The TEA Party captured my attention in 2010 & I went whole hog in support. I'd grown disillusioned with the GOP in my late 40's, early 50's, just as I had with the Democrats in my late 20's, early 30's. I had hopes that history would repeat itself and just as Republicans had overtaken the Whigs in the 1850's, it was desire to see the TEA Party do the same.

It appears the Democrat is intent on tearing itself apart with this wave of "Justice Democrats", a rose by any other name, though in these case, a turd still smells whatever you call it. The Republicans are too in a crisis of ideology. Establishment Republicans, lt's call them RINO's, oppose POTUS, not because he's showing more Conservatism than most Republicans, although he is, but he never has been, nor do I believe he ever will be, a Conservative, he's a Pragmatist and that's okay. No, the GOP's lost relevance and trust because they continually tell the base they'll do Conservative things, just to get reelected, then forget their promises conveniently and show only interest in maintaining the status quo. Remember the Obamacare repeal? Yeah. Me neither.

Both Parties can take a flying leap and it wouldn't be too soon. I have friends that give caveats because of SCOTUS picks and justify it by saying opposing Democrats is the lesser of two evils. Well, the lesser of two evils is still evil. I no longer look at Party affiliation, it matters little these days and until Conservative Libertarians such as myself form a viable Party, I'll stay Independent.

The following are ideas of a platform, I think matches most individuals beliefs:

Principles of Party Platform

1. All rights are inherent, inalienable natural laws and are not delegated by government. The primary rights include:
   a. Life
   b. Liberty
   c. Pursuit of Happiness

2. Government exists to protect these inherent rights.

Life
Life is the fundamental right that should be protected above all other rights. Priority should be given to protecting the right to life for those incapable of managing their own right to life. This priority of protecting the right of life to those not capable to manage their own rights includes the:

a. Unborn
a. With the exception of: rape, incest or immediate life threatening harm to the mother
b. Mentally infirm
c. Physically infirm

Legalizing the termination of innocent life of the born or unborn, whether by abortion, infanticide, euthanasia or suicide, is a direct violation of their unalienable right to life.

When a fetus is a baby is a considerable debate among society. Although emphasis should be on protection from conception, the vast majority of society believe that a pregnancy should not be terminated beyond the point of viability or a reasonable amount of time nearing viability. With this in mind, the majority can accept the limit at 20 weeks to be an reasonable amount of time approaching viability of the baby to survive.

The right to life extends to all living. No organization, government or other institution has the right determine to end life of an individual against the wishes of the individual or family. The determination to end life should be limited to removing from life support in a compassionate, respectful way to provide services to remove pain. This should only occur by the wishes of the individual immediately affected. If the wishes of the individual cannot be ascertained, the decision is only left to the immediate family.

Liberty
The Bill of Rights along with rights under the fourth and fifth amendments, are the primary identified key areas of liberty that government should prioritize to protect. Additional amendments should then be considered for protection as established in the constitution. When conflicts arise between identified rights listed in the constitution and additional identified important rights not specifically identified in the constitution, those specifically listed in the constitution take precedent.

These rights to liberty are not to ever be waved even during time of war or threat of public danger. The right to liberty should not be infringed without due process. We declare any attempt by the legislative, executive or judicial branches to bypass these rights is unconstitutional.

Pursuit of Happiness
We each have the right to pursue happiness according to the dictates of our own conscience. This is known as the right of agency. The only limitations to this right to pursue happiness according to our own conscience is when our desires impede another’s right to pursue their course of happiness.

Family, the fundamental community in society – Parents have the right to raise their children according to the belief structure of the parents. This includes the child’s moral, religious and educational beliefs. This does not include physical or emotionally abusive behavior. Government should not be in the business of regulating marriage.

Family is the bedrock foundation of society. Government should not determine what family is. No civil government may legitimately authorize or define marriage or family relations. Government should not regulate marriage. Laws should exist to regulate intimate relationships often found in marriage or civil unions limited to protecting individuals incapable of making the determination of these relationships for themselves.

It is not the government role to define family. Parents are primary as the natural guardians of their children. It is their duty to feed, clothe, protect and educate them; and for these purposes it is proper and necessary that parents should have authority to direct their actions.

Any form of taxation based on family or relationship status should be eliminated. Such taxation inherently forms regulation of the family.

Fiscal policy: Government taxes should be minimized to focus on and be limited to the protection of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This means that people keep more of what they earn, but it also means that there is a very limited social safety net. This limited social net should be reserved for the local level of government – not at the federal level. The primary source of charity should come from private individuals and organizations.

Corporations: Corporations are a necessary part of society, but no government subsidies should ever be provided to corporations.

Patent and copy right law: Patent and copyright law is essential to incentivize advancement and the improvement of society. It should be considered as property and protected as such.

Public Services: Public services should not be provided at the federal level – with the exception of the common defense (military, border security, and very limited Federal law enforcement). The postal service and education should not be included in federal oversight and should remain to be managed by local governments or private institutions.

Property rights: Restrictions on the public domain should always be limited to immediate public use and sell or give away most public property to private owners. Additionally, no confiscation of property should ever occur without due process under the law.

The Fourth Amendment right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, including arbitrary or defacto registration, general and unwarranted electronic surveillance, national computer databases, and national identification cards. Civil governments must be strictly limited in their powers to intrude upon the persons and private property of individual citizens, in particular, that no place be searched and no thing be seized, except upon proof of probable cause that a crime has been committed and the proper judicial warrant issued.

Common-law rule that protects the people from any search or seizure whatsoever when that search or seizure violates the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

No legislation and executive action that deprive the people of their Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights under claims of necessity should ever be taken.

No legislation and administrative action utilizing asset forfeiture laws which enable the confiscation of the private property of persons not involved in the crime should ever occur. Forfeiture of assets can only be enforced after conviction of the property owner as a penalty for the crime. Such forfeitures must follow full due process of law under criminal prosecution standards.

No monitoring and controlling of the financial or other transactions, social media or other forms of
communications of the people should occur. Banks should be repositories of treasure and fiduciaries for the people. Social media or other forms of communication should remain private and not become enforcers for the State. Any information regarding customer transactions the State obtains from banks must be subject to the traditional Fourth Amendment safeguards.

Free speech: We oppose all restriction of free speech – especially speech we disagree with. Government should not regulate communication including broadcast frequencies, the Internet of other forms of communication.

Church and state: All individuals have the right to worship or not to worship, according to the dictates of their own conscience. So long as these practices do not limit another’s right to life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness, there should be no restriction on religious practice.

Free expression of religious beliefs in word, conversation or action should not be infringed. Religious expression by individuals or religious organizations in public should be allowed. Non-religious or non-belief should be establish as a category of religion for the purposes of religious liberty. Atheism, agnostic or other beliefs should also not be established within government as a foundation of activity just as any specific religion should not be established within government.

The Second Amendment: The primary purpose of the second amendment is to allow for the protection of life to self, family and neighbor. Additionally, the second amendment is the last line of defense against an authoritative government destroying our basic inherent rights. We strongly oppose all gun control, including restriction on firearms, ammunition, and financial transactions associated with the sell or resell of firearms. The gifting of firearms should not be regulated. Additionally, regulation of alternative weapon technologies such as mace and tasers should not take place.

Immigrants’ rights: Our borders are part of the common defense. We as a sovereign nation have the right to determine who enters our nation and to protect our border to undeterred intrusion. We should also welcome individuals into our nation. We believe that regular access to our nation by immigrants adds to our strength as a nation. The process of naturalization should be simple, uncostly, and provide equal opportunity for immigration in a measured way.

National Defense: A strong military is critical to our common national defense. The focus should always be on defense. No foreign wars should be fought unless the following criteria are met:

a. The action is approved by the majority of congress, and
b. The nation where the action is taken is requested by that nation or that nation has directly taken military action against our nation

Fifty percent of all military personnel should be provided by the states through the national guard.
Military strength should be established as second to none. This includes continually establishing best in class tools, weapons and most importantly trained personnel.

Alliances such as NATO are an effective way to forward project strength to discourage further expansion or threat to the nation’s defense. These alliances should be maintained so long as they do not conflict with core principles of military defense, reduce our sovereignty, or conflict with the constitution.

State Rights: All federal government rights are provided by the people via the states. The Constitution delegated few, enumerated powers to the Federal Government, reserving all remaining powers to the States and the people. Thus, powers of the Federal were the exception. Our federal republic was created by joint action of the several states.

The federal government has no authority to mandate policies relating to state education, natural resources, transportation, private business, housing, or health care.

American Sovereignty: The United States is properly a free and sovereign republic which should strive to live in peace with all nations, without interfering in their internal affairs, and without permitting their interference in ours.

All treaties must be subordinate to the Constitution, since the Constitution is the only instrument which empowers and limits the federal government.

Education: The federal government should not be involved in education. This includes establishing, regulating, or funding education in any way.

Parents and individuals should be the chief decision makers when it comes to theirs or their children’s education.

Education should only be established at the local level according to the needs and desires of the local community. Even state regulation of government should be discouraged or at the very least minimized. Federal regulation of education should never occur.

Education outside the home should be focused on core educational needs with a primary focus on literacy, written and verbal communication and mathematics. Social and moral education should be provided in the home and is not the responsibility of government.

Parents should take an active role in the education of children under their care.

Law: Laws with our nation, state and local government should be based on our sovereign law. Foreign law should not be used as the bases of law that conflicts with our own sovereign law. No law should ever be established that does not apply to all citizens equally. If an exception would be necessary for a law to be enacted, it should not be considered. All laws established should be applied or executed equally by government to all citizens. Executive authority should never create law. They may only determine how law created by legislative authority will be administered. All laws established should be adjudicated equally to all. Justices should be blind. The Judicial system should never create law. They may only determine what the law is as originally intended and identify if the law is complimentary with or contrary to the constitution.

To protect inalienable rights, government exists and provides the following services:

1. Providing for the common defense – this includes our military, border security, and a very limited federal law enforcement.

2. Promote the general welfare – Legal systems should be limited to set law that only applies to the people in general. Original intention of the law should always be the scope of interpretation of the law. Additionally the law should be applied to all the same, with limited accommodation to those who are incapable of understanding right and wrong.

3. Securing the blessings of liberty - The focus should always be the protection of life, personal liberties identified in the Bill of Rights, and the pursuit of happiness.

Pretty much similar to the present Libertarian Party.

Small government, personal responsibility, privatization of almost everything. Basically the constitution and the bill of rights.

Strict Constitutionalism: if it ain't in the Constitution, it ain't in the government ?