The is a
Paleoconservative United States political party. It was founded as the '''U.S. Taxpayers Party''' in 1992. The party's official name was changed to the ''Constitution Party'' in 1999; however, some state affiliate parties are known under different names. It ranks third nationally amongst all United States
Political Parties in registered voters, with 366,937 registered members as of November 2006,
NOVEMBER 2006 REGISTRATION TOTALS most of whom are registered in California and Nevada.
The Constitution Party advocates a Bible-based platform which it claims to reflect and in opposition to long-established concepts of
Pluralism .--> The party seeks "to restore American jurisprudence to its original Biblical common-law foundations."
Constitution Party mission statement , official website
In 2006, ,
2006 , retrieved
November 8 ,
2006 Control of state Legislature unclear , ''Helena Independent Record'', though the Constitution Party of Montana had disaffiliated itself from the national party a short time before the election.
The
Michigan affiliate has kept the U.S. Taxpayers Party name to retain
Ballot Status .
In ,
2006 .
In
California , the affiliate is the
American Independent Party and in
Nevada it is the
Independent American Party . According to
Richard Winger , the editor of ''
Ballot Access News '', and other observers, the word "Independent" in the party name may have attracted the registrations of voters intending to declare themselves
Unaffiliated with any party.
It has been rumored that the Constitution Party discussed a merger
3rd parties to merge into 1? retrieved ,
2006 All of the aforementioned parties except for the Reform Party endorsed
Michael Peroutka as their presidential candidate in 2004.
later joined the party.
Conservative U.S. senator
Bob Smith announced his switch from Republican to this party, then the U.S. Taxpayers Party. He also briefly ran for its presidential nomination in 2000. Smith later claimed that anti-
New World Order ideologues within the party resisted his candidacy due to Smith's
Roman Catholicism . He continued his campaign as a non-partisan independent but ceased the campaign soon after.
Minuteman Project co-founder
Jim Gilchrist ran for Congress with the
American Independent Party in 2005, but has since rejoined the Republicans.
Jim Gilchrist's blog
Conservative author and
WorldNetDaily columnist
Jerome Corsi launched a brief campaign for the 2008 nomination but in July 2007 decided to return to writing.
The Constitution Party supports reducing the role of the United States federal government through cutting bureaucratic regulation, reducing spending, and replacing the and the
Tenth Amendment .
The party supports paying off the federal debt through a systematic elimination of further borrowing and what they consider unconstitutional programs and agencies such as the
Department Of Education and the
Department Of Health And Human Services . The party opposes foreign aid, asking that no further funds be appropriated for any kind of foreign aid program, and encourage the idea that the United States terminate its participation in international lending institutions, such as the
World Bank ,
International Monetary Fund , and the
Export-Import Bank . It also urges the government to immediately terminate all subsidies, tax preferences, and investment guarantees that encourage U.S. businesses to invest in foreign property; and to seek to collect all foreign debts owed to it.
Additionally, the party favors a noninterventionist foreign policy. It advocates reduction and eventual elimination of the role the United States plays in multinational and international organizations such as the
United Nations , and favors withdrawal of the United States from most current treaties, such as
NAFTA ,
GATT , and the
World Trade Organization . The party takes
Paleoconservative positions in supporting
Protectionist policies on international trade.
The party also believes in exercising a additional
Import costs, the amount of which would vary proportionally with how much less the exporting country's production costs are compared to that of U.S. companies. This system would presumably give U.S. companies a better chance at competing with countries, like Mexico and China, who heavily underpay their workers; in turn, the system would encourage such countries to pay their workers higher wages, thus undercutting one major cause of
Offshoring American jobs.
The party opposes
Illegal Immigration and also seeks a more restrictive policy on legal immigration. They demand that the federal government restore immigration policies based on the practice that potential immigrants will be disqualified from admission to the U.S. if, on the grounds of health, criminality, morals, or financial dependence, they would impose an improper burden on the United States, any state, or any citizen of the United States.
Additionally, they oppose the provision of welfare subsidies and other taxpayer-supported benefits to illegal aliens, and reject the practice of bestowing U.S. citizenship on children born to illegal alien parents while in this country. They also reject any extension of amnesty to illegal aliens. The Constitution Party calls for the use of U.S. troops to protect the states against an influx of illegal immigrants.
The party is s"
Constitution Party Frequently Asked Questions which, it should be noted, are not necessarily limited to murder but usually equate to such in modern American society.
''Our support of a State's option to impose the death penalty is limited to those who have been convicted of capital crimes. This is consistent with protecting "innocent" life because the death penalty would only be applied to those who have proven to be a threat to innocent life.''
It also opposes government recognition of , believing the government needs to take a stand against it.
Party Platform (Pornography) Viewing gambling as destructive and contributing to crime, the party opposes legalized and
Amendment 10 , while maintaining that the federal government may have a role in limiting the import of drugs.
Party Platform (Drug Abuse)
The party supports the right to bear arms and view the
Second Amendment to the Constitution as securing broad rights to own guns. The party is opposed to the
USA PATRIOT Act .
The party believes that charity is a private matter that the government has no business being involved in.
Party Platform (Welfare) The party opposes federal restrictions on, or subsidization of, medical treatments.
Party Platform (Health Care and Government)
The party supports English as the official language for all governmental business, opposes bilingual ballots, and insists that those who wish to take part in the electoral process and governance of the US be required to read and comprehend basic English as a precondition of citizenship.
Party Platform (Immigration)
The Constitution Party's official stance on
Abortion is opposition to both early and late-term abortions. Party members, however, have been divided on the subject of exceptions in the cases of
Rape ,
Incest , and abortions performed to save the life of the mother.
In early 2006,
Nevada IAP (the Constitution Party state affiliate in
Nevada ) gubernatorial candidate Christopher H. Hansen, as well as candidates in Colorado and Idaho publicly expressed support of these exceptions, which were contrary to the official Nevada platform.
At the party's April national convention in
Tampa, Florida , the assembly voted ''not'' to disaffiliate Nevada, citing that affiliate's official position on the issue and national party policy against dictating the internal affairs (such as electing leaders) of any affiliate. They also made it more difficult to introduce a disaffiliation resolution.
In response, nine state parties formally voted to disaffiliate from the national party, believing it to have unacceptably compromised on the issue of abortion.
The party supports the repeal of the without interference from the Federal Government.
Party Platform (Statehood)
Critics contend the Party uses its name in an , the
Unregistered Baptist Fellowship , and other secessionist/separatist groups.
Chuck Baldwin
- otheus--- I could not find Johnston referred to on this site. It has changed to "principledpolicy.com"; google turned up zero.
-- leader Pastor Matthew Trewhella. {Link without Title} --> However, many such notables were involved in the above-mentioned disaffiliation efforts over abortion, and it remains unclear on what effect the movement has upon the current reorganized affiliates.
Prominent members
Devvy Kidd ,
Mary Starrett , and
Chuck Baldwin advocate, in a variety of online conservative opinion journals, open defiance of the
IRS and current Federal tax filing regulations.
The Constitution Party is on the ballot in the following states, as of January 4, 2007
{Link without Title} :
# California (as the
American Independent Party )
# Colorado (as the American Constitution Party)
# Delaware
# Florida
# Idaho
# Michigan (as the
U.S. Taxpayers Party Of Michigan )
# Mississippi
# Montana (currently disaffiliated from national Constitution Party)
# Nebraska (as the
Nebraska Party )
# Nevada (as the
Independent American Party Of Nevada )
# North Dakota
#
Oregon (currently disaffiliated from national Constitution Party)
# Pennsylvania
# South Carolina
# Utah
