While the presidential candidates focus on how Federal programs can be modified or expanded, the Republican Party of Texas, at its recent convention, adopted a platform that reasserts the fundamental rights and liberties Americans have always taken for granted but can’t anymore.

For example, the platform opposes laws—Federal, state or local—that limit parents’ right to rear their children including authority to discipline and to be in charge of the medial or surgical treatments their children receive, including contraception and abortion, and access to their children’s medical records. The GOP believes public schools must obtain written parental permission before giving children surveys asking about their sexual activity and their religious or political beliefs. Parents, the GOP asserts, have a right to see any test or other materials to which their children are exposed.

Further, the party urges local citizen review board to probe alleged abuse of families by the Dept. of Regulatory and Protective Services. While Gov. Bush is planning to expand the duties of the U.S. Dept. of Education by putting Head Start under its roof, the Texas GOP calls for abolishing it and prohibiting transfer of its functions to any other federal agency. The party also seeks an end to Federal School-to-Work programs and Goals 2000 which they allege usurp local control of education and have political, not educational, goals.

On state education issues, the GOP seeks a constitutional amendment mandating all school tax revenues be used within the district that collects them. This would end the unpopular "Robin Hood" school finance scheme forced on legislators by the courts.

The platform calls on Lt. Gov. Rick Perry who will assume the top job if Bush goes to the White House, to ful-fill the pledge Bush made six years ago to abolish the regulatory authority of the Texas Education Agency and shift that authority to the elected State Board of Education. And the platform calls on Legislators to give the elected board unambiguous authority over the content of textbooks.

The party seeks "child centered school funding" allowing the choice of a public, private or religious or home school. The plank stresses that such funding may not be a pretext for "any unit of government" to assert new authority over private or home schools.

The GOP call for school curricula that stress phonics and American history courses covering all of our history, noting that "currently only history Reconstruction is covered."

Addressing an issue of increasing concern, the GOP opposes the "federalization and militarization of local police forces." They condemn the wearing of black, military-style uniforms and boots by local police.

Never criticize a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes. Then, when you criticize him, you’ll be a mile away and you’ll have his shoes. The Republicans find it in the "best interests" of Americans to leave the UN and end all military and financial support of that organization. Pending that, they condemn taxation of Americans by the UN. They also oppose UN treaties or conventions in conflict with the Constitution specifically citing the International Criminal Court which gives the UN authority to try American citizens for vaguely defined "crimes," various gun control measures sought by the UN, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. They urge Congress to resist attempts to implement by Exec-utive Order treaties the Senate refuses to ratify.

Texas Republicans seek a radical reduction of the Federal government abolishing several agencies including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the post of Surgeon General; the Environmental Protection Agency, the Depts. of Energy, Commerce, Labor, Housing and Urban Development and the Dept. of Health and Human Services. They call for abolishing the Federal income tax and repealing the 16^th Amendment to the Constitution which made it possible. The platform reaffirms the right of Americans to own and use property without government interference. The Endangered Species Act, the plank de-clares, must be amended to respect that right and stress incentives rather than penalties.

The party urges gradually phasing out Social Security taxes and an "orderly transition" to private pen-sions based on individual retirement accounts. They oppose mingling Social Security and general fund revenue.

Privacy is addressed with a demand to end to the "ever increasing, incessant, recurring and calculated gathering, accumulation and dissemination of finger prints, Social Security numbers, financial and personal information of law abiding citizens by business and government." The plank calls for laws to protect persons who refuse to submit to these probes.