The American Independent Party of California
2006-2008 Platform

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

America and California need the leadership of the American Independent Party (California affiliate of the Constitution Party). We pledge to:

Reduce immigration, and stop all government subsidies to illegal aliens; no driver's licenses for illegals;

Immediately terminate international trade agreements such as NAFTA, WTO, CAFTA and the proposed FTAA, and stop sending high paying American jobs to foreign countries;

Stop the undeclared wars which are daily costing American lives and billions of tax dollars;

Protect the right to life of the innocent unborn;

Uphold traditional marriage and family values;

Defend America's moral values; keep God in the pledge of allegiance;

Defend Second Amendment rights;

Get rid of the Federal income tax, and restore a tariff based revenue system;

Stop reckless spending, including foreign aid, and take care of America's domestic needs;

End debt financing of both Federal and State governments;

Restore a debt free, interest free money system;

Support high standards in education, including encouragement of private schools and home schooling;

Stop the pillage of consumers and taxpayers by the energy/utility monopolies;

Vote American Independent - - the only party fighting for a return to Constitutional government.

INTRODUCTION

California's American Independent Party has been a ballot qualified political party since 1968. The American Independent Party, which now has more than 300,000 registered members in California, is affiliated at the national level with the Constitution Party.

At its state convention, held on September 2, 2006 in Rancho Cordova, California, the American Independent Party adopted its 2006-2008 California platform. The platform continues to express the principles which inspired the A.I.P.'s formation in 1967-68, and have continued to motivate its members during the party's 39 years of service, and participation in California's political life.

If you believe in the principles set forth in the American Independent Party's platform, you can be instrumental in translating these principles into government policy by:

-Registering American Independent;

-Voting for American Independent Party candidates;

-Contributing financially to the American Independent Party.

Your active participation is invited.

Following is the complete 2006-2008 platform of the American Independent Party.

PREAMBLE

The American Independent Party, gratefully acknowledging the Lord God as creator and protector of the nation, hereby appeals to Him for continuing guidance in its efforts to preserve this nation as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

In order to preserve our liberties and our republic, we reaffirm the principle of individual rights upon which the United States of America was founded:

- that the Declaration of Independence occupies a primary and defining relationship to the Constitution of the United States of America, and that the latter document was never intended to supplant nor replace the former document, but only to perfect it and the Union of States which it brought into existence;

- that, in accord with our Declaration of Independence, every man has, inherent in his being, an inalienable right to his life, his liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which the founders defined as pursuit of virtue;

- that the right to own, use, exchange, control, protect, and freely dispose of property is a natural, necessary, and inseparable extension of these rights;

- that the proper function of government is the safeguarding of these rights through the preservation of domestic tranquility, the provision of national defense, and the promotion of justice; and the adherence to the limits of the federal and State constitutions;

- that an examination of history reveals that governments generally have failed in their obligations, becoming themselves the major violators of individual rights;

- that, therefore, government's powers must be carefully divided and limited.

In consequence whereof, we call upon all men who value their God given liberty to join us in pursuit of these political ideals.

INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS

Any consideration of individual rights would be an exercise in futility if there was not first an affirmation of the right to life upon which all other individual rights are contingent. The American Independent Party recognizes that the first and most important role of government at any level is the protection of the right to life. We acknowledge that this right is affirmed and mandated in the U.S. Constitution, in the Fifth Amendment: "No person shall be...deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law....", and cannot be superceded by any laws, foreign or domestic. We support the reinstatement of anti-abortion laws, which laws, by their very nature, protect the lives of those innocents least able to defend themselves.

We support the efforts of those who seek enactment of a human life constitutional amendment, which will specifically mandate every branch of government to protect this right for every human being at every stage of his or her development.

We are opposed to euthanasia, the so-called "mercy killing" of the aged, ailing or infirm, by the administration of drugs, or the withholding of food, water, and medication essential to the patient's comfort or possible recovery.

INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM

The American Independent Party speaks for individual freedom; the right of each citizen to the ownership of property and the control of his own property, the right to engage in business, or participate in his labor union without governmental interference.

We shall steadfastly oppose Federal legislation permitting the Federal bureaucracy to tell businessmen whom they must hire or fire, tamper with union seniority lists and apprenticeship programs, or invade the individual's right of privacy.

We call for the elimination of government competition with free and competitive businesses and institutions.

We believe that any promulgation or revision of rules or regulations by Federal regulatory agencies, prior to becoming effective, should be submitted to and approved by Congress.

No American citizen's property should be confiscated by any government agency under so-called asset forfeiture laws until the citizen has been convicted of a felony.

We believe that any United States citizen who is accused of war crimes must receive a trial by jury prior to loss of citizenship or deportation.

SECRECY IN GOVERNMENT

We are concerned that, in response to the so-called "war on terrorism," Americans are giving up their civil liberties and rights of privacy to a government being made all powerful; and that governmental powers enlarged in the name of fighting terrorism are being turned against citizens with no connection to terrorism. The American Independent Party will be on guard to protect the people from such abuse by government of its powers.

The American Independent Party believes that government must be conducted in the full light of public scrutiny. Secrecy is the tool of dictatorship, not of government of, by and for the people. We pledge our full support of all necessary legislation to assure full disclosure to the people of the activities of their government.

We have witnessed the massive misuse of governmental power to harass citizens and interfere with their basic constitutional rights. The American Independent Party condemns all such abuses by government, including illegal surveillance and wire-tapping, creation of enemy lists, burglary, harassment of citizens by the IRS, BATF, or other government agencies, and conspiratorial interference with citizen participation in the election process. We are opposed to the granting to the government of any expanded authority to conduct electronic surveillance activities.

We support the full retention in all aspects of the original Posse Comitatus Act as approved by the Congress in 1878, and the complete separation of our national military from all state, county, and local police functions.

THE CENSUS

The American Independent Party believes that the census, as presently administered, is an unconstitutional invasion of privacy, and that the census is being misused to provide the government with information to support unnecessary spending. We call upon Congress to fund the Census Bureau only to the extent necessary to achieve the Bureau's sole constitutional purpose: enumeration of the citizenry in order to reapportion the legislature.

We further hold that an enumeration of the citizenry for purposes of reapportionment does not properly include non-citizen residents.

We believe that the Constitution requires a genuine enumeration of the citizenry, not some form of statistical sampling.

OPPOSITION TO CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

The American Independent Party opposes any attempt to call a 2nd Constitutional Convention for purposes of amending the United States Constitution, or for any other purpose whatsoever, because such convention cannot be limited to a single issue, and such convention could seriously threaten constitutionally protected inalienable rights.

CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION

We reject any suggested revision of the California Constitution which would, in any way, limit the power of the people to control their own State, city, county and special independent district governments. We urge that the Constitution of California be amended to specifically reassure the right of the people of California to keep and bear arms.

We note with special concern proposals to eliminate the right of the people to vote for many presently elected public officials, interfere with the people's right to initiate legislation, repeal the requirement for a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to adopt a state budget, replace elected local government bodies with non-elected bureaucracies, and remove present legal impediments to increased taxes. All such proposals should be rejected.

TERM LIMITS

During the founding of our American Constitutional Republic, one of the most valued principles was rotation in office. Citizen government was a service to one's community, city, county, state and nation. The American Independent Party endorses our founders' concept of rotation in office, and the right of free citizens to apply term limits in law and the Constitution to all elected executive officers.

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE

The American Independent Party rejects the contention that California needs a "full time" Legislature.

We call for the return of the part-time citizen legislator, who understands the problems faced by his constituents because, like them, he has to make a living under the laws enacted by the Legislature; and who is representative of the people he serves, not a mere high paid appendage of the governmental bureaucracy.

We do not believe that California's legislators have earned their present salaries, plus per diem and expense accounts, making them the highest paid state legislators in the nation. We call for abolition of the so-called California Citizen's Compensation Commission which approved the pay increases. Pay increases for legislators and other elected state officers should be submitted directly to the electorate for approval by the voters.

We support legislation to prohibit the attachment of unrelated riders to bills. Amendments to a proposed law must fit within the scope and object of the original bill.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The American Independent Party is totally committed to the governmental framework embodied in the Constitution of the United States with its emphasis on a maximum of individual freedom and local autonomy. We are unalterably opposed to Federal domination of local institutions, particularly our public schools.

We realize that any and all programs of Federal aid to states and municipalities have conditions attached in order to force compliance with Federal demands; that any money which goes through Federal channels greatly shrinks before getting back to the state level. We believe that, rather than being returned by the Federal government to the states, money for state and local programs should be left at the state and local levels.

REGIONAL GOVERNMENT

The American Independent Party is opposed to the creation of both intrastate and interstate regional entities which exercise tax and police powers without direct responsibility to the voters and the taxpayers which such agencies are alleged to serve. Too often, the objective of those seeking to create such regional bodies is the destruction or usurpation of the people's authority over local or state governments.

Regionalism causes the loss of control by elected officials, with unlimited power reverting to appointees, and adds to the ever-increasing tax burden. Regionalism seeks to dissolve county governments; transfer state powers to a central authority in Washington; administer the affairs of United States citizens through a network of Federal Regions and State Regional subdivisions; seize control of land and production facilities; change our form of government; and reduce Americans to the status of economic serfs on the land which was once theirs.

We encourage a re-examination of planning, zoning, and environmental laws, which frequently constitute a thinly-veiled transfer of power from private property owners to local collectivist planners.

We call for the elimination of oppressive governmental agencies which impose unreasonable restrictions on the right of property owners to use and develop their own real property. For instance, the California Coastal Commission has outlived all usefulness. It should be eliminated and its functions transferred to elected city and county governments.

NATURAL RESOURCES, PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND EMINENT DOMAIN

The American Independent Party is deeply concerned with the protection of our environment and the conservation of our natural resources.

Like many other human endeavors, protection of the environment requires a sense of balance. Man's need for such essentials as development of water resources and fire protection are not properly sacrificed to the interests of alleged endangered species.

We support all reasonable efforts to solve the problems of air and water pollution and America's other environmental maladies, but oppose arbitrary, costly, or unreasonable interference by bureaucratic governmental agencies in the right of property owners to use and develop their own property.

The Constitutions of the United States and California require fair compensation to private property owners for land taken from them by government for a public purpose. We believe that these constitutional mandates must be strictly observed.

We are unalterably opposed to the misuse of the power of eminent domain to take private property from its owner for the use or benefit of another private person or entity.

The American Independent Party opposes the establishment of a Federal Land Use Policy, and additional Federal acquisition of state lands. We support the return to the states or the people of all lands held by the United States Government not authorized to be so held by the United States Constitution.

The American Independent Party believes that citizens have the fundamental right to use their own property in the manner of their choice, free of unreasonable governmental regulation. If a government agency attempts to restrict the owner's usage of his property, the matter is adjudicated, and the property owner prevails in court, the losing governmental agency should be required to pay the legal expenses of the prevailing property owner.

We oppose Federal mandates to limit access to California National Forests by road closure quotas. We support multiple use classification of public lands. We further oppose sale of public lands which would encompass or isolate tracts of public land.

The American Independent Party recognizes that animals have a right to legal protection from "abuse." The California Penal Code provisions on this subject should be strictly enforced.

WATER RESOURCES

The American Independent Party supports the full development for beneficial uses of the water resources of the nation and the State of California. We encourage the construction of dams to produce smog-free hydro-electric power, as well as to provide flood control, water supply systems, irrigation and recreation.

At the Federal level, we support:

- Transferring of all intrastate water projects to the host state;

- Limitation of Federal authority to regulate water rights matters which have traditionally been the concern and prerogative of the several states;

- Pricing of water from Federal projects to provide the lowest reasonable rates to agricultural users; and

- Expanded experimentation programs in the field of salt water conversion, including the use of nuclear energy, in an effort to reduce the cost of such processes.

At the State level, we recognize the imperative need for development of additional water resources in view of the loss to Arizona of a substantial portion of California's supply from the Colorado River. The State Water Project cannot now deliver all of the water for which it has contracted with local agencies. By 2020, without improved water management and additional facilities, annual shortages of 3.7 to 5.7 million acre feet could occur in average water years, with even greater shortages in drought years. Therefore, we support:

- Continued development and implementation of the State Water Project;

- Expanded programs in such areas as sea water conversion and waste water reclamation;

- State assistance to individuals and communities ravaged by floods; and

- Locally initiated and implemented conservation programs, including the lining of the All-American Canal which was agreed to as part of the 2003 settlement of California's right to water from the Colorado River.

 

We oppose proposed laws which:

- Seek to restrict the transfer of surplus water from areas of abundance to areas of deficiency for the beneficial use of the people in the water-deficient portions of California;

- Seek to force present and potential agricultural land out of production by means of arbitrary and unreasonable regulation, or direct water reserved for agricultural use to so-called environmental purposes; and

- Misdirect the concept of conservation to impose unreasonable limitations on water use, expand government regulation of individual citizens, destroy the quality of life for many Californians, tear down dams which provide existing water supplies, and increase the cost of water to the consumer while prohibiting the development of projects which would increase the available water supply.

We are aware of the dangerous state of repair and maintenance of the levee systems in California's Delta and Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley areas. The condition of the levees not only poses a tremendous flood threat to northern California, but also interruption of the distribution of northern California water to the central and southern portions of the State. We support the immediate funding of all necessary levee repairs and maintenance, which we believe to be a matter of statewide concern.

We oppose any bond issue or appropriation which would divert water resource funds to environmental activities without providing major levee repairs and maintenance, and additional water storage capacity for the completion of the State Water Project.

Considering that water is the life-blood of the community, of the state, and of the nation, and considering the importance of local, state, and national sovereignty, control over water should never be relinquished to a company owned or managed by persons of any foreign nation.

ENERGY

The American Independent Party is deeply concerned by the need of our society for sufficient economically priced energy to sustain our standard of living, and to provide food for our use.

We propose diligent pursuit by private enterprise of all possible solutions to the current energy crisis, including conservation, hydro-electric power, solar energy, home insulation, wind generators, geothermal nuclear, and ocean energy conversion. We support use of coal and shale for conversion to synthetic liquid fuels. We call upon the United States Government to continue, where economically feasible, the coal, shale, and oil projects to (1) provide this country an assured source of fuel for national defense needs, and (2) an alternative source of supply for the consumer.

We urge the repeal of all laws which restrict or impair domestic energy production to the advantage of foreign competitors. We propose that:

- the United States take immediate steps to reduce this country's dependence on foreign oil by encouraging domestic production of oil;

- the State of California abolish sales taxes on the Federal Excise Tax on gasoline

- the oil industry be freed of government regulations which deter increased domestic production;

- the anti-trust laws be strictly applied to the giant oil companies to assure that American consumers are, in fact, receiving the benefits of a free competitive market;

We call for the abolition of the Federal Department of Energy, transferring its critical functions to other relevant cabinet departments.

California has been the victim of a fraudulently, manipulated energy crisis from which energy marketing companies and public utility monopolies have satisfied their greed by a pillaging of both the consumers and taxpayers.

The American Independent Party advocates more effective control by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) of the prices charged for energy by the interstate marketers, and by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) of the prices charged by intrastate marketers and the rates charged consumers by the great utility monopolies. All sums charged to Californians which were not fair and reasonable must be repaid by the offending companies. The adhesion contracts entered into by the State with the energy pirates must be re-written to protect the consumers and taxpayers

We recommend reform of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to better represent the consumers and taxpayers in the ongoing battle to protect the public from the depredations of interstate marketers of energy. No person who is appointed to the Commission should have interests or advocate policies in conflict with protection of the consumers from fraudulent manipulation of the energy market. We do not believe in private ownership of public officials. Energy companies, and their executives, who illegally manipulate the market should suffer severe criminal penalties.

CONSUMER PROTECTION

The American Independent Party supports reasonable programs to provide protection for consumers and wage earners against hazards to their health and safety.

Believing in free competitive enterprise, we are unrelenting in our opposition to monopolies which stifle competition. Where these monopolies exist, they must be strictly regulated by government to protect the public from unfair and arbitrary rate increases.

We are opposed to the use by those monopolies, such as the telephone and other utility companies, of consumer-derived revenues for political purposes for the direct or indirect influencing of elections.

We support election by the people of the Insurance Commissioner and members of the Public Utilities Commission, rather than political appointment of said officials by the Governor, and believe that the regulated companies should not be permitted to make campaign contributions to candidates for the offices which regulate them. The regulator should never be controlled by those he is supposed to regulate in the public interest.

We call upon the Public Utilities Commission and the Legislature to take all necessary steps to prevent price-gouging of the consumers by the private utility monopolies and the energy marketers, who are now using deregulation as a defense. Deregulation was supposed to benefit consumers, not rob them. Prices charged to the consumers by the utilities have risen unreasonably, and action is required to reverse this trend. We call upon the Public Utilities Commission and the Legislature to set aside deregulation, and take all other necessary action to protect consumers from price gouging by the utility companies, and the energy marketers.

TRANSPORTATION

The American Independent Party reaffirms its support of the constitutional right of citizens to travel without governmental interference. The American people have chosen the privately-owned automobile as their principal means of transport. The freedom and mobility of Americans, made possible by their ability to own their own automobiles, is a major element of our high standard of living.

The American Independent Party rejects the use by government of artificially-produced gasoline crises as an excuse to force reduction in the standard of living of Americans.

We oppose any tax on gasoline which is designed to penalize the consumer for use of his automotive vehicle.

The American Independent Party opposes the diversion of gasoline taxes from development and maintenance of our highway system to other uses.

We further propose that there be no prohibition of the development of small or large, individual or joint, novel or conventional alcohol stills, or similar energy-source factors, for use in producing fuel. We endorse the full utilization of alternate fueled vehicles without penalty to those who choose not to utilize the newer technology.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a world wide oil cartel which manipulates oil production to the detriment of American users of petroleum products. The United States should exercise its influence to hinder the operation of cartels, such as OPEC.

LEGAL REFORM

An important right of the people of California and the nation is the ability to seek redress of their grievances through the legal system. Persons who are injured, or whose property is damaged by the wrongdoings of others are able, through the contingency fee system, to seek damages from wrongdoers without the necessity of advancing huge sums in hourly legal fees to lawyers handling such cases. The contingency fee remuneration of attorneys is an essential element in a justice system which serves all of the people, not just the wealthy.

Contingency fee recovery is now under attack by the perpetrators of fraud and other wrongs -- many of whom are giant corporations able to retain attorneys at high hourly rates -- so that the injured victims of vehicular accidents, defective products and/or construction will not be able to bring law suits to recover losses as a consequence of the wrongdoing.

The American Independent Party urges the Legislature to reject all proposals which would impair the right of homeowners and other victims of fraud, negligence and wrongdoing to recover their losses, under the contingency fee system, from the wrongdoers.

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

The average family in America today is a victim of manipulated inflation, and depressions, for the benefit of the few who control the economy.

The American Independent Party will abolish the Federal Reserve System, the private corporation through which unjust manipulation of the economy is achieved, and will restore to Congress its constitutional power to coin money and regulate the value thereof.

We support the restoration and enforcement of strong anti-usury laws to protect the public from unfair and unreasonably high interest rates.

NATIONAL DEBT

The reported Federal debt now far exceeds eight trillion dollars ($8,000,000,000,000) and is rising rapidly. The interest alone on this debt now stands at about $400 billion per year. We pay this debt and interest with our taxes. Interest paid each year on the national debt is now one of the largest items in the national budget. Approximately one-half of the official Federal debt consists of securities owned by organizations which did not invest earned money in securities, but created the money out of thin air by a mere bookkeeping entry. The American Independent Party would expunge this fraudulent portion of the debt the same way it was created--by a stroke of the pen.

The answer of the Administration, and the Democrats and Republicans in Congress, to the problem of the national debt is to continue to raise the debt limit to permit continuing deficit spending. The American Independent Party demands that the government live within its income, and opposes any increase in the statutory debt limit.

A SOUND MONETARY SYSTEM

The American Independent Party supports the restoration of a sound monetary system.

We believe that Congress must use its constitutional authority to issue debt-free, interest-free money rather than borrow for its needs from the private banking manipulators of the Federal Reserve system.

We propose that immediate steps be taken to repeal all Federal laws and regulations which discourage or inhibit the reopening of gold mines, and that silver and gold be restored in our coinage.

The right to own and exchange gold, or any precious metal, is a basic right and a protection against inflation. Never should this right be denied to the American people.

FEDERAL AND STATE BUDGETS

The American Independent Party strongly supports a balanced budget, and opposes deficit financing by Federal and State Governments.

One of the greatest contributors to deficit spending is war. If the country is to get rid of debt, the United States cannot become gratuitously involved in constant wars. Constitutional government, as the founders envisioned it, was not imperial. It was certainly not contemplated that America would police the world at the taxpayers' expense.

Congress, from time to time, considers a hoax called a "Balanced Budget Amendment" to the United States Constitution. This proposed amendment is so equivocal in its provisions as to eliminate any hope of achieving the stated objective. At the same time, the Administration and Congress are engaging in planned, massive deficit financing.

We oppose the adoption of the weasel-worded balanced budget amendment, and call upon the President and Congress to immediately balance the current budget, and all future budgets.

A line item veto is not necessary to secure a balanced budget, but is designed to increase the vast power of the executive branch of government at the expense of the legislative branch. The American Independent Party opposes this expansion of executive power.

TAXATION

The onerous taxation imposed on the American colonies by the British crown, which provoked the American revolution, was nothing by comparison to today's tax structure.

Through ever-increasing taxes, the American working man and woman carry the full burden of the cost of a reckless and wasteful government.

Excessive taxation is a major contributing factor to the breakdown of the home and family by forcing both parents to work in order to pay the high taxes on the salary of the principal provider, while neglecting the necessary quality time which parents need to spend with their children.

The Constitution, in Article I, Section 8, gives the Congress the power "To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts, and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States."

In Article I, Section 9, the original document made clear that "No Capitation, or other direct Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken." It is moreover established that "No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State."

Since 1913, our constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property have been abridged and diminished by the imposition on each of us of Federal personal income, payroll, and estate taxes. This is an unconstitutional Federal assumption of direct taxing authority.

The Internal Revenue Service is the enforcement arm of the Federal government's present unjust tax system. Citizens, both in groups and as individuals, have repeatedly sought responses from the IRS bureaucracy as to the basis for the agency's tax policies and procedures. No answers have been forthcoming, although a responsible government must be answerable to the people, and has a duty to respond to those it is supposed to serve.

We propose legislation to abolish the Internal Revenue Service, and support a veto of any authorization, appropriation, or continuing resolution which contains any funding whatsoever for that illicit and unconstitutional agency. We are opposed to the flat-rate tax, national sales tax, and value added tax proposals that are being promoted as "improvements" to the current tax system. The Sixteenth Amendment does not provide authority for an unapportioned direct tax.

Moreover, it is our intention to replace, with a tariff based revenue system supplemented by excise taxes, the current tax system of the U.S. government (including income taxes, payroll taxes, and estate taxes.)

To the degree that tariffs on foreign products, and excises, are insufficient to cover the legitimate constitutional costs of the Federal government, we will offer an apportioned "State-rate tax" in which the responsibility for covering the cost of unmet obligations will be divided among the several States in accordance with their proportion of the total population of the United States, excluding the District of Columbia. Thus, if a State contains 10 percent of the nation's population, it will be responsible for assuming payment of 10 percent of the annual deficit. The effect of this "State-rate tax" will be to encourage politicians to argue for less, rather than more, Federal spending, and less State spending as well.

To the extent permitted by the Constitution, we believe that the taxation of corporations is an appropriate source of government revenue. The Supreme Court has defined "income" as a "gain or increase arising from corporate activity or privilege." People are not corporations, and corporations need not be treated as "people" for the purposes of taxation.

There is substantial evidence that the 16th Amendment was never legally ratified. When elected we will conduct hearings and investigations, procure evidence, and pursue this issue to a lawful conclusion. We also support ratification of the Liberty Amendment which would repeal the Sixteenth Amendment, and provide that "Congress shall not levy taxes on personal incomes, estates, and/or gifts." The full text of the Liberty Amendment is attached hereto as an appendix to this platform.

The "burden of proof" in disputes between citizens and U.S., state or local tax authorities must rest with the government. The citizen must be presumed innocent until proved guilty.

No government tax authority should be able to seize the property of any citizen, or close a place of commerce, until the citizen or company has been convicted in a constitutionally recognized federal or local court. The tax authority should be required to pay the reasonable legal expenses of any citizen or company found innocent in such courts.

At the state level, the American Independent Party will reduce taxes by reducing spending, and will encourage the revitalization of the state's economy by encouraging businesses to locate and stay in California, providing jobs for all the working people of the state.

In 1978, the people of California overwhelmingly adopted the People's Initiative to Limit Property Taxation (Proposition 13, June, 1978). We call upon the Legislature to respect this voter-mandated limitation on taxes, and pledge our support to all measures designed to achieve the full objective of the 1978 People's Initiative. The American Independent Party strongly opposes the use of benefit assessment districts and other similar techniques which are designed to circumvent limitation of the taxing authority.

The American Independent Party is opposed to the general funding of government by bond issues, which, through interest, double the cost of government to the taxpayers. Where possible, even capital improvement projects should be funded on a pay-as-you-go basis.

AGRICULTURE

The American Independent Party is deeply committed to the preservation of that vanishing resource, the American family farm. We support price parity for family farmers, and protection of farmers from manipulated financial ruin as a consequence of the economic policies of the Federal Reserve system. We support the enactment and implementation of mortgage moratorium laws to protect farm families from unconscionable foreclosures.

We are unalterably opposed to tax legislation which deprives farmers of income averaging; capital gains treatment on the sale of livestock held for dairy, draft, breeding, or sporting purposes; and/or deferment of taxes by pre-payment of expenses.

We oppose the present policy of taxing farm land on the basis of some bureaucrat's estimate of its "highest and best use," and believe that agricultural land should be taxed only on the basis of its present use for farm purposes.

LABOR

The American Independent Party fully supports the advances made by the working people of America. We shall continue to support the right of workers to organize, bargain collectively, and control the internal affairs of their union organizations without Federal Government interference. We oppose compulsory, Federally-enforced arbitration on local unions.

The American Independent Party will resist enactment of any law impairing the hard-won rights of working people. We support continuation of the eight hour work day in the state of California. This is an accepted standard in the American work place, and is an integral part of family friendly labor legislation.

The American Independent Party recognizes that all retirement and pension programs are a deferred part of every worker's wage or salary. As such, all participation in retirement and pension programs should remain the property of every participating employee, regardless of where he may be employed. We strongly support legislation, union agreements, or other private action to guarantee such interest. Every working man, union or non-union, waged or salaried, should be allowed to take his pension benefits with him, wherever he may be employed, from his first job to his last.

We support the right of rank and file union members to control the destiny of their own local unions through democratic processes and the secret ballot in union elections.

EQUAL RIGHTS

Through the constitutional process, the nation rejected the so-called Equal Rights Amendment. We do not believe that such an amendment should again be submitted for ratification.

Rather, we believe that state and Federal laws should be carefully reviewed and revised where necessary to assure equal pay for equal work, and equal treatment of men and women with regard to ownership and control of property, credit, and other economic activities. In addition, we support present laws on the statute books providing special protection for women who are part of the labor force.

HOUSING

The opportunity of each individual citizen to own his or her own home is a fundamental premise of the American economic system.

The American Independent Party believes that America's housing needs can be met in a competitive, free enterprise environment, unhampered by arbitrary, counter-productive, government regulation. To this end, we support legislation to curb inflation, limit interest rates, and to eliminate costly, unreasonable and non-safety-related governmental regulation of land use and/or residential construction.

Provision of an adequate supply of rental housing is essential to meet the total housing needs of our communities. We believe that the provision of such rental housing can and will be supplied under a system of free, competitive enterprise. Rent controls are counter-productive in that they deter investment in rental property development, and foster deterioration of existing rental units. Therefore, the American Independent Party opposes any imposition of rent controls on rental property owners.

We oppose the concept of Federally-funded urban renewal or public housing.

We oppose the placement of any public-funded, subsidized, or scatter site housing in any neighborhood or community unless such placement has been first approved by a majority of the voters in the area concerned.

We oppose further purchases or acquisitions of all real estate properties by foreign companies and individuals. Only American citizens should own real property in the State of California and the United States of America.

WELFARE

Welfare is primarily the responsibility of the individual, family, church, and charitable organizations.

The American Independent Party is sensitive to the needs of America's aged, blind, and disabled citizens, and fully supports state and local programs to enable these citizens to live in dignity and economic security.

SOCIAL SECURITY

The American Independent Party supports legislation to require the Federal government to protect Social Security funds as a special trust, using those funds solely for the purpose of providing benefits to the beneficiaries. We believe that the Federal Government has an absolute duty to meet its full obligation to all those who have paid into the Social Security system.

Since the Constitution grants no authority to the federal government to administer a Social Security system, the American Independent Party advocates a phasing out of the Social Security program, while meeting all the obligations already incurred under the system. Until the current Social Security system can be responsibly phased out, we propose that:

- The Social Security tax not be a "rainy day" fund which politicians can pirate, or from which they can borrow to cover their errors and pay for their excesses.

- Individuals who have contributed to Social Security be allowed to withdraw those funds and transfer them into an IRA or similar investments under the control of the individual contributor.

- Any sort of merger between the U.S. Social Security System and that of any foreign country be banned so the distribution of benefits will not go to persons who have not qualified for payments under American law as legal residents.

- Individuals have the right to choose between private retirement and pension programs, either at their place of employment or independently.

- Earning limitations on persons aged 62 and over be removed, so that beneficiaries may earn any amount of additional income without placing their benefits at risk.

- Those provisions of the Social Security system which penalize those born during the "notch years" between 1917 and 1926 be repealed, and that such persons be placed on the same benefit schedules as all other beneficiaries.

A presidential commission has recommended that those in control of Social Security trust funds be permitted to speculate with these funds in the stock market. The American Independent Party believes this proposal to be a breach of trust by the government, which has a duty to safeguard the funds for the Social Security System's beneficiaries. We oppose any such speculative proposal.

HEALTH CARE

The average man today is threatened in his economic security by the high cost of health care. We believe that the advantages of our scientific achievements in the health field, including affordable prescription medicines, should be available to every citizen.

We believe that health care decisions should be made by the patient and his/her doctor, not by insurance bureaucrats, HMO administrators, or government bureaucrats.

We support cooperative efforts between state and local governments, private insurance carriers, and private charitable institutions to provide low-cost health insurance for the average citizen, recognizing that 87 percent of Californians who are without health care coverage are gainfully employed workers and their families. We support regulation of health care providers, such as HMOs, in the interest of patients and the public.

The ability of the Federal Government to run a health care system is brought into serious question by the General Accounting Office's determination that 10 percent of Medicare's annual spending is consumed by fraud. We call for the immediate termination of fraud in all government administered health care systems. We condemn the misrepresentations made by the Federal Administration in securing passage of the Medicare prescription drug bill, and the use of such legislation to secure government subsidies to special interests, such as HMOs, and to artificially protect the high cost to consumers of prescription drugs

The American Independent Party opposes legislation which would:

- tax employers for providing their workers with health care coverage which exceeds a Federally-prescribed minimum, or which taxes employees for taking advantage of such benefits;

- force small and medium sized businesses out of business through added tax burdens to fund health care premiums;

- provide tax funded health care benefits to illegal aliens;

- reduce benefits for those senior citizens and others who now have health care coverage;

- place control of medicine under the control of Federal bureaucrats; or

- limit recovery by injured victims of medical malpractice.

The American Independent Party favors legislation to assure patients freedom of choice of practitioner.

We believe that every citizen is entitled to seek health treatment of his choice, and every health care practitioner is entitled to give his patient a mutually agreed upon treatment, and such treatment should be restricted only if it is conclusively proved harmful to the patient.

We are particularly sensitive to the special needs of the handicapped, and support state-administered programs which offer these citizens the educational and employment opportunities to lead productive lives.

Abortion is not a form of health care. The American Independent Party opposes tax funded abortions.

We oppose compulsory mass medication in any form.

We demand that hospital privileges be extended to all licensed practitioners in the healing arts.

The spread of AIDS is principally attributable to promiscuous homosexual conduct and drug abuse. Because of policies which in fact encourage illicit sexual conduct and which otherwise place innocent citizens at risk, millions of non-homosexual, non-drug abusing Americans have been subjected to unnecessary serious risk. Under no circumstances should government at any level continue to subsidize activities which have the effect of encouraging homosexual conduct, or drug abuse

We are deeply concerned that, as a consequence of political pressure, a disproportionate amount of public health funds is being committed to AIDS programs rather than to combat other diseases which affect far greater numbers of the American people. While cancer kills 14 times more people than does AIDS, and heart disease kills 22 times more than does AIDS, the Federal government is spending far more on AIDS programs than on cancer programs, and more than twice as much on AIDS programs as on programs to combat heart disease. We call upon the government to alter these expenditure patterns to place the principal emphasis on those health problems which affect the most people. We believe that the AIDS problem is a public health concern, and not a civil rights issue.

EDUCATION

The American Independent Party fully supports the concept of quality education for every American child. We believe that public education is a parental and local responsibility and we are committed to the preservation of the neighborhood school without Federal control or interference. The Federal Government has no constitutional authority to be involved in education. We, therefore, support the repeal of the law which created the Federal Department of Education. We believe that the educational dollar should be spent for improved classroom instruction, not for unproductive busing of pupils for purposes of racial balance, for bilingual education, or for social experimentation. We strongly reaffirm our opposition to the described busing, and to the transfer of teachers for similar purposes.

We believe that the schools should be required to maintain high academic standards, and that advancing or holding back children in grade based upon age rather than academic achievement is not compatible with this objective.

We reject the view that the public school system is a proper institution to administer drug programs to which children are being subjected as a response to allegations that the children suffer from psychological problems such as attention deficit disorder.

We support all necessary legislation to encourage the development of systems of private education and home education, including tax set-offs for parents who choose to place their children in private schools, or engage in home schooling.

We support the daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, including the words "under God", and the concept of voluntary prayer in the public schools. We would protect the right of an individual not to participate, but do not believe the minority has the right to bar participation by the majority in desired voluntary religious exercises. We will resist any and all attempts by governmental agencies to use our educational systems to experiment with the lives of our children through such programs as sex-education, sensitivity training, drug and mental experimentation.

We oppose the promotion by Planned Parenthood, and other pro-abortion groups of so-called "safe sex" through the public school system, including the distribution of condoms, and condom classes. Sex education is the province of home and church, not the public school system. Nor are the schools an appropriate forum for presentation, or propagandizing, of the homosexual life style.

We further oppose legislation that would mandate any K-12 school (private, parochial, public, or home school) to teach/council students on sexual orientation.

We favor placing our public schools under the jurisdiction of local school boards, and the financing of schools only by local revenue and State funds which have no mandates attached to the allocations. We will support a school voucher system at the state level so long as the plan does not permit regulation of private and parochial schools, and does not discriminate against institutions providing religious education.

No agency of the Federal or State governments should have any enforcement powers relating to the disciplinary policies established by public school districts or private schools.

Recognizing the need for academic freedom, the American Independent Party supports reinstatement in the public schools of the teaching of creation.

We are totally opposed to the children of illegal aliens receiving schooling at the taxpayers' expense.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Human dignity is a basic right recognized in the Constitution by our Founding Fathers. We affirm our belief that all men are created equal in the eyes of God, and therefore, should be evaluated on their individual merits.

We reject use of the term "civil rights" as an excuse for governmental interference with the conduct of private business, and the rights of property owners, and propose the immediate repeal of the FEPC and forced housing laws in accord with the expressed wishes of the people.

The American Independent Party is unalterably opposed to any program of reverse discrimination under which quotas of ethnic minorities, regardless of qualification, are admitted to our academic institutions.

We are equally opposed to such reverse discrimination practices in employment, promotion of employees, and financial transactions.

We call for the elimination of all so-called affirmative action programs which substitute race or creed for merit.

We oppose all proposed reparations to persons based on wrongs, committed by society, to their long dead ancestors.

REAFFIRMING STATE SOVEREIGNTY

We affirm our belief in the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which provides that: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

The American Independent Party is strongly opposed to statehood for the District of Columbia, and to any proposal to provide representation in Congress for the District of Columbia "as if it were a state."

TOTALITARIANISM

The American Independent Party expresses its undying opposition to all forms of collectivism, including Marxism, Nazism, Socialism, Fascism, and all other totalitarian systems.

PROTECTION FROM CRIME AND VIOLENCE

The law abiding citizens of the United States have the right to be protected, and to protect themselves from crime, violence, and lawlessness. Society cannot afford to permit lawbreakers to escape personal liability for their criminal acts.

The American Independent Party fully supports local police officers in their effort to fight crime. We assert, however, that all police activities must be conducted within the framework of the Bill of Rights, and actions by police officers which violate the rights of individuals, or which involve the use of excessive force, cannot be condoned.

We support reforms in our judicial system to provide a speedy and just determination in criminal cases, and retention of the historic constitutional right of each state and the Federal Government to impose capital punishment for aggravated criminal offenses.

We urge that post-trial criminal appeals be limited to one per case, with all appealable issues raised on one appeal, and that a strict limit be placed on the amount of money the taxpayers are required to spend on the defense of a criminal defendant.

We are opposed to the so-called "Racial Justice Act," which seeks to provide criminals convicted in capital cases with a racial basis for appeal.

The American Independent Party recognizes the fact that the concept of a Federal police force is absolutely unconstitutional, as is the use of any branch of the United States armed forces, or United Nations troops for domestic law enforcement.

We support local control and financing of our police forces, and oppose attempts to establish Federal control over local police, including the trial by the Federal Government under civil rights statutes of police officers accused of crimes which are subject to prosecution under state law. The police power does not generally belong to the Federal Government.

We oppose the establishment of police review boards, which seek to put on trial the peace officer rather than the law-breaker.

We support strengthened laws to prohibit lenient sentencing of felony repeaters, including mandatory life sentences without probation or parole for individuals convicted three or more times on violent felony charges.

We support the rehabilitation of felons where possible, but this shall not be construed to mean that efforts at rehabilitation should be continually extended to habitual repeaters.

We hold that convicted criminals should not be given privileges in prison beyond those that meet minimal constitutional requirements. The so-called "Inmates Bill of Rights" should be rejected and conjugal visits to convicted felons terminated.

Incarcerated illegal aliens should not be provided with education or vocational training.

Use of the term "hate crimes" is a government attempt to deny First Amendment rights to individuals with "politically incorrect" views. We oppose the concept of so-called "hate crimes," recognizing that all crimes of violence are punishable under other statutes.

RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS

The American right to keep and bear arms is a God-given, inalienable right (not a privilege), fully protected by the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America (part of our "Bill of Rights").

The American Independent Party opposes any and all infringements upon this most important right, and we demand that all of the unconstitutional infringements and prohibitions of this absolute right, including the Roos-Roberti Act, be repealed. Government at all levels must issue concealed weapons permits unless just cause can be shown for refusal.

The American Independent Party supports the right of all citizens to be fully protected in their homes, persons, and property, and opposes the registration of guns and ammunition, or any other attempt to outlaw specific types of arms. We believe that registration of guns will deprive the citizenry of the power to insure freedom from political oppression.

We point out that the lawless always acquire weapons, and the result of disarming our citizens, coupled with judicial emasculation of local police protection, would be to leave the average citizen without protection from the lawless.

The American Independent Party calls for the disbanding of government agencies, such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF), whose very existence is predicated upon limiting or denying Second Amendment rights. We condemn acts of terrorism, including those by government. We oppose use of terrorist acts as an excuse by government to restrict the rights of America's law abiding citizens.

THE JUDICIARY

The American Independent Party would end judicial usurpation of the constitutional process by requiring Federal judges at the district court level to be directly elected by the people; by requiring Federal judges at the appellate level, including Supreme Court Justices, to be reconfirmed in their appointments every four years; by limiting the appellate jurisdiction of the Federal courts in state constitutional cases; and by requiring all state and local judges to be directly elected by vote of the people.

We believe that Congress should enact legislation to remove the appellate jurisdiction of the Federal courts relating to prayer in schools, abortion, school busing, racial or sexual quotas, and voter adopted amendments to state constitutions. We particularly support legislation which would remove from Federal appellate review jurisdiction matters involving acknowledgement of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government.

The American judiciary must be returned to a Biblical basis, as intended by the Founding Fathers, with a return to strict judicial limitations in accord with the Constitution.

We support enactment of legislation to prohibit the Federal courts from ordering members of elected legislative bodies to cast their votes for or against any measure, or from imposing taxes on the people of a community by judicial decree.

We are opposed to the televising of trials, through which solemn judicial proceedings are turned into media circuses. Trial by media is not in keeping with the principles and objectives of the American judicial system. We call upon the news media, particularly the television industry, to exercise restraint in its coverage of criminal proceedings to avoid improperly influencing the outcome of such cases.

JURIES

Jurors have the right to decide the facts and the constitutionality of the law of a case. This has been historically recognized as a proper power and moral right of juries to protect citizens against tyrannical acts of wrongful prosecution by government.

DRUG ABUSE

The American Independent Party asserts that drugs are a serious problem in our nation, particularly among our youth.

We oppose decriminalization of the illegal traffic in narcotics, and believe that legalization of any narcotic should be limited to prescribed health purposes, carefully regulated to prevent drug abuse. We favor strong state and local laws making it a criminal offense, to illegally sell or supply drugs to any person. We further believe that enforcement of the drug laws should be conducted in compliance with the protections mandated by the Bill of Rights.

The ultimate source of most drugs in the United States is found in foreign nations. We support appropriate legislation and administrative action necessary to stop the flow of illegal drugs from these countries to the United States, but we do not support the use of the international traffic in narcotics as an excuse to station United States troops in foreign lands, or engage in U.S. military operations in foreign countries.

THE LAW AND MORALITY

The American Independent Party supports laws providing maximum legal penalties for the criminal distribution, publication, or exhibition of obscenity. We oppose use of public funds to subsidize so-called artists who deliberately promulgate works which are offensive to the moral sensitivities of the majority of the taxpayers, and call for the abolition of the National Endowment for the Arts.

We believe that laws should be strictly enforced which prohibit location of alcoholic beverage outlets near churches, schools, or children's public playgrounds; and support the principle that the cost of rehabilitation of alcoholics should be a tax burden on the alcoholic beverage industry, not on the general taxpayers.

We oppose legislation conveying special legal rights, privileges, or government appointments to any special interest segment of society, no matter how vocal.

We assert that private organizations, such as the Boy Scouts of America, have the right to determine their own memberships, volunteers, and employees, based on the organization's oaths and creeds and without discrimination against such organizations by the government.

The God-ordained family, in the traditional sense of husband (man) and wife (woman), is the basic unit of a healthy society. We oppose governmental policies which tend to break up families, and legislation which attempts to sanction, legitimize, or legalize same sex unions as marriages. We oppose state-recognized homosexual "civil unions" as an alternative to traditional marriage.

RELIGION

Despite guarantees in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution that forbid the making of any law to establish a religion, or prohibit the free exercise thereof, government has, in conflict with these constitutional mandates, undertaken to regulate churches and other religious institutions, and proscribe religious expression.

The American Independent Party views such discriminatory action as a direct attack by the government on the free exercise of religion, and thus unconstitutional. We maintain that Federal, State and local governments have no power under the United States Constitution to promote, discourage, control, license, regulate, tax, or otherwise interfere in the affairs of churches, Sunday schools, synagogues, church-operated nonprofit schools, or contributions to such religious institutions.

The Constitution grants no authority to the government to grant or deny the religious expressions of the people in any place. Both the First and Tenth Amendments forbid such tyranny.

We regard government refusal to permit religious displays on public property, such as Christmas and Chanukah displays, as a violation of the religious guarantees of the First Amendment. We reject, as contrary to the intent of those who wrote the U.S. Constitution, all efforts to remove God's name from public buildings and from the pledge of allegiance to the flag. The American Independent Party opposes the demands for removal of traditional symbols such as the cross and The Ten Commandments from the emblems of government, and from historic displays in public places.

The American Independent Party believes that churches and other religious institutions should be allowed to participate in political campaigns.

We favor the return of voluntary non-sectarian prayer and Bible reading to those school districts in which a majority of the voters have indicated such a preference.

ELECTIONS

The development of parties such as the American Independent Party is dependent upon an opportunity to fully participate in the election process in the several states. We shall work for the elimination of discriminatory laws which make it difficult or impossible for new parties to participate in the election process. We support judicial or legislative action wherever necessary to achieve this objective, and particularly endorse legislation to provide a reasonable, uniform procedure by which independent candidates and new political parties may qualify for the ballot in the several states.

We support full disclosure of campaign contributions and expenditures, but believe that the disclosure laws are unevenly enforced to discriminate against minority parties and in favor of the Republican and Democrat parties. This has a chilling effect on participation in the election process.

We oppose legislation which would permit election day voter-registration because of its potential for fraudulent voting, and reject Federal interference in state election processes by such devices as Federally-mandated bilingual ballots and voter registration procedures.

We recognize the disadvantage to candidates and voters of the ever-increasing costs of political campaigns. We urge the Congress to adopt legislation which would:

- Require each television and radio station, as a condition of licensing, to make available to all candidates, on an equal basis, time to present their candidacies to the public; and

- Permit each candidate at least one postage-free mailing to the voters in the primary, and at least one in the general election.

We further propose that:

- the equal-time and fairness doctrines be made applicable to all broadcast media, and strictly enforced;

- the Federal mandate for multilingual ballots be rescinded; and that

- the Federal Voting Rights Act, which discriminates against certain states, be repealed.

We are totally opposed to allowing aliens to vote in the United States, in local elections, or otherwise, and to the use of the Internet for counting the votes for any office or proposition.

The American Independent Party welcomes America's young voters and invites them to play an active part in the leadership and development of the American Independent Party.

CALIFORNIA ELECTION LAWS

The American Independent Party demands that:

- the present computerized and machine-voting system be replaced by a return to hand-stamped ballots to be counted at the local precinct polling place, with the results posted in each precinct for one week for the information of interested voters.

- tabulation of the votes be open to observation by any citizen;

- the state's election laws be rewritten to enforce English literacy as a condition for voting, and that

- A valid picture I.D. such as a driver's license or passport should be required and presented at every polling location before voting.

We are appalled at the change in the law, manipulated by the Democrats in the Legislature, which eliminates inclusion in the ballot pamphlet, without expense to the parties and their candidates, of information about candidates for statewide partisan offices. We support inclusion in the ballot pamphlet of information about parties and candidates, as well as ballot measures, and believe the provision of this information should be free of charge to candidates, parties, and voters.

In the interest of achieving an enlarged voter participation, we favor the enactment of legislation, on an experimental basis, to conduct one or more elections by mail ballot.

We oppose any proposal to remove reapportionment of legislative, congressional, or Board of Equalization districts from the Legislature, whose members are elected, and thus directly answerable to the people of California.

The broadcast media, in partisan conspiracy with the Democrat and Republican parties and their candidates, and other organizations, continue to conduct alleged "non-partisan" debates which exclude participation by the candidates of the American Independent Party and other ballot-qualified minority parties. Each ballot-qualified party in California has earned, and is entitled to, equal treatment under the law. We urge a challenge to the tax-exempt status of any organization which misuses that status to promote exclusion of one or more ballot - qualified candidates, or parties, from the debate process.

The American Independent Party is in favor of eliminating all filing fees for all State elective offices on both the district and statewide level, including the State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Persons who vote more than once, who knowingly register at more than one address, who use more than one name, or who commit perjury by fraudulently misrepresenting themselves to be citizens or eligible voters when they are not eligible, must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

The American Independent Party favors retention of the Electoral College, but supports a system wherein two of the States Electoral votes are cast in accord with the outcome of the statewide vote, and the remaining Electoral votes (one for each congressional district) are cast according to the vote in each respective congressional district. We are unalterably opposed to any scheme which would allocate California's Electoral vote on the basis of returns from any other State or States.

PARTY REPRESENTATION

Members of California's qualified political parties, other than Democrat and Republican, are denied any representation in the Legislature because the election process has been rigged to guarantee a monopoly of legislative seats to the Democrats and Republicans.

We call for a revision of the election process to provide representation for the members of the American Independent Party, and other minority parties, the largest minorities in the state to be denied representation in their government.

We support the enactment of laws to provide proportional representation in legislative elections, and commend the voters of the City and County of San Francisco for their courage in adopting an "Instant Runoff" procedure for municipal elections.

THE INDIAN BUREAU

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is rife with dishonesty, corruption and incompetence. Federal auditors have found that the Bureau cannot account for $2.4 billion of its spending, a sum representing one of every seven dollars which have flowed through tribal trust funds in the last 20 years. The Bureau has failed to serve the interests of the Native Americans whom it was organized to help, and, instead, has imposed a dictatorship on the Indian people.

The American Independent Party calls for the abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs as an agency which has clearly outlived its usefulness.

FOREIGN POLICY

TERRORISM

America is engaged in an undeclared war with an ill-defined enemy [terrorism], a war which threatens to be never ending, and which is being used to vastly expand government power, particularly that of the executive branch, at the expense of the individual liberties of the American people.

The "war on terrorism" is serving as an excuse for the government to spend beyond its income, expand the Federal bureaucracy, and socialize the nation through taxpayer

bailouts of the airlines, subsidies to the giant insurance corporations, and other federal programs.

The American Independent Party is unalterably opposed to the criminal acts of terrorists, and their organizations, as well as the governments which condone them. Individuals responsible for acts of terrorism must be punished for their crimes, including the infliction of capital punishment where appropriate. In responding to terrorism, however, the United States must:

- Act within the constitutional mandates which limit the power of government, not annul the Constitution, or abridge the rights of American citizens. In this connection, we call for the repeal of the so-called Patriot Act which, in the name of fighting terrorism, subjects Americans to infringement of their constitutional rights;

- avoid acts of retaliation abroad which destroy innocent human lives, creating enmity toward the United States and its people; and

- in accord with the views of our Founding Fathers, disengage this nation from the international entanglements which generate foreign hatred of the United States, and are used as the excuse for terrorist attacks on America and its people. The "War on terrorism" is not a proper excuse for perpetual U.S. occupation of foreign lands, military assaults on countries which have not injured us, or perpetual commitment of taxpayer dollars to finance foreign governments.

NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY

The United States is properly a free and sovereign republic which should strive to live in peace with all nations, without interfering in their internal affairs, and without permitting their interference in ours. We are, therefore, unalterably opposed to entangling alliances -- via treaties, or any other form of commitment -- which compromise our national sovereignty, or commit us to intervention in foreign wars.

To this end, we shall:

- steadfastly oppose American participation in any form of world government organization, including any world court under United Nations auspices;

- call upon the President, and Congress, to terminate United States membership in the United Nations, and its subsidiary organizations, and terminate U.S. participation in all so-called U.N. peace keeping operations;

- bar the United Nations, and its subsidiaries, from further operation, including raising of funds, on United States territory; and

- propose that the Constitution be amended to prohibit the United States government from entering any treaty, or other agreement, which makes any commitment of American military forces or tax money, compromises the sovereignty of the United States, or accomplishes a purpose properly the subject of domestic law. All treaties must be subordinate to the Constitution, since the Constitution is the only act which empowers and limits the federal government. Therefore, no treaty or foreign law shall ever supercede domestic law.

American service men and women must serve only under American commanders, not those of the United Nations or foreign countries. The United States is a sovereign republic, not a world empire.

WORLD GOVERNMENT BY INDIRECT ACTION

Just as we are opposed to world government by direct action, so we are opposed to world government by indirect action by bestowal of statehood on remote insular territories. We oppose efforts to confer statehood upon the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or to expand statehood beyond the current fifty states.

PACTS AND AGREEMENTS

Since World War II, the United States has increasingly played the undesirable role of an international policeman. Through our involvements abroad, our country is being changed from a republic to a world empire in which our freedoms are being sacrificed on an altar of international involvement. The United States is now committed, by treaty, to defend foreign nations in all parts of the world, and, by agreements other than treaties, to defend more. Therefore, we call upon the President, and Congress, to immediately commence a systematic withdrawal from these treaties and agreements, each of which holds the potential to plunge America into war in some far-flung corner of the earth.

UNCONSTITUTIONAL, UNDECLARED WARS

Since World War II, the United States has been involved in tragic, unconstitutional, undeclared wars which cost our country the lives of many thousands of young Americans. These wars were and are the direct and foreseeable result of the bi-partisan interventionist policy of both Democrat and Republican administrations.

The American Independent Party is opposed to the continuation of the same interventionist policy, with that policy's capacity to involve our country in repeated wars.