For the 2006 Mid-term elections, our Democratic Contract with America.

In 1994, six weeks before the midterm elections, Newt Gingrich introduced the Contract with America, running on this the Republicans gained control of congress. For America to elect democrats we must have a new Contract with America and it must include these items:

1 The Progressive Tax Act: the Bush tax cuts must be repealed, we must introduce a progressive tax system, it is imperative that the congress work to eliminate the massive budget deficit and return to an era of balanced budgets and fiscal responsibility.

2 The National Privacy Act: the unconstitutional aspects of the Patriot Act must be repealed, the government has no place in family matters (ieTerri Schiavo) unless a law is being broken, if the National ID is to go into effect it may not make available any personal information such as credit history, medical records, etc.

3 The Media Reform Act: the Telecommunication Act of 1996 must be repealed, media ownership must again be regulated and the Fairness Doctrine must be re-instituted.

4 The Energy Independence Act: America must wean itself from its dependence on foreign oil, it is a matter of national security and environmental importance.

5 The Affordable Health Care Act: America must move toward an affordable universal health care system, we must cut inflated drug and medical equipment prices and better regulate insurance companies.

6 The Ethics in Government Act: this bill seeks to reduce the influence of lobbiests in congress and governmental agencies, corporations WILL NOT be allowed to write policy (ie Enron writing our energy policy and pharmaceutical industries writing our drug prescription plan), their must be no conflict of interests for people appointed to head government agencies like the FDA, EPA, etc (pretty much all of Nancy Pelosi's recent bill on ethics).

7 The Descent Foreign Policy Act: the United States may NOT engage in pre-emptive war, the administration may NOT for any reason lie to the American people under the guise of security, the United States will NOT condone torture and will ad hear to the Geneva Convention, a military draft may NOT be reinstated, an all volunteer army provides Americans with popular veto against any and all wars.

8 The Healthy Respect for Science Act: The government may NOT refuse to award grants to those studies that disagree with the current administration's agenda IE global warming and stem cell research.

9 The Election Reform Act: electronic voting machines MUST have an auditible paper trail, voting machine manufacturers must make their source code available to states using their equipment, and voting machines must be equally distributed proportional to population.

10 The Real National Security Act: the national guard may NOT be sent abroad, our ports and harbors must be protected, and boarder patrol must be adequately funded to cut down the flow of illegal immigration.

Gingrich had 10 bills in his Contract with America, we will one up him and have an 11th bill.

11 The Restore Checks and Balances to Government Act: all three branches of Government must ad hear to the Constitution of the United States, there are no exceptions to the Separation of Powers as written in the Constitution.

Tamyrlin79 and I wrote these over the phone earlier, I think that we should start sending this or something like it to all Dems who plan on running for office in 2006.

We must find a way to make these our talking points, we have to streamline and clarify these ideas and let the public know our agenda.

It's late, I'm tired, there are probably a million mistakes, sorry Tamyrlin, and probably plenty of better ways to phrase these ideas than the way I have above.

If anyone has any suggestions/corrections please do tell.

Here is a link to Gingrich's Contract with America, feel free to compare and contrast:

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Contract-with-America

That's what I get for posting at 4am.

I just skimmed this over, but #7 is bad. It needs to be decent, not descent. Will to a more thorough read later as I have time.

Please substitute pre-emptive war with preventive war.

What is illegal under international is preventive war; what Bush calls a pre-emptive war is in fact a preventive war.

There is nothing wrong with the concept of pre-emptive war. If Indiana is threatening to attack Michigan and masses troops on the border, making the attack imminent, then if Michigan were to bomb strategic targets in Indiana rather than sit around and for Hoosier commanders to give the order, that would be a pre-emptive attack. The threat is real and immediate; Michigan is within her rights to respond to it.

This the Bush doctrine as stated in his speech to the graduating class at West Point, June 1, 2002. It describes a preventive war:

For much of the last century, America's defense relied on the Cold War doctrines of deterrence and containment. In some cases, those strategies still apply. But new threats also require new thinking. Deterrence -- the promise of massive retaliation against nations -- means nothing against shadowy terrorist networks with no nation or citizens to defend. Containment is not possible when unbalanced dictators with weapons of mass destruction can deliver those weapons on missiles or secretly provide them to terrorist allies.

We cannot defend America and our friends by hoping for the best. We cannot put our faith in the word of tyrants, who solemnly sign non-proliferation treaties, and then systemically break them. If we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long.

Homeland defense and missile defense are part of stronger security, and they're essential priorities for America. Yet the war on terror will not be won on the defensive. We must take the battle to the enemy, disrupt his plans, and confront the worst threats before they emerge. (Applause.) In the world we have entered, the only path to safety is the path of action. And this nation will act.

A preventive attack is one to stop a threat from materializing at some indefinite time in the future. If Michigan believes Indiana has a program to develop nuclear weapons, but the program is in the planning states and may never amount to anything, then an attack on Indiana by Michigan under those circumstances would be a preventive attack. The threat is vague and by no stretch of the imagination immediate. The leaders of Michigan could be tried for war crimes as a result of such an attack.

Melody, #11 is not going to be accomplished by passing an "Act" or new law. The constitution is *already* the law, so passing some new act doesn't help anything as far as checks and balances go and any law passed would probably be inter. What we are supposed to be going for there is implying that if we are in control of a house of congress that we will use that power to check and balance Bush and the Republicans, keep them from over reaching, and investigate the bejeezus out of them and their idiot War. Saying "checks and balances" is just a nicer way of putting it. There is no "act" involved... Is that the way Gingrich did all of his? If so, no reason we have to copy exactly.

Melody, on #2, you left out the other important social "privacy" issues, such as gay rights and abortion.

1 The Progressive Tax Act: the Bush tax cuts must be repealed, we must introduce a progressive tax system, it is imperative that the congress work to eliminate the massive budget deficit and return to an era of balanced budgets and fiscal responsibility.

2 The National Privacy Act: the unconstitutional aspects of the Patriot Act must be repealed, the US government my NOT use the armed forces to spy on American citizens,
the government has NO place in family matters (ieTerri Schiavo) unless a law is being broken, if the National ID is to go into effect it may not make available any personal information such as credit history, medical records, etc. Social privacy issues such as gay rights and abortion will also be protected.

3 The Media Reform Act: the Telecommunication Act of 1996 must be repealed, media ownership must again be regulated and the Fairness Doctrine must be re-instituted.

4 The Energy Independence Act: America must wean itself from its dependence on foreign oil, it is a matter of national security and environmental importance.

5 The Affordable Health Care Act: America must move toward an affordable universal health care system, we must cut inflated drug and medical equipment prices and better regulate insurance companies.

6 The Ethics in Government Act: this bill seeks to reduce the influence of lobbiests in congress and governmental agencies, corporations WILL NOT be allowed to write policy (ie Enron writing our energy policy and pharmaceutical industries writing our drug prescription plan), their must be no conflict of interests for people appointed to head government agencies like the FDA, EPA, etc (pretty much all of Nancy Pelosi's recent bill on ethics).

7 The Decent Foreign Policy Act: the United States may NOT engage in preventive war, the administration may NOT for any reason lie to the American people under the guise of security, the United States will NOT condone torture and will adhere to the Geneva Conventions, a military draft may NOT be reinstated, an all volunteer army provides Americans with popular veto against any and all wars.

8 The Healthy Respect for Science Act: The government may NOT refuse to award grants to those studies that disagree with the current administration's agenda IE global warming and stem cell research.

9 The Election Reform Act: electronic voting machines MUST have an auditible paper trail, voting machine manufacturers must make their source code available to states using their equipment, and voting machines must be equally distributed proportional to population.

10 The Real National Security Act: the national guard may NOT be sent abroad, our ports and harbors must be protected, and boarder patrol must be adequately funded to cut down the flow of illegal immigration.

Tamyrlin how should I phrase number 11 then you write that one, or rewrite any of the ones that you think meed to be more clear and I'll repost in a new thread with the changes.

I agree with most of what you say. I disagree with #10, in as far as I think the President should have the authority in a crisis to send National Guard troops abroad.
Overall, very good post. Especially since you did it over the phone.

but the way it is phrased is all me, so anything in it that is confusing or illogical is not his fault.

Tamyrlin79 is responsible for all of the really brilliant ideas.

My personal favorite idea of his, saying that an all volunteer army provides the American a "popular veto" of any and all wars.

You should read his writing, he is brilliant.



PS Tamyrlin when you read this I hope you don't want to choke me for fucking anything up.

with sufficient clout, who could introduce this "Democratic Contract with America" to his constituency and, as a result to the rest of the nation?

You ought to send it to any democrat with clout enough, who cares enough about our democracy, and who would want to listen to what you have listed and pick up such a "Democratic Contract with America" and make it part of his/her platform.

i would sign on to it and to such a candidate in a heartbeat. including the item #10.

to be saying stuff like this, over and over again.

Glad you like it.