any further participation.” That ought to convince the other nations of the world that we appreciate their friendship, respect their sovereignty, and desire to have good relations with with them for the betterment of mankind. And what a clever way to get other countries to work with us in achieving a stable and self-sufficient new Iraq!

So that’s the 2004 platform of the Republican Party of Texas. Makes you proud to be a Democrat, doesn’t it?

Gerry Birnberg
Chair, Harris County Democratic Party
June 14, 2004

Archive of Gerry Birnberg's Messages

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