2006 Kittitas County Democratic Platform
Passed by the convention on April 8, 2006
PREAMBLE
The Kittitas County Democratic Party believes that all citizens stand equal before the law; thus, all citizens have the same constitutional rights. We further believe that our federal, state, county, and municipal governments must act in ways consistent with those rights. Democrats believe that the highest social good consists of mutual respect among peoples for one another’s natural, civil, and legal rights. Democrats believe that the observance of these rights requires government to protect the environment, to assist the poor, aged, handicapped, and disadvantaged, to regulate commerce, and to ensure the safety of workers, consumers, and citizens.
PHILOSOPHY
Democrats believe in certain fundamental principles. In keeping with the philosophies of our party, we believe that true democracy involves the widest possible participation of citizens in national, state, and local governance. In the spirit of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Abraham Lincoln, Thaddeus Stevens, Martin Luther King, and other proponents of civil rights, we believe that the right to participate in one’s government should not be influenced by race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability or the ownership of property.
Democrats believe that our government was created by and for the people, not by and for free enterprise. We believe in free enterprise; we believe in the right to private property; but we believe that our democratic government can and must be used to benefit its citizens by regulating the private sphere. Concentration of corporate power inhibits free enterprise and laws regulating it should be energetically enforced.
Like Progressives of the early twentieth century, Democrats recognize that commercial organizations have always been creatures of the state and that, historically, the state has chartered such organizations to promote the good of the many. We need only examine the general incorporation laws promulgated by states during the Age of Jackson to understand that the right of citizens to create corporations without special dispensations from lawmakers was intended to serve the public interest. In order to insure that free enterprise continues to serve the public interest, it is sometimes necessary for state and federal governments to regulate wages, workplace safety, product safety, collective bargaining arrangements, industrial pollution, employee benefits, fair hiring practices, banking, insurance, and other economic matters.
Because Democrats believe our American system of government and economics was intended to protect the interest of all individuals, we therefore believe that every individual should receive equal opportunities to succeed in life. Like Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, we believe in fully funded public education for all citizens. Like Lyndon Johnson and Martin Luther King, moreover, we support affirmative action for citizens who historically have been excluded from economic, political, and social privileges. Affirmative action is not intended to give preference to one sex, race, or ethnic group; it is intended to minimize sexual, racial, and ethnic preferences.
Because we believe that our American system of government was designed to protect the interest of all individuals, finally, Democrats believe that each American citizen should have equal access to his/her government. We believe that it is morally wrong for corporate interests to gain leverage over elected officials and decision-making processes by providing campaign contributions that average citizens cannot match.
Democrats are above all the party of the people. As such, we are pragmatic by nature rather than ideological; we recognize that new methods must be employed to solve old political problems. Within this philosophical framework, the Democrats of Kittitas County assert the following particular principles:
CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS
· In order to ensure that the democratic process succeed, we support comprehensive campaign finance reform at the national and state levels. Such reform should include: curbs on soft money, timely reporting of campaign contributions, and elimination of stealth PAC’s. We believe that those with the most money should not control the political system
· We support equal access to public airwaves for all viable candidates in national elections.
· We believe that the federal government must underwrite the development and implementation of a fair, standardized nationwide balloting system for Federal elections that includes a paper trail for every ballot cast. We call on our government to develop and implement a voting system that counts ballots equally, regardless of whether those ballots come from poor precincts or rich precincts.
· In order to ensure that the democratic process succeeds, we support the abolition of the Electoral College.
· We believe that gerrymandering is a manipulation of the electoral system that should be prohibited.
CRIME
· We believe that crime can and should be ameliorated through educational and employment opportunity in addition to traditional law enforcement.
· We believe that the emphasis should be on treatment and rehabilitation, not incarceration for non-violent offenses.
· We insist that gun owners should be fully responsible for the safe keeping and safe use of their weapons. We also insist that the gun control and gun safety laws that currently exist be energetically enforced.
· We believe that law-enforcement personnel that knowingly violate civil rights, by activities such as racial profiling or harassment of protected groups, should be strictly punished.
· We support the abolition of capital punishment.
ECONOMIC JUSTICE AND LABOR
* We believe that it is the responsibility of all governments, at all levels, to promote full employment.
· We affirm the right of workers to a safe and healthy work environment.
· We support the right of workers—including public employees—to organize and to use collective bargaining, arbitration, and, when necessary, strikes to resolve disputes.
· We expect all employers to provide a living wage to employees; to that end, we support the periodic adjustment of the national minimum wage.
· We support a worker's bill of rights that includes basic rights of association and free speech, due process, disclosure of toxic substances in the workplace, and democracy within unions.
· We support a progressive and fair tax system at the federal and state levels. We oppose the fiscal irresponsibility that has produced tax cuts favoring the rich, monstrous federal deficits, and budget crises in state and local governments.
· We believe the Estate Tax should be continued, with modifications to raise the exemption levels to a point where today's family farms and small businesses are protected.
· In order to create a separation between American corporations and American government, we support regulations, which would prevent a person from moving between a private sector job and any government position involved in regulating the industry from which he/she came for 2 decades.
· We support adequate funding for construction of affordable and low income housing in Washington State, with a priority for home ownership.
· We support fair trade agreements, as opposed to free trade, that include protection of worker’s health and safety standards, living wages, human rights protections and the protection of local environments.
EDUCATION
· We support full government funding for comprehensive public schooling, from early childhood through the twelfth grade. We reject unfunded mandates.
· We believe that every person should have access to education beyond high school, and we support necessary funding for higher education and adult vocational training.
· We believe that schools need the resources to meet the challenges of a diverse student population, with effective programs for teaching students for whom English is a second language.
· We demand that schools be held accountable for the quality of education and treatment of children in their schools. We believe that a concerted effort must be made to reduce the dropout rate, increase graduation rates, and raise student achievement. We believe that the schools must graduate students with the reading, writing, and math skills necessary for competence as citizens and workers. Remediation should be occurring before graduation from high school, not after a student is enrolled in college.
ENVIRONMENT
· We support sound environmental protection laws and enforcement of those laws.
· We urge our government to encourage and to help fund the development of clean energy sources and to encourage resource conservation.
· We oppose the licensing of nuclear power plants in Washington State and throughout the nation
· We urge our government to help develop transportation programs that provide alternatives to the automobile.
· We believe that all wildlife (flora and fauna) especially endangered species—including but not limited to salmon—should be protected and restored through both government and private initiative.
FOREIGN POLICY
· We support the United Nations as a forum for securing peaceful solutions to conflicts throughout the world.
· We urge the United States to support and to participate actively in human rights conventions held under the auspices of the United Nations.
· We support nuclear disarmament and believe the United States should lead by example in the effort to secure nuclear disarmament and disarmament treaties.
· We believe that the United States should not engage in a policy of preemptive strikes against other nations.
· We advocate US agreement to and the enforcement of international health, safety, and environmental standards.
· We urge nations to forgive undue and burdensome debts owed to them by impoverished nations.
HEALTH CARE
· We believe that access to quality health care is among the most basic of human rights. Furthermore, it is socially beneficial, because healthy citizens learn better, work more productively and enjoy a better quality of life than do unhealthy ones. The current corporate insurance system in this country is expensive, wasteful, and inequitable. We therefore urge the state and the nation to adopt a comprehensive national health care plan for all citizens regardless of age, employment status, or pre-existing health conditions. Such a system should guarantee medical care from birth until death, including prenatal care. Such a system should also include prescription drug benefits, treatment and care for catastrophic illness, long-term care, mental health care, and provisions for reproductive choice, disease prevention, and alternative treatments.
· We support the right of a terminal patient to end his/her life with the aid of a physician.
HUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS
* We oppose all discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and education based on race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, familial status or disability.
* We believe that women have the right and responsibility to determine whether and when they will bear children; further, we believe that all decisions regarding women’s reproductive medical care are private matters between women and their health care providers.
* We believe that the State of Washington should legalize civil marriage for same-gender couples and that the federal government should not interfere in a state’s right.
* We affirm The Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1990 and related Affirmative Action policies that enable federal, state, and local governments to ensure equal opportunity for qualified persons in employment, education and contracting.
* We respect the rights of senior citizens and individuals with disabilities to direct their own lives in housing, education and other life choices. At the same time, we believe the state has the responsibility to guarantee adequate housing, nutrition, and medical care to those who cannot provide such services for themselves.
* We believe in the separation of church and state and oppose public prayer in publicly funded schools.
* We respect the treaty rights of Native Americans.
Adopted by the Kittitas County Democratic Central Committee 2004