Independence Minnesota

Platform/principles

Promoting Prosperity and the Quality of Life

We believe that a wise government should promote prosperity and a good quality of life for today and, more importantly, for the future. We do not agree with those who say our goal should be to simply minimize taxes, nor do we agree with those who believe throwing money at problems is the only solution. We are dedicated to fiscal responsibility and insist that our tax dollars be spent with restraint and care, but our goal is also for a bright future, and so we are committed to: supporting economic growth, excellence in education, access for all to quality and affordable health care, investing in an efficient transportation infrastructure, protecting the environment, and providing efficient energy resources.

Supporting Economic Growth

An important role of government should be to support commerce and invite corporate investment in the state by assuring reasonable taxes, a well-educated and productive workforce, good transportation infrastructure, and an excellent health care system.

1. We believe that small business is important to economic growth in Minnesota and the United States. We support reforming government policies and regulations to allow small businesses better opportunities to compete in the competitive marketplace.
2. We support financial planning education for children and adults in all schools and public services. Clear knowledge of good financial management provides one of the best opportunities for long term and sustainable personal economic growth.
3. We believe that many rural economies are challenged by a lack of access to the highest quality telecommunications, technology and transportation. We support policies that will allow rural businesses to compete effectively in the global economy and we also support government initiatives to assure that affordable and state-of-the-art internet connections are readily available to all citizens.
4. We believe that the federal government has been irresponsible in conducting an erratic, self-destructive, and illogical farm policy over the last eighty years. We support the development of a long-term, sustainable, market-driven farm economy and we oppose pandering to the agricultural community with unsustainable policies.
5. We support the establishment of incentives to enable landowners to preserve farmland and open spaces while directing non-agricultural development to less productive land.
6. We believe in funding the research, development, and promotion of new value-added products and processes using Minnesota farm products.
7. We favor retaining precious metals needed for manufacturing within Minnesota by use of a state partum tax applied to such metals when they leave the state. Local manufactures would benefit and revenues would be invested into a energy conservation development fund.
8. We favor strengthening laws that protect homeowners from fraudulent or irresponsible builders and contractors, while also assuring that subcontractors are paid for their labor and materials.

 Achieving Excellence in Education

In a competitive global economy, excellence in education is the most important determinant of our future quality of life. We believe education begins in the home, and we call on parents, family and all members of the community to actively participate in the education of our young people. We support innovative and results-oriented schools because we believe outcomes matter. With the cost of education consuming half of the state’s budget, we must ensure efficient use of our education resources.

1. We believe that unfunded state and federal mandates significantly hamper the quality of our educational system. We support giving local school districts the option of not participating in such mandates.
2. We believe it is wrong for government policies to reward only the meeting of minimum standards. We support government funding, standards and incentives that also reward advanced achievement, improving the education of our “average” students, and realizing the full potential of all students.
3. We believe that the quality of Minnesota’s colleges and universities are vital to the long-term success of our state. We support policies that promote access to high quality and affordable higher education.
4. We believe investments in early childhood education should be made to provide students and parents with the skills they need to be successful at school and at home. We believe early childhood programs will generate excellent returns on investment by reducing future, more expensive educational needs and developing better-educated and more productive citizens.
5. We believe it is important for all residents, native or foreign born, to achieve English literacy, in order to ensure their ability to fully participate in our civic, economic, political, and legal institutions, as well as to be an integral part of our nation’s social fabric.
6. We believe that health and physical education should regain their place as part of the curriculum in Minnesota schools.

Access for All to Quality and Affordable Health Care

We believe universal coverage and affordable costs can be achieved in the private market by creating competition, eliminating the inappropriate use of insurance, and fixing inappropriate tax incentives. People's behavior choices make more of a difference to health than the health care delivery system; the way we pay for health services must reward responsibly healthy lifestyle choices.

1. We support policies to enable every individual and family to afford and pay directly for routine and predictable health care costs, and carry health insurance coverage for catastrophic needs.
2. We support an individual’s right to protect personal health information from those who have not received expressed permission from an individual to access that information.
3. We support transparency of information regarding health care provider cost and quality so that consumers can make informed choices.
4. We believe that the best way to make unintended pregnancies rare and to prevent HIV and sexually-transmitted diseases is to guarantee that mature individuals have access to voluntary family planning, counseling, and scientifically accurate information.

Making Transportation Work

Efficient transportation helps the economy and improves quality of life. We must continue to lay the groundwork for a quality, integrated, multimodal transportation system that systematically addresses transportation needs through approaches like the “ABC” principles of “Alternatives, Bottlenecks and Corridors.”

1. We support further development of a fully integrated, multimodal transportation system that could include automobiles, light and high speed rail, personal rapid transit (PRT), and High Occupancy Vehicle, high-speed bus lanes.
2. We support permanent and predictable funding for transportation projects. Funds from excise taxes and user fees should be dedicated to transportation only.
3. We oppose borrowing from tomorrow to pay for today’s transportation maintenance.

Protecting the EnvironmentBalancing the needs of industry, recreation, and preservation is paramount given our rich, but finite, environmental resources. The test that must be applied to every decision that could affect the environment should be: will this protect and preserve what we currently have for future generations to enjoy, or will it reduce the quality or quantity of environmental resources for future generations? The Independence Party is committed to preserving the quality of our environment for the use and enjoyment of future generations.

1. We share the belief of many family farmers that the environment and economy are fully integrated and that a lack of stewardship through environmental abuse will lead to dire economic consequences.
2. We support policies that hold people and businesses accountable for the long-term economic and environmental costs of their activities, and that prohibit activities with costs too high to be recovered.
3. We support strong enforcement of environmental protection laws.
4. We believe that public policies should reflect current scientific knowledge; policy must conform to facts and facts must not be ignored to fit an ideology.

Reliable, Affordable, and Clean Energy

We believe it is important to decrease America's dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels, to protect the environment by promoting the use of the clean energy, and to have access to reliable and affordable energy to support our economy.

1. We support the use of efficient bio-fuels and the expanded development of wind-generated electricity.
2. We support energy conservation policies which balance the long-term costs of energy use with short-term economic consequences.
3. We are in favor of the aggressive development of new “clean” energy technologies such as fuel cells, hydrogen power and non-fossil fuel transportation options.
4. We support environmental energy enablement, where Minnesota provides financing of capitol costs to enable small farmers, small businesses, and individuals to dramatically reduce energy costs using proven energy alternatives which are identified by an independent scientific clearinghouse. Costs would be recovered through tax assessments in a manner similar to when government subsidizes business development. Revenues would be recycled into a revolving fund.