[886] in libertarians
LP Release: Contract With America
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (William Winter)
Fri Apr 14 22:31:10 1995
Date: 14 Apr 95 22:21:56 EDT
From: William Winter <73163.3063@compuserve.com>
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-----------------------------------------
NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
1528 Pennsylvania Avenue SE
Washington DC 20003
-----------------------------------------
For immediate release: April 14, 1995
For additional information:
Bill Winter, Director of Communications
(202) 543-1988
-----------------------------------------
Libertarian Party gives Republicans
a B- for the Contract With America
WASHINGTON, DC -- Now that the first 100 days of the 104th Congress
are officially over, the Libertarian Party has issued a "freedom" report card
on the Republican Party's Contract With America.
And they give Republicans a B- for their efforts.
"We wanted to wait until the finger-pointing, back-slapping,
name-calling, and congratulations have died down so we could make a calm,
dispassionate assessment of the Contract With America," said Steve Dasbach,
Chair of America's third-largest political party.
"Our grading criteria was simple: Did the elements of the Contract
reduce the size, cost, and intrusiveness of government? Did it increase the
personal and economic freedom of American citizens? These are the fundamental
issues that Libertarians are concerned about."
Dasbach said the B- grade reflected Libertarian approval of many
elements in the Contract, but noted, "Republicans missed many opportunities to
do more. And we saw some backsliding on several important issues. Overall, the
Republicans had a chance to make history, to launch a real revolution, and to
live up to their libertarian campaign rhetoric. Unfortunately, they fell
somewhat short of that goal."
The Libertarian Party's grades for the Contract ranged from an A for
the Line-Item Veto, which won the Libertarians' "whole-hearted endorsement,"
to a D for the Taking Back Our Streets Act, which Dasbach called "dangerous."
The specific grades for the major components of the Contract:
1. The Congressional Accountability Act, which requires Congress to
live by the same laws it imposes on the American public. Grade: C+
"This was a procedural issue, and largely symbolic," said Dasbach. "We
would have preferred that Congress reverse this bill -- and let American
citizens opt out of those oppressive laws, like Congress used to. That would
have been real reform!"
2. The Fiscal Responsibility Act, a Constitutional amendment requiring
a balanced federal budget. Grade: B.
"Balancing the budget is the minimum we Libertarians would expect of
any fiscally responsible government, so this amendment was a step in the right
direction," said Dasbach. "But it does nothing to reduce the current, bloated
federal budget."
3. The Line-Item Veto, which allows the president to veto specific
items in the federal budget. Grade: A
"This gets our whole-hearted endorsement; it gives politicians power
to do nothing but cut government spending. Of course, we really need to take a
meat-axe to the federal budget, and the line-item veto is just a surgeon's
scalpel. But it's a start," said Dasbach.
4. The Taking Back Our Streets Act, which modifies the Omnibus Crime
Bill of 1994. Grade: D
"At best, a one-step-forward, two-steps-back bill," said Dasbach.
"This dangerous bill weakens the Fourth Amendment, gutting one of the basic
civil liberties of Americans -- the right to be secure against unreasonable
searches and seizures. And it does nothing to roll back the unconstitutional
semi-automatic weapons ban, which violates the Second Amendment. But it did
reduce the price tag of the crime bill from about $30 billion to $24 billion,
and did introduce some elements of victim restitution."
5. The National Security Revitalization Act, which restricts the
president's ability to participate in U.N. "peacekeeping" activities around
the globe. Grade: B+
"This places admirable restraints on the president's military powers,
and makes it extremely difficult for the president to send American troops to
die in another Somalia or Haiti," said Dasbach. "On the negative side, it
didn't reduce the military budget by a single penny, and didn't extract the
United States from our expensive, needless NATO burdens."
6. The Regulatory Flexibility Act, which places a moratorium on new
federal regulations. Grade: B+
"This will force federal bureaucrats to stop churning out useless,
costly regulations for a year. That's good," said Dasbach. "On the other hand,
current regulations cost Americans between $430 billion and $1 trillion a
year, and this oppressive level of regulatory overkill is simply maintained.
But the bill is a good step in the right direction."
7. The Personal Responsibility Act and the Family Reinforcement Act,
which replaces many federal welfare programs with block grants to states.
Grade: D
"Another missed opportunity for real reform," said Dasbach. "It's more
talk than action, and simply shifts wasteful welfare programs from the federal
level to the state level. It's not the step towards private, voluntary charity
that Libertarians would like to see."
8. The Common Sense Legal Reform Act, which puts caps on legal damage
awards and institutes a "loser-pays" provision. It would also require
compensation for property owners if federal regulations reduce the value of
their property by 20% or more. Grade: B+
"The legal clauses may bring some common sense to our court system,"
said Dasbach. "But the most important element of this bill will restrict the
ability of bureaucrats to 'take' property through burdensome regulations.
That's extremely welcome. But Libertarians would have liked to see this kick
in at 1% -- not 20%. Why should bureaucrats be able to steal 20% of the value
of your property?"
9. The Job Creation & Wage Enhancement Act; the American Dream
Restoration Act; and the Senior Citizens Fairness Act, which grants a $500 per
child tax credit; cuts the capital gains tax; and allows Social Security
recipients to earn more income before benefits are cut. Grade: C
"This bill includes $189 billion in tax cuts, and Libertarians approve
whenever Americans are allowed to keep a little more of their own money," said
Dasbach. "But this legislation avoids any meaningful reforms to America's
fiscal time-bomb, Social Security. Again, we're seeing the Republicans duck
the tough issues."
10. The Citizen Legislature Act, which imposes term limits on the U.S.
House and Senate. Grade: No grade.
"The Libertarian Party doesn't take a position on term limits," said
Dasbach. "Yes, it would be nice to see some of the entrenched, big-spending
politicians rotated out of office. But most Libertarians don't see any real
benefit in simply cycling bad Republicans and Democrats in and out of office
quicker."
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