Lies, Damn Lies, Statistics – and the Republican Party PlatformRecently by Laurence M. Vance: Support Your Local Standing Army?
At a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor held just before the Republican National Convention began, House Speaker John Boehner, when asked about the new Republican Party Platform, said: "If it were up to me I would have the platform on one sheet of paper. Have you ever met anybody who read the party platform? I’ve not met ever anybody." This must have been disheartening to the Republican activists from around the country who worked for months just to earn the right to attend the convention in order to have a chance of contributing to the party platform. Each state delegation assigns two of its members to a special committee that works on the platform and then presents it to the full convention for approval. Well, I do read party platforms, and I have read the new 2012 Republican Party Platform – the preamble and every word on its 54 pages. The authors of the platform obviously think it is an important document. The preamble opens and closes with these statements:
Writing in the Washington Times, conservative Phyllis Schlafly says the new Republican Party platform "may be the best one ever adopted." It is "an excellent document written by grass-roots conservatives. It is a true reflection of American values." But since when do American values consist of recycled clichés, pious platitudes, manifest hypocrisy, vain assurances, empty promises, and blatant lies?
After the preamble, the Republican Party platform contains six chapters:
But before looking at each of these chapters, we need to review a little Republican Party history first. The Republicans controlled the House and Senate for the last six years of Clinton’s presidency (January 1995–January 2001). This was the first time the Republicans had controlled the entire Congress since the 83rd Congress under President Eisenhower (January 1953–January 1955). The Republicans controlled both the Congress and the presidency from the inauguration of George Bush on January 20, 2001, until May 24, 2001, when Republican senator Jim Jeffords switched from Republican to Independent. In the 2002 midterm election, the Republicans regained control of the Senate, but then lost both Houses to the Democrats in the 2006 midterm election. This means that for over four years the Republican Party was in complete control of the government like the Democratic Party was during Clinton’s first two years as president. The Republicans regained control of the House in the 2010 midterm election. The importance of this history lesson will be evident as we go through the Republican platform section by section. 1. Restoring the American Dream: Rebuilding the Economy and Creating Jobs The Republicans begin their first section with two of the biggest lies that have ever been told:
Does this mean that Americans are free to buy or sell any good or service they choose, from or to any person or business they choose, for any price that is voluntarily agreed upon? Of course not. Want to buy a Cuban cigar? Want to sell guns without a federal firearms license? Want to pay less than the minimum wage to a willing worker? Want to not pay overtime to a willing worker? Want to only rent your apartment to certain individuals? Want to charge the highest price you think you can get for gas? Sorry, you will pay a fine and/or go to jail. The next two lies are so laughable I marvel at the audacity of Republicans for putting them in their platform:
That’s funny. I have looked in detail at Paul Ryan’s budget plan that was passed by the Republican-controlled House earlier this year. He has spending increasing every year, the national debt increasing every year, and a budget that will not be balanced for twenty-three years. And the last time we had a Republican Senate, a Republican House, and a Republican president, the Republicans doubled the national debt, drastically increased spending, started two wars that will ultimately cost over $2 trillion dollars, didn’t cut any major regulations, increased the number of regulations, and gave us the first trillion-dollar deficit. I can’t wait to see what the Republicans will do this time. What would a Republican platform be without talk of simplifying and reforming the tax code?
Hey Republicans, when you passed the Bush tax cuts in the first place, why didn’t you make them permanent? Why didn’t you simplify and reform the tax code when you controlled the Congress for over four years with a Republican president? Why didn’t you eliminate the estate tax permanently when you had the chance? Why didn’t you eliminate taxes on interest, dividends, and capital gains altogether when you had complete control of the government? And why only for lower and middle-income taxpayers? I thought you opposed tax policies that divided Americans or promoted class warfare? And even with your Bush tax cuts, a progressive income tax by its very nature divides Americans and promotes class warfare, and especially one like we have now where half of Americans pay no income tax whatsoever. So why didn’t you reform the tax code so it wasn’t a progressive tax code as favored by Karl Marx? It is indeed strange that Republicans should say they reject the use of taxation to redistribute income and fund unnecessary programs. What do they think that 90 percent of the federal budget is spent on?
Republicans also bemoan the fact that "American businesses now face the world’s highest corporate tax rate." They call for "a reduction of the corporate rate to keep U.S. corporations competitive internationally, with a permanent research and development tax credit, and a repeal of the corporate alternative minimum tax." But the corporate tax rate didn’t go up under Obama. It has been the same for the past twenty years. Why didn’t Republicans lower the corporate tax rate when they controlled both Houses of Congress for six years under Clinton and for over four years under Bush? The only ones to blame for the high corporate tax rates are the Republicans. They are the ones who talk about cutting taxes and when given the opportunity, they blew it. In this section, the Republicans also talk about "a federal-State-private partnership" that "must invest in the nation’s infrastructure: roads, bridges, airports, ports, and water systems," enforcing housing non-discrimination laws, and "assisting low income families and the elderly with safe and adequate shelter, especially through the use of housing vouchers." Too bad there is nothing in the Constitution that authorizes the federal government to do any of these things. Amtrak comes under criticism in this first section of the GOP platform. "The public has to subsidize every ticket nearly $50," say the Republicans. I agree with their solution: "It is long past time for the federal government to get out of way and allow private ventures to provide passenger service to the northeast corridor. The same holds true with regard to high-speed and intercity rail across the country." So what are you Republicans waiting for? Where are the bills in the House to completely privatize Amtrak? But they wouldn’t pass a Democratic-controlled Senate or be signed into law by a Democratic president, say the Republicans. That never stopped House Republicans from passing bills to repeal Obamacare thirty-three times. And why wasn’t Amtrak sold off when the Republicans had an absolute majority under Bush? Federal job training programs also come under condemnation in the Republican platform: "Nine federal agencies currently run 47 retraining programs at a total cost of $18 billion annually with dismal results. Both the trainees in those programs and the taxpayers who fund them deserve better." And what is the Republican solution? Is it to completely abolish the unconstitutional programs? Of course not. They must be "overhauled and made relevant for the workplace of the twenty-first century." Republicans "propose consolidation of those programs into State block grants so that training can be coordinated with local schools and employers." The Republicans also complain about the Davis-Bacon law that "continues to drive up infrastructure construction and maintenance costs for the benefit of that party’s union stalwarts" and "costs the taxpayers billions of dollars annually in artificially high wages on government projects." They call for the law’s repeal in their platform. Fine, but instead of promising to do something about Davis-Bacon, why didn’t you actually do something about Davis-Bacon when you had the power to for over four years when Bush was the president? 2. We The People: A Restoration of Constitutional Government The first words of section 2 are: "We are the party of the Constitution." This makes me want to either scream or throw up – or perhaps a couple hours of each. Although the Republicans claim that the Constitution is "the greatest political document ever written" and that "that sacred document shows us the path forward," anyone who looked at the Republican record – and especially when they had absolute control of the government under Bush – for more than three seconds would see instantly that they violate the Constitution every minute of every day.
Republicans have a warped view of what it means to follow the Constitution:
Since when are anti-discrimination statutes authorized by the Constitution? Discrimination is essential in a free society, as I have written here. Republicans also have a warped view of what should be in the Constitution. They propose a human life amendment and "by whatever legislative method is most feasible," legal protection against flag desecration. Now, anyone who knows me or has read any of my articles on abortion knows that I am unabashedly opposed to abortion. But the answer is not federalizing the issue, as Ron Paul has explained so many times. But if the Republicans are so opposed to abortion and to "using public revenues to promote or perform abortion or fund organizations which perform or advocate it," then why do they vote to fund Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the United States? Here is something in section 2 concerning the Constitution that I actually agree with the Republicans on:
But who is responsible for "scores of entrenched federal programs"? Who is responsible for not eliminating "scores of entrenched federal programs"? Why, it is the Republicans. To give one major example, see my "Republican Welfare State." Here are two more true statements in the platform that Republicans don’t even begin to follow:
When Republicans say they believe in a limited government, they only mean that they want a government limited to a government controlled by Republicans. The Republican claim in their platform to "support the review and examination of all federal agencies to eliminate wasteful spending, operational inefficiencies, or abuse of power" is such a lie that I don’t know whether to laugh, cry, scream, or throw up. What the Republicans say about the Second, Fourth, and Tenth Amendments in section 2 of their platform is insidious. The myriad of federal gun laws on the books shows that they don’t believe in the Second Amendment at all. They talk about how whether legislation being a state or a federal matter "must be determined in accordance with the Tenth Amendment, in conjunction with Article I, Section 8." Okay, so Republicans must believe that the legal status of marijuana should be left up to the states? Wrong again. Republicans are ardent drug warriors who don’t believe in federalism for a minute when it comes to the war on drugs. And here are the Republican creators and sustainers of the TSA on the Fourth Amendment: "All security measures and police actions should be viewed through the lens of the Fourth Amendment; for if we trade liberty for security, we shall have neither." Try reading that while TSA agents are feeling you up at the airport. But wait a minute, the Republicans say in their platform that the procedures and much of the personnel of the TSA need to be “changed” because the agency is “now a massive bureaucracy of 65,000 employees who seem to be accountable to no one for the way they treat travelers.” They even “call for the private sector to take over airport screening wherever feasible and look toward the development of security systems that can replace the personal violation of frisking.” Republicans have never apologized for creating the agency in the first place, just like they have never done anything about “the personal violation of frisking.” And they expect us to believe that now, just before the election, they are concerned about Americans’ civil liberties? Do Republicans think we are that stupid?
3. America’s Natural Resources: Energy, Agriculture and the Environment "We are the party of sustainable jobs and economic growth," begin the Republicans, but then they add "through American energy, agriculture, and environmental policy." But since when does the government have the authority to make energy, agriculture, and environmental policy in the first place? Certainly not in the Constitution the Republicans consider their "owner’s manual." (See my "Whither U.S. Energy Policy?") Although the Republicans don’t mention Solyndra by name, they make a veiled reference to it: "Unlike the current Administration, we will not pick winners and losers in the energy marketplace. Instead, we will let the free market and the public’s preferences determine the industry outcomes." Solyndra was the first renewable-energy company to receive a loan guarantee under a provision to encourage "green energy" in Obama’s stimulus plan, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. But this was not the beginning of the government’s effort to encourage "green energy." For this we must go back to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, signed into law by George W. Bush on August 8 of that year. (See my "The Real Problem with Solyndra.") Republicans want to expand nuclear energy. They lament that "no new nuclear generating plants have been licensed and constructed for thirty years." Have they forgotten that they had an absolute majority in the Congress for six years under Clinton and complete control of the government for over four year under Bush? The Republicans’ lamentation is of their own making. Republicans try to blame Obama for high gas prices: "Since the current President took office in 2009, consumers pay approximately twice as much for gas at the pump." But if you look at gas prices for the last 30 years, it is evident that they began to drastically increase after Bush invaded Iraq in 2003. After reaching over $4 a gallon, gas prices made a sudden drop before the 2008 election (but not enough to help the Republicans win the presidency). At least Republicans in their platform did not say that gas prices would fall to a certain amount if they were put in charge of the government as did Republican buffoons Michele Bachmann ($2.00) and Newt Gingrich ($2.50). On agriculture, the Republicans believe that "the proper federal role in agriculture" includes farm programs, crop insurance, agricultural research, food safety, food stamps, other domestic nutrition programs, and foreign food aid. They also say that the U. S. Forest Service – which controls about 193 million acres of land and employs 30,000 workers – "should be charged to use these resources to the best economic potential for the nation." According to the Constitution, there is no proper role of the federal government in agriculture. So, since the Republicans maintain that "when the Constitution is evaded, transgressed, or ignored, so are the freedoms it guarantees," they must want to abolish the Department of Agriculture and the Forest Service, right? Sorry, wrong again. (See my "Uncle Sam Is a Sugar Daddy.") This section of the platform has a lot of criticism of the EPA:
It almost sounds like the Republicans want to abolish the EPA. Especially since they also say:
Never fear, the Republicans have no plans to get rid of the EPA. They merely say: "Federal agencies charged with enforcing environmental laws must stop regulating beyond their authority." Republicans say they don’t want "activist regulators." In short, Republicans just want Republican regulations instead of Democratic regulations. This is why we still have fuel-economy regulations (CAFE standards), which were first introduced for passenger cars in 1978. They continued under Reagan and a Republican-controlled Senate. They continued under a Republican majority in the Congress under Clinton. They continued under absolute Republican control of the government under Bush. And then in December of 2007, President Bush signed into law the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (H.R.6), which requires that automakers boost the gas mileage of their fleets to 35 mpg by the year 2020. This law was agreed to by an overwhelming majority of Republicans in the Senate and by half of the House Republicans. 4. Reforming Government to Serve the People "We are the party of government reform," say the Republicans. They characterize the government, which they helped create and sustain, as "bloated, antiquated and unresponsive to taxpayers." They propose to "restructure" the government, to better manage it to "provide better services," as if the government was a business with customers that voluntarily patronized it. They also talk about "reversing the undermining of federalism and the centralizing of power in Washington," which, again, they are just as responsible for as the Democrats. The Republicans have a grave philosophical deficiency, as seen by this statement in section 4 of their platform:
Judging from the legislation the Republicans have supported over the past thirty years, the list of things that Republicans think the government "must do" must be incredibly long. And where is it written in stone that the government "must do" anything? Wasn’t it Republican icon Ronald Reagan who said government was the problem and not the solution? Republicans are not ashamed to acknowledge that they are firmly committed to welfare; that is, Social Security and socialized medicine:
Republicans also mention allowing "younger workers the option of creating their own investment accounts as supplements to the system." But since younger workers can already create their own private investment accounts, what is the point of the government being involved? In the Republicans’ discussion of government regulations in this section, there are four things that should be noted. First, Republicans just assume that the government should be making rules and regulations in the first place:
I thought Republicans believed in the free market? Second, Republicans are biased against Democratic regulations.
Notice that Republicans want to repeal regulations established by Democrats but only "rein in" regulations established by agencies created under a Republican president they have grown to accept. Third, Republicans believe that if only Republicans had control of the government, then regulations would all be sound and cost-effective.
Like I said earlier, Republicans only want a government limited to a government controlled by Republicans. And fourth, the promises Republicans make about reducing "overregulation" and reconsidering "out-of-date regulations" are just more Republican hot air. When they controlled the government under a Republican president they not only did nothing about "overregulation" or "out-of-date regulations," they made even more regulations. Near the end of section 4, the Republicans have the audacity to say: "We will ensure that personal data receives full constitutional protection from government overreach." I guess that is why an agency the Republicans love, the NSA, is building the country’s biggest spy center in Utah. 5. Renewing American Values to Build Healthy Families, Great Schools and Safe Neighborhoods On welfare, although the Republicans admit that the government "dispenses nearly $1 trillion in taxpayer funds across a maze of approximately 80 programs that are neither coordinated nor effective in solving poverty and lifting up families," their solution is not to eliminate welfare – or even call for a gradual end to welfare – because it fosters dependency, is unconstitutional, and redistributes wealth, but to reform the system "to ensure that it promotes work." In spite of all their talk about freedom and responsibility, Republicans reveal themselves to be puritanical busybodies that are comfortable with a Republican nanny state:
And you thought that when the Republicans said they insisted "that there should be no regulation of political speech on the Internet" and that they opposed "governmental censorship of speech through the so-called Fairness Doctrine or by government enforcement of speech codes" that they were in favor of a free society based on individual liberty and responsibility? (See my "The Gambling Question.") Before the Republicans pledged to repeal Obamacare in section 5 of their platform, perhaps they should have talked to their presidential nominee first. Although Republicans say that they are "committed to its repeal" and that "a Republican President, on the first day in office, will use his legitimate waiver authority under that law to halt its progress and then will sign its repeal," Romney recently said that he wants to keep parts of Obamacare. He wants to replace it with his own plan "while keeping some popular provisions including coverage for people with pre-existing conditions." And although the Republicans talk about "a free market in healthcare" and say they believe that "taking care of one’s health is an individual responsibility," such talk is meaningless since Republicans believe in using the power of the state to compel Americans to pay for other Americans’ health care (Medicare, SCHIP, Medicaid) just like the Democrats. On education, Republicans state: "Parents are responsible for the education of their children." They acknowledge that "since 1965 the federal government has spent $2 trillion on elementary and secondary education with no substantial improvement in academic achievement or high school graduation rates." So why don’t they call for the elimination of the Department of Education? Ronald Reagan proposed abolishing of the Department of Education while campaigning for president in 1980. The Republican Party platforms of 1980 and 1996 likewise called for the department’s elimination. I think the answer is that during Bill Clinton’s last six years in office, when the Republicans controlled both the House and the Senate, the education budget ballooned to $42.1 billion by fiscal year 2001 (Clinton’s last budget). Or perhaps the answer is that under George W. Bush, when the Republicans controlled both the House and the Senate for more than four years, the education budget increased all the way up to $100 billion in fiscal year 2006 before leveling off in the $60 billion range. And as I pointed out in "Too Little, Too Late":
I’m glad the Republicans pledge to get rid of "family planning" programs for teens, but I’m still trying to find in the Constitution where it authorizes that these programs be replaced with "abstinence education which teaches abstinence until marriage as the responsible and respected standard of behavior." There is one last thing Republicans say about education which shows that they don’t have a clue what the proper role of government is: "The federal government should not be in the business of originating student loans; however, it should serve as an insurance guarantor for the private sector as they offer loans to students." This, of course, means that the taxpayers would have to bail out banks that made risky loans to students that could not be repaid. There is one last thing in this section that should make your blood boil if you are aware of how much the police state has intensified since Bush took office. I am printing the whole paragraph because it makes such incredible reading:
Hey Republicans, why is it that it is only in 2012 that you suddenly realized these things? And judging from your horrendous track record on civil liberties, I don’t see how anyone could possibly take you seriously anyway. Does anyone really think that if the Republicans regain full control of the government that the number of federal criminal offenses will be significantly reduced and real federalism restored? And I wonder if the "overcriminalization of behavior" includes the criminalization of drugs? Don’t count on it. As I remarked earlier: Republicans are ardent drug warriors who don’t believe in federalism for a minute when it comes to the war on drugs. 6. American Exceptionalism This last section is the longest in the platform, but will be the shortest in my critique. Let me summarize it for you. The military budget must be raised. Support the troops. Iran is a threat to Israel, the United States, and the world and therefore must be prevented from building a nuclear weapon. The troops defend our freedoms. The military and its reserves must be expanded. The troops are our heroes. The United States must defend Taiwan. Support the troops. The U.S. nuclear stockpile must be modernized. The troops defend our freedoms. Missile defense bases in Europe must be established and the budget for missile defense must be raised. The troops are our heroes. Foreign aid must be continued. Support the troops. The Cuban embargo must be continued. The troops defend our freedoms. The war on drugs must continue. The troops are our heroes. Venezuela represents an increasing threat to U.S. security. Support the troops. The surge troops should remain in Afghanistan. The troops defend our freedoms. All options must remain on the table. The troops are our heroes. I want to close with some brief comments on a statement Republicans make in section 6. In response to the various threats the United States faces from "transnational terrorism, continued belligerence by a nuclear-armed North Korea, an Iran in pursuit of nuclear weapons, rising Chinese hegemony in the Asia Pacific region, Russian activism, and threats from cyber espionage and terrorism," Republicans state that
Now, I am no fan of Barack Hussein Obama, and loathe him as much as I loathe George W. Bush, but that doesn’t mean that I need to make things up in order to make him look bad. My question is this: How is it possible for Obama to have "reduced the defense budget by over $487 billion over the next decade"? Two observations. 1. Congress passes the National Defense Authorization Act each year to set forth the budget of the Defense Department. The last time it was signed into law was on December 31, 2011. Since the Republicans control the House of Representatives, the bill Obama signed authorizing the current defense budget had to be one that Republicans supported or it would have never passed the House. 2. It is impossible to reduce the defense budget for any year except the next fiscal year. The Republicans are obviously referencing one of Obama’s proposed budgets – which means absolutely nothing since it is Congress that ultimately determines the amount spent on defense every year.
And if sequestration is so bad, then why did Republicans, who hold a majority in the House, vote to pass the Budget Control Act that raised the debt ceiling and set sequestration in motion? Why did Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan vote for it? Conclusion It was Mark Twain who popularized the dictum about there being three kinds of lies – lies, damn lies, and statistics. But even these pale in comparison with the lies found in the Republican Party platform. Why should we believe anything the Republicans promise to do when they had the power to do it everyday for over four years when Bush was the president and did absolutely nothing? "The American people work too hard and too long to support a bloated government," say the Republicans. Then why didn’t they apologize for their part in giving Americans a bloated government? And why didn’t they do something about it when they had the chance? And what good are the Republicans’ promises anyway? Republicans always say they are going to reform, examine, study, simplify, improve, rethink, restructure, and reconsider instead of abolish, cut, eliminate, slash, get rid of, end, do away with, and eradicate. When the Republicans in their platform say anything bad about Obama, just remember that he is probably continuing one of Bush’s policies. When they say anything good about lower taxes, less spending, fewer regulations, or limited government, don’t believe a word of it. It is all a ruse to get votes. And never mind the nineteen times that abortion is mentioned in the Republican platform. The promise of ending abortion is the carrot held just out of reach of gullible conservatives to get them to continue to vote Republican in every election hoping that the Republicans will actually do something. It works the same way regarding economics, as explained by Lew Rockwell about the Republicans:
The Republican platform says that the elections of 2012 will be "a referendum on the future of liberty in America." If that is truly the case, then the last thing anyone should do is vote Republican. September 12, 2012 Laurence M. Vance [send him mail] writes from central Florida. He is the author of Christianity and War and Other Essays Against the Warfare State, The Revolution that Wasn't, and Rethinking the Good War. His latest book is The Quatercentenary of the King James Bible. Visit his website. Copyright © 2012 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.
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