DISCUSSION: What should the Dem 2004 platform be?

[grytpype]

WHAT should the Democratic platform be in 2004???

I think we will win if we convince the nation that we have a good plan for fixing the disasters caused by the incompetant and corrput Bush Administration. That has to be the theme.

So therefore, let us make three major promises to the American People:

1. The Democrats will invest in America.

Spending money on improving America's infrastructure is essential, as the Northeast learned during the greatest blackout in history. Bush and the Republicans blocked Democratic efforts to fix the problem. Get them out of our way, and the Democrats will do whatever it takes to upgrade the electrical distribution grid and other critical infrastructure.

And the Bush Administration is not doing nearly enough to secure our ports, harbors, pipelines, and other critical facilities against terrorism. Bush even wants to cut back on the Air Marshall program to save money on hotel bills. The Democrats will not be stingy with America's safety. But under the Democrats, the fight against terrorism will respect basic human rights and fundamental fairness -- the Americans are a civilized people and we will repond like a civilized people.

This spending on infrastructure and security will directly stimulate the economy, unlike Bush's tax cuts for the rich.

2. The Democrats will balance the budget.

Bush has ruined America's finances in just two years. From a bugetary surplus under Democratic president Bill Clinton, Bush has run up the largest deficits in history, with no end in sight. Fire the Republicans who made this mess, and the Democrats will restore fiscal discipline and balance the budget. This will mean reversing some of Bush's ill-advised tax cuts for the rich. But there is no real alternative.

3. The Democrats will get America out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

We now have half of our fighting force pinned down in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is a very dangerous situation for America because it reduces our capability to respond to other threats. Bush must take full responsiblity for putting us in this dangerous situation. He ignored good advice, including his own CIA, who told him Iraq was nowhere near having a nuclear weapons capability.

Bush's most shameful legacy is the story of Iraq and Afghanistan. The Democrats believe that the invasion of Afghanistan was correct and justified, but Bush has turned his back on that country and it is falling into a deeper and deeper crisis. The Democrats will not allow Afghanistan to fall into chaos. We will make the necessary investments in that country to restore order and stability.

Iraq is much worse, worse even than Watergate, which caused Republican president Richard Nixon to resign in disgrace. Bush deceived America into backing his long-held plan to conquer Iraq -- and that conquest was not a cakewalk as the Bush Adminstration promised, but is turing into another Vietnam.

Fire Bush and the other incompetant Republicans who made this mess, and the Democrats will build a true international coalition to share the burden of stabilizing Iraq, so American troops can get home and safe as quickly as possible.

[_Wayne_]

1. A worthy topic, and one I wish we saw more of here, -talk of strategy, etc

Bill Clinton and Al Gore should be involved in the details, whomever the Dem nominee is

You touched on the major issues- the economy, and Iraq- all else is a sideshow

[JVS]

2. NO MORE FEARMONGERING

that should be the platform

[HFishbine]

17. Yes!

As an underlying theme to specific platform issues, the Dems should bring back a sense of OPTIMISM and HOPE for America. There is no way the Bushies can coopt this message. The only justification for their policies are fear and pessimism. That's not the American way!

[UrbScotty]

38. OPTIMISM!!!!!!!!!!!

That's a GREAT idea! And no more "We have a lot of work to do" attitude; just work and results.

[AmandaRuth]

3. the dems

will help the unemployed and underemployed with money for job training.

[gully]

4. Repair our image around the globe...n/t

[tedoll78]

5. I have one!

"The Democrats will not exploit national tragedies for partisan political gain."

Now that I've suggested it, I have questions: what kind of media coverage would this proposal get, how would the American public react to this proposal, and would our nominee have the guts to back it up?

[maggrwaggr]

22. hear hear!

nt

[IranianDemocrat]

41. definitely.

eom

[Lone_Wolf]

6. To bring Democracy back to the people

We have to make people understand that there is a powerful group of people that push a social policy that keeps themselves in power and all others down. We need to bring democracy back into the hands of the ordinary people.

[terryg11]

7. keeping jobs in the US

cleaning up corporate crime for real this time (where is Ken Lay? is a hell of a start and even something to campaign on)

homeland security the correct way

getting Iraq on it's feet without indebting it to American companies for the next century.

thinking about our future, not just the next four years bt the next fory years (clean air, water, less relaint on fossil fuels and unrelialble countries).

[Mari333]

8. International goodwill

Get the US Troops OUT NOW, bring them home, and get the UN in there ASAP

[Nazgul35]

9. Oak....

or maybe an MDF plank..super reinforced....

:evilgrin:

[maggrwaggr]

10. our air, water, land, ecosystems ....

which the repubs have decided is their to trammel over.

This is the main reason I became a Democrat in the first place.

It means a lot to a lot of people.

I would like to see tax breaks given to corporations for encouraging recycling, for reducing pollution, for becoming more efficient, and for using and developing alternative energy.

We NEED an alternative energy program in this country!!!!!!! AS a matter of survival!!!!

[maggrwaggr]

11. A major and honest investigation into 9/11

I'd vote for THAT one

Also -- a major and honest investigation into the reasons we went to war.

Also -- a major and honest investigation into Dick Cheney's "energy policy meetings".

Basically just getting the truth out there. I think everybody is pretty fed up with all the coverups and secrecy.

If they've got nothing to hide, why are they hiding it?

[grytpype]

36. Yes, but not as a platform plank.

The message should be positive and forward-looking.

[burr]

12. Democrats need a platform again.

If National Healthcare doesn't get back into the platform, why the hell even bother with the Democratic Party?

Without a plank calling for the abolishment of the electoral college, why even vote in the next election?...let the all knowing electors do it for us!

The Defense Department must not become a seperate and unaccountable branch of government, it must be regulated and governed by the Congress.

The patriot act is everything the terrorists dreamed of, the destruction of the American dream. We must not surrender liberity for security. After all, security exists for no other reason than the defense of our liberity and freedom. Otherwise the lives of all Americans would be infringed with our pursuit of happiness.

[OneBlueSky]

13. Beyond Bush: How To Win Back America

http://www.utne.com/pub/2003_117/promo/10454-1.html

an article by Jay Wallsjasper of the Utne Reader that concludes with four objectives that could become a simple and effective Democratic platform:

Energy Independence
A big push for conservation and renewable power sources that would diminish our dependence on Mideast oil.

Health Care for Everyone
The issue that won it for Clinton in 1992 but he then botched with a timid and overly bureaucratic managed-care proposal.

Fair Tax Policy
Stop tax cuts for the wealthy and reduce the bite of payroll taxes (social security and such) on most people’s take-home pay by eliminating loopholes that exempt well-to-do folks from paying payroll taxes on any income over $85,000.

Restore Privacy Protections
Keep both government and corporate big brothers out of our lives.

to this list I would add:

Protecting the Environment
Placing environmental protection above profits to preserve the earth for our children and grandchildren.

Rational Foreign Policy
Based on the pursuit of peace, justice, and the equitable distribution of resources rather than on profits for American corporations.

[redeye]

14. My suggestions:

1. The Democratic party will be true to its name and will strengthen democracy. It will do its best in Congress to pass laws and to amend the constitution to give the people more power:

a) It will abolish the Electoral College.
b) It will start federal initiative, referendum, and recall provisions.
c) It will support proportional representation in the House of Representatives, or, failing that, restrictions on redistricting that will eliminate gerrymandering.
d) It will support Approval vote for Senate and Presidential elections.
e) It will make election day a national holiday.


2. The Democratic party will recognize that class warfare is pointless regardless of who wages it, because labor and enterprise are equally important in creating wealth, jobs, and quality of life. It will protect labor from exploitation by enterprise by doing the following:

a) Increasing minimum wage to $7 an hour;
b) Reinstating overtime payment; and
c) Repealing welfare reform.

It will also protect enterprise from failures not of its fault, by supporting the following:

a) Fiscal policy aiming to increase not only demand but also supply;
b) Nominating people for the federal reserve who will pursue lenient monetary policy; and
c) Repealing capital gains taxes and only tax profits of big business.


3. The Democratic party will strengthen people's civil liberties by protecting rights not only as promised in the bill of rights but also as granted in numerous international treaties. It will repeal all laws restricting the right to privacy, including those violating the right of any consenting adults to have sex however they like. It will ensure academic freedom to professors who speak their mind. It will reinstate the fairness doctrine and thus ensure that people are exposed to many points of view from which they can choose what they agree with the most. It will repeal the parts of the Patriot Act that revoke or violate civil liberties.


4. The Democratic party will stand committed to separation of church and state and will seek to repeal the following:

a) The pledge of allegiance, or, failing that, the "under god" part in the pledge;
b) The 1954 law mandating that the national motto be "in god we trust" and that the phrase be included on the currency;
c) The use of paid chaplains in Congress and the military;
d) The tax-exempt status of any church that speaks about political issues; and
e) Any state or federal law allowing the posting of the ten commandments on/in public buildings.


5. The Democratic party will ensure that the USA cooperates with the international community and that it only acts in the world's best interests. It will not attempt to duplicate the policies of the industrial countries around 1900, which gave us World War One.


6. The Democratic party will seek to give non-Americans the same rights as Americans. Realizing that the USA's industrial and intellectual power comes from unrestriction immigration during the Gilded Age and the US being a lodestone for intellectuals fleeing from Nazism and Fascism in the 1930s respectively, it will repeal all immigration restrictions except those involving health screenings or passport checks. The party will also end all discrimination in law on the basis of nationality by removing tariffs and free trade restrictions except those aiming to preserve workers' rights or the environment, and will make no distinction between Americans and non-Americans in the public service.

[maggrwaggr]

21. I have to STRONGLY disagree with one of your ideas

that is the abolishment of paid chaplains in the military.

I grew up in the military, the son of a career military officer. While overseas, the chaplain was often the only sane voice, who represented the center of a community that was based not on military duty but on human needs.

To remove chaplains from military life would be just plain inhuman.

Sorry, but it's a terrible idea..

[redeye]

25. Well, find someone who cares for human needs...

...who doesn't base his judgment on religion. Sorry, but the wall of separation of church and state is more important to me, and when the state pays a chaplain to preach to GIs, many of whom are atheists (there are atheists in foxholes, despite the common maxim), the wall is being hit by a large battering ram.

[Bluecoller]

34. Increasing minimum wage

redeye
>a) Increasing minimum wage to $7 an hour;<

BC
not enough!

minimum wage in Y2K dollars
1950- $5.36
1968- $7.92
2000- $5.15

Just why the fuck shoud the minimum wage be less than it was 35 years ago???:wtf:

---=- IRAQ IS INNOCENT of 911---O8)

-bush $hit his pants on 911-:hurts:

-------------- bluecoller-the grumpy old kraut ---- :mad:

[redeye]

43. Haele did a calculation once...

...and found out that living wage was in the 7-7.70 range. I picked 7 because a) increasing minimum wage too quickly will increase unemployment, and b) 7.70 is really needed only in expensive areas like the West Coast, where minimum wage is already higher than the national minimum.

[IranianDemocrat]

42. Abolishing paid chaplains?

Sorry I don't think I can agree with that. Chaplains serve as excellent mentors and counselors especially when people in the military feel more comfortable talking to someone of their faith.

[grytpype]

15. kick

[makeanoise]

16. The Way To Victory

All office holders, candidates, and activists should adhere to these principles in their campaigns and in whatever public offices they may hold so that citizens are in a position of knowledge, strength and wisdom.

First: Democracy must empower and enable citizens to obtain timely and accurate information from their government, to affirmatively facilitate citizens in banding together in civic associations in pursuit of a just society, and to communicate their judgments through modern technology.

Second: The American people should have reasonable control over the public lands, public media airwaves, pension funds, and other societal assets which the public legally owns, as a commonwealth, rather than having these public assets controlled by a powerful few.

Third: We need modern mechanisms so that civic power for self-government and self-reliance can correct the often converging power imbalance of Big Business and Big Government that seriously weakens the rights of citizens and the democracy.

Fourth: Citizens should have measures to ensure that their voting powers are not diluted, over-run, or nullified. Such measures include easier voter registration, state-level binding initiatives and referendums, public financing of campaigns, and term limits for elected officials not to exceed 12 years.

Fifth: Citizens must have full legal standing to challenge in the courts the waste, fraud, and abuse of government spending and corporate abuses. Overly complex, mystifying jargon in our laws and procedures must be simplified and clarified so that the general public is not shut out from readily understanding and challenging them. Citizens should be accorded computerized access in libraries and in their homes to the full range of government information.

Sixth: Inserts in billing statements from monopolized utilities, financial and insurance companies should invite consumers to join consumer action watchdog groups. The public, which owns the tv/cable/radio media airwaves, which are leased for free to large commercial businesses, should have its own Audience Network to inform, alert, and mobilize democratic citizen debate and initiatives.

Seventh: Effective legal protections are needed for ethical whistleblowers who alert Americans to abuses or hazards to health and safety in the workplace, or contaminate the environment, or defraud citizens. Such conscientious workers need rights to ensure they will not be fired or demoted for speaking out within the corporations, the government, or in other bureaucracies.

Eighth: Working people need a reasonable measure of control over how their pension monies are invested, rather than it being controlled by banks and insurance companies.

Ninth: Shareholders, who are the owners of companies, should not have their assets wasted or worker morale victimized by executives who give themselves huge salaries, bonuses, greenmail, and golden parachutes, self-perpetuating boards of directors, and a stifling of the proxy voting system to block shareholder voting reforms. Workers, consumers and local communities should have representation on the Board of Directors of large multinational corporations.

Tenth: Our country's schoolchildren need to be taught democratic principles in their historiccontext and present relevance, with practical civics experiences in their communities todevelop their citizen skills and a desire to use them, and so they will be nurtured to serve as a major reservoir of future democracy. At the university levels, facilities should be available for self-funded student civic action associations with full time staff.

[poskonig]

18. Security and Jobs.

You basically hit the nail on the head.

[sable302]

19. Optimism

Hope for a brighter future. Bush will be in 'hold down the fort' mode, and security and protecting us from terrorism. I suppose Bush could propose another tax cut in order to seem optimistic about something, but we've done that twice already so big whoop. Other than that, everything else out of Bush's mouth always seems pretty bleak. It's all 'we've gotta protect...defend...prevent...etc...' but the best national campaigns are always ones that focus on optimism, a better future, and so on.

Dems should also focus on the notion that fear gets us nowhere, and that 4 years of Bush has been all about fear.

That should actually be in the platform, that 'Democrats refuse to be afraid about the future, and that America can regain its place of respect among the nations of the world through positive action, as opposed to fear.'

[realFedUp]

20. Repairing

Repairing infrastructure, our foreign policies and diplomatic ties, and the election system, putting in place a single payer health plan for every citizen. Pay down deficits, create oil free energy jobs and systems.

[maggrwaggr]

23. kick

:kick:

Lots of great ideas here! Let's keep it going! I want to see more of this on DU!

[Kamika]

24. MAKING AND KEEPING JOBS, 2nd military

I think the job issue is a BIG deal, if we would make a strong point well make sure companies have a hard time moving to india and such we would get alot of ppl on our side.

Also we should make a big deal of the bad stuff Bush has done to the militarys salaries etc

[Pepperbelly]

26. The nominee will set the platform ...

because the nominee's delegates will be in the majority. Problem fixed.

:D

[mandyky]

27. Come on folks, think and discuss

this is one of the best threads I have seen in GD in eons!!

[grytpype]

28. kick

[McDiggy]

29. Military spending is useless..

We need to somehow prove to America that spending untold amounts of money on the military will not help us stop terrorism. A fighter jet with a pentagon payload will not stop a lone wolf. Then only way to make us safer is to invest in the interior.

[maggrwaggr]

30. 50% of all military spending ON EARTH is by the US Military

I think that figure should be known a little more ....

[IranianDemocrat]

40. I don't think the sheeple will buy into it.

They want MORE military especially after 9-11.

[newyawker99]

47. Hi McDiggy!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[terryg11]

31. attacking military spending a bad idea

to make it a plank of an election campaign at this time would doom us. Until the climate has changed reelections are a time of sound bytes and some good points made at opportune times.

Fixing the problem with military spending is something to be brought up after elected, then it can be discussed, explained and dealt with in a much more effective manner. To do it during an election, no matter how eloquently explained will put the candidate on the defensive.

[grytpype]

35. I'm not attacking military spending, am I?

The whole point of my draft platform is (1) Bush is screwing up big time, and (2) the Democrats have a plan to repair the damage and get America back on its feet.

[genius]

32. Americans don't care about the budget.

They care about civil rights, education, quality health care, the right to sue doctors if they malpractice, the right to a decdent wage, an end to international treaties that take American jobs out of the country and an end to policies that are dangerous to our environment.

[grytpype]

33. No, they do care about the budget.

Remember Ross Perot? He made Americans understand that huge federal budget deficits are not good policy, and they will remember that if they are reminded.

[mandyky]

37. Formulate a draft plan for government service

Include Military, Peace Corps, Ameri-Corps, Teachers Corps, Nurses Corps. Also a program for linguistics and science and math specialists.

[RichM]

39. The Dem Party should disband. It should let 80% of its members

officially join the Republicans, instead of merely being Republicans in disguise. Then the remaining Dems, the progressive wing of the party, should join with Greens and Socialists, and campaign on a platform of:

- Universal single-payer healthcare for all
- Dismantling as much of the Pentagon as possible, starting with cuts of around 50%, & progressing rapidly in subsequent years
- Top priority to environmental protections
- Nationalizing banks & all essential utilities
- Jailing every single high official of the Bush administration for war crimes & abuse of office
- Prosecuting all big-business criminals: the Ken Lays, Bernie Ebbers, etc
- Dismantling all of Wall Street & replacing its few useful functions with a single computer program (to be written by me)
- Progressive Taxation
- Far reaching media-reform: breaking up all media giants, re-instituting not just the old Fairness Doctrine but something far stronger
- Campaigning to teach the real truth about 20th century American atrocities in SE Asia, Latin America, & throughout the 3rd world; an issuing of profound public apologies to the world.
- Reconstructing other aspects of a comprehensive social safety net.
- Top priorities given to development of mass-transit systems & renewable energy sources

[Nederland]

49. Reply

The Dem Party should disband. It should let 80% of its members officially join the Republicans, instead of merely being Republicans in disguise. Then the remaining Dems, the progressive wing of the party, should join with Greens and Socialists, and...

then proceed to get their asses kicked out of every elected office in the county outside Berkley CA.

Nice plan.

[redeye]

50. Wrong

Berkeley isn't a county. Oakland and Berkeley are part of Alameda County, the most populous county in NoCal, which includes not only those two cities but some heavily-populated areas east of Oakland. It is solidly Democratic, but not so much as San Francisco and Marin.

[mandyky]

44. Reevaluation of NAFTA and other trade treaties

and organizations.
A Department of Peace, under the auspices of the Dept. of State.
Reevaluation of our diplomatic processes. We can do better than the carrot and stick, threaten and bribe policies we now have.

[redeye]

45. What do you mean by reevaluation?

If you mean strengthening environmental and worker's rights restrictions, then I'm with you. If you mean repealing those treaties, then you can forget about me.

[mandyky]

46. That is what I mean

I like Dean's idea of shipping unions out with any jobs moved from the US to other countries where they will be paying subhuman wages.

[Cheesehead]

48. This is the key to victory

To provide a platform that is such an attractive option to the majority that the fear of the rest of the world is overcome and we look to improving our lot here within our borders. Keep up the discussion - this is much more important than candidate bashing.

:kick: Kick!