Reply #30: several key planks

[welshTerrier2]

first, let me take issue with the following statement in the OP"

"Let's be positive, tone down the criticism within the party, and realize what is important --increasing majority control in the Congress and retaking the White House in 2008."

Two things are important here; not just one. We cannot be only about "making electoral gains". If we set winning as the only priority, we fail in many ways. We fail to put the country ahead of politics. We fail to speak out as citizens and voters when our party is NOT on the right track. And, we fail to help our party gain and sustain an "inter-generational majority". The right "what is important" is a combination of electoral politics with policies that are in the national interest. To focus on either at the expense of the other is a critical error.

Having said that, here are just a few key planks I would like to see:

1. US foreign policy has, for far too long, been conducted for the exclusive benefit of private, commercial interests. It is time that we recognized that an imperial foreign policy will result in the eventual destruction of our country. Democrats cannot allow their candidates to be paid for by massive corporate interests and their wealthiest shareholders.
2. We have to have publically funded campaigns. What is happening right now WITHIN THE PARTY around this issue is an absolute disgrace. This is not democracy in action; it's commerce in action and it is unconscionable.
3. We need massive reforms to re-establish our democracy. Money, both in campaigns and in the halls of Congress, has replaced WE THE PEOPLE. Paid lobbyists used to be called bribers and blackmailers. Today, it's become the dominant ingredient in how our government is run.
4. We cannot pretend that we can "technology" our way out of global warming. Alternative fuels are very worth pursuing but we need to do much more. It will hurt politically but Democrats need to call for a substantial curtailment of our planet-threatening lifestyles.
5. We need to do a much better job balancing the staggering imbalance between the power of shareholders versus the power of workers. When our tax laws and other institutions reward profits over labor, something has gone terribly wrong.

These changes cannot happen overnight. Many of the ideas here are critically necessary but may not be politically feasible yet. The job of the party should be to lay the groundwork to make voters more receptive to these platform planks. I hold out almost no hope that Democrats are up to the task. I'm very saddened to have reached this conclusion.