Where is the Democrat’s “Contract with America”? In 1994, the Republican Contract with America led to a Republican takeover of the House of Representatives. The contract laid out a commitment of actions that Republican’s would take if they won the house leadership. There were 8 primary themes and some extra items thrown in for families and senior citizens. This turned out to be a very effective method to demonstrate what the Republican’s would do (in 1994) if gifted with the house leadership and it led to a huge Republican takeover of Congress in 1994.
I would like to see something similar from the Democrats for 2016. I believe the country is desperate to vote for a vision that contains specific commitments of what the legislators will actually do if elected. Specifics that democratic voters can believe in and trust that the Democrat they are voting for also believes in. In my simple mind, some of the following items could be part of this and it would provide actionable items of what the Democrats will do if they have the leadership. It also gives less room for Republicans to block items that can be traced to the will of the people based on voting for these actionable items.
1: Business incentives for US — reward companies that behave in a sustainable manner
- If a company makes X% of their revenue in the US, and if their US citizen/green-card full-time equivalent workforce (in headcount) is X% or greater of their total workforce, they get a tax break (so if a company makes 40% of the revenue selling to US customers, and 40% or more of their FTE (Full-time equivalent workforce) is located in the US, they get a tax break.)
- If a company is energy neutral, they get a tax break
- A US company’s US R&D expenses for next generation products qualifies for a tax break on revenue earned by that future product once it goes into production
2: Equality for US. This means
- Gender equality
- Religious equality
- Racial equality
Emphasis on a civil society for all citizens that is based on the laws of the land and not on any religious doctrine that recommends/supports discrimination against folks who believe differently.
3: Enhanced Learning for all — The US currently ranks 17th in the world on education, we can do better. Our goal should be to be in the top ten nations that leverage their human capital — we need to ensure our students have the skills that our nation can leverage to keep the United States a technology leader. This will require an increase in monies used on classroom instruction.
- Science-based education that covers things from evolution to the metric system
- Civics — the US currently ranks 120th in the world on voter turn-out. We can do better.
- Extended school year, school day, years of schooling
- Free full-day Kindergarten
- Free two post HS graduation years of schooling in junior colleges / trade schools
- Increased oversight/monitoring of charter schools to ensure their students perform as good or better than their neighborhood public schools on national benchmarks. Charter schools disbanded if 3 of the last 5 years have produced lower benchmarks scores than neighborhood schools.
- Encourages learning a foreign language in elementary school and a second foreign language in middle school / high school.
4: Immigration reform
- Reauthorization of the Dream Act
- Implementation of an agricultural Guest Worker program
5: A healthy Environment for US
- Renewable energy investments
- Investment in science for ways to combat global warming
- Investment in science for ways to reduce the damage from global warming events
- Investment in science to reduce environmental pollutants like plastic
- Support of the EPA to reduce and regulate toxic chemical usage
- Review of toxic infrastructure in public buildings, such as lead pipes, and an investment to replace the toxic infrastructure.
6: A safety net for the Vulnerable
- Continue to support and tweak the ACA to ensure everyone has the opportunity for reasonable health insurance — Business Insider ranks the US 37th in the world, Forbes ranks the US Healthcare system 11th in the world. We can do better.
- Fully funded Veteran’s benefits for medical, mental health and education
- Support for Planned Parenthood and the variety of women’s health services they provide
- Investments in mental health services
- A minimum wage indexed to cost of living and sufficient to provide basic food and shelter — The US rates 2nd, after Romania, for the number of children living in poverty. We must do better for our children to give them an equal chance at the American Dream.
- Reauthorization of the Voting Right’s Act — with a specific focus on ensuring equal access to voting locations regardless of where one lives and a commitment that no one should ever wait more than 60 minutes at any polling location in order to vote.
7: Expand tax revenue
- Businesses pay their fair share — schools, roads, services — Business Tax rates from 1992
- Increase the Federal gas tax from 18.4 cents per gallon to 30 cents per gallon and index it to inflation going forward. This was last increased in 1992. Tie all uses of the gas tax to infrastructure investment.
- Open and available high speed internet for cost plus 10%
- Road and bridge repair
- City infrastructure investment to ensure potable water for all
- Improved mass transportation options
- A per-head tax payment of $10K each for all H1B employees with the money earmarked for education intended to grow the needed skills in the US citizen population. This amount should discourage the use of H1B employees for low skilled jobs.
- Increase income tax on people who make $1M or more a year to 40% of income earned over $1M and 50% of income earned over $10M. The US rates 4th in income inequality out of 141 nations, we can do better.
- Legalize, regulate and tax the recreational sales of marijuana. Tax should be $2 per ounce — similar to the cigarette tax.
8: Inmates — Criminal justice reform — The US has 22% of the prisoners in the world and only 5% of the world population. The cost of housing all these prisoners is reeking havoc on state and federal budgets. The level of harsh sentences for drug crimes is one major factor for the jail population. Many folks exit prison with no usable skills. We can do better.
- Decriminalize marijuana and make it retroactive so anyone currently serving time in prison for solely marijuana possession is freed.
- National pardon for marijuana possession charges so if that is the only criminal record, it is expunged
- Reduced sentences for individuals convicted of non-marijuana drug crimes with more focus on rehabilitation and drug addiction treatment.
- Prison education provided to ensure inmates have the skills needed to be a contributing citizen once they have served their time.
- Assistance to achieve a GED if an inmate doesn’t have one
- Assistance to achieve minimal computer skills such as keyboarding and use of MS Office
- Assistance to achieve an online associates degree
- Assistance to achieve trade skills such as diesel mechanic or plumber
- Voting rights returned to felons who have completed their sentence.
- Policing for safety, not revenue — limit the amount of revenue that law enforcement can raise to ensure efforts are focused on safety and not the bottom line. Excess revenue to automatically be funneled to victim funds or homeless shelters.
- Timely affirmation of Federal judges to reduce the backlog at the courts
9: National Security
- Commitment to continue to work with the United Nations on issues of world importance
- Investments to secure critical infrastructure — electrical grids, water supply, secure communication networks
- Demonstrate religious freedom at is best where all religious and non-religious folks in the US can come together to support civility towards each other and suspicion of anyone who promotes religious divisiveness.
- Support for a national gun registry and investment to support nationwide on-demand background checks for gun purchasers.
10: US — Us, the citizens and would-be citizens of the United States of America. A focus ensuring that the government is here to help US — not wall street, not pharmaceutical companies, not DOD contractors, not polluters. But an honest promise that all decisions will be made based on what is the best ethical economic, educational and environmental choice for the whole of the population in the US to ensure we move forward positively in the 21st century as a community of people, rather than individual industries, companies or even specific individuals. And that these decisions will be transparent to the public — US -- including lobbying, fundraising and other special interest inputs.
Hopefully a Democrat will take the presidency but without a house majority and in most cases, a senate super majority, a democratic president alone is not enough. Providing a simple series of beliefs about what it means to be a Democrat in 2016 and what actions citizens can believe in will empower supporters and get out the vote to change the current intransient Congress into one that we count on to achieve joint goals.
Democratic candidates, let us know that you BELIEVE IN US! Give us specific statements of change that all democratic contenders support for US — the citizens of this great nation, if we come together and choose to elect a slate of Democrats in 2016. Create your contract with America — hopefully with some of the same themes as above, and make a pledge to support US! Prove to all that you BELIEVE IN US! That you have what it takes to lead us forward with liberty and justice for all.
