From the Radio Free Michigan archives ftp://141.209.3.26/pub/patriot If you have any other files you'd like to contribute, e-mail them to bj496@Cleveland.Freenet.Edu. ------------------------------------------------ I got this letter from Pat Buchanan today. He is thinking about running for President again. His platform sounds pretty good to me. Patrick J. Daly daly@xionics.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Patrick J. Buchanan Dear Friend and Fellow Conservative: As you have been both a loyal friend and faithful backer, I am writing for your advice, and help, as I decide whether to run for the Republican Nomination for President of the United States. I am giving that course active consideration; and in a moment I'll tell you why. But first let me stress that I'm counting on your advice before I make a final decision. In fact. I need you to tell me -- "YES" or "NO" -- by returning the enclosed special reply to me as soon as you possibly can. I am giving serious consideration to another run for the Presidency because on November 8, 1994, ideas that you and I have fought for all our lives scored a stunning, smashing triumph. The great Middle American Revolution we have worked for -- became truly possible. If a principled conservative can win the White House in 1996, what we have dreamed about can become reality -- in months! With a fighting conservative in the Oval Office, and a GOP Congress, we can effect a revolution -- in American politics, American thought, American history. The Permanent Establishment, its hooks still deep in both parties, can be permanently cast out. Today, despite the enormous victory of November 8th, we have no guarantee of that, which is a key reason I'm looking at another run for the White House. Unbelievably, within days of the massive conservative triumph at the polls, the GOP congressional hierarchy collaborated with President Clinton to ram the 22,000 page GATT Treaty through a lame-duck session of the discredited and rejected 103rd Congress. And today, with Clinton's popularity at 40%, some Republican leaders have begun to backslide -- on term limits, foreign aid, right-to-life and the culture war. Time and again, we have won election victories, only to forfeit and .lose the policy wars. We take on the trappings of power, only to surrender the reality of power. We cannot let that happen again! If in 1996 we elect as President a life-long, professional politician, who has spent a career cutting deals and collecting campaign cash from Washington lobbyists and Wall Street money managers, we lose the chance of a lifetime. For our generation, that chance may never come again! 1996 is America's last, best hope. 1996 is the year to run a sword through the ruinous and failed ideology of Big Government Liberalism, once and for all. If I do run, here is the agenda I would call on the Republican Party to support and on which I would campaign: * America First. We need a new foreign policy that ends foreign aid, and pulls up all the trip wires laid down abroad to involve America's soldiers in wars that are none of America's business. And we need to demand that rich allies begin paying the full cost of their own defense. * Economic Nationalism. Rather than making "global free trade" a golden calf which we all bow down to, and worship, all trade deals should be judged by whether: A) they maintain U.S. sovereignty, B) they protect vital economic interests, C) they insure a rising standard of living for all our workers. We must stop sacrificing American jobs on the altars of transnational companies whose sole loyalty is to the bottom line. * Restoring Freedom. American society is over- regulated, over-taxed, over-burdened -- by government. We need tax cuts across the board, and an end to the bias in our tax code against investment and saving. The IRS needs to be down-sized. And any Balanced Budget Amendment must have a tax limitation provision, so the politicians cannot raise government's share of the people's income. * Restoring the 10th Amendment. Many functions of the federal government are, de facto, unconstitutional, wholesale violations of the Tenth Amendment that reserves such powers to the States. The Federal Government should be down-sized, with Cabinet departments abolished, the money they spend returned to the states, the duties they assumed returned to the states. * Judicial Reform. Supreme Court Justices and Federal Judges have grabbed more power, far more, than the Constitution intended. We would strip that power away, through judicial term limits, voter recall of renegade federal jurists, and re-confirmation of Supreme Court justices every eight years. * Immigration Control. Illegal immigration must be halted, and no illegal aliens given welfare. We need a nationwide Proposition 187, a closing of the south- west border (with troops, if necessary) and a new lmmigration law where we Americans decide who comes, and when. Our first concern must be the peace, stability, unity and integrity of our own country, not crass economics. * Equal Justice Under Law. Reverse discrimination, quota, contract set-aside, busing or affirmative action, is un-American. We need to outlaw the federal classification of American citizens by race or ethnicity, and end all discrimination and all preferential treatment. * Traditional Values. We must reverse Roe v. Wade, persevere in the fight for life, and restore to citizens their Second Amendment rights and the freedom to clean up the cultural pollution poisoning the hearts and minds of our children. The Presidency must become a bully pulpit for traditional values, not gays in the military. We will keep the Republican Party solidly in the pro-life camp, and get the U.S. Government completely out of the abortion racket. * The Culture War. All federally funded institu- tions, from the Smithsonian to the National Endowment for the Arts, will manifest a respect for America's history and values -- and all monuments, battlefields and symbols of America's glorious, if sometimes tragic, history will be protected. * Re-Inventing Constitutionalism. In questions of power, said Jefferson, let us hear no more of trust in men, but rather bind them down from mischief with the chains of the Constitution. We need term limits on all members of Congress, and a new constitutional amendment that gives the people power, every two years, through voter initiative, to write or repeal national laws, and overturn Supreme Court decisions. "Here, sir, the people rule!" Americans told foreigners a century ago. Let's make it so again! Much of this you will recognize from our vision of America in 1992. What is different, now? Everything! In 1992, we took these ideas, and ideals, into the primaries and with just ten weeks of campaigning we shook up the nation. Though we failed to win the nomination, our allies at Houston wrote much of the Buchanan Agenda into the Republican Platform. In 1994, we saw that agenda embraced by Republicans all over America, who stormed to victory. If in 1992, in ten weeks, we could shake up the nation, in 1996, with a year's effort, we can take it over! To those who say it can't be done, I say I believe it can -- if we fight for a full year, as we fought in 1992 for those ten weeks. I'm actively considering making such a commitment. Good men are already announcing for the Presidency. But look at their records. To a man, they're Professional Politicians. They've made their careers on government payrolls. While all profess to be Small Government conservatives, every one of them either voted for one (or more) of the biggest tax hikes in history -- or served in the Cabinet of an Administration that broke its word to pass that tax hike. When we broke with an Administration that had spent more and added more to the national debt than any in history, they stayed behind -- to enjoy the perks of power. When they were compromising, we were fighting. When they celebrated the "New World Order," we fought it. Now, our ideas have prevailed and our time has come! That's why I am considering running for the Presidency. Our vision can sweep America in 1996. Shelley and I know what an all-out campaign requires. But we are ready, and enthusiastic -- because we believe the time is right for our cause, and the cause is right for our country. I have asked my sister Bay to set up a Buchanan for President 1996 Exploratory Committee. She has begun contacting many of the activists and leaders who would form the foundation of a Buchanan campaign, and help us build a massive grass roots revolt that rolls over Washington and takes back the White House in 1996. We can do it. But we can't do it without you. It has been reported that it will take $20 million to conduct a winning presidential primary campaign in 1996. Other candidates are already looking to WaIl Street money managers and multinational CEOs to raise the money, in huge chunks. We have to come to you. We have to come to the working men and women of Middle America, two income families, single working moms, kids just out of college, grandparents in retirement. We will have some generous supporters who give us the maximum of $1,000 -- but for each of those we need a thousand friends who contribute $20, $30 or $50 three or four times between now and the election. If we are to get this great cause rolling, I need your vote of confidence now. If you believe I should lead our cause into the 1996 campaign, sign up as a Charter Member of Buchanan for President 1996. We will keep you posted, from the earliest skirmishes in Iowa and New Hampshire. Sincerely, Patrick J. Buchanan P.S. Please, I truly want to hear directly from you - as soon as possible -- if you think I should run for President. I'm willing to give up the radio, TV, syndicated column, etc., to do this -- if you are prepared to help! ------------------------------------------------------- CONFIDENTIAL REPLY FORM To Buchanan for President Exploratory Committee Dear Pat: __ YES. I believe you should run for President and fight for the principles and values that can transform America. I'll back you all the way! I want to help you create a Second American Revolution by becoming a Charter Member of "Buchanan for President" and I'm backing up my commitment with a contribution, in the amount of: __ $25 __ $50 __ $75 __ $100 __ $250 __ $500 __ $1,000 __ _____ other (Please make your check payable to: "Buchanan for President") __ NO. I do not believe you should run for President. ---------------------------------------- Signature Contributions are not deductible for Federal Income Tax purposes. Federal Law requires political committees to report the name, mailing address, occupation and name of employer for each individual whose contributions aggregate in excess of $200 in a calendar year. Name: _____________________________________________________________ Address: __________________________________________________________ Telephone number: _________________________________________________ Occupation: _______________________________________________________ Name of Employer: _________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------- 6862 Elm Street, McLean, Virginia 22101 Paid for by Buchanan for President Exploratory Committee Scott B. Mackenzie, Treasurer Contributions are not deductible for Federal Income Tax purposes. ------------------------------------------------ (This file was found elsewhere on the Internet and uploaded to the Radio Free Michigan archives by the archive maintainer. All files are ZIP archives for fast download. E-mail bj496@Cleveland.Freenet.Edu)