THE PLATFORM OF THE LANCASTER COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY

 

The Lancaster County Republican Party believes in the principles of freedom and democracy that have made the United States of America a light for goodness in the world.  Gifted to us in documents such as the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, we will uphold original source documents as the TRUTHS to guide our Party and the elected officials who have chosen to represent the LCRP.

 

We Believe…

  • We believe in limited government, individual freedom, personal responsibility and accountability.
  • We believe elected and appointed government officials should be expected to conduct the people’s business with honesty, integrity, and transparency.
  • We believe that our democratic republic will serve the people best when elected officials are beyond reproach in their actions and humble in their accomplishments.
  • We believe the best elected representatives should be connected to the community they represent.  Having a strong, engaged connection to the community better prepares elected officials to serve their constituents.  As a better prepared elected official, their community has a voice.
  • We believe in a duly-certified electorate that is well informed, actively engaged in the voting process, and most of all represent the Republican platform through respectful and measured discourse.

Accordingly, we adopt the following Platform Standards:

I. SANCTITY OF LIFE

We acknowledge and respect the sanctity of every human life. We oppose abortion, the unnecessary killing of innocent life.  We hold both parties accountable in a mutually conceived pregnancy.  We urge greater commitment, individually and society as a whole, to meet the needs of women and families in order to provide alternatives to abortion. We oppose human cloning and research that destroys human embryos or uses fetal tissue from elective abortion.  We believe that euthanasia and assisted suicide should remain illegal.

II. RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS

We uphold the constitutional right to bear arms as a cornerstone of national liberty and individual freedom. We recognize the fundamental right of law-abiding citizens to carry arms as a means of self-defense.

III. FREEDOM OF FAITH AND RELIGION

We support the Constitution of the State of Nebraska. We support the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. We are opposed to the misinterpretation and intentional misuse of the First Amendment to restrict rather than protect religious expression, speech, and the right of the people to peaceably assemble and to petition their government.

IV. SAFETY & SECURITY

We fully SUPPORT our local law enforcement and believe that civilized society requires a strong stand against crime.  We support qualified immunity as strictly defined to give law enforcement “the margin to make reasonable, but mistaken judgements” when in the extreme of public protection and safety situations.  Trials, sentencing and punishment must be fair, swift, and just in order to effectively deter crime and hold the criminal properly accountable. Full restitution to crime victims, whenever possible, should be part of the punishment imposed as an acknowledgment of guilt and initiation of rehabilitation.  We support post-conviction reform to expedite appeals, consistent with due process.

V. HUMAN EQUALITY & NEUTRALITY OF OPPORTUNITY

We affirm our Founding Fathers' words from the Declaration of Independence…”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  We believe that the concept of equal rights and equal responsibilities under the law is basic to a free society.  We subscribe to ‘neutrality of opportunity’ as a mindset so that all persons can succeed based on merit and the content of their character.  Whereas all starting points for freedoms are unbiased and therefore neutral, the two main components of life: reason and choice, mind and morality can lead to productive work and our country can prosper.  A prosperous nation is formed by a citizenry driven to think, to achieve, to move forward, to meet new challenges, and overcome them.

VI. GOVERNMENT AND ELECTED OFFICIALS

We believe in limited government with a series of checks and balances to eliminate the potential for overreaching governments or unilateral control of a community.  We support increased transparency of intra-governmental communications, increased efficiency and accountability, and the reduction of regulatory burdens at all levels of government.  We desire objective truths and factual data for any policies and procedures that utilize tax payer’s dollars for government services or regulations.  We will hold Republican elected officials accountable to LCRP Platform Standards in an effort to give guidance.  We will initiate respectful discouragement of poor voting records or disengaged representation.  Issuance of “Code Blue’s” will publicly document Republican elected officials’ discrepancies with LCRP Platform standards.  In recognition of outstanding community representation, “Shields of Honor '' will be presented to Republican elected officials who dedicated their terms of service promoting and fighting for LCRP Platform standards.

VII. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

We reaffirm our belief in limited, small government.  Government-oriented fees and regulations stifle creativity, unduly interfere with and impede both the free-market economics and the desire for entrepreneurship.  We believe the government should not be a roadblock to growth and opportunity.  We support policies to advance prosperity and freedom to achieve the American dream. We strongly support the free enterprise system as the best path to prosperity for the individual.  Individuals encouraged to pursue their economic dreams in a free market, will create the most economic gain and produce a strong economy.

VIII. FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

We support sound, constitutional public expenditures, including sustainable, balanced budgets based upon a reduction in government expenditures and a plan for decreasing current debt.  As a matter of budgetary practice, elected officials should be cognitive and primarily focused on the NEEDS of the community and not subjective WANTS.  We strongly believe all government taxing entities should subscribe to a conservative, frugal budget planning process to reduce taxes on property, sales, and income.  We believe a responsible government recognizes that citizens are entitled to keep the money they earn as the surest path to savings, investment, a flourishing economy, and encouragement of growth and development. We believe these principles should be foremost in any consideration of taxation.

IX. INFRASTRUCTURE

Maintaining necessary infrastructure that would include sustainable roads and bridges is an essential service and is imperative to fostering economic growth for local and rural commerce.  Similar to maintenance on buildings and other structures, the allocation of property tax dollars should be of priority for both city and county budgets.  Furthermore, we encourage the promotion of electronic commerce such as high-speed broadband and other components to digital infrastructure as it facilitates opportunities for economic expansion, especially in rural communities.  We believe that the symbiotic partnership of rural Nebraska to city commerce (farm-to-table) is vital to the well-being of the entire state.

X. EDUCATION

We affirm our belief that a democratic society cannot survive and flourish without a populace that is well educated.  We support parental choice in education and believe the family to be our country’s basic institution and as such should be encouraged to take a larger role in education.  We support home and private schooling.  We accept multiple possible taxpayer-supported models of education.  We urge citizens to require fiscal and educational accountability from school boards and university regents, policymakers, and educational professionals to assure that quality services are being rendered. 

We believe that it is the purposeful and proper role of the schools to teach patriotism including the Pledge of Allegiance (one Nation under God), the Star Spangled Banner, respect for the American flag, and American exceptionalism.  We support the teaching of American History and Social Studies in a factual sense devoid of divisive revisionist trends.  We support genuine accountability, high standards, and traditional academic curriculum as the keys to quality government-operated public schools.

XI. ELECTION ACCOUNTABILITY & VOTER VERIFICATION

The ability of American citizens to exercise their right to vote is foundational to our constitutional republic.  Believing in the integrity and legitimacy of the electoral process and the verification of election results is essential to preserving our republic, our state, and the God-given freedoms and liberties we, as Americans, embrace.  We support legislation that increases oversight and investigative authority to bring greater transparency to Nebraska’s election process, the vote verification, the Voter ID authentication, and the auditing of the electronic equipment used therein.

XII. HOMELAND SECURITY AND IMMIGRATION

We believe that the primary purpose of the government is to provide for the safety and security of its citizens. We support efforts to defend the United States, Nebraska, and Lancaster County from acts of terrorism. We believe in securing our national borders recognizing that a nation without enforceable borders is neither sovereign nor secure. We support, welcome, and encourage the assimilation of all legal immigrants and others who are here pursuant to due process and are productive, law-abiding citizens. In fairness to them, we support stringent federal efforts to stem the tide of illegal immigration. We oppose providing taxpayer-funded benefits to those who have broken our immigration laws.

English is the common language of the United States.

XII. FORMATION OF HEALTHY FAMILY UNIT

We believe that the institution of a faith-based marriage is crucial to the American family and as such should be defined as the union of one man and one woman.  We do believe that the citizens of each state have the right to define marriage in their state.  We believe Lancaster County has a strong foundation of homes, families, faith, and neighborhoods.  From these basic building blocks come, self-reliant individuals prepared to exercise both rights and responsibilities.  However, we oppose laws that would intrude unnecessarily on the rights of the family, contribute to the dissolution of the family, or interfere with parental rights.  We recognize the need to prevent child and spouse abuse.