Minnesota

Minnesota Republicans
edited by Zachary Greenblatt

             Minnesota ranks 12th in area. It is roughly rectangular in shape. From north to south it extends 406 miles (653 kilometers); from east to west, 357 miles (575 kilometers). Lake Superior stretches along its northeastern border for 180 miles (290 kilometers). The state's area is 84,068 square miles (217,735 square kilometers), including 4,779 square miles (12,378 square kilometers) of inland water, but excluding 2,212 square miles (5,729 square kilometers) of Lake Superior.
Because of its size and its location in the middle of the continent, Minnesota has changeable weather. Cool polar air masses sometimes sweep across the state from Canada. However, prolonged periods of heat often result from the warm, moist air that moves northward from the Gulf of Mexico. Lake Superior moderates temperatures near the lake in all seasons. The average annual temperature varies from about 39°F (4°C) in the northern part of the state to about 46°F (8°C) in the southern part. But temperatures vary widely between summer and winter. Temperatures during the winter months in the northwest, the coldest section of the state, average about 11°F (-12°C). Below-zero weather is common here. Summer temperatures quickly change and average about 69°F (21°C) in the warmest section, the south-central part of the state.
             Minnesota's immigrants came largely from Germany, Sweden, Norway, Canada, and Great Britain. Later Finns and Slavs came to work the iron mines. Meat-packing attracted Balkans, Poles, and Lithuanians. In the 1970s and 1980s the cities drew Hispanics and refugees from the Vietnam War.
             Today only 2.6 percent of the population is foreign born. Of the total foreign population, the largest groups are from Germany, Sweden, and Canada. African Americans make up 1.3 percent of the total population, and most of them are concentrated in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. There are even fewer Indians, and they live mainly on reservations in the northern part of the state.
             Two Minnesotans were among the Democratic presidential candidates who received the state's votes from 1932 to 1948, 1960 to 1968, and 1976 to 1988. (Several of these were losing candidates.) Among the nominees were two Minnesotans. Hubert H. Humphrey, in 1964 the first resident to be elected vice-president of the United States, was the Democratic candidate in 1968. Walter F. Mondale, vice-president from 1977 to 1981, was the party's candidate for president in 1984. An outspoken critic of the Vietnam War, Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota became a national figure in 1968 when he challenged President Lyndon B. Johnson in the state presidential primaries.
             MINNESOTA: REPUBLICANS
             Civil Rights Reform
Work toward a society in which people are not judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. We support the following reforms:
             Prohibiting any form of racial, ethnic or religious discrimination by government including racial preferences or quotas in state or other government employment, student admissions and faculty hiring, or set asides in the awarding of government contracts.
             Repealing the provisions of all state statutes that require differential treatment of citizens based on race, ethnicity or religion.
             Encouraging respect for our American heritage and our status as American citizens rather than as members of any class based on race, ethnicity or religion.
             Protecting the right to religious expression in any public setting in which other types of ‘speech’ are permitted.
             Racial Preference has been promoted as a necessary tool to remedy under-representation of minorities and to promote desired diversity in our workforce and school systems. We categorically oppose these motives as contrary to the bedrock principles of equality in which we believe. We stand firmly behind the goal of achieving a color blind society where individuals are evaluated as individuals, not as members of any particular group. If we are truly opposed to racial discrimination, we cannot decide when it is permissible to count by race and when it is not. It is always wrong. We oppose racial preference because it stigmatizes the groups it is designed to help. There are millions of successful minorities in every conceivable profession, trade and school. People of color can and will succeed on their own without the help of liberal elitists. If individuals are discriminated against they should have ready, immediate and effective redress in our judicial and administrative systems. Discrimination is wrong, period. What we oppose is discrimination in the name of eliminating discrimination.
             Legal Reform
             Repair Minnesota’s out-of-control litigation system which produces unreasonable awards for minor damages, excessive punitive damages, huge attorneys’ fees and frivolous lawsuits. We support the following reforms
             Limiting unreasonable monetary awards and attorneys’ fees.
             Preventing abusive class action lawsuits by prohibiting massive attorneys’ fees in trivial cases where plaintiffs receive insignificant damages.
             Limiting a defendant’s responsibility for any damage award to the defendant’s actual share of fault as found by the jury.
             Empowering juries to determine that a suit was without any merit and in such a case require the plaintiff and his attorney to pay the defendant’s attorney’s fees and court costs.
             Limiting prisoners’ ability to file frivolous lawsuits.
             Recent data shows the cost of the legal industry is rising by 12% per year. This is double the cost increase in our health care industry and four times the rate of inflation. The number of lawsuits filed in federal courts has tripled over the last 30 years. Medical malpractice insurance is hobbling the effort to achieve affordable health care. The cost of obtaining liability insurance is skyrocketing and companies have been forced to increase their prices as a result. This lowers everyone’s standard of living. We propose that any attorney found by a jury to have brought an entirely unmeritorious claim be required to pay the legal fees of the innocent defendant. Why should not an attorney who intentionally brings a frivolous claim have to compensate the victim of that wrongful act? At present, even an innocent defendant who prevails in court may go bankrupt defending himself. We believe that only such a rule will stop our society’s relentless march towards litigation consuming our entire economy.
             Health Care and Welfare Reform
             Simplify Minnesota’s complicated and costly health care system to give Minnesotans choices, reduce costs and improve quality through real market competition. Continue restructuring of Minnesota’s welfare system. We support the following reforms:
             Promoting programs that reduce health care costs by introducing genuine market competition into the system, repealing MinnesotaCare, and opposing programs that ration health care.
             Giving individuals more health care choices by permitting medical savings accounts and giving people the option of using their own money for the type of plan they choose.
             Opposing state or federal access to individually identifiable medical data on individuals, or the collection of such data on state or federal health care databases without the consent of the parent, guardian, or individual.
             Supporting the current direction of welfare reform that requires able- bodied candidates to work before they become eligible for benefits, limits welfare benefits for able-bodied individuals to two years, imposes a residency requirement on welfare recipients and ends welfare benefits for illegal immigrants.
             Enabling, encouraging and participating in private charity for the poor, and enacting federal and state tax credits for charitable contributions.
             Few things are more important to our lives than the quality of the health care we receive. Recently, a purported health care "crisis" has been invoked to attempt a government takeover of our health care system. We believe that individuals can make better decisions about their own health care than the government. We should be able to choose ‘managed care’ plans freely, but government has no business forcing us into such plans. We likewise oppose limits now being imposed by government on health care spending by individuals. Government should not have the power of life and death over its citizens. Therefore, we reject rationing of life-saving health care as part of any health care reform program. Liberals measure their compassion by the number of people receiving benefits paid with money taken from others by coercion. We value voluntary gifts given freely, and measure compassion by the number who no longer need assistance. We believe far more good has been accomplished by gifts given in love than by compulsion and bureaucracy.
             Property Rights, Environment and Agriculture Reform
Bring back common sense and basic fairness in land use, farming practices and conservation. We support the following reforms:
             Requiring government compensation for property devaluation when regulations or zoning cause declines in property value. We support restricting the government’s ownership of our land to the 40% that it now owns.
             Moving towards free markets in agricultural products, opposing restrictions on agricultural exports and repealing subsidies.
             Adopting a reasonable wetlands policy in which the cost of preserving water quality is not borne unfairly by a few private property owners.
             Urging the passage of the American Land Sovereignty Act which would require that all treaties be ratified by Congress before they could be enacted, even by executive order.
             Opposing ratification of the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty, which places severe restrictions on U.S. businesses with no scientific evidence.
             Opposing legislation that places a state-wide moratorium on feed lots and logging roads -- townships and counties should decide these matters.
             Adopting U.S. Senator Rod Grams’ proposal to return management of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park to the original intent of the 1978 BWCAW law and Public Law 91-661 creating the park.
             Amending the Minnesota Constitution so that hunting and fishing rights are guaranteed. We support returning timber wolf management back to the state.
             Opposing Minnesota Planning’s use of the 1992 United Nations Rio De Janeiro Bio Diversity Treaty from being used as the basis for any planning in Minnesota. We support repealing the Minnesota Community Based Planning Act, since local government should decide these matters.
             Opposing federal ‘heritage area’ acts that would generically provide funding and other opportunities for bureaucracies and other non-governmental organizations to use tax dollars to lobby and prepare for regulation of our land and resources.
             Opposing the Minnesota DNR’s ecosystem management approach to natural resource management, while supporting a return to traditional silverculture and wildlife management techniques.
             Property Rights. James Madison said in his most famous defense of the United States Constitution that the protection of private property was the "first object of government." The Fifth Amendment to our U.S. Constitution prohibits government from taking property without compensation. Today government not only fails to meet this fundamental objective, but is also often the chief aggressor toward the property interests of its citizens, under the guise of land-use regulation.
             Environment. We favor clean air, clean water, a healthy environment and preserving our natural heritage for future generations. The issue is not clean versus dirty, but reasonable versus unfair and extreme. A very serious issue is who should bear the costs of environmental protection. These are difficult, complicated issues that deserve more than emotional responses based on little or no information. Environmental policy-making should be based on peer-reviewed scientific research and should involve government regulation in limited circumstances.
             Agriculture. We support our farmers and their efforts to operate their farms without undue interference from state and local governments. After all, farmers manage their farms much better than politicians and bureaucrats.
             Family Security and Defense of Life Reform
Adopt policies that strengthen the family, defend human life and support our traditional Minnesota values. We support the following reforms:
             Adopting policies reflecting the principle that every human being, born and unborn, has an inalienable right to life from conception to natural death.
             Opposing abortion and supporting legislation aimed at prohibiting partial birth abortions.
             Submitting to a vote of the people a constitutional amendment to overturn the Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision that forces taxpayers to pay for elective abortions.
             Opposing legislation that defines food and water as "medical treatment" that can be withheld from a patient.
             Adopting changes that encourage families to stay together, including changes in marriage, divorce, child support, welfare and tax laws.
             Making it easier and less costly for heterosexual parents to adopt children of any race.
             Opposing recognition of same sex marriages or the establishment of homosexuals as a protected class.
             Eliminating all advertising promoting state-sponsored gambling by radio, television or free promotional items.
             Strengthening laws and regulations that restrict the sale, production and promotion of obscene material, including on the internet and the telephone.
             We believe the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed upon. We therefore reaffirm our support for a human life amendment to the constitution. We oppose using public revenues for abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it. We commend those who provide alternatives to abortion by meeting the needs of mothers and offering adoption services. We support a comprehensive strategy to protect the lives of unborn humans. We can reduce the demand for abortion through abstinence education, easing adoption procedures, teaching moral values and encouraging privately based compassionate care for women and children in need. Legislation can guarantee women the right to adequate information and parents the right to protect their children. We oppose efforts to ‘redefine’ the family. We recognize the institution of marriage as a union only between one man and one woman. We also support legislation eliminating no-fault divorce, which has created a society of ‘disposable marriages’.
             We are also concerned about the growing epidemic of gambling in Minnesota. This is breaking up families and creating financial hardships. Today two-thirds of personal bankruptcies are gambling related. Much crime is also generated by gambling addiction. For these reasons, we support restrictions to slow the spread of this dangerous disease. In particular, we believe the state should not promote gambling.
             Education Reform
Restore Minnesota’s education system by returning to a system that emphasizes local control, parental involvement, learning and traditional values. We support the following reforms:
             Re-emphasizing the ‘three Rs’ and a traditional knowledge-based curriculum in education. We support teaching the traditional Minnesota values of hard work, honesty, home and family, rather than indoctrination in the liberal social agenda.
             Making Minnesota’s education system more effective and efficient by reducing the federal and state bureaucracies’ control over education and by returning authority to parents and local communities.
             Abandoning the Profile of Learning, opposing the Diversity Rule and withdrawing from Goals 2000.
             Supporting a state-wide testing system that emphasizes basic skills in a core curriculum.
             Re-establishing the Minnesota Department of Education.
             Increasing accountability through competition in our schools by preserving and expanding tax credits, deductions or voucher programs.
             Protecting parents’ rights to home school their children and to receive tax credits for home schooling. Continuing to support the expansion of charter schools.
             Reforming tenure, limiting public teachers’ right to strike, and restoring balance to the Public Employment Labor Relations Act (PELRA).
             We believe in instituting merit pay and periodic competency testing for public school teachers in the subject areas that they teach. Minnesota Republicans seek an educational system that emphasizes the core subjects of math, English, history and science. This basic knowledge will prepare our children for an increasingly sophisticated job market and allow them to make successful life choices. For instance, we believe that phonics is the best method to teach proper reading skills. We oppose the teaching of revisionist, agenda-based history in public schools. Republicans also stress that students must be taught traditional virtues such as honesty, hard work, respect for authority, patriotism and family values.
             By instilling these time-honored values in our children, we will educate students of character and integrity. In the past 35 years, Minnesota’s spending per student has more than doubled in inflation-adjusted dollars. This additional governmental spending on education has not resulted in improved educational achievement, as student performance has declined. During this time, both state and federal governments have taken ever-increasing control over the educational system, pushing aside parental and local control. The result is an educational system that is inefficient, ineffective, expensive and choked by bureaucracy. Minnesota Republicans advocate returning control to parents and local school boards.
             The most effective form of parental control is school choice. Tax credits, vouchers and charter schools allow parents to choose the best education for their children. Parental choice in education must also include the option of home schooling. Parents who home school must be given the same rights, resources and tax benefits as other parents. Educational IRA’s are another means by which parental choice can be maximized. The latest panacea in Minnesota education is called the Profile of Learning. This program, along with its parent program, Goals 2000, is fatally flawed. The Profile of Learning incorrectly stresses "project learning" over a traditional knowledge-based curriculum. Moreover, the Profile of Learning is a bureaucratic nightmare that will throw students’ and teachers’ lives into utter chaos.
             We also oppose the "Diversity Rule" because its main goal is social engineering, not educational performance. The educational establishment has changed its focus from teaching basic academics to promoting a liberal social agenda. This has resulted in schools spending hours of class time on such social issues as abuse education, AIDS, sex education and racism. Frequently, schools place more importance on individual self-esteem than on academic performance. This must change! Our public schools must stop serving the role of social and child-care institutions and start educating our children.
             Crime Reform
             Reduce crime in Minnesota by getting tough with violent and repeat criminals. We support the following reforms:
             Establishing mandatory minimum prison sentences, substantially higher for repeat offenders, and ending probation for violent criminals.
             Building new prisons only after all existing facilities require double bunking. Fewer expenditures should be made on luxury items such as televisions, telephones, unlimited access to athletic facilities and the internet.
             Changing state law so any juvenile who is arrested for a violent crime is tried as an adult.
             Requiring all prisoners to work to provide restitution to their victims and the state for crimes committed.
             Giving the people of Minnesota an opportunity to vote by referendum on capital punishment.
             Supporting a responsible, competent citizen’s right to self-defense through gun ownership and a "must issue" carry permit system.
             Crime is out of control in Minnesota. Statistically, a person is safer today in New York City than in Minneapolis. The reason for Minnesota’s meteoric rise in violent crime is that liberal prosectors are too lenient with violent criminals. In fact, Minnesota ranks dead last in the rate at which it sends people to prison! We believe in prisons. They reduce crime by keeping rapists, robbers and murderers off our streets. Studies have shown that the average criminal commits 12 crimes a year when not behind bars!
             We believe that prisons need to become prisons again. The cost of maintaining a criminal in a Minnesota prison is nearly double the national average due to the numerous services and amenities our prisoners receive. Prisoners should be required to work in order to repay their victims and the state for crimes committed. We believe that the benefits experienced by the over thirty states which have non-discretionary "must issue" carry permit laws should be extended to Minnesotans. Where these laws have been enacted, there has been real, marked decreases in violent crime. After all, an armed victim is a criminal’s worst nightmare.
             None of the extraordinary things about our country are gifts of government. They are the accomplishments of free people in a free society. They are achievements, not entitlements – and are sweeter for that fact. All our efforts as Republicans are guided by the fixed star of this single principle: that freedom always exceeds our highest expectations. "Freedom is the last, best hope of earth."
             1) FREEDOM from Oppressive Taxes, Spending and Regulation Republicans support an economic agenda that reduces taxes, spending and regulation to create opportunities for American families and businesses. We believe tax surpluses belong to taxpayers, not the government. Republicans support abolishing the current IRS tax code and replacing it with a fairer, simpler tax system. We support financially sound Social Security and Medicare systems. This includes individual discretion and ownership of a portion of Social Security contributions, while maintaining our obligations to older Americans.
             2) FREEDOM from the Fear of Crime Republicans believe that the best way to reduce crime is to get tough with violent and repeat criminals. We will do this by establishing mandatory minimum prison sentences and by ending probation for violent criminals. Republicans support a law-abiding citizen’s right to carry concealed weapons to defend themselves.
             3) FREEDOM of Choice in our Children’s Education Republicans believe that educational funding is better allocated by parents, through tax credits and deductions, than government bureaucrats. Goals 2000 and the Profile of Learning champion process over substance, sentiment over knowledge and political correctness over historical and literary understanding. They should be replaced by a demonstration of competence in traditional knowledge and basic skills.
             4) FREEDOM that Strengthens Family Security, Defends Life and Supports Traditional Minnesota Values Republicans understand that every human being, born and unborn, has an inalienable right-to-life. We believe that laws should be passed to prohibit partial birth abortion and forced taxpayer funding for elective abortions. Republicans support adoption and oppose special rights for homosexuals.
             5) FREEDOM to Enjoy Private Property and Agricultural Rights while Protecting the Environment Republicans support the rights of individuals to own their own property free from government restriction and to receive just compensation where restrictions are deemed of overwhelming necessity. We believe in protecting the environment based on scientifically sound doctrines. Republicans support free markets for agricultural products.
             6) FREEDOM of Citizens, Enhanced through Government Reform Republicans support both rediscovering federalism by moving government functions closer to citizens and empowering individual voters through real campaign finance reform. This includes requiring all unions to receive written permission from their members before collecting funds for political purposes.
             7) FREEDOM to Pursue Quality Health Care Republicans believe that real market competition will improve the quality and lower the cost of our health care system. FREEDOM to Pursue Opportunities Unfettered by the Shackles of Welfare Republicans support the current direction of welfare reform that calls for work and residency requirements.
             8) FREEDOM from Lawsuit Abuse through Legal Reform Republicans will repair Minnesota’s litigation system, by eliminating colossal awards for minor damages, excessive punitive damages, huge attorneys’ fees and frivolous lawsuits.
             9) FREEDOM and Equality for All Americans through Civil Rights Reform Republicans believe individuals should not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Therefore, government mandated discrimination, including racial preference and quotas, should be prohibited.
             FREEDOM, Preserved by a Strong National Defense and a Forceful Foreign Policy Republicans support promoting the American values of freedom and opportunity abroad. We believe in peace through strength and oppose placing United States troops under the control of the United Nations.