Republican Party Platform

• Economy Local Control --The Party supports the concept of choice in education and believes that quality education is best achieved by encouraging parental involvement and maximizing local control of public schools. The Party calls upon Gov. George W. Bush to honor his 1994 pledge to abolish the regulatory authority of the Texas Education Agency and to transfer their responsibilities to the elected State Board of Education. Finally, we believe district superintendents and their employees should be made solely accountable to their locally elected boards.
• One World Government Organizations -- The Party calls for a thorough investigation, to be conducted by an independent investigator appointed by the U.S. House of Representatives, to determine whether the Council on Foreign Relations and Trilateral Commission are promoting the establishment of a one-world government to the detriment of U.S. interests and sovereignty.
• Monetary System -- The Party calls for the U.S. monetary system to be returned to the gold standard. Since the Federal Reserve System is a private corporation, has no reserves, and is not subject to taxation or audit, we call on Congress to abolish this institution and reassume its authority, enumerated by Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, for the coinage of money.
• Informed Electorate -- The Party urges that the Texas State Legislature encourage an informed electorate to vote for individual candidates by removing the "one punch" system.
• Federal Tax Reform -- The Party urges that the IRS be abolished and the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution be repealed.
• Minimum Wage -- The Party believes the minimum wage law should be repealed.

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Democratic Party Platform

• An Affordable Health Delivery System in Rural Texas -- Texas Democrats support improving access to a functioning and affordable health delivery system in rural Texas, including: Programs that bring physicians and health providers to rural areas; Equality of Medicare reimbursements to rural areas to encourage doctors to practice there and to keep rural hospitals from closing; Improved emergency care systems that provide access to medical care facilities, especially trauma care; and utilization of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in underserved areas.
• Ethics and Governmental Reform -- Texas Democrats support comprehensive ethics and campaign finance reforms that restrict undue influence and special interest control of the democratic process. We support:Continuing revision of state ethics laws to assure full reporting and disclosure of campaign finance, lobbying and other activities that influence the operation of government; Limits on campaign contributions if those limits are accompanied by campaign spending limits; and Reinstatement of the fairness doctrine of the Federal Communication Commission.
• Multi-Lingualism -- We believe that linguistic and cultural diversity present opportunities to develop a competitive edge in a growing global economy. The Texas Democratic Party believes all Texans have a responsibility to be proficient in the English language but opposes the efforts of the extremist "English-Only" movement to curb the use of other languages.