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A Democratic Contract With America
We need to give some thought to 2006 along the lines of a Democrat-wide appeal that will turn some heads and switch some votes. I'm thinking it would be effective to steal a page from another playbook only do them several better. We need all our legislators and candidates at both state and national levels to commit to a striking, unified and exciting set of principles and proposals.
I have some specifics in mind, but let's see who wants to get behind this idea constructively. We need to fill in the blanks in several categories. I'll go first at both picking the categories and suggesting specifics but let's hear from anyone except naysayers.
Don't just kill this idea because you disagree with some of my positions. Try to see the value of a broad-based commitment to voters so they know what they are getting and have something to get the blood up for.
(It's impossible to format with indentations so try to get the drift.)
Categories
Principles of representation.
As your Democratic representative I pledge
1. To keep in touch with you, to listen to you
__A. I will visit my district for a public function no less than once a month
__B. I will hold a press conference once a month. I'll try to get it on public TV or radio
__C. I will be in the office in my district at least once a month for phone calls and appointments
2. To be responsive to your concerns
__A. I will explain all my important votes on my website
__B. I will place a moderated discussion forum on my website and direct my staff to bring your comments to my attention.
__C. I will publish not only a webform for feedback I will publish my email address.
__D. As a party we will make available an 800 number for contacting a Democratic officeholder in your district, your state or in Washington.
__E. I will use technology to increase my contact with you and responsiveness to you such as by offering weekly updates on local and national concerns by email
Policy Initiatives
1. Immigration
We will vigorously address our nation's border insecurity and illegal immigration problems with policies that are effective at keeping those who would harm us out, effective at preventing illegal border crossing, but humane towards those who wish come to America with the intent of building her up or who have already arrived with such a desire and proven it.
__A. We will provide an effective guest worker program and apply it to those who are already here illegally
__B. We will improve our systems of documentation and tracking so that there is no question of a an applicant's legal status.
__C. We will clamp down on employers who hire illegals
__D. We will work with employers to develop Americans-first employment policies that are realistic and workable.
2. Homeland Security
We will address all the gaps in our nation's security ignored by the present administration
__A. We will fully fund programs to inspect 100% of cargoes that enter this country by road, rail or ship or air.
__B. We will fully fund first responders
__C. We will fully fund law enforcement which is dedicated to defense of the nation.
__D. Believing that ultimately our greatest security lies in the combination of our defensive strength and in worldwide respect for our nation's living the highest moral and ethical standards we will
____a. Rebuild damaged cooperative and respectful relationships with our friends worldwide
____b. Sponsor scholarships to bring the youth of the world to live alongside us and tell us their stories as well as hearing our own.
____c. Establish schools alongside our embassies and consulates worldwide where we teach English and democratic values to as many from our host countries as we can possibly accomodate.
3.Spirituality/Faith/Moral Issues
We will hear the voices of all Americans concerned about the nation's moral fiber and religious freedoms and take constitutionally sound steps to be sure all points of view are heard and respected. Thus we will
__A. Work with local governments to establish a nationwide series of urban parks dedicated to the American Conscience. In such places we will welcome the private placement of dDepictions of fundamental moral statements from the great traditions that inform our consciences such as the Ten Commandments or Beatitudes, as well as similarly revered writings and symbols from our Jewish, Muslim, Native American, Buddhist and all the other faiths and communities that are the threads of the American tapestry.
__B. In accordance with the unique, bold and courageous promises in our Declaration of Independence that all persons are created equal, seek just legal status for our gay and lesbian children, brothers and sisters, who wish to clinch the knot of commitment, by working for the availability of civil unions in all states while rejecting a Constitutional amendment that would diminish any good American's rights and freedoms.
__C. Seek to erase the conditions that lead to unwanted pregnancies and abortions so that every child is wanted and every couple can properly care for their offspring. This will include teaching both the skills and responsibilities of parenthood in our schools, emphasizing responsible sexuality including abstinence, and recognizing the rights of good and responsible parents to support and guide their child if she is considering terminating a pregnancy.
4. Economics/Jobs
We recognize that among a government's first responsibilities is to create the conditions that will let our private economy create jobs that marry the talents and energies of our workers with the vision and needs of our businesses in a mutually advantageous way. Therefore,
__A. We will seek to reverse the flight of some of our best jobs to other lands while our people are forced to settle for replacements that pay less and do not meet their basic needs for healthcare and long-term security. To that end we will
____a. Remove any tax or other federal incentives to employers to outsource to offshore locales
____b. Work with our best colleges and universities to devise retraining progams for Americans, regardless of age, who lose their jobs to outsourcing so they can choose career paths that are more secure and are likely to be in demand as we develop our economy.
____c. Repeal or re-negotiate trade agreements such as the Central American Free Trade agreement that are so one-sided that they are mere figleaves for companies who wish access to cheap foreign labor and where there is no substantial opportunity to develop a market for American goods.
____d. We will seek to strengthen foreign markets by steps that will raise the level of indigenous foreign incomes but not at the expense of America by such means as encouraging a huge increase in the number of micro loans made by the World Bank.
____e. (We need a partial rollback of the bankruptcy bill.)
5. The Military
We will keep faith with the soldiers who fight for us and die for us.
__A. When one of our bravest is lost we will go to his or funeral and offer due respect.
__B. We will establish automatic increases in their pay and commit that no soldier's family will require public assistance to survive.
__C. We will increase the benefits paid to the families of the fallen including college scholarships for their children
__D. We will fully fund personal protection of our troops. No more death trap Humvees or home town cake sales to buy body armor.
__E. We will listen to our military and not arms merchants about what weapons systems we need.
6. Taxes/Spending
Americans are motivated and choose to devote their lives and energies to diverse objectives. We believe in the principle that any American who wishes to seek wealth should have all the encouragement and the fewest possible barriers from their government. At the same time we believe in the justness of the American invention of progessive taxation, where those who have benefitted the most from the infrastructure and society that all Americans have built up can best afford, and have a moral obligation, to contribute proportionately more to the further advancement of our people through modestly greater taxes.
At the same time we see the running up of a huge national debt as irresponsible, indefensible and a millstone around the necks of our people now and our children in the future. Steps to reduce the debt are an economic necessity and a moral obligation. Thus
__A. We will adjust future tax cuts already on the books to strengthen the middle class.
__B. We will add no new tax cuts that are not matched with spending cuts of equal magnitude.
__C. We will work to balance budgets and pay down the national debt by challenging the effectiveness of all federal progams, by incentivizing efficiency and by eliminating those that are pork-barrel giveaways to favored constituents.
7. Social Security
We will keep faith with our people by strengthening this crown jewel of a just society whose purpose is to ensure the blessings of dignity and self-reliance that our retirees have earned and to keep at bay the destititution they would face without a secure and guaranteed benefit in their old age.
__A. (Our program, whatever it is: increased income cap, etc.)
__B. For those Americans who are able we will encourage their added savings to obtain a more comfortable retirement by strengthening our 401(k) and IRA accounts so that the self-employed, non-traditional, and employees of small enterprises have increased ability and incentive to save.
8. Health Care
We will seek to build upon the strengths of America's superb private health care system while at the same time bringing under its umbrella those many millions who cannot participate today.
__A. We will cut through all red tape by working with providers and payors to create a single, simple form for reimbursement.
__B. We will require all insurers to accept their share of participants with pre-existing conditions or other reasons for rejection and spread their risks across the entire pool.
__C. We will establish a system of universal catastrophic insurance coverage to be certain that no American is denied care or loses everything they have to an illness, but that the cost to all Americans is affordable.
__D. We will work toward finding a solution to all our people's total health care needs that builds on public/private cooperation and whose goal is universal coverage, privately provided care, the smallest possible government role, maximum incentives for affordability and opportunities for medical entrepreneurship that will continue to make the quality of American health care the envy of the world.
__E. We will place the purchase of all supplies and medications by government on a strictly competetive basis.
Integrity of Elections
Our elections must not suffer the taint of purchased favors or anonymous electoral terrorism. I addition, nothing is a more sacred right for the citizen than to vote, and every vote must be fairly counted. Therefore,
__A. We need additional reform to our campaign finance laws so that individuals can support candidates directly, but organizations cannot buy influence or obscure their true identities
__B. Electronic voting equipment must be open for technical inspection of all its componennts including its software and must provide a printed record for verifying the vote at the time of voting and that must be retained in case a hand recount becomes necessary.
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Whew, you get the idea. What else, what different?
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