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In reply to the discussion: "We Don't Need Two Wall Street Parties" Markos responds to Third Way attack at Politico. [View all]BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)Last edited Tue Mar 25, 2014, 12:40 PM - Edit history (1)
When people who share few of our values sneak (or shove their way) into the tent, that makes the whole enterprise lose focus and message. And this is EXACTLY what they want to accomplish, straight up.
We should respond, not just with this excellent rebuttal, but with a clear statement of our principles. Real Democrats may not agree on every policy matter, but we should be able to succinctly state the 10 most important principles Democrats are willing to fight for. If we cannot do that, the tent is too damned big.
We need the progressive equivalent of the Contract with America (or Martin Lither's theses for that matter). We need to tell people exactly what they are buying if they vote for Democrats. A big part of our present problem results from the fact that Obama never said much about what he would do, other than hope, change, and yes we can. That worked for him personally, but it sucked for the Party. To win a party victory, we need to be a lot more clear about what we stand for and what we will fight for if America gives us a majority to work with.
Let me mention a few that should be on that list in some form:
- An end to the unlimited data collection by the NSA, and real laws, not just Presidential orders, that include protections of the peoples' privacy as an inherent part of any data collection
- No reduction in social security benefits, period.
- Elimination of the loopholes that allow our most profitable corporations to pay no taxes. Not just that, but a return to the situation of 50 years ago where corporations and the wealthy paid their fair share of the cost of having a modern society.
- Elimination of incentives to move jobs overseas, new incentives for creation of jobs employing Americans, elimination of work visas in any industry where there are unemployed Americans qualified to do those jobs
- Completion of the work to get health care coverage for all Americans
- Solid goals for carbon reduction and a move to a renewable energy economy
+++Edited to include one of the most important ones I can't believe I left off+++
- Cut food stamp usage and other public assistance in half, not by cruel austerity, but by ensuring every full-time worker makes a living wage above the poverty level.