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Confronting Threats to American Culture, Values, and Freedoms

Page history last edited by PBworks 16 years ago

Confronting Threats to American Culture, Values, and Freedoms

 

The American values that have been at the heart of our historic rise to world leadership are being challenged everyday. We must promote a culture of life, protect America's children, and stop the erosion of America's basic freedoms.

 

Challenges:Promoting A Culture Of Life

 

CHALLENGE: The American values that have been at the heart of our historic rise to world leadership are being challenged everyday. These include, among others, the institution of Marriage, respect for life, and the protection of our children. To remain a superpower in the world we must continuously and vigorously reaffirm these key components that have led to America's greatness as a country.

 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "Last year the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court struck a blow against the family, as I'm sure you know. The court forgot that traditional Marriage is first and foremost about nurturing and developing children. Its ruling meant that our society is supposed to be indifferent about whether children have a mother and a father." (Governor Mitt Romney, Boston Globe, 3/2/2005)

 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "America cannot continue to lead the family of nations around the world if we suffer the collapse of the family here at home." (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks At UPI, 2/26/2005)

 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "What became clear during the cloning debate is how the harsh logic of an absolute right to abortion had cheapened the value of human life to the point that rational people saw a human embryo as nothing more than mere research material to be used, and then destroyed."

 

"My experience as Governor taught me firsthand that the threat to our culture is real and those in a position to do so must take action to defend it." (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks At The National Right To Life Convention Forum, 7/15/2007)

 

Supporting And Protecting America’s children

 

CHALLENGE: Following the Columbine shootings, Peggy Noonan described our world as 'the ocean in which our children now swim.' Noonan described the ocean as a cesspool of violence, and sex, and drugs, and indolence, and perversions. She said that the boys who did the shooting had 'inhaled too deeply in the oceans in which they swam.'

At the same time that our children are being exposed to adult material at an alarming pace on television, through the Internet and on the radio, many communities have fewer and fewer people and places where parents and children can find refuge. We've seen the tremendous outpouring of support when tragedy strikes, but the number of people engaging in regular volunteer activities seems to be stagnant. According to 2006 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Corporation for National and Community Service, volunteer rates fell two percent from the previous year and were slightly lower than 2002, when data was first collected. This is a trend we cannot afford to continue.

 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "I'm concerned about the drug culture, concerned about the pornography, the violence, the sex, the perversions that they [children] see day-in day-out." (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks At The Iowa Republican Party Straw Poll, 8/11/2007)

 

Erosion Of America’s Basic Freedoms

 

CHALLENGE: America's basic freedoms – including those guaranteed by the Bill of Rights – are under constant assault from activist judges and Congressional interference. Eviscerating our core freedoms and Constitutional rights in the name of amorphous principles sets a dangerous precedent.

 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "I have not spent a career in politics, but I know enough about the laws of this country, and the way Washington works, to understand that the McCain- Feingold law is riddled with shortcomings. Let's start with something basic: the American people should be free to advocate for their candidates and their positions without burdensome limitations." (Governor Mitt Romney, "The Fundamental Flaws in the McCain-Feingold Law", Townhall.com, 4/25/2007)

 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "I believe the Second Amendment is about more than just self-defense or sport; it's about the basic freedom of lawful citizens to live their lives – to engage in the normal pursuits of society without the interference of the heavy hand of government."

The Romney Plan: Promoting A Culture Of Life

 

Promote A Culture Of Life. As President, Governor Romney will promote a culture of life. Governor Romney believes that Roe v. Wade should be overturned so that the issue of abortion can be returned to the American people and their elected representatives at the state and federal level.

 

Traditional Marriage. Governor Romney supports a Federal Marriage Amendment defining Marriage as between one man and one woman.

 

Appoint Conservative Justices Who Abide By The Constitution. Governor Romney will appoint judges who respect the Constitution and the rule of law, and will not legislate from the bench.

 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "I am pro-life. I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, rape, and to save the life of the mother. I wish the people of America agreed, and that the laws of our nation could reflect that view. But while the nation remains so divided over abortion, I believe that the states, through the democratic process, should determine their own abortion laws and not have them dictated by judicial mandate." (Governor Mitt Romney, Boston Globe, Op-Ed, 7/26/2005)

 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "I stood at the center of the battlefield on every major social issue. I fought to preserve our traditional values and to protect the sanctity of human life. I vetoed bills. I filed new bills. I enforced the law that banned out-of-state same-sex couples from coming to Massachusetts to get married. I went to the court again and again. I testified here before Congress for the Federal Marriage Amendment. And I championed our successful petition drive that collected a record 170,000 signatures for a citizen ballot initiative to protect Marriage." (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks At The Conservative Political Action Conference, 3/2/2007)

 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "If a judge substitutes his or her values for those values that were placed in the constitution, they do so at great peril to the culture of our entire land." (Scott Helman, "Romney Rips SJC's Justices On Values," The Boston Globe, 11/11/2005)

 

Protecting And Supporting America's children

 

"One-Strike And You're Ours". As President, Governor Romney will propose new, tougher federal penalties for first-time offenders who use the Internet to sexually assault children, including stiff mandatory jail time to be followed by lifetime tracking by Global Positioning Satellite (GPS).

 

Software Filters To Guard children From Online Pornography. Governor Romney will work with computer and software companies to make sure all new computers have optional parental control software filters that are ready and easy to use during setup. Governor Romney will also promote and increase awareness of available parental control filtering products for existing computers.

 

Enforce Our Nation's Obscenity Laws. To protect our children, Governor Romney will require the Department of Justice to enforce our existing federal obscenity laws. Even though the interstate trafficking of obscenity is illegal, federal obscenity laws have not been adequately enforced.

Support And Strengthen Community And Faith-Based Volunteer Efforts. Strong families need strong communities to help support their efforts to keep children safe from dangerous outside influences. Organizations like United Way, Little League and faithbased groups can play an important role in the positive mental, physical, and spiritual development of a child's life.

 

The Bush Administration deserves tremendous credit for promoting volunteer initiatives. These efforts should be continued and strengthened. For instance, the Corporation for National and Community Service aims to expand the number of Americans who currently volunteer from 65.4 million in 2005 to 75 million by 2010. Governor Romney believes this is a worthwhile goal that can be met through leveraging both public and private charitable efforts.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "I'd like to see us clean up the water in which our kids are swimming. I'd like to keep pornography from coming up on their computers. I'd like to keep drugs off the streets. I'd like to see less violence and sex on TV and in video games and in movies. And if we get serious about this, we can actually do a great deal to clean up the water in which our kids and our grandkids are swimming." (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks At The Frontiers Of Freedom Ronald Reagan Gala, 4/18/2007)

 

The Romney Plan: Stopping The Erosion Of America's Basic Freedoms

 

Repeal McCain-Feingold. Governor Romney believes that McCain-Feingold should be repealed because it restricts our First Amendment rights. He believes we should enact reforms that promote transparency and disclosure, preserve grassroots activism and protect the ability to criticize or endorse current officeholders and candidates.

 

Restore The Free Speech Rights Of The American People. Political speech is at the heart of the First Amendment. The American people must be allowed to advocate for their candidates and their positions without the burdensome limitations of McCain-Feingold.

Encourage Grassroots Organizations And Activism. Grassroots activities are protected by the First Amendment and play a crucial role in elections. Rather than encourage debate on issues of public importance, McCain-Feingold has silenced some of these groups, empowered special interest groups, and protected incumbents in federal office.

 

Support Transparency And Disclosure. McCain- Feingold has driven money into secret corners and given more power to hidden special interests. Governor Romney believes we must have more transparency and disclosure in the process, rather than more restrictions and censorship of political speech.

 

Strongly Support An Individual’s Right To Keep And Bear Arms Under The Second Amendment. Governor Romney believes in safe and responsible gun ownership. He recognizes there are people in this country who want to remove all guns in our society and he thinks they're wrong. We need to distinguish between law abiding gun owners and criminals who use guns.

 

Support More Severe Punishments For Those Who Commit Crimes With A Firearm. Those who use a firearm during the commission of crime must be punished severely. The key is to provide law enforcement with the resources they need and punish criminals, not burden lawful gun owners.

 

Governor Romney does not believe we need any more gun laws in this country. Like President Bush, he would sign a gun law if it was carefully written to target weapons of unusual and unnecessary lethality or power.

 

Support Court Decisions That Strengthen The Second Amendment. The Governor applauds court decisions finding the Second Amendment protects an individualized right to keep and bear arms. As President he would support that interpretation and protect the right of every law abiding adult to keep and use firearms.

 

Governor Romney Strongly Opposes The Taking Of Private Property For Private Development. Governor Romney believes that the Kelo property rights case was wrongly decided.

 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "To me, a fundamental principle of democracy is at stake. It is the people who are sovereign in America, not a few folks in black robes. Judges add things that aren't in the Constitution, and they take away things that are in the Constitution. In that regard, they let the campaign finance lobby take away First Amendment rights. If I'm President, I will fight to repeal McCain-Feingold." (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks At The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 3/02/2007)

 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "Americans should have the right to own and possess firearms as guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution." (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks At The National Shooting Sports Foundation Show, 1/12/2007)

 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "You know, the Supreme Court made an error in judgment on this one. You know, I understand the purpose of eminent domain, to make sure that when roads need to be built, or public purposes are involved, that private property can be taken when there's fair compensation. But to basically say a mall developer could get eminent domain to take away peoples' homes, that is not a good idea. The liberals on the Court made a mistake on this, and we're going to have to get a Court that's willing to stand by the rights of property owners." ("The Hugh Hewitt Show," 6/24/2005)

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