"Independence
The Democratic Party should commit to the independence of American citizens. Each of topics below constrains our way of life and the freedoms flowing from the Constitution.
+ Energy Independence – Because of the reliance on foreign oil, America has to commit our troops and resources to safeguard the dwindling energy supplies. We have the technology to be energy self-reliant and all we need is the will. Let's set the goal to be energy-independent in a decade.
For more information:
http://www.apolloalliance.org/+ Debt Independence – America's trade deficit is enormous and China is our largest creditor. Like the Reagan years, our economy is being propped up foreign credit. If (more likely when) China and other nations stop buying America's debt, we face a severe economic crisis. We must commit to a goal of being financially-independent in a decade.
For more information:
http://democraticwhip.house.gov/docuploads/budget05_tanner.pdfhttp://www.iht.com/articles/2005/02/11/business/wbmarket12.htmlhttp://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/11/14/MNG0J9RB6R1.DTLhttp://billmon.org/archives/000233.html+ Media Independence – Consolidation and the 1996 Telecommunications has led to a shrunken marketplace of ideas that doesn't allow diversity of opinion. Of all the freedoms, freedom of speech is the most valued. Democrats should commit to breaking-up the media monopolies, ensuring REAL fair-and-balanced sources of news, and promoting community media.
For more information:
http://www.media-alliance.org/http://www.prwatch.org/cmdhttp://www.freepress.net/http://mediamatters.org/+ Electoral Independence – After three stolen elections, the Democratic Party knows the necessity for fair and transparent election processes. Every vote must be counted and there must be a fair accounting of all votes in disputed elections. Money should not be deciding factor in any election.
For more information:
http://electionline.org/http://www.constitutionproject.org/eri/http://www.electionreform.org/ERMain/http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=196480+ Corporate Independence – As recent books and documentaries have shown, our forefathers were fearful of the power of unrestrained corporations and greatly restricted their rights. But due to a misinterpreted legal footnote, modern corporations enjoy the same protections under the 14th Amendment as do actual humans being. This protection has allowed corporations to subvert the electoral process, devastate the economies of small communities, and pollute the environment.
By removing the 14th Amendment protections of corporations, state and local communities can better regulate the devastating effects of corporations on their local economies and communities. Now, corporations will still have their limited-liability protections and be able to operate as they did before but with more accountability. This will also aid small businesses by allowing them to compete on a more-balanced playing field.
For more information:
http://www.thomhartmann.com/unequalprotection.shtmlhttp://www.thecorporation.com/Opportunity
Balancing the Independence Component are the parts of the Opportunity Component. The overall message of the Opportunity Component is that the Democratic Party is committed to providing opportunities for all Americans to be financially self-sustaining and reap the rewards of their hard work. In contrast to the Republicans who want to turn America into a cheap labor pool, Democrats want everyone to be as successful as they can for themselves and their children.
+ Small Business Friendly – Small businesses are the engine of the American economy and hire over half the workforce. The Republican Party is seen as business-friendly but their policies have been devastating to small businesses. The strategy here is to drive a wedge between the business community and capture small business owners for the Democratic Party.
For more information:
http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbastats.htmlhttp://www.reachm.com/amstreet/archives/2004/07/08/the-johns-and-small-business/http://www.nsba.biz/content/577.shtml+ Portable Benefits – Currently, health and retirement benefits are provided by corporations to their workers thus restricting choice and leaving workers vulnerable to raids on their pension funds. Democrats should commit to a health insurance system and retirement benefits that the person carries with them from job-to-job. This will greatly aid small businesses by cutting their benefits expenses while ensuring that citizens are not without benefits just because they are temporarily unemployed.
For more information:
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=139&subid=275&contentid=250732+ Reskilling – In today's economy, it is vital that people have the opportunities to retrain themselves and reeducated themselves throughout their work-life. Democrats should commit to education and training reform so that American workers will always have access to affordable and current training so that can maintain their earning power. Democrats should also advocate training that will aid small business owners to establish and grow their businesses in ways that benefit their communities.
For more information:
http://www.house.gov/tiahrt/communications/key_issues/careers_america/lifelong_learning.htm=====================
National - the Democratic Party is and stays a national party that represents Democrats whether they are in a Red state or Blue state.
These are ambitious goals and fit naturally into the values of the Democratic Party while providing new ideas that will energize the Democratic base and appeal to Independents and moderate Republicans. The advantage of the ION strategy is that other Democratic issues can be fitted into the broad strategic themes of Independence and Opportunity."
From SFAM at:
http://sfam.blogspot.com/2005/02/explaining-independence-and.html
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