GOP Platform Draft Reiterates ‘No-Tax Pledge’

The Republican Platform Committee today released a raft of working papers that would commit the party to “unequivocally reiterate the no-tax pledge” and press for a constitutional amendment to outlaw abortion.

The papers, nearly 30,000 words long, are serving as the starting point for the platform writers, who are working in seven subcommittees on a draft of the 1988 GOP platform.

The staff-written papers echo the major policy stands of the 1984 Republican platform, with changes to reflect expected presidential nominee George Bush’s emphasis on such issues as child care and education.

Like the 1984 platform, the working papers call for the appointment of judges “who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of human life.”

The papers say the Republicans support equal rights for all, but there is no mention of an Equal Rights Amendment, which every GOP platform through 1980 endorsed.

The section on jobs declares: “The ideological heirs of (Jimmy) Carter and (Walter) Mondale are trying again to sell the public a false bill of goods. These Luddite liberals call America’s prosperity an illusion.” (The Luddites were workers who smashed labor-saving textile machinery in Britain in the early 1800s.)

‘Oppose Tax Increase’

“We oppose any attempts to increase taxes,” it says. “Republicans unequivocally reiterate the no-tax pledge we have proudly kept.”

Leaders of the platform subcommittees on defense and foreign policy held a news conference today to denounce the Democrats.

Tom Loeffler, a former Texas congressman, said the GOP platform would “show the clear difference between George Bush, a proven, strong leader internationally, and Michael Dukakis, who basically has a tall pole and a white flag to pursue his foreign policy efforts.”

Angela (Bay) Buchanan, co-chairwoman of the defense subcommittee, said she wants the platform strengthened to commit the party to deploy “Star Wars” by 1992.