Opposition to the Platform Committee's draft?

(Rob Power is telling the Platform Committee that we underestimate how many Denver delegates will oppose our proposal, so I'm making my response in public to try to test his theory.)

 

To Rob Power:

 

In the absence of actual data, we may just have to agree to disagree which strategy has better chances for Platform repair -- timeless directional principles supported by majorities of this Committee and recent survey respondents, or a concatenation of litmus tests compiled by a few vocal minority factions.

 

I'd appreciate you sharing with this Committee what "caucuses are lining up against" our proposal.  Any such caucuses have been very shy about making suggestions to us.  The only ones I know of are 1) the Radical/Restore04 caucuses (setting aside the question of the degree to which they don't overlap) and 2) the Outright Libertarians -- assuming their leadership continues to call this Committee "crazy" instead of actually showing them the text of the gay rights plank you helped us write eight weeks ago.  (There is also the feisty Defense Caucus, but I don't foresee any outcome in Denver that can make them happy.)

 

I can count on one hand the number of LP members who I know have actually read our proposed 2008 Platform and yet still describe it in the disastrous terms that we all use for the 2006 Platform. I can actually count more radicals who have read it and say that our approach is not too bad:  http://libertarianmajority.net/pure-principles-praise .  I don't think I've heard any serious LP leader clearly predict that a Restore04-style platform is more likely to be adopted in Denver than the Committee's 27-plank proposal is.  You apparently would predict that, but I'm curious whether Nolan would.

 

I would love it if you actually showed our draft to all the delegates that you predict will oppose it.  I would be curious to see how many people all these caucuses can get to send email to PlatformFeedback@lp.org saying

"I will be a delegate in Denver, I have read all 2500 words of the 27-plank Platform Committee draft, and I nevertheless believe that the LP should instead restore most of the language that was in the 14,000-word 62-plank 2004 Platform."

I like the idea of a Resolution listing some of the things the LP would abolish or repeal.  A good start would be to add a long list of laws like DOMA and DODT to Wayne Root's recent list of agencies to abolish:

 

· Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
· African Development Foundation
· Agency for International Development
· American Battle Monuments Commission
· Amtrak
· Appalachian Regional Commission
· Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board
· Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms
· Bureau of Arms Control
· Bureau of Labor Statistics
· Bureau of Transportation Statistics
· Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
· Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigations Board
· Commission on Civil Rights
· Commodity Futures Trading Commission
· Consumer Product Safety Commission
· Corporation For National Service
· Drug Enforcement Administration
· Environmental Protection Agency
· Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
· Export-Import Bank of the U.S.
· Farm Credit Administration
· Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board
· Federal Aviation Administration
· Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
· Federal Election Commission (FEC)
· Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
· Federal Highway Administration
· Federal Housing Finance Board
· Federal Labor Relations Authority
· Federal Maritime Commission
· Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service
· Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Commission
· Federal Railroad Administration
· Federal Reserve System
· Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
· Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
· Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
· Ginnie Mae
· Institute of Museum and Library Services
· Inter-American Development Bank
· Inter-American Foundation
· International Bank for Reconstruction & Development
· International Labor Organization
· International Monetary Fund
· International Trade Commission
· Legal Services Corporation
· Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
· National Aeronautics and Space Administration
· National Archives and Records Administration
· National Bioethics Advisory Commission
· National Capital Planning Commission
· National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
· National Council on Disability
· National Credit Union Administration
· National Endowment for the Arts
· National Endowment for the Humanities
· National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
· National Institute of Mental Health
· National Institutes of Health
· National Labor Relations Board
· National Mediation Board
· National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
· National Park Service
· National Science Foundation (NSF)
· National Skill Standards Board
· National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC)
· National Telecommunications Information Administration
· National Transportation Safety Board
· Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
· Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
· Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight
· Office of Thrift Supervision
· Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development
· Organization of American States
· Overseas Private Investment Corp.
· Pan American Health Organization
· Peace Corps
· Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
· Railroad Retirement Board (RRB)
· Securities Investor Protection Corp.
· Selective Service System (SSS)
· Smithsonian Institution
· Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration
· Surface Transportation Board
· Tennessee Valley Authority
· Trade and Development Agency
· U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
· U.S. Forest Service
· U.S. Institute of Peace
· U.S. Marshals Service
· U.S. Office of Government Ethics
· United Nations Information Center
· Voice of America (VOA)
· White House Fellows
· White House Commission on Remembrance
· Women's History Commission