The Moderate's Manifesto

A moderate believes in limited government.

A moderate believes (really believes) that economic growth comes from private enterprise.

A moderate believes that individuals must be responsible for themselves, that communities should take care of their own and that local solutions are usually better than national solutions.

A moderate believes that government's primary functions are to protect it’s citizens, to create an environment where an appropriately regulated free enterprise economy can flourish, and to make the critical investments in infrastructure, education and primary research that would not be made by private enterprises pursuing their own limited goals.

A moderate believes that the government has an obligation to regulate business to ensure the health of its citizens and to curb the power of monopolies and economically powerful special interests.  However regulation should be as limited as possible because each regulation puts a tax on the economy and further limits growth and prosperity.

A moderate would do whatever is possible to reduce the power of special interests in shaping policy, taxes and regulations.

A moderate believes in progressive taxation where the wealthy pay a greater share of their income in taxes.  However a moderate believes that the tax system should not be used to confiscate the assets of the wealthy.  The incentive to be productive and retain the fruits of your efforts is critical to the economic success of a free enterprise economy.

A moderate believes in a balanced budget where spending is limited to be no greater than income.  In times of great crisis, economic or military, government may have to spend more but should return to balanced budgets when the threat has mitigated. 

A moderate believes that the path from the present to a balanced budget will require a significant reduction in subsidies for special interests, increases in taxes for the wealthy and the middle class and reductions in defense and entitlement spending.

A moderate believes in a strong national defense but does not believe in an activist foreign policy.

A moderate believes in free trade but not in unfair trade where government intervention (foreign or domestic) results in market distortions.

A moderate believes in a government-assured safety net providing basic necessities for those who fall out of the general economic system.  However such a system needs to strike a balance between caring for the unfortunate and becoming an incentive for people to drop out and live on the fruits of someone else’s labor.  It needs to provide a strong incentive for those who are able to return to the workforce.

A moderate believes in complete separation of church and state.

A moderate believes in personal liberties including the right to marry whom so ever one chooses.

A moderate may struggle with the issue of abortion but eventually determines that a woman must have the right to choose.