Progressivism: A Platform for the United States

[MineralMan]

What is progressivism? Who is a progressive? People seem to have problems defining that label, it seems. I'm going to suggest something revolutionary here. We already have a pretty good definition of progressivism in U.S. politics. Here's a link to it:

https://www.democrats.org/party-platform

It doesn't limit itself to economic progressivism or social justice progressivism. It encompasses both. It's not perfect, but it's a good representative description for this particular period in time. It was adopted by the Democratic Party at its 2016 National Convention, and is the guideline for Democratic candidates for office.

Few have read it. Few know what's in it. I think that's a shame. So, there's the link. I suggest a thorough reading of it. There will be a new version of it in 2020. Until then, it is the guideline of the Democratic Party in its quest for progressive change.

It's the product of a lot of work, consensus-building and attempts to cover all important areas.

Everyone should read it. Then, we can have a discussion of how it can be improved for 2020.

[guillaumeb]

1. The platform sounds great.

Now, explain how it is to be implemented.


One example out of many:

It is easy to state that one supports the right of workers to join unions, but when there is nothing proposed or passed to actually enforce or encourage that right, it is seen as only words. Which might explain why many workers sat out the election or voted for a GOP idiot.

[MineralMan]

2. The platform is a position statement, which Democratic candidates

pledge to support. That's what a platform is. It's far more detailed, by the way, and inclusive, as well, than your original post in another thread, which also did not explain how your positions are to be implemented.

A party platform is a framework of goals. Goals are essential to guide legislation and proposals. As always, those are the work that is to be done after the election.

You didn't know that about party platforms? Odd, that.

[guillaumeb]

3. What about abortion?

Some Democrats do not support abortion. What do you call them?

And no, my couple of hundred words post was not as inclusive as the PDF of the platform. Does that surprise you?

[MineralMan]

4. I don't know anyone like that. Nobody who represents me

has that opinion. I cannot vote, except in my own state and districts. All of my representatives support reproductive choice, including contraception and abortion. They all believe, as I do, that such choices belong to the women who must make them and that the government has no role in such decisions.

What do your representatives believe with regard to choice?

[guillaumeb]

5. Dan Lipinski is my Congressmember.

He is anti-abortion and based his opposition to the ACA on abortion access and funding. He is a Democrat and there are more Democratic politicians like him.

[MineralMan]

6. From the Wikipedia article on him:

"Lipinski is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition and is known as one of the more conservative congressional Democrats."

Abortion
Lipinski is pro-life[5] and serves as co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus.[6] He is a co-sponsor of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.[7] In June 2013, Lipinski was one of only six Democrats in Congress who voted for a nationwide 20-week abortion ban.[8]

LGBT issues
On April 29, 2009, Lipinski voted for the Hate Crimes Expansion bill, which expands the definition of hate crime and strengthens enforcement of hate-crime laws.[9] In December 2010 he voted in favor of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell.[10] Lipinski opposes recognition of same-sex marriage.[11] Lipinski is the sole Democratic cosponsor of HR2802, the First Amendment Defense Act.[12]

Healthcare
Lipinski was the only Illinois Democrat in Congress to oppose the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which passed the House on March 21, 2010.[16] He said that he broke ranks with his party for a number of reasons, including the bill's provisions related to abortion.[17] Lipinski had previously voted for a version of the bill that contained more stringent restrictions on abortion funding.[18]

Immigration
Lipinski has voted against giving undocumented immigrants in-state tuition, educational benefits, welfare and health care services, and has opposed the visa lottery. He also has voted against increases in permanent and temporary foreign work visas such as the H1-B.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Lipinski

That Dan Lipinski? Really? Maybe it's some other Dan Lipinski? Because the one described above is not a progressive House Member.

Mine is Betty McCollum, MN CD-4. Go look her up.

[guillaumeb]

7. No, sadly enough, that Dan Lipinski.

And, he was essentially given the seat by his father. Congressman William Lipinski decided, coincidentally I am sure, to not run for re-election after the deadline for nominating petitions to be filed. The Democratic Organization just happened to nominate his son, who was a Political Science Professor in Kentucky at the time. And Dan was elected in this very safe Democratic District.

That Dan Lipinski.

[MineralMan]

8. He is one of about four Democratic House Members who deserves

to be primaried and replaced. Looks like your work is cut out for you. Are you working on finding a better candidate right now? If not, why not?

[guillaumeb]

9. There is 1 prospective and progressive candidate, named Marie Newman.

Our church based social justice group has already talked to her, and many of us are indeed ready to work. We worked phone banking, walking, and office volunteering for the Clinton campaign in Illinois.

She will face a well funded incumbent, with excellent name recognition and a local Democratic organization that will supply many volunteers.

[MineralMan]

11. Well, time to get to work, then.

Here's the chance to test the theory that a progressive candidate will win. The incumbent has "many volunteers." So, have "more volunteers" to support your primary candidate, then. The incumbent is "well-funded," so start collecting funding for yours.

If you want to replace an incumbent member of the House, you'll have to do the work required to do that. I can't help. I live in Minnesota, and I'll be working on flipping a couple of seats here that are currently in Republican hands. House elections are local elections. We got Betty McCollum elected and keep getting her re-elected. The first time, it took a lot of very hard work. But we work every two years to keep her in office. We work for our representation.

Good luck!

[guillaumeb]

13. Thanks, we will need it.

But as a union member, I know how long struggles can last.

[JHan]

10. K & R, well said.

[MineralMan]

12. Thank you. I wish more people would read that platform document.

I've been pointing it out for quite some time and providing that link. I hope people are going there and reading all 26,809 words in it. That platform is what the Democratic Party stands for. It's a progressive platform.

[JHan]

14. Sadly few have read it, but they've read editorials about it,

especially editorials with an antagonistic bent towards the Democratic Party itself.

When I hear the claim that the Dem party didn't address the needs of whoever , I ask who did the platform ignore? There's never a coherent response to that..

[MineralMan]

15. I'm always puzzled by that kind of behavior.

It's not like the Platform is Moby Dick or something. Anyone can read it in less than an hour, and that's if you're a slow reader. One poster complained that it was hundreds of thousands of words long. When I pointed out that I had copied the whole thing into Microsoft Word and checked. It's only 26,809 words long. It takes a little time to read through it, but so what?

It covers just about every issue and sets a standard for Democrats to follow. It's a progressive platform, but is not a socialist platform. It's the Democratic Party Platform. It's worth reading. It will be the platform until 2020, when a new one will be written, edited, and adopted by the Democratic National Convention. It's the product of Democrats from all 50 states, who vote on what to support in their State Conventions and then taken to the National Convention.

In 2016, the Sanders campaign also contributed to the platform, with several issues following that campaign's lead. It's a Democratic document, created through a democratic process. That's how our party works.

How can a Democratic "activist" not read the thing? I'll never understand that.

[andym]

16. The platform is a good start for discussion about how government can work to make American's lives

better. It can be improved in many ways, for example, with stronger suggestions about how to really get to affordable universal health care quickly. It can be improved by addressing the bias of the media (Fox and the "punditization" of news on other channels) that has taken us back to the days of yellow journalism-- the fairness doctrine. Even more on helping small business and helping individuals become entrepreneurs would be great, etc., especially for economically depressed areas.

The most important thing is directly contradict Reagan's "The nine most terrifying words in the English language is "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

[andym]

17. The reason that people have trouble defining progressivism, is that it is an ill-defined substitute

for "liberal." Liberalism was so demeaned by Reagan and George Bush (Sr) that liberals were and are afraid to use the word, so they rehabilitated the term "progressivism" from the early 20th century.

Progressives of that earlier era were for limiting corporate/trust excesses, for ending corruption, and for efficiency in government. Although for reforming child labor, many progressives were not advocates for organized labor. As for equal rights, there were progressive groups pushing for women's suffrage, but not so much for racial equality. In fact the word was somewhat nebulous even back then.

Today, some use the progressive word to cover what was covered by liberal, others revert to the old focus on anti-corporatism, etc.