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The battle for the soul of the Democratic Party continues. The supporters of Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton realized that the DLC (Democratic Leisure Class) that promoted John Kerry as the “alternative” to his Skull and Bones cohort George W. Bush, needed an actual people’s agenda in Democratic strongholds like Cleveland and Detroit.
People’s advocates met and crafted their own democratic party platform as printed below. Locally, City Councilperson Charleta Tavares led the effort to draft the Columbus People’s Platform. The People’s Agenda will be presented inside and outside the Democratic Party convention.
Let us know what you think and what should be included. Politics belongs to the people. Contact the Free Press with your input: truth@freepress.org or 253-2571.
The invasion and occupation of Iraq has already cost US taxpayers $119 billion.1 The rising cost of war has and will continue to have a devastating impact on the already weak US economy that has suffered from the greatest sustained job loss since the Great Depression: “Since the recession began . . . in March 2001, 2.0 million jobs have disappeared, a 1.5% contraction." 2 Ohio is among the hardest hit. Over the course of 35 months since the beginning of the recession, the unemployment rate in Ohio has risen from 3.6% to 5.9%.3 Needless to say, job losses have left state and local governments short on cash: in Ohio, the state government will sink $300 million in the red by June 30, 2005.4 Far from rescuing the state and local governments from fiscal crises, the George W. Bush Administration’s budget for fiscal year 2005 would “cut almost $28 billion in grants to state and local governments” – Ohio would lose “an estimated $1.1 billion” – while increasing military spending and making “the tax cuts of the last few years permanent,” 51% of whose benefits – “totaling almost half a trillion dollars” from 2001 through 2010 — will go to the richest 1% of Americans.5
We, the people of Columbus, Ohio, hereby declare that the Bush Administration’s foreign and domestic policies are morally and economically bankrupt. Therefore, we pledge to work toward the establishment of new national priorities.
1. International Solidarity
¨ End the US Occupation of Iraq – Recognize the Right to Self-Determination
¨ Practice Fair Trade That Supports Workers’ Rights and Protects the Environment
¨ Respect International Law, the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court
¨ Demilitarize US Foreign Policy – Cut US Military Spending, Close US Bases Overseas, Seek Mutual Arms Reduction
2. Human Rights and Civil Liberties
¨ Repeal the USA Patriot Act
¨ Outlaw Racial Profiling
¨ Defend Reproductive Rights and Freedoms
¨ Protect Equal Rights – including the Equal Right to Marriage – Regardless of Sex, Gender, and Sexual Orientation
¨ Strengthen Workers’ Rights – Repeal Repressive Labor Laws Such as the Taft-Hartley Act, the Landrum-Griffin Act, the Hatch Act, and “Right-to-Work” Laws
¨ Reform the Criminal Justice System – Abolish Death Penalty, Reduce the Prison Population, Rehabilitate Offenders
¨ Amend the Constitution to Protect the Right to Privacy from Surveillance by the Government and Corporations
3. Economic Justice
¨ Guarantee Jobs with Living Wages for All
¨ Establish Universal Health Care, i.e. a Single-Payer National Health Program to Provide Free Medical, Dental, and Vision Care for All US Residents
¨ Provide Free Child Care and Public Education
¨ Make Affordable Housing Avilable
4. Environmental Justice
¨ Regulate Public Utilities
¨ Abolish the Nuclear Industry
¨ Decrease Pollution and Decontaminate the Polluted Sites
5. Democratic Reform
¨ Declare Election Day a National Holiday to Enable Working People’s Electoral Participation
¨ Elect Legislative Bodies by Proportional Representation
¨ Elect Single Offices by Instant Runoff Voting
¨ Make Ballot Access Fair – Require Each State to Enable a New Party to Qualify for the Ballot through a Petition of no greater than 0.1% of the Total Vote Cast in the District in the Last Gubernatorial Election
¨ Limit the Maximum Campaign Expenditure, Provide Equal Public Campaign Financing and Free Broadcast Media Time for All Candidates Who Agree Not to Use Private Money
¨ Re-democratize Airwaves, Support Community Media
¨ Educate Children for Participatory Democracy, Emphasize the Knowledge of Civil Liberties, Human Rights, and International Law, Build Skills and Experience Necessary for Individual and Collective Exercise of Rights and Liberties
¨ Allow Local and State Governments to Recognize More Rights and Liberties than the Democratic Minimum Enshrined in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
1 Cost of War, April 14, 2004, http://costofwar.com/.
2 JobWatch, April 14, 2004, http://jobwatch.org/.
3 JobWatch, “Unemployment Rate by State, 35 Months after Start of Recession,” April 14, 2004, www.jobwatch.org/20040331_unemployment_35mo.pdf.
4 Spencer Hunt, “Ohio Strapped for Cash Again,” Cincinnati Enquirer, March 9, 2004, www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/03/09/loc_loc1aohio.html.
5 National Priorities Project, “The President’s Budget: Impact on Ohio,” February 2004, www.nationalpriorities.org/impact04/oh.pdf; Citizens for Tax Justice, “Year-by-Year Analysis of the Bush Tax Cuts Shows Growing Tilt to the Very Rich,” June 12, 2002, www.ctj.org/html/gwb0602.htm.
People’s advocates met and crafted their own democratic party platform as printed below. Locally, City Councilperson Charleta Tavares led the effort to draft the Columbus People’s Platform. The People’s Agenda will be presented inside and outside the Democratic Party convention.
Let us know what you think and what should be included. Politics belongs to the people. Contact the Free Press with your input: truth@freepress.org or 253-2571.
The invasion and occupation of Iraq has already cost US taxpayers $119 billion.1 The rising cost of war has and will continue to have a devastating impact on the already weak US economy that has suffered from the greatest sustained job loss since the Great Depression: “Since the recession began . . . in March 2001, 2.0 million jobs have disappeared, a 1.5% contraction." 2 Ohio is among the hardest hit. Over the course of 35 months since the beginning of the recession, the unemployment rate in Ohio has risen from 3.6% to 5.9%.3 Needless to say, job losses have left state and local governments short on cash: in Ohio, the state government will sink $300 million in the red by June 30, 2005.4 Far from rescuing the state and local governments from fiscal crises, the George W. Bush Administration’s budget for fiscal year 2005 would “cut almost $28 billion in grants to state and local governments” – Ohio would lose “an estimated $1.1 billion” – while increasing military spending and making “the tax cuts of the last few years permanent,” 51% of whose benefits – “totaling almost half a trillion dollars” from 2001 through 2010 — will go to the richest 1% of Americans.5
We, the people of Columbus, Ohio, hereby declare that the Bush Administration’s foreign and domestic policies are morally and economically bankrupt. Therefore, we pledge to work toward the establishment of new national priorities.
1. International Solidarity
¨ End the US Occupation of Iraq – Recognize the Right to Self-Determination
¨ Practice Fair Trade That Supports Workers’ Rights and Protects the Environment
¨ Respect International Law, the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court
¨ Demilitarize US Foreign Policy – Cut US Military Spending, Close US Bases Overseas, Seek Mutual Arms Reduction
2. Human Rights and Civil Liberties
¨ Repeal the USA Patriot Act
¨ Outlaw Racial Profiling
¨ Defend Reproductive Rights and Freedoms
¨ Protect Equal Rights – including the Equal Right to Marriage – Regardless of Sex, Gender, and Sexual Orientation
¨ Strengthen Workers’ Rights – Repeal Repressive Labor Laws Such as the Taft-Hartley Act, the Landrum-Griffin Act, the Hatch Act, and “Right-to-Work” Laws
¨ Reform the Criminal Justice System – Abolish Death Penalty, Reduce the Prison Population, Rehabilitate Offenders
¨ Amend the Constitution to Protect the Right to Privacy from Surveillance by the Government and Corporations
3. Economic Justice
¨ Guarantee Jobs with Living Wages for All
¨ Establish Universal Health Care, i.e. a Single-Payer National Health Program to Provide Free Medical, Dental, and Vision Care for All US Residents
¨ Provide Free Child Care and Public Education
¨ Make Affordable Housing Avilable
4. Environmental Justice
¨ Regulate Public Utilities
¨ Abolish the Nuclear Industry
¨ Decrease Pollution and Decontaminate the Polluted Sites
5. Democratic Reform
¨ Declare Election Day a National Holiday to Enable Working People’s Electoral Participation
¨ Elect Legislative Bodies by Proportional Representation
¨ Elect Single Offices by Instant Runoff Voting
¨ Make Ballot Access Fair – Require Each State to Enable a New Party to Qualify for the Ballot through a Petition of no greater than 0.1% of the Total Vote Cast in the District in the Last Gubernatorial Election
¨ Limit the Maximum Campaign Expenditure, Provide Equal Public Campaign Financing and Free Broadcast Media Time for All Candidates Who Agree Not to Use Private Money
¨ Re-democratize Airwaves, Support Community Media
¨ Educate Children for Participatory Democracy, Emphasize the Knowledge of Civil Liberties, Human Rights, and International Law, Build Skills and Experience Necessary for Individual and Collective Exercise of Rights and Liberties
¨ Allow Local and State Governments to Recognize More Rights and Liberties than the Democratic Minimum Enshrined in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
1 Cost of War, April 14, 2004, http://costofwar.com/.
2 JobWatch, April 14, 2004, http://jobwatch.org/.
3 JobWatch, “Unemployment Rate by State, 35 Months after Start of Recession,” April 14, 2004, www.jobwatch.org/20040331_unemployment_35mo.pdf.
4 Spencer Hunt, “Ohio Strapped for Cash Again,” Cincinnati Enquirer, March 9, 2004, www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/03/09/loc_loc1aohio.html.
5 National Priorities Project, “The President’s Budget: Impact on Ohio,” February 2004, www.nationalpriorities.org/impact04/oh.pdf; Citizens for Tax Justice, “Year-by-Year Analysis of the Bush Tax Cuts Shows Growing Tilt to the Very Rich,” June 12, 2002, www.ctj.org/html/gwb0602.htm.