The Trallferd Platform

1. Economy

1.1 - Resolved, the role of the Federal government in the economy of the United States should be one of non-involvement. The economic powers of Congress are delineated in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, and should be limited to such. Every bill of fiscal policy should state at its head from what constitutional provision it takes its authority.

1.2 - Resolved, the Federal Reserve should be audited and its dealings exposed to the public view. The next step is to eliminate it.

1.3 - Resolved, the gold and silver standards should be restored as a basis for the US dollar.

1.4 - Resolved, a free market system is the best economic system and the only one allowed by the Constitution, as far as the federal government’s role is concerned. Inseparable from the free market system is the reality that it will have ups and downs, times of prosperity and times of recession. This is due to the activities of free people, and it is free people who will bear the responsibility for them.

2. Individual Liberty

2.1 - Resolved, individual liberty is too great a prize and too inherent a right to be trampled on in the name of ensuring security or morality as a nation. We feel it is also important to recognize that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are negative rights, meaning no man or government should be able to take them from you.

2.2 - Resolved, abortion is no area where we can trample rights. The right to life is perhaps the most fundamental and sacred of all human rights and liberties protected under our Constitution.

2.3 - Resolved, the federal government should not legislate the legality of addictive or personally harmful substances such as alcohol, tobacco, and narcotics.

2.4 - Resolved, the right to a free establishment of religion, unmolested by government, is the foundation for leaving the definition of marriage alone. The federal government should not make any legislation concerning or enforce the legalization or illegalization of any form of marriage. This is left to the states and to the people.

2.5 - Resolved, we are against the illegalization of gambling, the censorship of the internet, and the regulation of the adult sex industry. Morality should not be legislated.

3. Domestic Policy

3.1 - Resolved, all campaign contributions should come from individuals. No corporation should be allowed to contribute to a campaign for federal office. If no provision for such a law is made already, amend the Constitution.

3.2 - Resolved, no federal laws regarding abortion, either for or against, should be made. The states can do what they deem necessary, in accordance with their constitutions and the federal Constitution. Rather than making a federal law, prosecute abortion cases based on existing common law that concerns the taking of life.

3.3 - Resolved, immigration is one of the pillars of America’s greatness. We should encourage immigration. We should do whatever we can to make the process as free as possible. Illegal immigration is an insult to those who have strived, saved, and suffered to come here. The burden it puts on our society and government is debatable. But, because it is an affront to the privilege of coming here legally, and it presents a defect to our national security, it should be prosecuted and prevented with decisive vigor.

3.4 - Resolved, where it does not disagree with state constitutions, the Tenth Amendment IS a catch-all for those powers not given to the federal government. “The powers delegated.to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite.” -- James Madison.#


4. Foreign Policy

4.1 - Resolved, America has no right to be, and should not be, the policeman of the world.

4.2 - Resolved, just as America should not poke its nose into the affairs of other nations, it should not let other nations do the same to it, nor an international body, such as the United Nations.

4.3 - Resolved, in the interest of preserving America’s sovereignty, we should exit the UN as soon as possible.

4.4 - Resolved, alliances should only be made to assure the security of the nation, not bolster our influence around the world. Avoid entangling alliances.

4.5 - Resolved, Israel’s interests are best protected by leaving them their sovereignty, and not supporting either them or their enemies financially.


5. War and Terrorism

5.1 - Resolved, only terrorists or suspected terrorists captured while attacking the United States, its citizens or military should be treated as enemy combatants.

5.2 - Resolved, no form of physical torture whatsoever should be used in the interrogation of captured enemy combatants or terrorist suspects.

5.3 - Resolved, no citizen of the United States should be detained upon suspicion of terrorist activity or sympathy without the existence of a warrant.

5.4 - Resolved, no person, U.S. citizen or not, should be remanded to punishment without a fair trial.

5.5 - Resolved, the United States military does not belong in any foreign nation or locality where it is not obligated to be for the direct protection of American citizens or property of the United States government.

5.6 - Resolved, the United States should not engage in a war or conflict without a declaration of war duly passed by Congress.


6. Taxes and Spending

6.1 - Resolved, eliminate the federal capital gains tax, inheritance tax, income tax, property tax and basically every tax except a national consumption tax and tariffs and duties. If an income tax is necessary, it should have a flat percentage rate.

6.2 - Resolved, we believe the 16th amendment to the Constitution should be repealed.

6.3 - Resolved, no constitutional amendment forbidding the production of a deficit is needed, as such an act MIGHT be necessary in some cases, but should generally be outside the realm of mental possibility for responsible public leaders.

6.4 - Resolved, Congress should strive to take in more than it pays out as long as a national debt exists.

6.5 - Resolved, spend less. Everywhere. The federal government has no role in spending on special benefits given to a particular part of the nation or a particular people group.

6.6 - Resolved, cut spending drastically by eliminating foreign aid. The nation’s coffers are best spent on the nation’s problems.


7. Values (Not planks, just statements)

7.1 - Legislate less; let people live more. Live and let live. The individual’s freedom is the foundation of America’s greatness past and its strength to come.

7.2 - Preserve life to the utmost. This does not exclude the use of the death penalty, as its execution properly recognizes the sacred importance of life. Capital punishment should be sparingly used, though. Only three types of crimes really deserve it: rape, murder, and treason. Prosecuting abortion isn’t about violating a woman’s body or right to choose; it is about not punishing the innocent in the name of serving another’s wishes OR assuaging her undeserved suffering.

7.3 - You can’t legislate morality. You create an environment in which morality can thrive. That environment is freedom.

7.4 - The best person to be in charge of a parent’s child is the parent. Not the federal government, an international body, a public school or daycare, or anyone else.

7.5 - Rights are negatively secured, not positively mandated. Thus, the right to freedom, life, the holding of one’s property--these are about something of yours not being taken from you. These are rights. The right to an education, a good job, a nice home, healthcare--these are not rights--they are positively enforced. They are about giving you something you don’t already have, not about securing what you have already earned.

7.6 - Legislation guided by special interests is especially wrong.

7.7 - Equality is about not placing one race, gender, people group above another, not about making up for past wrongs, or overcompensating to tip the balance of “advantage.” Equality is about treating with an even hand, almost as if the race, gender, ethnicity is not seen.

7.8 - The greatest robber, and the one which usually gets away with it, is the government.

7.9 - Keep it simple; keep it fair, keep it unforced, if possible.

7.10 - When there is a question about federal law, consult the Constitution. Before a federal law is made, consult the Constitution. Before anything is done by the federal government, consult the Constitution. It’s the rulebook.