Addendum A This is our philosophy and the way we can connect with voters: We focus on the well-being and value of each and every unique and valuable individual person. Our largest asset is our people and we need to invest in making sure that each, and every, individual has the opportunity for living a healthy, productive, happy life. Our fundamental philosophy is that we are a government of the people, by the people and for the people. We have created democratic institutions to prevent the corruption of our system from its legitimate purpose, which is the good of each and every individual, and the good of the whole society. The Democratic Vision We are building a healthy society with a healthy political system and a healthy economy, through which we create healthy people who in turn create a healthy society. By health we mean physical, mental, emotional, economic and spiritual health and balance, which maximizes individual freedom for all, while taking the rights and freedom of all into account. To do this we use our democratic government as a finely tuned tool to aid in the goal of individual and societal well-being. We believe that individual freedom and self-determination is fundamental, and at the same time each free individual must refrain from harming others. One is not free to harm others. Rather, in a democracy we all help each other and do not hurt each other, in this way we build strong communities and a strong country. Health In terms of health care, we need to fix Obama Care, reduce the premiums and co-pays on a sliding scale basis and set up a watchdog mechanism to prevent fraudulent over-charging by the providers and insurers. We also need to implement some sort of fair pricing structure. Once this Revised Obama Care is stabilized, we can expand Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. We need to expand SSI and payments for the disabled and elderly on low incomes and at the same time, expand the homecare programs and local clinics. We must also expand and strengthen programs that promote good health in terms of good diet and exercise. Above all we need massive addiction, prevention and recovery programs. This will require intelligent organization at the local, precinct, county, state and federal levels. We need to not just say this needs to be done; we need to outline how we will do it. This will be done in a series of white papers to follow. A single payer health care system can work if the single payer acts as a universal insurer. Again, it will take a lot of coordination at the National, State and Local levels. Each individual who makes over $20,000, adjusted for inflation, makes a scaled contribution on his or her tax returns to this universal health fund and each co-pay is scaled to the income level of the patient. A simple percentage of net income can suffice as the premium payment, but we may also want to consider a progressive sliding scale, so that the very wealthy pay a higher percentage than the poor. This is a Health Care Tax and does not go into the general fund; it functions as a premium paid to the universal insurer, and it is paid by everyone, whether or not they also carry private insurance. The fight against addiction must be intensified in all areas, from opioids, to gambling. Local programs must be supported by state and federal funds. Health care personnel must be trained including in mental and emotional health. Gambling will be strictly regulated and free from organized criminal syndicates. All Gambling facilities will be required to provide Gambling addiction recovery programs. A tax will be levied on alcohol and marijuana sales to fund addiction recovery programs. Likewise addictive prescription drugs sales will be taxed to provide addiction and recovery programs. Mental and emotional health will be funded, expanded and de-stigmatized, not only on the person by person basis, but also in terms of family, workplace and society. We will emphasize the importance of creating mental and emotionally healthy environments. We understand that certain type of stress can trigger emotional and mental problems, and that genetic predispositions and defects can lead to destructive and sometimes criminal behaviors that cause great harm, especially when these type of people get into positions of power, to which they often gravitate. We also understand the damage that all forms of pollution, toxic chemicals and disease causing substances do to human health. We will intensify our commitment to find alternative non-harmful pesticides, fertilizers, manufacturing methods even as we regulate the manufacture and release of harmful substances into our air, water and soil. Taxation We will fine-tune our tax system to ensure that there is broad purchasing power in the marketplace; that is to say, people have ample income to spend. It is purchasing power, large and small, broadly distributed that drives the domestic and global economy. Too much concentration of wealth and power is the sign of a corrupt society that is not functioning properly. Therefore, we will institute a finely graded progressive income and inheritance tax that will be fair to all and will take, as the bottom line, the income it takes to lead a healthy, productive life. This income should be available to all. Income in excess of this minimum will be taxed on a sliding scale. The measure of economic value must be re-connected with value produced in human terms. The purpose of an economy is to produce healthy, balanced, secure people. Polarization of wealth and poverty is destructive to a society. Personal incentive that produces human value will be rewarded monetarily. Financial Games that enrich the insiders but produce no real value, or negative value in human terms, will be strictly taxed and strictly regulated. Changes in market value will be tempered by taxation. A finely graduated income and inheritance tax formula and high taxes on luxury items will return sense of real value to our economy. And will help to create an equalitarian society where success is rewarded, to be sure, but where the necessity for balance is recognized. So for example if it takes more than 25,000 dollars a year to maintain an acceptable living standard, income under 25,000 will not be taxed, and incomes above this will be taxed in a steeply graduated manner. Small and mid-sized business will not be taxed, but business making over five-hundred million dollars a year will be taxed. The emphasis, however, will be on reduced taxes on businesses, and increased income and inheritance taxes on high income, high wealth individuals, on luxury items and services and on financial games that produce no real human value. There will still be plenty of financial and economic incentive to spur success. Other taxes to be considered include green taxes on pollution, and carbon emissions, as well as on energy and water squandering activities. Religious Freedom As far as Religious Freedom, we insist that just as the Government cannot prescribe religious beliefs, so Religious organizations will not be allowed to interfere with government, or with elections, or engage in political activities directly or indirectly. If Religious groups engage in political activities they will lose their non-profit tax-free status. We distinguish between Religious beliefs, and Religious actions. Personal beliefs are protected; actions are not. Religious practices that endanger the health and safety of people are against the law. For example if a religion teaches that killing people who have different religious beliefs necessary to appease God, or that young women undergo horrific disfigurement, this would be prohibited and prosecuted as against the basic laws of our nation that protect the freedom and safety of every individual. We need to understand that the conservative Evangelical and Catholic Church members will vote against anyone who supports a woman’s right to abortion. However as our current politics are structured, the large conservative corporations and conservative billionaires have attached a scheme of deregulation of banks and business to the abortion issue, so that it is impossible to vote against abortion, without voting for cut-taxes for the top 1% income bracket, and for the deregulation corporations, banks and investment houses. Nor is it possible to vote against tax cuts for billionaires, and for necessary regulations, without voting to restrict abortion rights. This unholy alliance needs to be broken. We know from history that Churches try to control governments as well as vice versa, and that Theocracies are inevitably totalitarian in scope. An unholy alliance of Conservative Corporate power/Conservative Church Hierarchy/Dictatorship and Military inevitably compromises human rights and democracy. Freedom and Law Individual freedom for everyone depends on the ability of our democratic government, through which we govern ourselves, to limit the ability of one person to harm another, or of one group to harm another group. If we cannot walk our own streets for fear of attack, we are not free. To provide ourselves with freedom and to ensure our well-being we need to be able to restrict the freedom of those who would harm us. This is what laws and law enforcement are for. Our law enforcement community performs a vital job in keeping our society intact, and the dedicated members of this community need to be highly trained, carefully selected and highly rewarded. The recent spate of police bating and killing is shameful and dangerous. Without a non-corrupt, strong, fair, police force, society crumbles into chaos and lawlessness. As in every profession there are the misguided and incompetent who should be fired. However, it is essential that we continue to attract good men and women to law enforcement at all levels, from the local community Police, State Police, National Guard, to anti-terrorist squads, to the FBI and CIA, and to provide thte training and protection for our law enforcement. We support the decriminalization of drug addiction, and the Angel Programs through which addicts can seek help through local police facilities. We believe that community police are dedicated to helping citizens and protecting the community and need to be integrated into the communities they serve. The best crime protection is prevention and best prevention is to work with at risk children and young adults to teach values and life skills, as well as to give meaningful assistance in the home and school through the cooperation of police and social services to prevent the formation of gangs and present and future dishonest corrupt behavior. We recognize the need for closer cooperation between the providers of mental health and the police as so often criminal behavior at all levels is so often connected with mental, emotional and moral deficits in the perpetrator, whether it is white collar crime, drug addiction or violent street crime. Education Creating a well-educated, highly skilled workforce through life-long learning and education is fundamental to our economy and to the well-being of our people. Since our largest asset is our people, we need to invest in making sure that each and every individual has the opportunity for living a healthy, productive, happy life, and we believe that education is crucial to this process. Individual and societal well-being is accomplished, in part, through viable, relevant education not only in the traditional subject matter of reading, writing, mathematics, language, literature, history, science, but also civics and democracy, economics, computer science, art, physical education and health and the trades. Creating a well-educated, highly skilled workforce requires technical training, not only at the high school and junior college levels, but also through life-long learning opportunities. Advanced and accelerated programs for gifted children and young adults are also essential, so that the particularly gifted and intelligent do not drop out from boredom. Everyone is entitled to a good education; this is fundamental. We will work with communities, colleges, universities and industry to provide a highly educated populace and a work force with relevant skills and education at all levels. High tech jobs require trained personnel, and we will fund the creation training programs for all our citizens on a sliding scale basis. We will expand relevant and excellent education, technical skill acquisition, engineering, science, statesmanship, democracy, and job training at all levels for all ages. This can be done in conjunction with private enterprise, as well as in public and private educational centers. We will increase education that focuses on business creation and administration. We strongly support science, mathematics, engineering and the STEM Program. We strongly support public school systems and a rigorous secular education based on verifiable fact in all fields. We insist on civics classes and classes in how democracy works. The next generation needs to understand how to create and sustain democracy and democratic institutions, as well as the classical subjects of world history, literature, English and geography. We will reinstitute programs like the GI Bill for everyone, depending on financial need, and in return we require a certain amount of time be spent in civic service to the community, particularly as teaching aides in public schools and junior colleges. This will be similar to the Peace Corps; it will be the Community Education Corps. We will work with industry to provide a work force with relevant skills and education. High tech jobs require trained personnel, and we propose to create training programs for all our citizens on a sliding scale basis. In particular we will earmark Federal funds for State grants for public programs that meet qualifications. We believe that local taxes should go to fund public schools and not be transferable to private schools. Everyone pays for public education and if some families wish to send their children to public school, they must still pay the education tax for public schools because they are part of the community that is being served and because they have an interest in, and benefit from, a well-educated populace. Charter Schools will be strictly regulated to ensure that educational standards are met, and home schooling, will be generally discouraged and tightly regulated in terms of quality and subject matter, so that rigorous standards are met. We recognize the fact that Conservative Catholic and Protestant Church groups, during the tenure of G.W. Bush and continuing to this day, have engaged in a deliberate program to subvert and infiltrate local school boards in an attempt to swing educational policy away from the secular to embrace conservative theological doctrines. This is unacceptable and violates the separation of Church and State, as well as the non-profit, non-political tax status of Churches. We will take measures to ensure that local school boards remain free. Our intent is to make the United States the top nation in quality of education at all levels and in all fields for everyone, and the premium nation in terms of the creativity, professionalism, knowledge, skill and prosperity of our people. Education, talent, perseverance, and skill are the keys to prosperity. Campaign Finance We will pass sweeping campaign finance laws in which any individual contribution under $5000 can be anonymous, but contributions of over $100,000 must be transparent with the names of the people behind the contributions. No single individual or entity will be allowed to contribute more than five hundred million dollars to any campaign or candidate. This includes the contributions of an individual to his or her own campaign. This also includes contributions to Political Action Groups or other indirect ways of funding political elections and activities. Eventually we will create a public funding source for candidates and limit private donations. All TV and radio stations and networks, as part of their obligations under the FCC, will be required to give equal time to all candidates on a daily and weekly basis that sets out the exact number of hours required. Social Media is a new player in election campaigns and we will institute laws that prevent the corruption of our election processes by special interests and foreign powers. Contributions to dark money funds and political action committees will be likewise limited and required to be transparent. This will require, in part, changing the requirements of 501-C-4 non-profit corporations, so that they no longer function as dark money conduits for foreign and domestic agents that act to destroy and co-opt our democracy. Gerrymandering will be strictly prohibited. Rather, a grid will be placed on the map that remain s constant and defines the boundaries of voting districts. The districts will take into account the populations of the districts. Ultimately our goal is to provide public funding to candidates for campaigns in a strictly regulated way to prevent fraud or abuse, and to get big money out of politics. We believe that the decision in Citizens United was wrong. Free speech means that people are free to speak their opinions without restriction. Free speech does not mean unlimited spending, or unethical or illegal activities used to swing public opinion on issues, parties, or candidates. Our Constitution guarantees one person one vote, not one dollar one vote. Corporations are not persons and are not as such entitled to fund elections and candidates or to engage in political activities, or manipulate millions of voters and votes. Corporations are business entities created and regulated by the state. Thus Citizens United must be overturned and/or an Amendment added to our Constitution that prevents the corruption of our democracy by Big Money. Spending on political issues, candidates and on elected officials leads to the corruption of our Democracy and must be limited. Likewise, Lobbying must be strictly regulated in terms of access and money spent. We have a government of the people, by the people and for the people, not a government of, by and for domestic or foreign billionaires and corporations. Economics We do not believe that the trickle down, supply-side Reaganomics, the so-called neo-liberal capitalism of Von-Hayek, which has formed the foundation of the Republican Platform since Reagan, is healthy. The Republican policy of deregulation has led a series of financial and economic booms and busts, starting with the Savings and Loan collapse under Reagan and ending with the 2008 financial and economic collapse. These gyrations in value are lucrative for the insiders who play the game, but are devastating for the economy. We note that the so-called “free market” is anything but free to those who have little or no money. We believe that there has to be a balance between the supply-side and the demand-side of the economy and we believe that Government investment in education, research, and businesses that create real human value can play a very healthy role in making our economy successful. It is necessary, however, for the government to refrain from pork-barrel projects. The investments must be intelligent and must create the common good of the people, not just line the pockets of the rich and powerful, as sometimes happens. Thus we propose citizen watchdog committees that oversee government investment. We need to emphasize local needs and local vetting processes as we invest in communities and in businesses. We favor a return to a more Keynesian economic model, which has a history of long success in the post World War II era. While we favor collective bargaining as a means of empowering workers and employees, we demand that unions be kept clear of organized criminal syndicates, as unions would otherwise become corrupt. One of the elements that contributed to the collapse in 2008, besides deregulation, was the Mark-to-Market accounting practice of the time. Mark-to-Market means that when the Market collapses the price of everything that is marked with respect to that collapsing market also collapses. Therefore we need to identify and to install self-correcting mechanisms on the economic trends, whether upwards or downwards, which become self-reinforcing and would otherwise lead to feed back loops that lead to disaster. This will be part of our task as we seek to develop an economics that supports broad distribution of wealth and purchasing power in the market and that enhances business, while insuring worker well-being. Dodd Frank was a good beginning that now needs to be refined and fine-tuned. We need to once again separate investment banking from commercial banks by re-enacting Glass-Steagall and to criminalize speculation, and gambling games that unscrupulous insiders play in the international markets, that if uncheck inevitable lead to massive booms and busts that destabilize the global economy. This will necessitate not only our domestic laws but also international laws. Indeed, international laws will also be necessary to prevent tax avoidance schemes that involve off-shore havens. It is imperative for free nations to cooperate in mutual defense, intelligence and coordinated military and cyber-protection. As totalitarian regimes and rogue groups gain the ability to launch missiles, fight cyberwars and disrupt satellite communication, it becomes possible for enemies to disrupt our military and civilian functions in such a manner as to cripple our domestic economies and our military operations and defenses, without themselves having powerful military capabilities. Protecting ourselves, globally, and in space becomes a top priority. We must also pay special attention to our neighbors south of our border in Central and South America, and institute programs based on a modified Marshall Plan, through which we can help the people stamp out corruption, and build the lasting institutions of democracy that protect human and civil rights and responsibilities. Instability in our neighbors and incursions by foreign totalitarian powers ultimately threaten our own security. Business, Labor, Management and Investment We are deeply committed to the Institution of Private Property and in no way endorse some kind of government ownership of private property or private businesses. In this sense we are not “socialistic” or “communistic.” In the sense that we are committed to individual and social health and well-being we are socially and individually conscious. Economic well-being means protecting and supporting free enterprise at all levels. It means creating a well-educated, highly skilled workforce through life-long learning and education. We will reinstitute the GI Bill not only for our brave military service people but also for everyone. We will work with industry to provide a work force with relevant skills and education. High tech jobs require trained personnel, and we propose to create training programs for all our citizens on a sliding scale basis. Businesses are the building blocks of an economy. We prize our corporations and businesses, large and small, and will work with our corporations and businesses to provide the kind of economic and political environment in which they can thrive and compete internationally, without lowering our standards of employee benefits and safety, and our commitment to a safe clean environment. A corporation is made up of people, and our focus is on the well-being and success of people at all levels. We prize our labor force that is comprised of the people who make up our great businesses and corporations. Labor and Management, owners and workers share a common interest in the success of that business and in the fair distribution of the fruits of that success. We support the equitable sharing of corporate profits with those who make that profit possible. We understand that the success of business depends on the market for the goods and services and this market depends on demand, which depends on broad distribution of money. Labor Unions will be encouraged, but also regulated to prevent co-option by criminal syndicates. Unions will be free to bargain and to strike, but prevented from striking in ways that present a human health and safety hazard, or ways that cripple or dampen the economy. Rather arbitration boards will be employed to settle disputes where possible. We also understand the importance of investment and investors to the success of our economy. Wise investment in enterprises that create real value in human terms will be encouraged through a fair rate of return. Speculation and investment in activities that harm human or environmental health will be discouraged. We embrace private property and free enterprise as necessary to democracy, we believe that exploitation must be banned, and that extreme polarization of wealth and poverty is corrupt and unhealthy for individuals and for society. We do not believe in government control of prices or of the economy or of businesses. We believe in free enterprise where people are free to create and engage in business enterprise as they see fit. We also believe that businesses must function within a framework of fair laws and broad effective regulation that defines the rules, without the onerous regulations that are a form of micromanagement, and without burdensome and irrelevant conditions. Here we make the distinction between the political system and the economic system. We note that most of the terms used to make these distinctions, such as “communism, socialism, capitalism” and the like are subject to gross misinterpretation, with wildly differing interpretations. Therefore we will be more precise and specific in our descriptions. Foreign Affairs While most voters are concerned mainly about the issues that affect them directly—income, jobs, safety, education for their children, retraining for themselves, security for their families, and health— we must concern ourselves with our relationships with other nations, which have enormous effects on everything from trade, to banking, to war and peace on our country and our citizens. Thus it is good for us to have a multitude of experts and specialists, not only on our domestic issues, like the economy, banking, education, safety and healthcare, but also specialists on foreign affairs including our relationships with Europe, China, Russia and our place in the United Nations. Since the days of Woodrow Wilson, we have played the role of making the world safe for Democracy. For the first time in history, we, the victors of WWII, did not decimate the conquered people, nor did we take booty or slaves or territory. We helped both friend and foe alike rebuild, and create viable democracies. We taught people our new political structures of democracy. Democracy is a new evolution of social and political thought and structure. I believe it is crucial to safe guard democracy at home and to aid in the creation of democracy around the world and at the global level. It is the only alternative to the totalitarian dictatorships and absolutist authoritarian governments that have been the fate of the human race through out history. However, democracy is always under threat from corruption and co-option. We know that power corrupts this is why we have separation and division of powers, which sometimes seems inefficient, but in reality is protective of democracy. Throughout history we have seen the human tragedy, waste and war caused by totalitarian, strongman, top-down, oppressive political systems, Constitutional Democracy is a system of laws and balance powers to insure social integrity and individual liberty, so that the people control the government through which they govern themselves in a manner to insure the freedom, rights and responsibilities of every single individual. This requires that we move beyond stereotypes, typology, ethnic, national, racial, political and economic divides, and come to a new inclusive, tolerant consciousness in which human and civil rights for all are guaranteed thought the governments and legal systems we create to govern ourselves. It’s who a person is, as a human being, that matters, not to what group he or she belongs. And this commitment informs all the rest of our social, political and economic decisions, actions, and laws. The alternative to a functional non-corrupt democracy is totalitarian dictatorships and the wars these governments make on one another in the relentless struggle for power, wealth and aggrandizement. These powers will always try to corrupt democracy, which is why it is necessary for good men and women to rise to the challenge and continue to create a government that functions for the good of each and every person and the good or all. Healthy human beings have empathy and concern for others. In terms of our International role and commitments, we are committed to creating a fair, just, peaceful and democratic world. We believe that a balance between the extremes of nationalism and withdrawal on the one hand and overbearing interference on the other hand must be implemented. We work for peace, while recognizing that there are myriad forces in the world that seem bent on violence and war. This is why we need to have the best, most modern, military in the world and why we need to co-ordinate our effort with our allies. This is, also, why we must create and strengthen international courts of law, equity and arbitration, to provide alternative conflict-resolving institutions that will replace war. We need to commit ourselves to enhancing and improving the United Nations, and intensify our International Courts in terms of bringing human rights abuse, torture and atrocity prosecutions. Eventually, as all nations become more democratic, we will need to strengthen our entire international legal system to include international governmental agencies that guarantee individual freedom and responsibility and prevent corruption and tyranny world-wide. We embrace the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights as the banner that expresses our goal in the world. We will resume our place as leaders in the fight for freedom and democracy worldwide. We will seek the co-operation of every other nation on earth in the establishment of a Union of Democratic Nations. The Union of Democratic Nations The Union of Democratic Nations will function as an enormous trading partnership in which nations with proven track records in human and civil rights, freedom of religion, the press, speech, and all the freedoms we hold dear, join together in cooperation with one another, by lowering trade barriers, and investing in each other’s economic and political success. The Union of Democratic Nations, while helping and supporting one another will withdraw their economic incentives and trade deals with non-democratic nations that have a poor record of human and civil rights and a record of totalitarian oppression, repression and exploitation of its citizens. Nations will be graded on their fitness for membership. The top democratic nations will have full membership. These top nations are those in which democracy, democratic institutions like an independent judiciary, free and fair elections, freedom of speech, religion, the press, the freedom to assemble and all the institutions that support and enhance democracy and human rights, are most developed. There is then a class of members, on their way to democracy, which are in the process of developing these institutions and they will have special trading and exchange privileges until they attain full membership.