BEFORE YOU VOTE LOCALLY REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 2016

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the Constitution. The United States will withdraw
from all agreements and arrangements failing those
standards.
Internal Revenue Service
Many good civil servants work at the IRS, but
the agency itself is toxic. Its leadership employs
known tax delinquents, rehires workers previously
fired for misconduct, spends user fees without congressional
oversight, and awards bonuses for customer
service that would put any private company
out of business. Worst of all, the IRS has become
an ideological attack dog for the worst elements of
today’s Democratic Party. It systematically targets
conservative, pro-life, and libertarian organizations,
harassing them with repeated audits and denying
their tax exempt status. Its commissioner has lied to
Congress, hidden evidence, and stonewalled investigations.
He should be impeached by the House of
Representatives and convicted by the Senate. We
value the right of America’s churches, pastors, and
religious leaders to preach and speak freely according
to their faith. Republicans believe the federal
government, specifically the IRS, is constitutionally
prohibited from policing or censoring the speech
of America’s churches, pastors, and religious leaders.
We support repeal of the Johnson Amendment,
which restricts First Amendment freedoms
of all nonprofit organizations by prohibiting political
speech. We also support making the federal tax
code so simple and easy to understand that the IRS
becomes obsolete and can be abolished.
Audit the Pentagon
No major part of the Department of Defense
has ever passed an audit. Republican leaders in
Congress have called for a full financial audit of the
Pentagon to ensure that every dollar spent is truly
benefitting our national security. Every taxpayer
must be prepared to pass an audit, and we urge
Congress to demand the same level of accountability
from the Pentagon and the Department of Defense.
Improving the Federal Workforce
We recognize the dedication of most employees
of the federal government and thank them for
their service, with special praise for the whistleblowers
who risk their careers to expose waste, fraud,
and misuse of power. None of them should ever be
compelled to join a union or pay dues to it. In fairness
to their fellow workers, union representatives
should not be allowed to engage in union-related
activities while on the public’s time. The inability of
federal managers to discipline and, if necessary, dismiss
problem staff members is an affront to every
conscientious worker, as is the misuse of funds for
lavish conferences and routine bonuses. The appointees
of a Republican president will work with
career managers to end those abuses and enforce
high standards for all federal employees. We reaffirm
the existing protections that provide all employees
of the federal government the opportunity
to pursue their desire to serve their country free
from discrimination.
We call for renewed efforts to reduce, rather
than expand, government responsibilities, and we
urge particular attention to the bloated public relations
budgets of the departments and agencies. The
federal government spends too much of the people’s
money telling the people what they should do.
Advancing Term Limits
Our national platform has repeatedly endorsed
term limits for Members of Congress. In response, the
GOP Leadership in 1996 brought to a vote, in both
the House and Senate, a constitutional amendment.
It failed to secure the necessary two-thirds vote in
the House, where 80 percent of Republicans voted
for it and 80 percent of Democrats voted against it.
Every Senate Republican voted to allow a vote on
term limits, but the Democrats killed it by a filibuster.
Blocked by that opposition, Republicans sought
other ways to modernize the national legislature.
They set term limits for their own committee chairs
and leadership positions, and by law they required
Congress to live by the same rules it imposes on
others. To make further progress, to advance a
constitutional amendment for consideration by
the states, we must expand the current Republican
majorities in both chambers.
Regulation: The Quiet Tyranny
Over-regulation is the quiet tyranny of the
“Nanny State.” It hamstrings American businesses
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