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Family and Defense of Marriage

Strengthening Families, Protecting Life and Promoting Health > Celebrating Traditional Marriage > Family and Defense of Marriage
We support the definition of marriage as a God-ordained, legal and moral commitment only between a natural man and a natural woman, which is the foundational unit of a healthy society, and we oppose the assault on marriage by judicial activists. We call on the President and Congress to take immediate action to defend the sanctity of marriage. We are resolute that Congress exercise authority under the United States Constitution, and pass legislation withholding jurisdiction from the Federal Courts in cases involving family law, especially any changes in the definition of marriage. We further call on Congress to pass and the state legislatures to ratify a marriage amendment declaring that marriage in the United States shall consist of and be recognized only as the union of a natural man and a natural woman. Neither the United States nor any state shall recognize or grant to any unmarried person the legal rights or status of a spouse. We oppose the recognition of and granting of benefits to people who represent themselves as domestic partners without being legally married. We advocate the repeal of laws that place an unfair tax burden on families. We call upon Congress to completely remove the marriage penalty in the tax code, whereby a married couple receives a smaller standard deduction than their unmarried counterparts living together. The primary family unit consists of those related by blood, heterosexual marriage, or adoption. The family is responsible for its own welfare, education, moral training, conduct, and property.

Language needs simplification.

There is no meaningful "assault" on marriage in the Texas or federal judiciary outside a limited, long-shot ruling by a Democrat activist judge in Dallas County.

The discrepancy in the "married filing jointly" standard deduction was addressed in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 caused it to be implemented in 2003.

It is a slippery slope to cherrypick subjects eligible for judicial review.

Marriage is a state issue and should continue to be a state issue. We do not need yet another federal mandate on states.

Recognition or granting of benefits is of the purview of the private sector. We should not be like liberals and increase regulation of the private sector.

The last two sentences are redundant with other parts of the platform or simply commonsense.

Fault:

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Random plank

Restoring American Sovereignty and Leadership > Domestic > Support of Our Armed Forces
We support the armed forces. We recommend modernizing and maintaining the equipment and weapons for the safety and effectiveness of our armed forces. While we support a continued policy of an overwhelmingly strong military, we also support fiscal sanity: we demand termination of wasteful or ineffective equipment and weapons programs. We demand that displaced military personnel have their votes counted. We support construction of a Texas veterans museum.We encourage all Americans to support the brave and patriotic men and women of our armed forces. They should be paid a wage sufficient to prevent them from ever needing food stamps and that encourages retention. We strongly recommend that all our armed forces remain commanded only by the Commander-in-Chief and his subordinate commanders; upgrading, modernizing and maintaining the equipment, weapons, and vehicles for the safety, efficiency and effectiveness of our armed forces; the continuation of the all volunteer armed forces, the recruitment and advancement of military personnel based on the needs of the military and the qualifications of the person; disqualification of homosexuals from military service; immediate discharge of HIV positive individuals; separation of men and women in basic training; exclusion of women from ground and submarine combat roles; provision of full military honors for burial of veterans; restoration of all veteran benefits without an offset for disability pay; health and disability benefits equal to active military for national guard and reserves; passage of a "new" G.I Bill that fully funds expanded educational scholarship opportunities for honorably separated Veterans; restoration of full lifetime health benefits to retired military and their families; and assurance that military and civilian voters displaced by their service be afforded full opportunity for their votes to be counted; and the expeditious construction of a Veterans Museum in Texas.
Reason:

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.
accomplished, anti-homosexual crusade, wordy, misuse of platform, misinformed, leftist, paranoid, vague

Problems

Show problem parts of the platform:
Platforms promote principles and policies. Planks must not push particular polymorphic political proposals, including bills.about a specific bill (6)
Parts of these were recently implemented.accomplished (11)
Parts of these only promote limited religious viewpoints.advances religious doctrine (8)
Too many positions already overwhelm voters. We cannot add more without a plan to cut ballot complexity.another elected office (6)
The GOP should not be a virulent, anti-homosexual crusade.anti-homosexual crusade (6)
These destroy useful customs or start us down slippery slopes.bad precedent (17)
Cliches belong on the playground, not in serious platforms.cliche (5)
These contradict other planks.contradictory (13)
These simply go too far, overshooting a rational remedy.extreme (25)
These have factual errors.incorrect (11)
These planks advanced contemporary liberal causes or expand government.leftist (22)
These planks require belief in something that is untrue.misinformed (18)
These are not appropriate for a platform document.misuse of platform (6)
These planks have minor punctuation or grammatical errors.needs copyedit (8)
These problems were fixed before the 2008 platform was published.no longer relevant (3)
"Black helicopters" and paranoid conspiracy have no place in our party.paranoid (15)
Parts of these do nothing useful.pointless (61)
These proposals would make our kids stupider.reduces education quality (3)
These planks are internally redundant or repeat other parts of the platform.redundant (41)
These planks should propose a more general solution.too specific (6)
These planks are unclear or unfocused.vague (19)
Puffy prose, hackneyed phrases, and obscure words create pinheaded, unfocused, and inaccessible platforms. Platforms must be simple and direct.wordy (47)

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