OUR STANCE  

RESOLUTIONS PASSED AT THE BARTOW COUNTY REPUBLICAN 
PARTY CONVENTION 
March 24, 2007

2007  Resolutions for Bartow County

 We, as members of the Bartow County Republican Party, send forth these resolutions  to  the 11th Congressional District, State and National Republican Committees.

 We believe the Republican Party should espouse strong moral principles and conservative political ideologies.  We believe it is important the Republican party, at all levels, hold fast to the platform of conservative principles that we have identified as our core beliefs.  Those that share these convictions and resolutions are afforded the opportunity to participate as a member, candidate or elected official of the Republican party. We further believe, those elected as Republicans are expected to govern according to these principles. 

 We acknowledge our nation was founded by men and women who believed God as the absolute authority. We accept that the foundation to build this nation was a Biblical one. We call upon our elected officials at every level of government to govern by the principles and original intentions of our Constitution as envisioned by the Founding Father. 

 In our acknowledgement of the above resolutions, we oppose the removal of Christian monuments, the banning of references to God in our educations system and in the public arena.

 We believe every individual should be afforded equal right and equal opportunity as stated in the Constitution.  We believe it is the responsibility of each individual to ensure their own success and not the responsibility of the government.

 We believe voters should be informed of the political beliefs of every candidate running for office. We therefore encourage our representatives in the General Assembly to adopt legislation to make all elected offices in the State of Georgia partisan, including all special and judicial races, to ensure elections are honest and the voters are informed.

War on Terror

We commend President Bush for his strong leadership as Commander-in-Chief and support his actions in the war on terror.  We recognize and support our fellow countrymen and women who voluntarily serve in our armed services to keep the war on terror  off American soil.  We also commend our military for their selfless dedication and personal sacrifice for our Nation.

 We recognize the United States as a sovereign Nation with a government that derives its power from the voting people.  We oppose any organization that seeks to undermine the authority of the United States and attempts to influence our domestic and foreign policy.  We therefore call upon Congress to cease funding the United Nations and for the United States to withdraw its membership. 

Immigration

We are clearly in the midst of an illegal epidemic which undermines out sovereignty and structure as a nation and our war against terror.  We demand our state and federal elected officials to work to secure our borders.  We demand they enable local law enforcement officers to be able to arrest, detain and deport those here illegally.  We further expect state and federal officials to seek ways to severely penalize businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants.  We demand a secure ID system to aid in identification of illegal immigrants. We demand change to law to make it a criminal felony to overstay a visa beyond a 30 day grace period to allow holders time for proper renewal or extension.

 The current Medicare, social security and education system are in a state of financial crisis. We expect our state and federal elected officials to seek ways to remove all benefits, funded by  tax revenue, to illegal immigrants.   

 As a response to the illegal immigration crisis, we seek to have our state and nationally elected officials define English as the official language to the state and country. We further ask to discontinue  the further placement of non-English signage and language from Federal, state  and local signs and telephones systems.. With the exclusion for travelers at airports, and other transportation hubs.

 Social Security & Health Care

We realize that capitalism and competition create a better quality service and more options.  In this respect we urge Congress to privatize Social Security. We also oppose the creation of a Socialized health care system.

 Eminent Domain

We believe that the Republican Party should be the party that recognizes private property is private.  Property should be taken only as specified by the 5th Amendment of the Bill of Rights.  We recognize the land owners entitlement to equitable compensation and that Eminent Domain should be used as a last resort only and not for revenue enhancement or public-private partnership.  

Sanctity of Life

We believe the basic rights of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”, are given by God and our Constitution.  We believe these basic rights are for all individuals, including those whose life exists inside the womb.  We therefore call upon our elected officials to recognize the sanctity of human life and pass legislation that will protect the right of innocent unborn, feeble and infirm. Such law must recognize that life begins at conception. Further a ban on cloning of human beings by any means or any form.

 Marriage

We believe marriage must only be recognized as the legal union between one man and one woman.  We call upon both, the Georgia General Assembly and Congress, to adopt amendments to the relevant Constitutions, to define marriages as one man and one woman.   

Education

We believe that it is the parents who are best qualified to choose what is best for their children-not the government.  We therefore oppose government programs that undermine the rights and responsibilities of the parents.

 We realize government schools are not always up to National standards.  We support the creation of school vouchers for parents to make the best choice for their child; and create positive competition improving school standards.

 We recognize the need for quality education for the preservation of our nation.  Control of local government schools should be left to the elected officials on the local school boards.  We seek for the abolishment of the Federal Department of Education and that the authority of local education be returned to the local level.  

Judicial

We recognize that the United Stated Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Georgia  distributes the power and responsibility of government among three separate and distinct branches.  We recognize that the judiciary has in many cases overstepped their constitutional boundaries and have worked to establish laws. We call for the implementation of rules and procedures whereby citizens may seek the impeachment of any judge who violates their constitutional boundaries in their office. 

We recognize the importance of the Grand jury in maintaining ethical standards and fair hearings within our court system.  The Constitution gives guidance for the Grand Jury, but not clearly defined guidelines and procedures.  We therefore ask our elected officials to prepare, implement and publish a compilation of rules and procedures for the Grand Jury to maintain fairness within the judicial branch.

 Taxes

We believe the government should only collect taxes necessary for the governments Constitutional responsibility. We call upon our elected officials to restructure our national and state tax system to a system of either flat tax or sales tax only, resulting in abolishing the IRS.  

Local Government

Bartow county has experienced significant growth in the past decade and continues to grow.  Bartow county is the largest county in the nation extending the full responsibility and power of the local government to a single individual.  We therefore support the creation of a multi-member commission board to have representative government. We further request legislation that would require counties with populations over 100,000 to have to establish multi-member commission boards. Eliminating too much power to a single individual.

 We realize with a sole commissioner we have limited checks and balances within our local government. We therefore expect our locally elected officials, and if need be, the state of Georgia, to have an independent audit done of all the local government offices to create higher ethical standards.

 Energy

We acknowledge the critical importance of the manufacturing business to our economy and to the jobs it creates.  We further recognize that manufacturing is the backbone of a free market capitalist society.  We therefore support the repeal of state sales and use tax on energy that is used in the manufacturing process so as to express our support and appreciation to the manufacturing business.

 We recognize that with our growing population, our demand on energy supplies increases.  We therefore support drilling in ANWR, building nuclear power plants in addition to new refineries.