Our Principles
The members of the Mississippi Legislative Conservative Coalition pledge themselves to uphold the following principles:
Limited Government:
Centralization of governmental authority should be avoided. Governmental power should be concentrated at the local level where it can be most responsive to the will of the governed. National government intrusion into areas formerly considered under the sovereignty of the states should be resisted. State and national governments should not mandate the execution of policy by local governments without providing local governments with the financial resources to carry out that policy.
Citizens and future generations deserve a government which is both locally responsible and frugal. For this reason, waste and duplication in government functions and/or programs should be eliminated. Public debt should be avoided. Instead, government budgets should fit within existing revenues. Reductions in spending, not tax increases, are the preferred solutions to revenue shortfalls.
Taxation should be restricted to the most minimal levels, and the burden of taxation should be spread as equally as possible among taxpayers. Taxation should not be employed for purposes of redistributing wealth within society or be used in such a manner as to be a disincentive to productivity, economic growth or savings.
Free Enterprise:
Government should foster an environment in which freedom of enterprise and the right to work, without organizational affiliation, are guaranteed. Therefore, attempts to hamper free and competitive markets should be opposed. In order to foster personal incentive and economic growth, government policy should support the right of the worker to retain and enjoy the fruits of his labor.
The sanctity of private property is the cornerstone of a free nation. Therefore, communal needs should override private property rights only in the most dire and demanding circumstances–not merely for the sake of convenience. In those instances when a compelling need does exist, property owners should be fairly compensated for their whole or partial loss.
Government policy should encourage self-sufficiency and promote the work ethic among its citizenry. Public funds should not be used to support persons who are capable but unwilling to provide for their own needs. Government welfare programs for those who are needy should strive to undergird the worth of the individual, strengthen the family unit and expand the individual’s potential for self-sufficiency.
Individual Liberties:
Laws tend to restrict the free exercise of liberty and/or property. Consequently, no law should be passed unless there is a compelling reason to do so. The proponents of any law should have the burden of proof that passage is desirable.
The primary role of government is to protect the rights of its citizens, not to grant new ones. The rights of an individual should include, but should not be limited to, those rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and the Constitutions of the United States and of this State. They should also include those God-given rights to freedom, not specified in any written document, which necessarily exist in a nation where the individual is more important than the state. Conversely, these rights should not negate the individual’s obligation to conduct himself or herself as a responsible and productive member of the citizenry.
All citizens are entitled to security of their persons and property. Accordingly, our law enforcement agencies should be properly equipped with laws and resources which enable them to accomplish the rapid apprehension and confinement of offenders. The judiciary should be principally concerned with the rights of victims of felonious conduct and should execute swift and sure justice to those who commit crimes against the State and its citizens.
Government should never establish a state religion or interfere with the free and unrestricted exercise of a religion, but this does not dictate the elimination of God and Godly principles from government.
Strong Traditional Families:
The family is the key to societal stability; therefore, the state should not interfere with its function. Laws and policies at all levels of government should serve to help fortify the institutions of marriage and family and protect the rights of parents to guide the upbringing of their children. The state should not interfere in the unity and independence of the family but should foster and protect the traditional family values which have nurtured this nation and this state from their births.
In developing a public position on issues, it is recognized that the position taken by the Coalition on each issue will not always reflect absolute agreement by the full membership. However, the position taken will always reflect the aforementioned conservative philosophy. In serving the interest of the Coalition as a whole, the Coalition will publicly reflect these views from time to time as directed by the Board of Directors.
With respect to each member’s individual responsibility to his district and constituency, individual positions and/or dissenting points of view shall in no way reflect on the integrity of the member or on the member’s standing with in the Coalition.
In addition to the specific concepts set out above, the development of policy by the MLCC will be based on a continuing assessment of political issues from the perspective of the basic tenets of the conservative philosophy inherent to this state and its people.
