TEN IDENTIFYING FACTORS OF A TRUE CONSERVATIVE
- Personal responsibility;
- Limited federal government (in size and responsibilities);
- Strong military defense and homeland security with strong opposition to terrorism, communism and all forms of tyranny;
- Free markets, competitive capitalism and the advancement of private enterprise. We oppose capital gains and high corporate taxation which inevitably would be passed on to the American consumer. We also favor the freedom to maintain private control of economic power and investment. The government should not compete with nor interfere in capitalism;
- Traditional values as proposed and observed by the Founding Fathers;
- Individual liberties based on the Bill of Rights and understood by the Founding Father;
- The elimination of entitlement programs which call for affirmative action and preferential treatment advancing a quota system. We do not believe, however, that any programs which threaten the welfare of the elderly and handicapped should be discarded;
- Control of and funding to education, transportation, housing, urban development and human services should become the purview of the states with little or no interference from the federal government. We further believe that programs such as Social Security and Medicare should be privatized;
- State's Rights - that division of powers granted in the Constitution is summed up in the clause that reserves primacy to the several states, or to the people, in those areas not specifically delegated to the Federal Government;
- Little or no pre-emptive use of the military or military action without due cause.
We believe that the Constitution of the United States speaks for itself. There is no need to rewrite, change or reinterpret it to suit the fancies of special interest groups or protected classes.