Missouri Republican Party
Encyclopedia
The Missouri Republican Party is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party
(GOP) in Missouri
. The party Chairman is David Cole, an attorney from Cassville, Missouri who was elected in January 2009.
The Missouri GOP believes that families are the bedrock of Missouri. The party tries to pursue policies that strengthen families and get rid of those that weaken the family structure.
The Missouri Republicans support:
The fundamental right to life
The party believes that civil rights are for all citizens, regardless of race, color, religion or creed and also the fundamental right to life for born and unborn children, the terminally ill and the handicapped. The party believes that laws should be provided for all of these people. The Missouri GOP supports the idea that life begins at conception and they support and effort for a human life amendment to the Constitution. They hope to endorse the idea of applying the 14th Amendment to unborn children and encourage the teaching abstinence and sexual responsibility to young people
The Missouri Republicans support;
regarding alternatives such as adoption, and increasing tax credits to encourage adoption.
Marriage
The Missouri Republicans believe that the traditional family is the foundation of our great history and critical to our country's future. Building futures through hard work and personal responsibility are American values and the Missouri GOP looks to encourage those values through government policy. The party supports that marriage should take place only between one man and one woman, and only those types of marriages will be recognized regardless whether they are done in Missouri or in any other state or country. The party also looks to end the marriage penalty in the tax code.
Comprehensive health security
The party believes that every citizen in Missouri should be able to choose and access a health plan that meets their needs at a price that they can afford. They believe that seniors deserve to get more health care choices and assistance where needed. They support Governor Blunt's initiative to modernize the health care program and replace the existing one with MO HealthNet, hoping that it will provide greater access and make health care more affordable. The party believes in empowering Missourians to purchase their own personal health insurance and they support reform laws that stopped the abuse of the judicial system through the filing of lawsuits.
Faith
Missouri's Republicans accept that Missouri's many different faith communities are essential to society. They support and embrace faith communities, because of the charity, virtue and shared prosperity that can be provided from religion. The Missouri GOP believes in protecting the religious freedoms of citizens. The party supports freedom to practice religion and they believe that this should include the ability to pray in school. They support the protection of the acknowledgement of God in our public life and keeping the phrase "one nation under God" in the Pledge. Missouri Republicans support all effort to honor and preserve America's religious heritage.
Homeland security
Missouri Republicans believe in taking the war on terror directly to our enemies. They support the work of the federal and state Departments of Homeland Security and the coordination of the gathering and use of intelligence. They support the application of the Patriot Act to prevent terrorist attacks while protecting our individual liberties. The GOP supports increased security at our borders to stop illegal immigrants from entering our country and revising the system of monitoring the status of visas.
The GOP opposes job-killing policies. They pledge to oppose Democrat-backed policies that could stifle economic recovery. Republicans vow to hold the line on taxes and believe that the private sector creates new jobs more efficiently than any government program could.
Health care
Republicans believe that Americans are opposed to federal health care legislation. They plan on controlling the cost of insurance by introducing more competition. The Missouri GOP supports allowing groups of people to pool together and purchase health care at lower prices.
Energy
The Missouri GOP stands for finding a pro-consumer, pro-job, pro-America energy policy that will emphasize market-based solutions and the use of inexpensive, secure, and reliable domestic fuel resources to grow the economy. They want to break America's dependency on
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
(GOP) in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. The party Chairman is David Cole, an attorney from Cassville, Missouri who was elected in January 2009.
Current Republican officeholders
Republicans hold two of the state's six statewide offices, a majority in the Missouri House of Representatives and a supermajority in the Missouri Senate. Republicans also hold one of the state's U.S. Senate seats and six of the state's nine U.S. House seats.U.S. House of Representatives
- Todd AkinTodd AkinWilliam Todd Akin is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party.The district includes the western St. Louis suburbs of Ballwin, Kirkwood, Chesterfield, Wildwood, Town and Country, and Des Peres located along Interstate 270 in West County and the...
, 2nd DistrictMissouri's 2nd congressional districtMissouri's second congressional district is in the eastern portion of the state, primarily consisting of the suburbs north and west of St. Louis.Its current representative is Republican Todd Akin of Town and Country.-List of representatives:... - Vicky HartzlerVicky HartzlerVicky Jo Hartzler is the U.S. Representative for . She is a member of the Republican Party. She represented District 124 in the Missouri House from 1995 to 2000.-Early life:...
, 4th DistrictMissouri's 4th congressional districtMissouri's 4th Congressional District consists of west central Missouri. The district includes much of the state capital of Jefferson City in Cole County as well as the eastern Kansas City suburbs. The district is predominantly rural and relatively conservative; George W. Bush defeated John Kerry... - Sam GravesSam GravesSamuel B. Graves, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district consists of Northwest Missouri and includes the portion of Kansas City north of the Missouri River and many northern suburbs.-Early life, education and career:Graves is a...
, 6th DistrictMissouri's 6th congressional districtMissouri's 6th congressional district takes in a large swath of land in rural northwest Missouri. Its largest voting population is centered in the Kansas City metropolitan area and the town of St. Joseph. The district includes all of Kansas City north of the Missouri River... - Billy Long, 7th DistrictMissouri's 7th congressional districtMissouri's 7th congressional district consists of Southwest Missouri. The district includes Springfield, the home of Missouri State University , and the popular tourist destination city of Branson...
- Jo Ann EmersonJo Ann EmersonJo Ann Emerson is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1996. The district consists of Southeast and South Central Missouri and includes the Bootheel, the Lead Belt and the Ozarks. Emerson is a member of the Republican Party....
, 8th DistrictMissouri's 8th congressional districtMissouri's 8th Congressional District is one of 435 congressional districts in the United States and one of nine congressional districts in the state of Missouri. The district encompasses rural Southeast Missouri and South Central Missouri as well as some counties in Southwest Missouri. The... - Blaine LuetkemeyerBlaine LuetkemeyerBlaine Luetkemeyer is the U. S. Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district contains most of Northeastern Missouri. As a result of the 2010 Census Missouri will lose a Congressional district effective 2013...
, 9th DistrictMissouri's 9th congressional districtMissouri's 9th congressional district encompasses rural Northeast Missouri, the area known as "Little Dixie," along with the larger towns of Columbia, Fulton, Kirksville and Union. Boone, Franklin, and a portion of St. Charles County comprise the highest voting centers of the mostly rural district...
Statewide offices
- Lieutenant Governor: Peter KinderPeter KinderPeter D. Kinder is an American politician from the U.S. state of Missouri. He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Missouri in 2004 as Matt Blunt was elected Governor. Kinder was reelected in 2008 at the same time Jay Nixon was elected Governor. Kinder is a member of the Republican Party...
- State AuditorState Auditors of MissouriThe State Auditor of Missouri is an elected official responsible for serving as the State of Missouri's chief fiscal regulator, conducting financial and performance audits for approximately 200 state agencies, boards, and commissions, and the state's judicial branch...
: Tom SchweichTom SchweichThomas A. "Tom" Schweich is an American politician and lawyer who has served as Coordinator for Counternarcotics and Justice Reform in Afghanistan. While in that position, he was given the rank of Ambassador by U.S. President George W. Bush. In the 2010 election in Missouri, Schweich won the race...
Platform
Family and educationThe Missouri GOP believes that families are the bedrock of Missouri. The party tries to pursue policies that strengthen families and get rid of those that weaken the family structure.
The Missouri Republicans support:
- Legislation that helps adequately fund public schools.
- Efforts to adopt a system that gives parents the ability to help their children escape failing schools and give them the option to attend the school of their choice.
- Efforts to address the urban education crisis that has already sacrificed the futures of generations of young people
- Foundation formula that funds education based on the needs of children instead of the taxing capacity of a school district
- Education savings accounts that are tax exempt and may be used for meeting education expenses for each individual or family member without penalty for withdrawal
- Policies that stress the importance of parents in the education system and allow and encourage parents to play an active role in their local education system
- Authority of parents as the primary educators of their children in all matters, including morality and sexual responsibility
- Primary role of parents to provide a safe, loving and nurturing environment as well as the guidance, discipline and moral upbringing of their children
- The fundamental right of parents to raise their children according to the convictions of their family and faith, to be the primary authority to determine and direct the nurturing, health care, education, guidance, discipline, and moral upbringing of their children including, the ability to home-school or send children to faith-based schools free of burdensome government regulations.
- Protecting children in our public schools and any public entity where computers and the Internet are made readily available from pornography on the Internet, with local entities choosing the proper filter.
- Rejecting the establishment of school-based clinics/health links that dispense contraceptives and provide abortion counseling.
- Requiring the informed consent of a parent or guardian before providing health, mental health or substance abuse treatment services to minor students in public schools.
- Local school boards in their efforts to guarantee quality instruction and to remove the rare unfit teacher
- Empowering local school districts to determine how best to handle the teaching of creationism and the theory of evolution
- Encouraging people to use their real life experience to teach in elementary and secondary schools
- Republican success in increased funding for Missouri’s public universities and colleges through the appropriations process and the Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative.
The fundamental right to life
The party believes that civil rights are for all citizens, regardless of race, color, religion or creed and also the fundamental right to life for born and unborn children, the terminally ill and the handicapped. The party believes that laws should be provided for all of these people. The Missouri GOP supports the idea that life begins at conception and they support and effort for a human life amendment to the Constitution. They hope to endorse the idea of applying the 14th Amendment to unborn children and encourage the teaching abstinence and sexual responsibility to young people
The Missouri Republicans support;
- Legislation overturning Roe v. Wade and the appointing of federal and state judges that respect the sanctity of innocent human life.
- Current state law providing women seeking an abortion with information
regarding alternatives such as adoption, and increasing tax credits to encourage adoption.
- Legislation requiring that a minor obtain parental notification and consent before obtaining an abortion
- An immediate end to partial birth abortion
- Current state law that stops taxpayer money from being spent on abortions or being given to organizations, which perform abortions or make abortion referrals.
- Legislation that prevents public employees from making abortion referrals.
- Current state law that ensures that abortion clinics meet the same Department of Health standards required of comparable surgical facilities in the state
- The continuing opposition to fetal tissue research and efforts to eliminate such research within Missouri.
- The compassionate work of individuals and organizations that offer alternatives to abortions by meeting the physical, emotional and financial needs of pregnant women and those support systems necessary for legal adoption
- Legislation to prohibit all human cloning
- Missouri’s new law that prohibits abortion providers from providing presentations or materials to public school classrooms.
- Legislation to define and standardize Missouri’s informed consent law, and to prohibit and penalize coercion of women to have an abortion
- Governor Blunt’s continued watch guard over public funds by weeding out and ending any undisclosed program funding through abortion provider.
- Legislation to prohibit "assisted suicide."
Marriage
The Missouri Republicans believe that the traditional family is the foundation of our great history and critical to our country's future. Building futures through hard work and personal responsibility are American values and the Missouri GOP looks to encourage those values through government policy. The party supports that marriage should take place only between one man and one woman, and only those types of marriages will be recognized regardless whether they are done in Missouri or in any other state or country. The party also looks to end the marriage penalty in the tax code.
Comprehensive health security
The party believes that every citizen in Missouri should be able to choose and access a health plan that meets their needs at a price that they can afford. They believe that seniors deserve to get more health care choices and assistance where needed. They support Governor Blunt's initiative to modernize the health care program and replace the existing one with MO HealthNet, hoping that it will provide greater access and make health care more affordable. The party believes in empowering Missourians to purchase their own personal health insurance and they support reform laws that stopped the abuse of the judicial system through the filing of lawsuits.
Faith
Missouri's Republicans accept that Missouri's many different faith communities are essential to society. They support and embrace faith communities, because of the charity, virtue and shared prosperity that can be provided from religion. The Missouri GOP believes in protecting the religious freedoms of citizens. The party supports freedom to practice religion and they believe that this should include the ability to pray in school. They support the protection of the acknowledgement of God in our public life and keeping the phrase "one nation under God" in the Pledge. Missouri Republicans support all effort to honor and preserve America's religious heritage.
Homeland security
Missouri Republicans believe in taking the war on terror directly to our enemies. They support the work of the federal and state Departments of Homeland Security and the coordination of the gathering and use of intelligence. They support the application of the Patriot Act to prevent terrorist attacks while protecting our individual liberties. The GOP supports increased security at our borders to stop illegal immigrants from entering our country and revising the system of monitoring the status of visas.
Operations and solutions
Economy and jobsThe GOP opposes job-killing policies. They pledge to oppose Democrat-backed policies that could stifle economic recovery. Republicans vow to hold the line on taxes and believe that the private sector creates new jobs more efficiently than any government program could.
Health care
Republicans believe that Americans are opposed to federal health care legislation. They plan on controlling the cost of insurance by introducing more competition. The Missouri GOP supports allowing groups of people to pool together and purchase health care at lower prices.
Energy
The Missouri GOP stands for finding a pro-consumer, pro-job, pro-America energy policy that will emphasize market-based solutions and the use of inexpensive, secure, and reliable domestic fuel resources to grow the economy. They want to break America's dependency on