GOVERNMENT
The Natural Law Party
supports
“all-party government,” bringing together the best ideas, programs and
leaders from all political parties and the private sector to solve and
prevent problems. Government should be based on what works - not
what is politically expedient, or bought and paid for by special
interest groups. The Natural Law Party advocates:
•
Responsibly reducing the size of government and
lowering taxes by increasing governmental effectiveness
• Replacing crisis management government with
prevention-oriented programs and long term solutions
• Essential campaign finance reform to end special
interest control of government by eliminating both soft money and
Political Action Committees (PACs)
• Equal access for all candidates to the ballot, the
media and all debates
• An end to negative campaigning and partisan
politics, including a campaign code of ethics for candidates
• Expediting voter registration for a stronger
democracy
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ENVIRONMENT
A fundamental principle of natural law is that there is stability in
diversity. If any part of an ecosystem is damaged, the stability
of the system is weakened. To ensure the quality of human life,
we
must also protect all parts of the natural environment.
Therefore,
the environmental goal of the Natural law Party is to protect and use
all natural resources in a sustainable manner. This includes:
•
Labeling and safety testing of genetically
engineered products before release into the environment
• Reducing dependency on fossil fuels which produce
smog, acid rain and greenhouse gases
• Set fair state-wide performance standards for
energy-consuming and pollutant-emitting activities to ensure clean,
healthy air
• Supporting pollution prevention practices that use
waste products productively and eliminate industrial pollution at its
source
• Managing rivers, wetlands and drinking water on a
watershed basis
• Increase urban revitalization, thereby reducing
urban sprawl and preserving open space
• Increasing green spaces in urban areas to lower
temperature, reduce noise and reduce air pollution
• Supporting recycling and litter prevention programs
• Preserving and improving species diversity through
reforestation, wetlands preservation and other habitat protection
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CRIME & REHABILITATION
The Natural Law Party envisions America free of crime, where all
citizens live fully in accord with both natural law and human law;
where
people freely move on the streets without fear; and where Americans can
live and work together peacefully. Solutions we support are:
•
Reducing stress in the individual and throughout
society - thus eliminating a root cause of crime
• Using money-saving rehabilitation programs in our
state prisons, such as licensed drug treatment programs, and the
Transcendental Meditation Program, proven to reduce violence, chemical
dependency and recidivism
• Scientifically evaluating each inmate’s degree of
rehabilitation and readiness for parole as a productive citizen prior
to
release from prison
• Revitalizing our schools and overcrowded urban
centers
• Early intervention programs for youth at risk
• Use of effective crime deterrents such as
neighborhood block watch and computer models that predict crime
• Responsibly reducing the number of unwanted and
dangerous fire arms, and improving gun safety while not infringing on
individual constitutional rights.
EDUCATION
Quality education is the key to solving many of our problems. The
Natural Law Party advocates proven educational programs that can unfold
the full creative potential of every student. By harnessing
Ohio’s
greatest resource - the unlimited creativity of eleven million citizens
- we can bring fulfillment to education and ensure Ohio’s
competitiveness and continuing leadership.
The State of Ohio is responsible for providing an appropriate, high
quality education for all students that allows them to become fully
functioning, happy, responsible, and contributing citizens. The
Natural Law Party believes that the role of state government is to
encourage research, and find and publish results of effective
educational programs. Research has shown that the most effective
educational programs are locally generated, not mandated from above.
The Natural Law Party promotes diverse and innovative approaches so
that education works for every student. Many programs such as
merit pay, charter schools and vouchers have positive aspects that
should be explored but are not yet proven solutions. Educational
standards and appropriate separation of church and state are
important issues that must be forthrightly addressed in finding
workable
solutions.
Elements of the Natural Law Party approach to Education include:
•
Providing full and equitable funding of public
education
• Utilizing model programs based on the latest
research on learning and brain-development
• Proven developmental methods for directly
increasing intelligence and self-esteem, and boosting educational
outcomes
• Supporting education at the earliest ages,
especially proven programs such as Head Start and Early Start
• Upgrade the status and qualifications of teachers
• Wellness education and funding for nutritious
school meals
• Effective drug and alcohol abuse prevention
programs that include trusting relationships with local police
• Minimizing reliance on property taxes through the
generation of new revenues, including the use of the savings from
prevention-oriented programs in health care and criminal justice
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ECONOMY
The Natural Law Party envisions a flourishing state economy in which no
citizen suffers from unemployment, recession, runaway inflation, or
other economic hardship. The Natural Law Party will make Ohio’s
businesses competitive in the marketplace while maintaining local
community integrity by:
•
Supporting proven educational, job training, and
apprenticeship programs that develop intelligence and creativity, and
prevent school dropouts
• Supporting growth of locally owned, small
businesses that provide quality jobs and enrich local communities
• Balancing sustained growth in large businesses with
community stability
• Promoting use of enterprise zones for urban
revitalization while protecting educational funding and the local tax
base
• Continuing reducing taxes responsibly as savings
are realized from the prevention-oriented programs for health care and
crime reduction
ENERGY
The Natural Law Party will
create a future in which renewable, non-polluting, inexpensive energy
is
abundantly available resulting in clean air and water. Our energy
platform seeks to create sustainability in the production and use of
all
energy in the state. Using non-sustainable energy (coal, oil and
nuclear) ultimately weakens the economy and threatens our health as
well as damages the environment. The Natural Law Party will:
•
Support the development and use of renewable energy
sources, such as solar, wind, and biomass
• Encourage decentralized energy production with wind
and solar networking
Energy Continued....
• Promote energy conservation and energy education in
our schools, businesses, and government
• Support efficient public mass transportation
• Provide financial incentives for home-owners and
industry to use available energy efficiency designs
• Begin phasing out fission nuclear power plants
• Place the real cost of energy production and
pollution cleanup on the producer, not the public
AGRICULTURE
The Natural Law Party envisions a time when Ohio farmers will farm in
full alignment with the laws of nature, fully utilizing nature’s
creativity to yield abundant, healthful food, while protecting the
environment and ensuring a vigorous, diversified, and sustainable
agricultural economy. Our platform supports legislation that will
ensure
social, economic, and environmental sustainability of agriculture while
balancing the following goals:
•
Ensure high quality, healthful food for consumers
• Promote the health and longevity of farmers
• Cushion farmers from the natural and financial
instability unique to agriculture
• Protect family farmers and the quality of the rural
communities from mega-farm impacts
• Give support and incentives to organic farmers
• Protect farmers from unwanted drift of pesticides
and pollen from genetically engineered crops
• Protect natural resources and the environment
• Preserve farmland from increasing urbanization
GENETIC ENGINEERING
While genetic engineering is a new frontier promising breakthroughs in
medical and agricultural science, it carries with it very serious
risks. At this time there is no consensus among scientists that
we
know enough to prevent ecological catastrophes or human health problems
that may arise from this new and largely untested technology being
unleashed at an astounding rate with almost no controls.
Therefore, the Natural Law Party advocates:
•
Mandating the labeling of genetically engineered
foods
• Declaring a moratorium on the release of
genetically engineered organisms into the environment until proven safe
• Comprehensive safety testing for all genetically
engineered products before placing them on the market or releasing them
into the environment
• Protection for growers of non-genetically
engineered crops from drifting pollen and mixing of grain at collection
centers
HEALTH CARE
The Natural Law Party is committed to ensuring a long and healthy life
for every Ohioan. By bringing life into accord with natural law,
prevention oriented health programs will significantly reduce disease
and promote health and vitality. We support strategies that focus
on prevention and wellness, thereby shifting our focus from disease
care
to health care. Research shows that reimbursing for proven
preventive programs saves money and keeps people healthy. As our
citizens' health improves, we can greatly reduce medical costs, thus
freeing our resources for education, progress and prosperity.
SOCIAL ISSUES
URBAN AREAS: The Natural Law Party supports a comprehensive,
cost-effective plan to revitalize our inner cities. Our plan includes
proven programs in education; job, technical, and management training;
crime prevention; drug and alcohol rehabilitation; urban
revitalization;
social welfare; economic development; and promoting a strong sense of
community. To guarantee the plan’s success, we would supplement
these programs with scientifically validated technologies to reduce
social stress and unfold the full creative potential of people of all
ages.
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: The Natural
Law Party believes that affirmative action is a necessary stopgap
measure to prevent discrimination in the workplace and in school
admissions policies. However, the Party does not support quotas,
since we feel that all sectors of society find quotas to be demeaning
and a source of resentment. The Natural Law Party upholds laws
guaranteeing equal opportunity, not equal outcomes.
History has shown that it is
difficult
to legislate equality; government cannot be present in every business
and school to ensure that people are always treated fairly.
Therefore, the Natural Law Party supports legislation that upholds the
guaranteed constitutional rights of all people with no one left
out. Prejudice and bigotry in society can be dissolved through
educational programs that develop broad comprehension, increased
intelligence, and improved moral reasoning, and by reducing social
stress that leads to fear and divisiveness.
SAME GENDER RELATIONSHIPS: The
Natural
Law Party of Ohio does not promote, nor does it discriminate against,
same gender relationships. It does, however, support legislation
that protects equal rights and encourages long-term committed
relationships since this strengthens families and communities.
Those in committed relationships, regardless of gender, should not be
penalized by law in taxation, health care, housing, or employment.
WELFARE: Welfare should not be a
lifestyle, but a short-term safety net to assist individuals who are
out
of work, until they obtain employment. The Natural Law Party
supports programs to reduce dependency on welfare, including childcare
support, education and job training, and a limit on welfare benefits
for
those able to work. At the same time it is society’s
responsibility to care for those who truly cannot work: children, the
elderly, and the infirm.
LABOR UNIONS: The Natural Law
Party’s sustainable pro-growth economic policies will create an
expansion of good jobs, which will place an ever-increasing premium on
the value of the worker. To balance the inherent power of the
corporate or institutional employer, labor unions, acting responsibly,
will continue to have a vital function in protecting working
conditions,
safety, ethical treatment, compensation and benefits.
ABORTION: The Natural Law Party
of Ohio is committed to reducing the number of abortions, but believes
that the best way is through education and not legislation. This
is a moral, ethical and medical issue that divides citizens. It
is
best left to doctors, clergy and the family, not the government.
By supporting educational programs that develop moral reasoning,
farsighted thinking and preventative behaviors, many unwanted
pregnancies can be avoided and alternatives to abortion will be more
widely available.
GUN CONTROL: The Natural Law Party of Ohio holds that fear and
stress are at the root cause of the proliferation and misuse of
guns. Solutions to gun violence must address the societal stress,
and increase the accountability of gun owners while staying within the
constitutional guarantees. With proven stress reduction
techniques
that bring the individual into harmony with natural laws, a less tense
climate will result in reduced demand for all weapons. Programs
such as weapon buy-backs, child locks, and licensing should be
considered in a comprehensive approach.
LEGALIZED GAMBLING: Casinos and lotteries superficially appear to
stimulate growth and provide economic returns. If we look more
deeply, those involved with the operation are enriched, while the
surrounding areas become depressed. Although lotteries have
become a significant source of income for Ohio, sociological research
has demonstrated that it is at the expense of those who can least
afford
to gamble. Gambling is now considered a more difficult addiction
to overcome than smoking, drugs or alcohol. Therefore, the
Natural
Law Party of Ohio advocates eliminating the lottery and replacing it
with ethically responsible sources of income, including cost savings
from prevention-oriented approaches to health care, criminal justice
and renewable energy.
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