2006/2008: What issues could guarantee a Dem win?

[katsy]

In your opinion, which issue, or combo of issues could deliver a slam-dunk victory to the Democrats in 2006 or 2008? Why?

1. Border and port security.

2. Oppose free trade and support of fair trade working with Unions to craft legislation; kill NAFTA & CAFTA.

3. Nationalizing preventative, prenatal & children's health care. Price controls on pharmaceuticals and stop all prescription drug advertising except to physicians/medical trade publications.

4. Reduce property taxes for primary residences and let States call for special assessments if improvements become necessary.

5. Kill the school voucher program and provide super funding for public school education from pre-k through 2-year Junior College (free). Increase taxes on upper 2% of income earners and close corporate tax loopholes to pay for the above.

6. Curb or eliminate corporate power in politics. Define the meaning of a "person" as used in the Constitution. A corporation is created by laws and do not have the constitutional guarantees of people. Send corporate lobbyists packing. They have no business writing legislation as we didn't elect them and they do not represent us. Worker/Teacher/Environmental groups are associations of PEOPLE and will not be affected.

7. Other, share your thoughts.


Abortion, religion, glbt are not included because these are issues that the gop uses to divide Americans and are, IMO, personal rights that politicians should not address except to expand or guarantee these rights.

[MindPilot]

1. a draft

As much as would like to see the election go to the fundimental issue of excessive corporatism, that is just to complicated for the average joe sixpack.

It's going to be an issue that this misadministration has screwed up so badly the people in the flyover states can't ignore it or blame it on the Clinis anymore.

[katsy]

15. Yikes! Of course...

a DRAFT would do it.

I would however disagree about the joe sixpacks who have lost their jobs due to outsourcing. IMO, if they need an education about excessive corporatism... we should oblige him.

[styersc]

19. Draft as an issue is a good idea but it must be implemented differently..

...then was attemped last year. Last year Dems wrote a bill to bring back the draft- the GOP then opposed and looked like the "peace party". We must write a bill forever illegalizing the draft and let them oppose it- then beat them with it.

[katsy]

27. Message #15 was meant for you.

[GOPBasher]

23. Yeah, a draft will do it, and other overreaching by the GOP. n/t

[WI_DEM]

2. The economy is catching up with Bushco

Could be stagflation by next year.

[dcfirefighter]

3. Nationalized Healtcare

Isn't the best choice for providing healthcare, nor is it going to get us very far in elections.

A better choice would be to start taking steps towards a Swiss-style uinversal, market-based, healthcare system. Nationalized healthcare would pretty much let Big Pharma access tax money directly. There is a dissaffected base in the Republican Party: the old style socially indifferent, fiscal conservatives. If we can hammer the Reps with Progressive market-based initiatives, we can win those votes. Hammer them with the lack of choice in HealtCare markets and the lack of competition in the Pharm industry. Come up with real, concrete, and workable solutions.

[katsy]

12. Thank you for sharing!

I know nothing about the Swiss system for healthcare and will research it.

Great point!

[dcfirefighter]

4. Property Taxes

I tend to prefer taxing wealth to taxing work.
I also tend to think that any tax benefitting homeowners is implicitly a tax on renters.
If property taxes have a split rate, with a higher rate for land, and a lower rate for improvements, most residential properties benefit, given the same level of revenue. This tends to promote homeownership and affordable housing (not subsidized, just affordable).

[OneBlueSky]

5. no issue if the voting system isn't fixed . . .

or un-fixed, if you will . . . as long as we're voting on Republican machines, we're screwed . . .

[katsy]

13. One concern about this...

Without a Dem majority right now, what can we expect in terms of reform?

[loudsue]

18. Pressure on STATE and local bodies. People in every state are working

on this issue, to pressure their state legislatures to veto computerized voting machines. They are usually small groups (except for some well-organized blue states), so they need EVERY SINGLE ACTIVIST they can enlist in this fight.

People on DU REALLY need to join their state groups to fight the purchase of black boxes...and State legislatures can be pressured by the citizenry. The guys in Washington are NOT going to do it. It has to be done locally.

Paper and pen need to be the voting method, and the COUNTING method (which is the HUGE issue) needs to be done by nonpartisan groups of people....in the open!

Call your boards of election, and pressure your state and local officials....THEN the elections of 2006 and 2008 may have a chance at fairness.

But I will PROMISE YOU THIS: If the voting machine issue is NOT corrected NOW, the 2006 and 2008 elections WILL GO TO REPUBLICANS. Nothing else can Dems do will insure a win.

:kick::kick::kick:

[katsy]

21. Great point.

Mobilize on the state level.

Thanks!

:thumbsup:

[MsTryska]

6. Energy Independence as the centerpiece issue:

Gas prices are too high.


We're spending too much in money and lives on a war for oil.


Our economy is faltering - we need new jobs - working towards energy independence will help us with this.


Pollution is at an alltime high - we need energy independence to clean up the environment.

[dcfirefighter]

8. A tax, a tax

I know, in my heart of hearts, that the solution to this problem is a tax on Carbon Emissions. The important facet, to make it work, is that the revenue from the tax should be immediately redistributed equally among citizens.

Why? Things that are more expensive get used less.
In this case, those who cause more carbon emissions pay more than they get back. Those who conserve, or consume less - by design or by limited means - get back more than they pay.

Overall, it's progressive, it will lower energy demand, and therefore costs. It's also an indirect subsidy for wind, solar, and alternative energy.

I just can't figure out how to sell it.

[MsTryska]

10. How about selling it this way.....

int he name of transparency remove ALL subsidies for fossil fuels.


then you don't need a tax, but the real cost shows up at the pump.




And believe it or not, whilst i've held this belief and kept it quiet, i heard this very suggestion from one of those libertairan/conservative types as well.


Market it as transparency and cutting back on government spending and you'll get buy in.

[dcfirefighter]

7. Corporate Personhood

Eliminating Corporate Personhood will still affect worker/teacher/enviro groups, but not as badly, as these groups tend to have more people than money. I.e. even if they lose the ability to act as an incorporated group, they still have the ability to act as a coordinated bunch of individuals.

[katsy]

14. 2 different animals.

Corporations are created by laws.

The right of people to form associations are a constitutional guarantee.

People are not legal constructs. Corporations are.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment01/12.html

[TayTay]

9. None

There are no magic bullets or quick and easy solutions. We have to get the lost voterws back the same way we lost them, one at a time. It will be long and arduous work. No shortcuts will will.

[katsy]

25. On that note...

Do you think that there is the PERCEPTION among voters that the Dems have abandoned workers and unions in favor of corporate lobbyists?

[Dave Sund]

11. A Huge one

Especially in the west.

- Make gun control a state's rights issue. Don't make it look like pandering. This an issue we can seriously win on if we simply say: let the states decide; and leave it at that.
- Have a candidate with a personality that doesn't turn people off completely. It will be a thousand times easier if we find a candidate people can relate to. Yeah, GWB was a silver spoon AWOL cokehead, but people could relate to his style of speech (even if it was as phony as his excuses for war.)

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

16. Privacy rights and fiscal responsibility

Opposition to the intrusion of the government into a wide array of personal, individual, and private issues is not a fringe position...this is what the majority of people want. Opposition to ballooning deficits needs to be illustrated to regular people as a trickle down economic effect where lack of Federal money hurts the states who in turn put an even greater burden on local municipalities to find money on their own in order to provide services/school funds.

[katsy]

24. I did not mean to imply these are fringe issues.

They are vital and are always addressed by the Dem party (to it's credit). They're a win for the Dems with their base... but haven't gained seats in Congress or delivered the Presidency.

The down-spiraling economy didn't deliver last election, but that may change in 2006.

Thanks!

[librechik]

17. pix of Shrub & Condi doing the wild thing

it worked against Gore... and he didn't even do Monica!

Seriously, as long as the media are slaves to Bush, nothing will work. And don't forget Diebold. We might get a prybar in those cracks...maybe.

There is only one righteous option, but there is NO WAY a citizens revolt would work against the USA. They have us way outnumbered and outarmed.

[rndmprsn]

20. MIddle class economic populism and healthcare NT

[styersc]

22. Dems should write an Amendment to the Consititution creating a right

to PRIVACY. Most Americans are upset by government intrusion and corporate identify theft. Most Americans also (falsely) believe that thier right to privacy is protected by the Constitution- it is not.

Time for us to put the Progress back in to Progressive.

Another sure fire winner- Alternative Energy- make minced meat out of the right wing argument that it is the environmentalists' fault!!! They tell us we have not built a refinery in 30 years because of evil environmentalists- that's why prices are so high. Well, we haven't passed a CAFE statndard law or significant environmental restriction in many years also, yet three months ago the prices soared- if it is the enviros- what took so long?!?!?!

[Rosco T.]

26. 'fix' social security, 'fix' the tax system and..

1. 'fix' social security by moving the 'cap' and window. the 1st $40,000 is expempt from SS tax, the 'cap' is now $250,000.

2. 'fix' the tax system. The 1st $40,000 is exempt from income tax. Repeal chimpy's 'give away' tax cuts. No more 'Caymen Island' corporate headquarters, you do business here, you pay taxes.

3. An IMMEDIATE 'Manhattan Project' for other energy sources, starting with a crash project for Hydrogen/Electric fueling stations all over the country (and the jobs it would create to build that infrastrusture). An complete rebuild of the power grid that is falling apart (and the jobs that would create to build/maintain) and a huge expansion of wind farms for power generation (lots of land in the mid/southwest for them, and the jobs to build/maintain thehm)

[katsy]

28. Are they listening?

If they were... the Dems would create a "Contract FOR Americans" press release laying out their plan to FIX gop created problems.

Excellent input.

[lostinacause]

29. None of these issues is strong enough to win on.

Some of these stances are detrimental.

I will go through them 1-by-1

1. Increased border security is often a good thing (so long as it is not wasted money) but will not win an election.

2. Opposing free trade would be political suicide. Free trade is the issue that economists agree on the most and are in favor of it. I people do for some reason vote for the democrats if they promised heavy trade barriers it would be the last election that the democrats would win for some time.

3. Would be a hard issue to win an election on.

4. I'm not quite sure what you mean

5. More needs to be done to improve the public school system then just throwing money at the problem. (I also have an issue with this spend the money of the wealthy because there is no cost attitude. Individual spending decisions should be made independently of the tax burden that way people use the money from the wealthy to implement programs that offer value for the money.

6. again not a winning issue but something to consider bringing up as a side issue.

[lostinacause]

30. I should probably add what I think is the winning issue.

The deficit. It's very hard to find someone saying "lets continue to run a deficit, it's good for the country."