Democrats You Need to Stand for Something! A Fellow Democrat's Manifesto for Change!

[rdobbs2010]

We are seeing with the health care debate, troop deployments in Afghanistan, and the refusal to end military engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq, that our fellow Democratic members of Congress and the President have forgotten, we must stand for something. We were promised change in the 2008 elections, however, that change is slow or non-existant.

Why do we Democrats, who have the majority, don't act as though we have the majority. Whether if it is about passing a very important unemployment extension, ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, or passing real meaningful health care reform with a public option; the Democrats in Congress or the President just can't or possibly won't get the job done.

I am one Democrat that has had enough. The Democratic Party was the party of the people but somehow has become adulterated in becoming the party of special interest, just as the Republican Party has become. Ralph Nader is correct by calling our current political system as "Republicrats" and as crazy as Ross Perot was, he was correct about the effects of NAFTA.

The health insurance corporations have now bought their version of health care reform with their contributions to key members of Congress, which in turn will destroy any meaningful reform or public option for the American citizens. Defense contractors have ensured they will be able to continue their efforts in the "military industrial complex" with the continuation and increased troop deployments in Afghanistan and the continuation of the war in Iraq. This continues to siphon funds that could be utilized for health care of all Americans and assist with other meaningful programs in this country.

So where do we go from here? I am giving you my manifesto of beliefs and where I believe we need to go to make the changes necessary to turn our country around and take care of our people. We need to stand up and have our voices be heard, enough is enough with how the Republicans and Democrats have treated "We the People." Congress seems to continually turn their backs on us and we need to remind them of who put them into power.

Health Care

• I believe that every American should have access to affordable medical care.
• I support the Patients' Bill of Rights for those with insurance but anxious about denial of coverage or loss of choice.
• I support the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
• I support Tax Credits for small businesses unable to afford insurance for their employees.
• I support Community Health Care Centers for those with little or no coverage.
• I support the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act, to require insurance companies to cover a 48-hour minimum hospital stay for mastectomy patients, and a 24-hour stay for a patient undergoing lymph node dissection.
• I support Mental Health Coverage, that treatment for mental health conditions should be placed on par with coverage for medical and surgical procedures.
• I support a reserve fund to increase Medicare payments to physicians.
• I support increased funding for treatment and research of Autism. I have 3 autistic children and know how the system does not help.

I believe in being a candidate and possible future Member of Congress that does the right thing and stands up for that position. I fully believe we need to have a public option in the health care debate. I fortunately am able to participate in a public option, Veterans Administration Health Care, because I am a disabled veteran. We cannot allow the Republican Party and right wing media to control the debate, America needs a health care solution that includes a public option. The other experience I have with this issue, my 4 year old daughter Hannah has mild to moderate ASD (Autism), my 9 year old has Aspbergers (autism), and my 2 year old will probably be diagnosed with some level of autism as well. So I am well aware of how private insurers will not step up to the plate for the disabled, especially autism, and how a government program, Medicaid/Badger Care, has been there for my children and their needs.

Budget and Economy

• I believe that every American deserves a good job and the chance to earn livable wage. I am for a treaty that ends quotas on textile imports, I am against most favored nation treatment of China and admission to the WTO, and I am against the Caribbean Basin Trade Agreement, the Andean Free Trade Agreement, the Africa Free Trade Agreement, and the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
• I believe we should institute policy to curb illegal imports, open foreign markets, and make the Pentagon "Buy American."
• I believe in the "Pay-As-You-Go" rules should be restored. In the 1990s, these rules played a critical role in turning record deficits to record surpluses. When President Clinton left office, the budget was $236 billion in surplus.
• I believe taxpayer dollars shouldn’t assist corporations that move jobs and their operations out of the United States.
• We should not bail any company out, GM and Chrysler that turns around and closes plants in the U.S. and shifts operations to China and/or Mexico.
• We need an "America First" policy. This means the American people get taken care off first before we waste money on ridiculous wars, foreign aid, or bailouts.
• We all could have health care with the money that was and is being wasted in Iraq and Afghanistan;
• We should have no one homeless;
• We should have no one without a means to take care of themselves or their family;
• We should have no child without a decent education and all schools should be ranked the best, not from 1 to 50; and
• We should have our decent paying jobs back and a strong middle class.

Environment

Cap and trade-I would support Cap and Trade Legislation and I believe in a process of "polluters pay" and this would include those industries that create the pollution along with violators who have created contaminated locations. This means Superfund would be funded, as under President Clinton, by the industries that create pollution. President George W. Bush gutted the manner in which the Superfund received its money and thereby underfunded the program.

National Security

• I believe we need an immediate solution in Iraq and Afghanistan and bring our young men and women home.
• We need to focus on our real threats in North Korea and make sure our military assets are not stretched to thin.
• We need a solution to the immigration problem and to secure our borders.

I would submit legislation to immediately withdraw all U.S. military forces from Afghanistan and Iraq immediately. Furthermore, seeing I would be met with immediate opposition from both sides, I would at least have a 1 year withdrawal time frame drafted, in which all U.S. forces would be withdrawn, to include advisor's, within a 1 year time frame. I would also begin to cancel all funding for U.S. and foreign contractors receiving funding from the United States for any engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan to coincide with the U.S. Military withdrawal. Should those U.S. contractors choose do to business with the respective governments of Iraq and Afghanistan is their choice, but would be down without the support of the U.S. Military.

Social Security and Medicare

• Medicare is a lifeline for 40 million Americans. I want to strengthen it, rein in high premiums, and make needed corrections to the confusing Medicare prescription drug benefit.
• The purpose of Social Security is to ensure that everyone has a foundation of basic benefits on which to retire. I believe tax incentives that make retirement saving more attractive, but I do not support radical changes like privatization or opting out, because these changes would alter the universality of Social Security and take away the financial foundation that it now ensures.

Women's Right to Choice

I do not believe the government has a role in denying a woman's right to medical choices on any issue with their bodies. I do not support partial birth abortion, but abortion in general is a woman's decision between her, her doctor, family, and her religious beliefs. Government should have no role but to support the decision that is made and ensure all options are done safely.

Health Care Reform and Immigration

The conservative right in Congress and in the mainstream are attacking the health care reform packages put forward by the President and Democratic Leadership as an enhancement for illegal immigrants. Furthermore the conservatives believe that any public option would attract even more illegal immigration. This is absolutely false and could be further from the truth; it is only an attempt to circumvent real health care reform.

What is now occurring involves a real debate on illegal immigration and the lack of attention to this important issue. Health Care Reform is now making the Administration and Congress address this important issue and how illegal immigration deals with the health care reform debate. Congress, along with the current and prior Presidents, have not been forceful to create a true immigration reform package to end illegal immigration and put all illegal immigrants either on the books or out of the country. We cannot move forward on any true reform with health care or immigration unless both issues are addressed.

All we have to look at an example of how to deal with the immigration issue is in Canada. In Canada they have universal health coverage, a large immigration program, and very few undocumented workers. In Canada, they do not tolerate illegal immigration because of the cost to the government guaranteed medical care. The Canadian immigration system is more difficult than the U.S. system and thereby is the gate keeper also for the Canadian health care system. Per an immigration report in 2003 from the Canadian government, the estimated number of undocumented people living in Canada is somewhere between 100,000 to 200,000, compared to 20 million in the U.S. When compared to United States, illegal immigration to Canada is less.

In the current health care reform legislation that is coming from the Democrats in Congress, it states, "No Federal Payment for Undocumented Aliens." Furthermore, it requires all Americans to have coverage, while denying subsidies to illegal immigrants, whatever their income. This means illegal immigrants would have to obtain health insurance and pay full cost for it. However the Republicans in Congress and the conservative media are attempting to use scare tactics towards the public in creating hysteria concerning illegal immigrants getting free health care. Of course our current school system allows illegal immigrants to receive services however Medicaid, Medicare, and other public programs have systems in place denying services to illegal immigrants.

What is needed in American today is real health care reform, along with a common sense approach to the issue of illegal immigration. We cannot continue to function and create real reforms in this country until the issue of illegal immigration is addressed. We need a solution to the immigration problem and to secure our borders.

Immigration Reform

Republicans talked tough during the Bush Administration but didn't do anything meaningful to bring about real immigration reform and make positive changes to the illegal immigration problem we have in America. With almost 20 to 30 million illegal or undocumented immigrants in this country, we need to do something.

* Reform must include secured U.S. Borders;

* Provide a "Path to Citizenship" by getting the 20 million undocumented people in our country to come forward, obtain legal status, learn English, and assume the rights and responsibilities of citizenship while creating smart enforcement policies that uphold national security and the Constitution;

* By cracking down on unscrupulous employers whose practices undermine conditions for all workers;

* Restore the Rule of Law and Enhance Border Security;

* Promote Citizenship and Civic Participation and enacting proactive measures to advance the successful integration of new immigrants into our communities.

Robert Dobbs for Congress
www.electdobbs.com

[niyad]

1. welcome to DU-- excellent list, and thank you for posting it. too late for me to rec, but can kick