Conservative Radio Host: Republican Party Needs to Clearly Define its Principles

Conservative WLS 89 radio host and political commentator Dan Proft thinks the Republican Party needs to define itself positively and have a clear message about the party's principles.

Republicans are poised, at the state and federal level, to win elections _ if they can close the deal. The problem is Republicans must “define ourselves in the positive,” rather than in the negative, Proft said.

Proft was a guest speaker of the Huntley Area Tea Party Tuesday night along with entrepreneur Steve Beaman.

The genius of former President Ronald Reagan was his message focused on clearly stating his principles, Proft said. Those principles were clearly defined and drove his policies, he said.

That is what the Republican Party needs to do, he said.

He came up with five principles the Republican Party and the conservative movement should use.

“If you don’t like my principles, come up with your own, but I’m warning you, mine will be superior,” he told the audience gathered at the Huntley Park District.

At the top of his list: keep promises and don’t make promises that can’t be done. Broken promises are what have saddled the state of Illinois with $9 billion in unpaid bills and $200 billion in unfunded pensions, Proft said.

“It’s easy to promise things,” he said.

A few other principles: reward what American wants to see more of like entrepreneur, new business _ and don’t reward what you don’t want to see, like learned dependence and align the governments with the interest of citizens, he said.

Governments run “scams” to get money and cited the recent cigarette tax, Proft said. The tax was passed to encourage people not to smoke for health reasons but the state is counting on the money from that tax, he said.

“A great man once said, ‘Illinois is not broken, it’s fixed.’ That great man was me. I think what I meant is you have a state government that runs scams,” he said.

The last principle was to “take care of the truly vulnerable. That’s what you do in a civilized society,” Proft said. Illinois ranks low when it comes to providing services for the developmentally disabled. Democrats say they care for that population but have not provided adequate funding for their care, he said.

Proft said the audience should think about the five principles and help Republicans get their message out by talking to their family and friends. He also said they should be prepared to share their own principles.

“How are you going to define yourself?” he said.