misinformed

This is a highly paranoid view. There is no credible movement to subjugate the United States to the United Nations. The US has consistently rebuffed all such proposals.

While the United Nations has deep flaws, it is the only forum for broad international discourse.

Several of the enumerated objections are redundant with other parts of the platform.

LOST should be handled in another plank.

It is wholly unclear how free trade is hurting our sovereignty.

Withdrawal from the WTO and FTAA would be counterproductive.

There is scant evidence of interference with American elections.

This is a terrible, unfocused plank that is a grab bag of random wishes and left-wing government expansionism.

Wages are an economic issue in every industry, including the military. If wages are too low, they will show up in poor recruitment and retention numbers. Given good recruiting numbers, there is little evidence of insufficient wages.

There is no credible movement to:

• Reassign commandment of the armed forces away from the President.
• Move away from a volunteer force.
• Recruit to fill ranks with unqualified people.

The issue of women in combat roles is an internal issue for the military and does not deserve mention here. If it comes down to it, women may decline to serve in the military if they do not want a combat role.

These are in fact left-wing and remarkably expensive policies:

• Removing disability pay offset: A lack of an offset for other disability pay is unfair: you collect twice for one disability!
• Full health benefits for National Guard and reservists: U.S. health benefits are typically a function of employment. National Guard and reservists do not work when they are not on duty, so it makes little sense to extend health coverage to off-duty times.
• Lifetime health benefits: Just like with any other employer-sponsored health plan, military health plan should terminate upon end of employment.

It is counterproductive and pointless to have a witch hunt for homosexuals.

There is zero evidence that the military is mishandling HIV.

Separation of men and women in basic training is counterproductive. They will have to work together in the field. Why create artificial barriers?

The G.I. Bill provision is accomplished. The current bill pays up to $47,556 in educational benefits over a maximum of 36 months.

This plank is wordy. For example:

• "Upgrading" and "modernizing" are the same thing.
• Vehicles are a type of equipment.
• Something that is safe and efficient is also effective.

Armed guards and pilots on aircraft is a statutory issue.

"Expert" connotes an insurpassible level of experience; airline pilots can and do have some training, but expertise is too much, especially in the limited context of what pilots can accomplish midair. Pilots need to be experts at flying; security needs to be experts at stopping terrorism.

Protecting Constitutional rights is an inherent duty of all government officials, not just Homeland Security.

"unethical politicization of appropriations" is hopelessly vague. Congress is a political body. It's natural for issues to be politicized.

"We oppose trading of votes based on pork sharing, and promises of financial and other help during reelection campaigns." is also unclear.

It is unclear how the state can can fund programs without legislative approval. Budgets come from the legislature. While the governor has an authority called the "budget executive authority," this is statutorily authorized (source) and has limited legislative review. Modern government is complex, and the governor must have some discretion outside the biennial legislature.

Overall this plank appears to have a naive take on the art of politics. It is not pretty, like sausage making.

The problem is abuse of earmarks, not the earmarks themselves.

"Carve out" earmarks do not increase spending; those earmarks are a critical Congressional check against intransigent bureaucracies. Certainly our motto is not "in bureaucrats we trust"! Trusting bureaucrats is Democrat policy.

This proposal distracts from the underlying problem: unending government expansion. Arresting runaway spending is the only effective way to end the abuse of earmarks.

Earmarks are like money. Neither are evil; how they are used is the issue.

There is in fact no special Congressional retirement system. They are just members of the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), although they are eligible for the older Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) if they were in Congress before 1984.

The problem is that Congress requires FERS to calculate its own retirement benefits much more generously than for typical federal employees.

It is wildly inappropriate to push "school administrators and officials" into a role traditionally held by parents and churches.

Courts have consistently upheld personal or student-initiatied right to prayer. What is unconstitutional is when student-initiated prayer becomes de facto policy, such as what brought about Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v. Doe.

The proposed amendment is dangerous. It would tacitly endorse public schooling on a federal level, creating a "gateway drug" to enhancing federal oversight of schools. Also, contemporary interpretaion of the First Amendment strongly defends most student-initiated prayer as free speech and defends against compulsory prayer.

Key founding documents in fact have minimal references to religion. There is no evidence of censorship.

While these statements are meaningful, reciting them does not create loyalty or patriotism.