|
The Prohibition Party Platform - 2004 Preamble We, the delegates to the Prohibition National Convention, assembled at Fairfield Glade, Tennessee, September 5-6, 2003, recognizing Almighty God as the Source of all just government, and with faith in the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, promise that if our nominees are chosen to administer the affairs of our nation, states, or communities, we will seek to serve the needs and to preserve the prerogatives and guaranteed Constitutional freedoms of the citizens of the United States of America. Constitutional Government and States Rights We affirm our loyalty to the Constitution of The United States of America. We support states rights according to the 10th Amendment. We support the integrity of the three branches of government. The several states which created the federal government have had many of their rights usurped by all three branches of that government. We will take strong action to preserve and/or restore the states’ Constitutional rights. Foreign Affairs We will conduct foreign affairs with the preservation
of American liberty and independence as our chief objective. Except for
emergency humanitarian help, foreign aid should
be ended. We favor free trade only on a truly reciprocal basis among equals.
We oppose ‘most favored nation’ status for nations with a history of human
rights violations. We are opposed to the interference of Taxation and Spending
We support the free enterprise system, and we support
protection of the consuming public from irresponsible and deceptive business
practices. Monetary Policy The Constitution provides that Congress shall have the
power to coin money and to regulate its value. Therefore, we call upon
Congress to terminate the Federal Reserve System for the purpose of reducing
the national debt and to withdraw the Labor and Management Anti-trust laws must be applied to both business and
labor. We acknowledge the contributions of workers to the American way
of life and will protect their right to join or not to join a union. Individual Rights We support the equality of treatment of all American
citizens before the law. We call upon Congress to take action to end all
discriminatory quotas in employment, education, and housing. All political
subdivisions should be apportioned without reference to the race or religion
of the citizenry. Right-to-Life We recognize that, according to the Constitution, ‘no
person’ (including the unborn) ‘shall be deprived of life, liberty, or
property without due process of law. We support banning ‘partial-birth’
abortions. Military Preparedness We pray for peace and abhor the prospects of Immigration We oppose the massive illegal immigration now tolerated
by our government. We support deportation of illegal entrants. We propose
to apply diplomatic pressure on those nations to our south to improve
the economic and social conditions which are the root of this mass migration. Welfare We favor retraining programs and public service work,
when appropriate. We oppose abuses of the welfare system, and we oppose
welfare payments to illegal aliens. The Family We favor adding an amendment to the Constitution defining
“marriage” as a union between one man and one woman. Education We support excellence in education and the raising of
academic standards. We support the awarding of school vouchers to all
students like scholarships or grants, to then be used at the school of
their choice. We support the right for private schools and home schooling. Religious Liberty We support the right of individuals to believe,
fellowship, worship, evangelize, educate, and establish religious institutions
in accordance with their beliefs. We oppose discrimination against religious
schools, broadcasters, and other religious groups and individuals at the
hands of the federal, state, and local branches of government. Church and State Although we oppose the use of tax money for sectarian
purposes, we believe that it was not the intent of the Founding Fathers
to banish religion from We support the right to prayer and Bible reading in schools
and other public institutions. We favor tax-exemption for all non-profit
religious institutions, including parsonages, church publishing houses,
and religious schools. Public Morality We favor stronger and more vigorous enforcement of laws
against the sale of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, against
gambling, illegal drugs, pornography, and commercialized vice, and we
will seek to provide moral leadership. We oppose the promotion of unnatural
lifestyles. We oppose state lotteries and other legalized gambling. Ballot Law Reform Republicans and Democrats have created a two-party duopoly
by enacting increasingly repressive laws that keep most independent and
third-party candidates off the ballot in most states. We support legislation
to restore equal political rights to all third-party and independent persons
or groups. We support term limits for all members of Congress. We favor
legislation allowing all ballot-positioned independent and third-party
candidates to equally participate in public debates which are supported
in whole or in part by public funding. Social Security We support reform of the Social Security system by:
Agriculture We will adopt agricultural policies which assist family
farmers in staying in farming. We oppose payment of government subsidies
to agribusiness. We favor repeal of predatory tax levies and artificially
inflated land values placed on farms adjacent to urban areas which tend
to drive the farmer off his land. Public Health We favor continued prohibition of such harmful drugs as heroin, LSD, cocaine, and marijuana. Because of the well-documented deadly effects of tobacco products, we oppose the manufacture, advertising, and sale of tobacco products, and we oppose continued government subsidies for the tobacco industry. We oppose our government coercing other countries to accept our tobacco products. We favor maintaining a level of taxes on tobacco equal to the social costs of repairing the damage caused by tobacco. We favor government action to discover and implement medical remedies for AIDS; we urge the government to combat the immoral sexual conduct and the illegal drug usage which are responsible for most American AIDS cases. Until the
liquor traffic is eradicated, we call for the alcoholic beverage industry
and its products to be placed under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug
Administration. The Environment Since God has given Man dominion over the Earth, we believe
that individuals and local and state governments are responsible
for protecting the environment and for safeguarding the air and water
that we all must share. Second Amendment Rights We recognize the fundamental need of Second Amendment
rights to guard against tyrannical government and for personal protection
against violent crime. We support the Constitutional right of law-abiding
citizens to own and use guns. The Alcohol Problem Alcohol is still the number-one drug problem in The United States. It is a major cause of poverty, traffic crashes, broken homes, juvenile and adult crime, physical and sexual abuse, political corruption, wasted manpower, disability, and premature death. We favor maintaining the nation-wide legal drinking age of 21, and we favor establishing a level of taxes on alcohol equal to the social costs of repairing the damage caused by alcohol. Our program
of leadership, legislation, and education – including publicizing the
scientific basis of the correlation between tobacco use and alcohol use
– will result in a change in societal attitudes toward supporting prohibition
of the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverage products. The
2003 Platform Committee consisted of:
Don Webb (Alabama),
Sarah Ward (Indiana),
Mary Ann Freeman (Indiana),
Leroy Pletten (Michigan),
and James Hedges (Pennsylvania).
The committee attempted to compress and to polish the writing of the platform,
without making fundamental changes in its position on issues.
|