GOP Adopts Most Of Tea Party’s Platform – OpEd
By Jim Kouri
For the first time, the 2012 Republican Party’s platform committee is adopting most of the planks of the Tea Party’s conservative platform, according to the non-profit organization FreedomWorks.
“FreedomWorks applauds the GOP for demonstrating a commitment to conservative philosophy, accountability, and the kind of bold reforms our country needs,” said Matt Kibbe, president and CEO of FreedomWorks.
“The 2012 GOP platform isn’t perfect, but the inclusion of 95 percent of the Freedom Platform is sure to create enthusiasm among the ‘limited government’ conservative base come November,” Kibbe said.
The 2012 Republican National Convention will be held at the Tampa Bay Times Forum from August 27-30, 2012, and is expected to host 2,286 delegates and 2,125 alternate delegates from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five territories.
The convention will also include approximately 15,000 credentialed media — an international press corps second only in size to this summer’s London Olympic Games — as well as a global audience that will witness a “convention without walls” thanks to the RNC’s Internet and social media efforts.
In June and July 2012, more than 1.2 million votes were cast at the group’s special web site www.my2012platform.com, where voters were asked to choose between randomly selected pairings from an extensive list of policy proposals.
The survey’s special technique, combined with input from on-the-ground activists across the country, produced an agenda truly reflective of grassroots opinion, according to Kibbe.
Most of the Freedom Platform’s 12 planks are being included in the 2012 GOP platform, which will guide the Republican Party for the campaign and the legislative years that follow. The original 12 proposals were:
1) Repeal Obamacare; Pursue Patient-Centered Care
2) Stop the Tax Hikes
3) Reverse Obama’s Spending Increases
4) Scrap the Code; Replace It with a Flat Tax
5) Pass a Balanced Budget Amendment
6) Reject Cap and Trade
7) Rein in the EPA
8) Unleash America’s Vast Energy Potential
9) Eliminate the Department of Education
10) Reduce the Bloated Federal Workforce
11) Curtail Excessive Federal Regulation
12) Audit the Fed
