lvc@cbscc.UUCP (Larry Cipriani) (11/10/84)
Topics: Population Transportation Poverty and Unemployment Health Care Resource Use Recognizing that the American people are not a collective national resource, we oppose all coercive measures for population control. We oppose government actions that either compel or prohibit abortion, sterilization, or any other forms of birth control. Specifically, we condemn the vicious practice of forced sterilization of welfare recipients or mentally retarded or "genetically defective" individuals". We regard the tragedies caused by unplanned, unwanted pregnancies to be aggravated, if not created, by government policies of censorship, restriction, regulation, and prohibition. Therefore, we call for the repeal of all laws that restrict anyone, including children, from engaging in voluntary exchanges of goods, services or information regarding human sexuality, reproduction, birth control, or related medical or biological technologies. We equally oppose government laws and practices that restrict the opportunity to choose alternatives to abortion. We support an end to all subsidies for childbearing build into our present laws, including all welfare plans and the provision of tax-supported services for children. We urge the elimination of special tax burdens on single people and couples with few or no children. 6. Transportation Government interference in transportation is characterized by monopolistic restriction, corruption, and gross inefficiency. We therefore call for the dissolution of all government agencies concerned with transportation, including the Department of Transportation, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Civil Aeronautics Board, the Federal Maritime Commission, Conrail, and Amtrak. We demand the return of America's railroad system to private ownership. We call for the privatization of the public roads and national highway system. As interim measures, we advocate an immediate end to government regulation of private transit organizations and to governmental favors to the transportation industry. In particular, we support the immediate repeal of all laws restricting transit competition, such as the granting of taxicab and bus monopolies and the prohibition of private jitney services. We urge the immediate deregulation of the trucking industry. Likewise, we advocate the immediate repeal of the federally imposed 55-mph speed limit. 7. Poverty and Unemployment Government fiscal and monetary measures that artificially foster business expansion guarantee an eventual increase in unemployment rather than curtailing it. We call for the immediate cessation of such policies as well as any governmental attempts to affect employment levels. We support repeal of all laws that impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws, so-called "protective" labor legislation for women and children, governmental restrictions on the establishment of private day-care centers, and the National Labor Relations Act. We deplore government-fostered forced retirement, which robs the elderly of the right to work. We seek the elimination of occupational licensure, which prevents human beings from working in whatever trade they wish. We call for the abolition of all federal, state, and local government agencies that restrict entry into any profession, such as education and law, or regulate its practice. No worker should be legally penalized for lack of certification, and no consumer should be legally restrained from hiring unlicensed individuals. We oppose all government welfare, relief projects, and "aid to the poor" programs. All these government programs are privacy-invading, paternalistic, demeaning, and inefficient. The proper source of help for such persons is the voluntary efforts of private groups and individuals. To speed the time when governmental programs are replaced by effective private institutions, we advocate dollar-for-dollar tax credits for all charitable contributions. 8. Health Care We advocate the complete separation of medicine and State. Recognizing the individual's right to self-medication, we seek, the elimination of all government restrictions on the right of individuals to pursue alternative forms of health care. Individuals should be free to contract with practitioners of their choice for all health care services. We oppose government infringements of the practitioner-patient relationship through regulatory agencies such as the Professional Standards Review Organization. We condemn efforts by government to impose a medical orthodoxy on society. We specifically oppose the attempt by state and local governments to deny parents the right to choose the option of home births and to discourage the development of privately funded women's clinics. We call for the repeal of all laws that restrict the practice of lay midwifery or that permit harassment of lay midwives and home birth practitioners. We also call for the repeal of all medical licensing laws, which have raised medical costs while creating a government-imposed monopoly of doctors and hospitals. We oppose any form of compulsory National Health Insurance. We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs. We also oppose any state or federal area planning boards whose stated purpose is to consolidate health services or avoid their duplication. We support the removal of all government barriers to medical advertising, including prohibition of publication of doctor's fees and drug prices. We further support the elimination of prescription requirements for the dispensing of medicines and other health-related items. We favor the deregulation of the health industry. We oppose laws that limit the freedom of contract of patients and health care professionals, and laws regulating the supply of legal aid on a contingency fee basis. We also oppose subsidy of malpractice insurance through public funds. We call for the repeal of laws forcing health care professionals to render medical services in emergencies or other situations. We condemn attempts at the federal, state, or local level to cripple the advance of science by government restrictions on research. We oppose subsidies to, or restrictions of, medical education. We call for an end to government policies compelling individuals to submit to medical experiments, treatment, and testing. We condemn compulsory hospitalization, compulsory vaccination, and compulsory fluoridation. As interim measures, we advocate dollar-for-dollar tax credits to any individual or group providing health care services to the needy or paying for such services. Tax credits should also be made available for private grants to medical education and medical research. 9. Resource Use Resource management is properly the responsibility and right of the legitimate owners of land, water, and other natural resources. We oppose government control of resource use through eminent domain, zoning laws, building codes, rent control, regional planning, urban renewal, or purchase of development rights with tax money. Such regulations and programs violate property rights, discriminate against minorities, create housing shortages, and tend to cause higher rents. We advocate the establishment of an efficient and just system of private water rights, applied to all bodies of water, surface and underground. Such a system should be build upon a doctrine of first claim and use. The allocation of water should be governed by unrestricted competition and unregulated prices. All government restrictions upon private use, voluntary transfer of water rights, or of the water from such rights, must be eliminated. Government water rationing and similar despotic controls can only aggravate the misallocation of water. We also advocate the privatization of all government and quasi-government water supply systems. The construction of government water projects should be transferred to private ownership. We favor the abolition of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineer's civilian functions. We also favor the abolition of all local water districts and their power to tax. Only the complete separation of water and State will prevent future water crises. We call for the homesteading or other just transfer to private ownership of federally held lands. We oppose any use of executive orders invoking the Antiquities Act to set aside public lands. We call for the abolition of the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. Forced surface-mining of privately homesteaded lands in which the government has reserved surface mining rights to itself is a violation of the rights of the present landholders. We recognize the legitimacy of resource planning by means of private, voluntary covenants. We oppose creation of any new government parks or wilderness and recreation areas. Such parks and areas as already exist should be transferred to non-government ownership. Pending such transfer, their operating costs should be borne by their users rather than the taxpayers.