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------------------------------------------------



           +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

           + GRRR! Newsletter - Volume 94, Edition 1 +

           +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

                      --November 19, 1994--

                 Government REFORM REFORM REFORM!





This is the first edition of a new periodic electronic newsletter.

The purpose of this newsletter is to track the progress of the

agenda and actions that are coalescing now to "Take Our Country Back!"



It is my intention that this will result in a monthly Newsletter

tracking the latest revisions to the table of issues below as

well as relevant news items in a "watchdog" role.



Editor:         Robert Bryan Reinhardt (Abingdon, Maryland)

Email:          breinhar@tomahawk.welch.jhu.edu

Anonymous FTP:  tomahawk.welch.jhu.edu:pub/politics/reform

----



I embarked on this project because after the past couple years of

listening to the UWSA, the Libertarian Party, some Republicans,

and now the Constitution Party; all of whom seem to be working for

the common goal--I had to ask the inevitable question...



           +++Can't we all work together?+++



Incidentally, I don't mean to exclude Democrats, or anyone else;

in fact I hope that our movement is as inclusive as possible.  I

limited this study to organizations that are primarily focused on

reforming our government, i.e. less and better government, vs.

where we've been heading.  Beyond that, I'll let the "coalition

agenda" that I've attempted to document below, speak for itself.



This information is derived from the following sources used as

reference:  The 1994 Republican "Contract With America," the

1992 book _United_We_Stand_ by Ross Perot, founder of United

We Stand America (UWSA), the 1994 Libertarian Party Platform,

and the 1994 Constitution Party Platform.



This has the potential to play a role in defining the "Reform Coalition"

or "Liberty Coalition" or "Tea Party"--whatever we end up merging to

become by 1996.  I figure, either one of two things are going to happen.

One, our reform movement coalesces to take over the core of the

Republican Party, and through their actions we get the job done, or

barring that, a new "coalition" Third Party will come together in

1996 to throw both parties out and "Take Our Country Back" firsthand.

I proceed from that premise, and I offer this tool to help us go down

both of these paths.  In the first instance, the Republican Party

has <2 years to show us what they've got.  We can use this tool along

with the results of their actions to track their progress along the

way.  In the second instance, if we find the Republican's aren't

going to do the whole job, we've undertaken an exercise to get

us ahead of the game in developing the platform issues for the

new Third Party.



I will need help in updating and maintaining this, as well I would

appreciate one-paragraph submissions of "editorials" reporting on

progress or lack of it on these issues within the political spectrum.

So, the call for "Associate Editors" goes out.  Send me email if

you're interested in helping with this on an ongoing (probably

monthly) basis.



I have attempted to list a brief one-liner of every agenda item

espoused by each of the references.  The entries in the table

uses the following format:



                      R  U  L  C  #

                    -----------------

   O - AnAnAnAnAn     #  #  #  #  #





Where "O" is one or more "sponsoring" organizations, consisting of:

   R "Republican Party"

   U "UWSA/Ross Perot"

   L "Libertarian Party"

   C "Constitution Party"



Where "AnAnAnAnAnAn" is a brief description of the specific issue, and



Where "#" is a numeric value illustrating the value of each organizations

position on the specific issue.  In the last column, # is the total of

all the organizations studied to find a value, which I use to sort these

tables by, giving an illustration of those issues which we as a coalition

most agree on, to the least.  The # values I used mean the following:

   2 "Directly Compatible in Principle" or "Specifically in their agenda"

   1 "Compatible with their overall movement"

   0 "No clear opinion on the issue" or "No guess was made (by me)"

  -1 "Directly Incompatible in Principle"

     or "Specifically opposed in their agenda"



Note:  The reason I did not make the scale from {2...-2} is because

my goal is to emphasize the "Coalition" of these collective agendas, with

less concern over those items which are in conflict.  I believe, with

the -1 scoring for those items, they items will show up clearly enough.

I don't want to focus on what we disagree on, but what we AGREE on.



The only difference from the above key to this table is that in the left

most character of the description column, I indicate by "O" one or more

organizations who directly sponsor the issue in their agenda; for the

"Republican Contract With America" (the only part of the Republican

agenda used in this study so far) these are indicated by a number 0-10,

which corresponds to the points in the "Contract," 0 indicates all the

issues that were specified as occuring on "day one" of the new Congress.



At this time I won't editorialize the findings below, I submit this as

a "FIRST DRAFT" to the Electronic Townhall Community.  The editorial

will develop as this study progresses.   Please read the "Afterword"

section after the tables, as I will provide some additional editorial

information about this data and identify next steps in this effort.



The important thing to get right in this "first draft" is the information

in the first column, identifying the various "issues" with their

respective organizations.  I'm sure some of you will assist me in

correcting my "scoring" of each organizations stand on the issue.  This

one final point before getting into this.  Obviously, both the

"abbreviation" of the issues and the "scoring" for each organization

relative to each is purely my own opinion based on how I interpreted

the reference documents.  Each document has it's varying degrees of

clarity and conciseness, so this is a challenge.  "0" scores are

indicated by a blank space "  " to hopefully make this a little

easier to read.  In some cases U, L, or C, I may have simply chosen

not to render a guess if I could not clearly tell using the

references at hand. In the case of R (the Republicans) I only put

a score on those issues that they specifically define in their

"Contract," of course these are all "2's".  This was done for two

reasons.  One is that I want this to contrast the Republican

agenda so that we can all see where we stand relative to them, since

they are the ones we need to CLOSELY WATCH during the next two years.

Secondly, after a couple revisions to this I hope this becomes clean

enough a document that I can submit it to representatives of the

Republican Party to give them a chance to "score" themselves,

in public if you will.  Inquiring minds want to know. (If they don't,

then eventually we will do it for them).



I hope this isn't too complicated.  After discussion, and several

working "revisions" it should get easier to manage and we can

use this as a tool in our efforts to "Work Together" to "Take

Our Country Back".  This isn't easy to do in ASCII text for

generic electronic broadcast, but the effort is worth it I think.



                                                    R   U   L   C   #

                                                  ---------------------

CONGRESS RULES TO CHANGE ON DAY 1                

0 - Comprehensive audit of Congress                 2   2   2   2   8

0,U - Cut number of house committee staff by 1/3    2   2   2   2   8

0 - Require committee meetings open to the public   2   2   2   2   8

0 - All laws apply equally to members of Congress   2   2   1   2   7

0 - Require 3/5 majority to pass any tax increases  2   1   1   1   5

0 - Implement zero-baseline budgeting               2   1   1   1   5

0 - Limit the terms of committee chairs             2   1       1   4

0 - Ban proxy voting in committee                   2   1       1   4



                                                    R   U   L   C   #

                                                  ---------------------

BUDGET AND SPENDING REFORM               

1 - Amendment - Tax limitation                      2   2   2   2   8

1,L - Amendment - Balanced budget                   2   2   2   1   7

U,L,C - Don't fund unneeded programs                    2   2   2   6

1,U - Amendment - line-item veto                    2   2       1   5

10 - Additional savings in budget to offset costs   2   1   1   1   5

U - 15% cut in discretionary spending                   2   1   1   4

U - Normalize the federal retirement system             2   1   1   4

L - Stop funding comms. organ. with public money            2       2

               

                                                    R   U   L   C   #

                                                  ---------------------

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND RIGHTS REFORM               

2 - Crime truth-in-sentencing                       2   2   2   2   8

2 - Good-faith exclusionary rule exemptions         2   1   1   1   5

2 - Effective death penalty provisions              2   1   1   1   5

2 - Fund prison construction & law enforcement      2   1   1   1   5

L,C - Repeal laws restr. use of private property        1   2   2   5

C - Policy reform, uphold State's rights                1   2   2   5

C - Punish guilty, show society leniency                2   1   2   5

2 - Cut in social spending from recent crime bill   2   1   1       4

U - Violent offenders 3 strikes and out; no parole      2   1   1   4

U - Literacy & Skills pre-req. for prisoner release     2   1   1   4

U,L - Abortion is a woman's choice                      2   2       4

L,C - Law enforcement uphold Individual rights              2   2   4

L - Cease practice of pre-trial seizure of property         2   2   4

L - Repeal any law that restricts freedom of speech         2   2   4

L,C - Uphold the RKBA and other self-defense                2   2   4

L - Respect freedom of religion; treat all equally          2   2   4

L,C - Respect the privavy of information on people"         2   2   4

L,C - Oppose any form of government ID card"                2   2   4

L,C - Oppose universal use of SSN for personal ID"          2   2   4

L,C - Repeal all laws regulating drugs and vitamins"        2   2   4

L,C - Repeal laws pertaining to "victimless" crimes    -1   2   2   3

L - Ban law enforcement "instant-punishment"                2       2

L - Uphold individual's rights to self-defense              2       2

L - Cohabitation not a defense against rape charges         2       2

L - Ban involuntary committment to mental institutions      2       2

L - Stop funding R&D in behavioral research & treatment     2       2

L - Repeal National Firearms Act of 1934                    2       2

L - Repeal Federal Gun Control Act of 1968                  2       2

L - Stop & Ban compulsory youth service programs            2       2

L - Ban laws restr. private R&D of encryption methods       2       2

L - Cease selective service compulsory registration         2       2

L - Amnesty to all who have been accused of draft evasion   2       2

L - Stop discharging service members for being homosexual   2       2

L - Repeal the UCMJ, military has same rights as rest       2       2

L - Amnesty for all who have entered the U.S.A. illegally   2       2

L - Repeal all laws that use any basis of discrimination    2       2

L - Reform rights of Native American Indians                2       2

U - Drug treatment to help addicts recover              2   -1      1

U - Mandatory drug testing for prisoners                2   -1      1

U - Abortion educ. for prev. & Incentives for adoption  2   -1      1

U - Give Drug War Chief more budget/enforce authority   2   -1     -1   



                                                    R   U   L   C   #

                                                  ---------------------

WELFARE & ENTITLEMENT REFORM               

3 - Prohibit welfare to minor mothers               2   2   2   2   8

3 - Deny increased AFDC for additional children     2   2   2   2   8

3 - Two years and out provisions with work req.     2   2   2   2   8

3 - Cut spending for welfare programs               2   2   1   2   7

C - Return the job of charity to charitable orgs.       2   2   2   6

7 - Raise social security earnings limit            2   1   1   1   5

7 - Repeal 1993 tax hikes to S.S. benefits          2   1   1   1   5

C - Phase out the Social Security program               1   2   2   5

C - Eliminate Entitlement Programs                      1   2   2   5

U - Control costs of Social Security                    2   1   1   4

U - Control costs of government retirement              2   1   1   4

U - Control costs of medicare                           2   1   1   4

U - Control costs of medicaid                           2   1   1   4

U - Raise medicare taxes for wages >$130,000            2           2

7 - Tax incentives for private long-term insurance  2   1   -1  -1  1

U - Form a public/private partnership in health care    2   -1  -1   



                                                     R   U   L   C   #

                                                   ---------------------

FAMILY REINFORCEMENT REFORM               

4 - Rights of parents in childrens education         2   1   2   2   7

5 - American dream savings accounts                  2   2   1   1   6

4 - Elderly dependant care tax credit                2   1   1   1   5

5 - $500 per child tax credit                        2   1   1   1   5

5 - Repeal of marriage tax penalty                   2   1   1   1   5

4 - Child support enforcement                        2   2           4

4 - Stronger child pornography laws                  2   1           3

L - Respect childrens rights; never wards of the State       2   1   3

4 - Tax incentives for adoption                      2   1  -1  -1   1



                                                     R   U   L   C   #

                                                   ---------------------

FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND DEFENSE REFORM               

6 - No U.S.A. troops under U.N. command              2   1   2   2   7

6,C - Strengthen national defense and funding        2   1  -1   2   4

U - Foreign govt's should pay their share of US presence 2   1   1   4

U - Reform the UN, NATO, GATT, IMF, & World Bank         2   1   1   4

U - Implement Fair Free Trade Agreements                 2   1   1   4

C - Non-interference in affairs of other nations        -1   2   2   3

L - Abolish U.S. Court of International Trade                2       2

U - Help countries that seek to stabilize pop. growth    2   -1     -1   

               

                                                     R   U   L   C   #

                                                   ---------------------

ECONOMY AND BUSINESS REFORM               

8 - Unfunded mandates reform                         2   2   2   2   8

8 - Capital gains cut and indexation                 2   1   2   1   6

8 - Strengthen the regulatory flexibility act        2   1   1   1   5

L,C - Repeal all tariffs and quotas                      1   2   2   5

8 - Risk assessment/ c.b.a.                          2   1           3

U - Reform banking regulation to ease credit             2   1       3

U - No capital gains tax for small business              2   1       3

U - Stop subsidizing mining & timber industries          2   1       3

L - Halt inflationary money policies                     1   2       3

L - Remove all gov't impediments to free trade           1   2       3

L - Repeal all controls on wages, prices, production     1   2       3

L - Uphold right to have employee unions                     2   1   3

L - Ban gov't "back to work" orders                          2   1   3

L - Repeal consumer protection; which just dictates          2   1   3

8 - Neutral cost recovery                             2              2

L - Repeal and ban "no-fault" life insurance                 2       2

L - Repeal "Blue Sky" laws which repress risky ventures      2       2

L - Repeal "Insider Trading" Laws                            2       2

L - Abolish the F.T.C.; gov't stop authorizing monopolies    2       2

L - Repeal Robinson, Patman, Sherman, Clayton AT laws        2       2

L - Policy of strict separation of "business & state"        2       2

L - Privatize or abolish S.B.A. and other gov't loan orgs.   2       2

L - Remove all legal privilege from public utilities         2       2

8 - Small business incentives                        2   1  -1       2  

U - Tax incentives for small business                    2  -1       1

U - Make public investments for technology R&D           2  -1       1

U - Incentives to develop environmental solutions        2  -1       1

U - Assist communities transition from industries        2  -1       1

U - Energy & Fuel conservation program                   2  -1       1

U - Incentives for alternative energy devlopment         2  -1       1

U - Enterprise zones to rebuild inner cities             2  -1       1



                                                      R   U   L   C   #

                                                    ---------------------

LEGAL REFORM               

L,C - Judges inform jury's of their sovereignty; FIJA         2   2   4

C - Government cannot leg. morality; keep law a-religious     2   2   4

C - Maintain strong local police forces                   1   1   2   4

9 - Loser pays laws for legal reform                  2       1       3

9 - Reasonable limites on punitive damages            2       1       3

9 - Reform of product liability laws                  2       1       3

L - End the doctrine of "Sovereign Immunity" for the Gov't    2   1   3

L - Ban court orders gagging news of criminal proceedings     2   1   3

L - Permit victims to direct prosecution in criminal cases    2       2

L - Gov't restitution of personal losses when found innocent  2       2

L - Judiciary allow pre-emptory challenge of judges           2       2

L - Criminal restitution for victims when convicted           2       2

L - Reform jury to all-volunteer only                         2       2

L - Ban use of "insanity" as a defense from guilt             2       2

L - Abolish Congressional "sub-poena" power"                  2       2



                                                      R   U   L   C   #

                                                    ---------------------

POLITICAL REFORM               

10 - Term limits                                      2   2           4

U - Hold elections on Saturday & Sunday                   2   1       3

U - Release no info. until all polls close                2   1       3

L - Stop using gov't secrecy to keep info. from public        2   1   3

L - End gov't control over political parties                  2   1   3

U - Restrict Campaign contributions to $1000              2           2

U - Curb Political Action Committees                      2           2

U - Reform FEC, from 6 to 5 members, stagger terms        2           2

U - Shorten campaign season to 5 months                   2           2

U - Require equal free air time for federal cand.         2           2

U - Make voter registration easier                        2           2

U - Eliminate electoral college; use popular vote         2           2

U - Ban foreign campaign contributions                    2           2

U - Rewrite foreign registration & lobbying laws          2           2

U - Forbid former off. from rcving foreign money          2           2

U - Reorganize the legislative process                    2           2

U - Turn in excess funds to the Treasury                  2           2

U - Implement an electronic town hall                     2           2

U - Reform gov't hiring & firing policies                 2           2



                                                      R   U   L   C   #

                                                    ---------------------

TAX REFORM               

U - Equalize and simplify our tax code                    2   1   1   4

L,C - Repeal the 16th amendment                               2   2   4

C - Abolish IRS; return to excise taxes; nat'l sales tax      2   2   4

U - Eliminate farm subs. for giant corporations               2   1   3

U - Limit mortgage deductions to $<250,000                2           2

U - Raise marginal tax rate on very wealthy               2           2

U - Increase tobacco & gasoline taxes                     2           2

U - Reform lax tax treatment for foreign companies        2           2



                                                      R   U   L   C   #

                                                    ---------------------

EDUCATION REFORM                

U - Treat parents as consumers of education               2       1   3

L - Repeal compulsory attendance in public schools            2   1   3

U - Nat'l education standards; schools accountable        2           2

U - Establish comprehensive pre-school program            2           2



                                                      R   U   L   C   #

                                                    ---------------------

OTHER GOVERNMENT INSTITUTION REFORM               

C - Audit of the U.S.A. gold reserves                     1   2   2   5

L - Congressional investigation of CIA and FBI                2   1   3

L - Repeal all monetary legal tender laws                     2   1   3

L - Abolish the Federal Reserve                               2   1   3

L - Abolish the F.D.I.C.                                      2   1   3

L - Abolish the F.H.L.B.S.                                    2   1   3

L - Abolish the R.T.C.                                        2   1   3

L - Abolish the N.C.U.A.                                      2   1   3

L - Abolish the N.C.U.C.L.F.                                  2   1   3

L - Abolish the FCC; people own the airwaves                  2       2

L - Abolish the CIA                                           2       2

L - Abolish the BATF                                          2       2

L - Abolish the INS and Border Patrol                         2       2

L - Abolish the S.E.C.                                        2       2

L - Oppose gov't regulation of energy                         2       2

L - Abolish the N.R.C. and D.O.E.                             2       2

L - Abolish E.P.A.; make polluters responsible for cleanup    2       2





AFTERWORD

---------



Well, obviously once the Libertarians, and UWSAr's, and

Constitutionalists out their in cyberspace flame me :) with

their "corrections" to my scoring on their issues, etc.--

this illustration will become more complete and the overall

ranking (sorted by total #) will change.  I think this is

one of the greatest benefits in this effort, which is--

as a result to get a real "coalition priority list" and identify

those things we don't agree on, for further discussion,

etc.  I won't update the Republican's scores on non-Contract

issues unless someone points me to the printed reference that

I can verify their position.  I want the final product to

provide some accountability to the current "ruling party".

Naturally, anyone correcting me on their own party, or even

new information will need to cite the reference else it won't

help me (online text files is best).



I can see this report growing into a useful tool for a lot of

us.  It certainly is a learning experience for me.  We can all

get more out of this if those of you who like this method of

documenting and analyzing this process take some time to submit

modifications and additions to it.  If I've left out a group

that you think has a significant enough consitituency or something

more than one or two special interest issues that would be

compatible with this "coaltion," then please send me the info.



All comments and follow-up should be directed to me via email at:

breinhar@tomahawk.welch.jhu.edu



If you send your follow-up only to the newsgroup, echo, or mailing

list you see this in, there's a good chance I won't see it.



Thanks in advance for all your help and ensuing flames.



Observation #1 - Who supports "the Contract" the most?

------------------------------------------------------



Offline from this report, I took just those issues presented

in the "Contract With America" as that is the center of all

mainstream conversation right now.  There are 44 separate issues

in that Contract.  You probably didn't think it was that many,

but if you pick it apart line by line and make a list that's

what you'll get, and that's what I did.  All of it is included

above, but it is not sorted specifically by "Contract items," so

I offer the following quick observation based on my own data.



For 44 issues, obviously the Republicans are given a 100% in

support of the Contract because they wrote it.  The others

support the Contract within their own platform as follows:



   *UWSA - 64% (56 out of 88 possible points)

   *Libertarian Party - 45% (40 out of 88 possible points)

   *Constitutiuon Party - 49% (43 out of 88 possible points)



One could observe that the UWSA is the big winner in comparison

to the other "reform" groups in regard to how much of their

agenda is compatible with "the Contract."  I pose this question,

is 64% good enough?



Again, this observation may change once members of these various

groups send me corrections to my scoring of their stand on

various issues.



Observation #2 - What do each of the groups care most about?

------------------------------------------------------------



From looking at the bulk of the issues each group has the most

concern with I observe that:



   *UWSA - Focus is on reforming the political process and tax code.

   *Libertarian Party - Focus is on reforming the law and policies

    regarding individual rights and freedoms and free'r markets.

   *Constitution Party - Focus is on preserving the Constitutionality

    of what our government does, hoping to reverse past mistakes, and

    preserve the Republic.



My editorial is that if these groups (we) come together to implement

the best of the combined reform platforms, even leaving out those

few things we disagree on in principle; this country has a chance

to make it, as the Republic and beacon for freedom it was intended to be.



           +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

           + GRRR! Newsletter - Volume 94, Edition 1 +

           +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

                      --November 19, 1994--



----

Copyright (c) 1994 by Robert Bryan Reinhardt

You may freely redistribute this document provided that you

include the entire original text without modification.



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