Summary of the U.S. GREEN PARTY PLATFORM
Ratified at the Green Party National Convention,
June, 2000
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Platform Preamble
Green Key Values
I. DEMOCRACY
A. Political Reform B. Political Participation C. Community D. Foreign
Policy
II. SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
A. Education B. Health Care C. Economic Justice / Social Safety Net D.
Tax Justice / Fairness E. Management-Labor Relations F. Criminal Justice
G. Civil And Equal Rights H. Free Speech I. Native Americans J.
Immigration / Emigration K. Housing L. National Service
III. ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
A. Energy Policy B. Nuclear Issues C. Waste Management D. Fossil Fuels
E. Renewable Goods F. Transportation Policy G. Clean Air/Greenhouse
Effect/Ozone Depletion H. Land Use I. Water J. Agriculture K. Biological
Diversity
IV. ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY
A. Eco-Nomics B. Re-asserting Local Citizen Control Over Corporations C.
Livable Income D. Community Involvement E. Small Business and Job
Creation F. Trade G. Rural Development H. Banking For People I.
Insurance Reform J. Pension Reform K. Anti-Trust Enforcement L. Advanced
Tech / Defense Conversion M. The National Debt
PREAMBLE
The Green Party Platform is an evolving document, a living
work-in-progress that expresses our commitment to creating meaningful
and enduring change in the political process. Our Party's first priority
is to value-based politics, in contrast to a system extolling
exploitation, consumption, and non-sustainable competition.
We believe in an alternative, independent politics and active,
responsible government.
We believe in empowering citizens and communities.
We offer hope and a call to action.
In this platform we make our case to change the way our government
operates - to change the quality of our everyday lives - to build a
vision that brings new and lasting opportunities.
GREEN KEY VALUES
1. GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY
We will work to increase public participation at every level of
government.
2. SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
We must consciously confront barriers such as racism and class
oppression, sexism and homophobia, ageism and disability, which act to
deny fair treatment and equal justice under the law.
3. ECOLOGICAL WISDOM
We are part of nature, not separate from nature. We support a
sustainable society, which utilizes resources so that future generations
will benefit and not suffer from the practices of our generation.
4. NON-VIOLENCE
We will work to demilitarize and to eliminate weapons of mass
destruction, without being naive about the intentions of other
governments. We promote non-violent direct action to oppose that with
which we disagree.
5. DECENTRALIZATION
We support a restructuring of social, political and economic
institutions away from a system which is controlled by and mostly
benefits the powerful few, to a democratic, less bureaucratic system.
Decision-making should, as much as possible, remain at the individual
and local level.
6. COMMUNITY-BASED ECONOMICS AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE
A successful economic system will offer meaningful work with dignity,
while paying a living wage. Communities must use economic development
that assures protection of the environment and workers' rights; broad
citizen participation in planning; and enhancement of our quality of
life.
7. FEMINISM AND GENDER EQUITY
We call for the replacement of the cultural ethics of domination and
control with more cooperative ways of interacting that respect
differences of opinion and gender.
8. RESPECT FOR DIVERSITY
We believe that the many diverse elements of society should be reflected
in our organizations and decision-making bodies, and we support the
leadership roles for people who have been traditionally closed out of
them. We encourage respect for other life forms and the preservation of
biodiversity.
9. PERSONAL AND GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY
We encourage individuals to act to improve their personal well-being
and, at the same time, to foster peace, economic justice, and the health
of the planet.
10. FUTURE FOCUS AND SUSTAINABILITY
We must counterbalance the drive for short-term profits by assuring that
economic development, new technologies, and fiscal policies are
responsible to future generations.
I. DEMOCRACY
Democracy must empower all citizens to obtain timely, accurate
information from their government. A growing and grave imbalance between
the power of Big Business and Big Government and the citizens of this
country has seriously damaged our democracy. We need to exercise our
rights and, as Jefferson urged, counteract the "excesses of the
monied interests."
A. POLITICAL REFORM
We propose: Comprehensive campaign finance reform, including caps on
spending and contributions, and/or full public financing of elections.
Significant lobbying regulation. Proportional Representation, instant
runoff voting and cumulative voting. Abolishing the Electoral
College.
We encourage building alternative, grassroots institutions that support
participatory and direct democracy at the local level; and forming
bioregional confederations to coordinate regional issues based on
natural and ecosystem boundaries.
B. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
We advocate: Decentralizing state functions to the county and city level
and expanded roles for neighborhood associations. Citizen referendum
with a percentage of signatures gathered by volunteer collectors.
Broadening voter participation and ballot access, universal voter
registration, an election day holiday and citizen control of
redistricting. Free television and mail for every qualified statewide,
congressional, and presidential candidate. Statehood for the District of
Columbia. Non-violent direct action.
C. COMMUNITY
Community is the basic unit of green politics, because it is personal,
value-oriented and small enough for each member to have an impact.
Community involvement is a foundation for public policy. Solving
problems tends to be "bottom up" not "top down." We
do not place faith in paternalistic "big government."
Face-to-face interactions are essential to productive and meaningful
lives for all citizens.
D. FOREIGN POLICY
The Green Party calls for: Military spending to be cut by 50% over the
next 10 years, with increases in spending for social programs.
Preventive diplomacy, a strong economy and humane trade relations, as
our best defense. An end to support for repressive regimes. Abolishing
nuclear weapons and converting to a peacetime economy. A viable American
military force, prudent foreign policy doctrines, and readiness
strategies that take into account real, not hollow or imagined threats.
We strongly oppose putting nuclear weapons, lasers and other weapons in
space.
Non-violence provides a road to peace. We understand the right of
self-defense, yet believe we must move beyond behavior that perpetuates
violence. The support of democracy, human rights and respect for
international law should be the cornerstone of American foreign policy.
We believe the United States and all nations should abide by World Court
decisions.
The massive debt owed by the Third World is causing immense misery and
environmental destruction. Foreign aid must address the retiring this
debt and not force "structural adjustments" via the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Domestic and
international regulation must protect the global ecology, utilizing the
UNITED NATIONS and related agencies. We believe in the core right of
self-determination and the special character and needs of indigenous
peoples.
II. SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
A. EDUCATION AND THE ARTS
We advocate: Creative and noncompetitive education at every age level.
Inclusion of cultural diversity in all curricula. Hands-on approaches
that encourage a multitude of individual learning styles. After-school
programs for "latchkey" children. State funding for day care
that includes school children under the age of ten when after-school
programs are not available. Teaching of non-violent conflict resolution.
Tuition-free post secondary (collegiate and vocational) public
education. Educational funding formulas that avoid gross inequalities
between districts and schools. We are deeply concerned about the
intervention in our schools of corporations.
The Green Party supports eliminating all laws which seek to restrict or
censor artistic expression and incorporating arts education studies and
activities into every school curriculum.
Learning is a lifelong and life-affirming process. In learning, and
openness to learning, we find the foundation of our Platform.
B. HEALTH CARE
Health care is a human right. Successful reform must start with wellness
education.
We support universal health care and a single-payer insurance program,
that is publicly financed at the national level, administered locally,
and privately delivered with freedom of choice of provider. It would
cover all standard medical procedures, as well as drug treatment, dental
care, medication for chronic and terminal illness, equal coverage of
mental illness, and abortion. All Americans must be covered regardless
of employment, income, housing, age, or prior medical condition. We
support a wide-range of health care services, including complementary
and alternative therapies such as herbal medicines, homeopathy, and
acupuncture.
We oppose harassment or prosecution of anyone involved in any aspect of
medicinal marijuana. An all out campaign must be waged against AIDS and
HIV.
C. ECONOMIC JUSTICE/SOCIAL SAFETY NET
We take an uncompromising position that the care and nurture of
children, elders and the disabled are essential to a healthy, peaceful
and sustainable society. The work of their caregivers is of value, and
we should reward it accordingly. Our foundation is healthy, educated
children who are raised with love and security. All people have a right
to food, housing, medical care, a living wage job, education, and
support in times of hardship.
We call for restoration of a federally funded entitlement program to
support children, families, the unemployed, elderly and disabled, with
no time limit on benefits. We call for a graduated supplemental income
(negative income tax) that would maintain all adult incomes above the
poverty level.
We support: Public funding for living wage jobs. Tax incentives for
businesses that apply fair employee wage standards, and income tax
policies that restrict the accumulation of excessive wealth.
D. TAX JUSTICE / FAIRNESS
The high price of corporate welfare corrupts the political process.
Corporate tax breaks are ultimately paid for by higher taxes on the
middle class. Tax policy should encourage small and socially responsible
business. Where corporations act responsibly and include the interests
of their community and employees, we support appropriate tax
incentives.
We call for environmental taxes, e.g., taxing industrial pollution, as a
partial substitute for income taxes. We would raise corporate taxes. The
corporate share of taxes has fallen from 33% in the 1940s to 15% today.
We support progressivity in taxation. A central goal of tax policy
should be "transparency," that is, a simple and understandable
system which is resistant to the machinations of special interests. We
oppose the "privatization" of Social Security.
E. MANAGEMENT-LABOR RELATIONS
The concepts of economic and workplace democracy must be expanded in
management-labor negotiations. We support employee stock ownership
plans. We endorse federal legislation to address problems associated
with large plant closings and legal rights to organize and join unions.
We encourage the use of mediation. We support the right to strike
without being permanently replaced.
F. CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Any attempt to combat crime must begin with restoration of community and
positive approaches that build hope, responsibility and a sense of
belonging, as well as addressing the economic and social root causes of
crime. These should get priority over proposals to put more firepower on
the streets; threatening criminals with harsher sentences; and building
more prisons. Yet, we support law enforcement approaches that are firm
and directly address violent crime, street crime, and trafficking in
hard drugs.
We support independent civilian review of police misconduct and
carefully considered gun control. We oppose the death penalty; the
privatizing of prisons; and mandatory drug testing. .
We call for: Judicial reform that opens up the court system, making it
affordable and convenient to ordinary citizens. Decriminalization of
"victimless" crimes, for example, the possession of small
amounts of marijuana. Legalization of industrial hemp. An end to the
"war on drugs." Expanding drug counseling and treatment.
Innovative sentencing and punishment options, including community
service for non violent crimes.
G. CIVIL AND EQUAL RIGHTS
We condemn discrimination and violence against anyone but also recognize
that people of color have borne the brunt of racial violence and
discrimination throughout the history of the United States. We support
affirmative action and reparations for people of color in the form of
monetary compensation. We support: Effective enforcement of the
"Voting Rights Act," including language access to voting.
Vigorous enforcement of civil rights laws. Aggressive prosecution of
hate crimes. Strengthening of legal services for the poor. Recently
bills that encroach on civil liberties are of special concern.
We affirm the right to openly embrace sexual orientation. We support the
rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people in housing,
jobs, civil marriage and benefits, and child custody. Women's rights
must be protected and expanded to guarantee each woman's right to be a
full participant in society, free from sexual harassment and with choice
about whether to have a child. We support the Equal Rights Amendment.
We support the creation of consumer advocacy agencies; reforms to better
inform consumers about the products they are buying; and
"whistleblower rights" laws.
H. FREE SPEECH
The scope of the First Amendment is extensive and prohibits any law
which would abridge the freedom of speech or press, most clearly in
reference to political matters. Our legal right to criticize government
is essential to the effective working of democracy.
The privatization of the broadcast airwaves - one of our most important
taxpayer assets - has caused serious deformations of our politics and
culture. Private broadcasters control what the public owns. The
concentration of power that has characterized the telecommunications
industry must be limited.
I. NATIVE AMERICANS
We recognize the sovereignty of Native Americans. We support reform of
the Bureau of Indian Affairs to make it more responsive to tribal
governments. We support efforts to protect their traditions, rights,
livelihoods, and sacred spaces.
J. IMMIGRATION / EMIGRATION
We must respect the contributions and the rights of our immigrants. We
oppose those who seek to divide us for political gain by raising ethnic
and racial hatreds.
K. HOUSING
Government should play an activist role in the availability of housing.
We encourage low-impact site-specific designs that encourage human-scale
development. Pension funds and community development banks can be
targeted for new funding. Subsidies, trade-offs with developers, and the
creative use of zoning ordinances should be emphasized to increase
affordable housing.
L. NATIONAL SERVICE
Alternative service to the military should be encouraged...We advocate
the formation of a Civilian Conservation Corps.
III. ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
A. ENERGY POLICY
Investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy is key to
sustainability. Energy management must be governed by the principle of
Conservation, Efficiency, and Clean Renewables. We call for state energy
policies that include taxes and fines on energy waste; the funding of
energy research; and credits for alternative energy use such as solar,
wind, hydrogen and biomass. We urge that new construction be required to
achieve substantial portions of its heating energy from the sun.
We support efforts to develop inexpensive solar cells. Photovoltaic
cells cost one-tenth what they did 20 years ago and wind power one-fifth
what it did 10 years ago. Total renewable contribution to our nation's
energy use could be 10% by 2010 and 20% by 2020. Incentives should be
put in place to move utilities toward establishing solar power stations
to supplant fossil-fuel generated electricity.
B. NUCLEAR ISSUES
There is no such thing as nuclear waste "disposal." All 6 of
the "low-level" nuclear waste dumps in the United States have
leaked. Generation of additional nuclear wastes must be stopped. We call
for the early retirement of nuclear power reactors as soon as possible
(in no more than 5 years); for a phase-out of other technologies that
use or produce nuclear waste; and for an intensive campaign to educate
the public about nuclear problems, including disposal, clean-up and
long-term dangers.
C. WASTE MANAGEMENT
Those responsible for toxic waste contamination on or off their sites
should be responsible for costs of complete clean-up. We support
recycling at every level of the economy; source reduction and municipal
programs that focus on household recycling. We oppose incineration of
solid waste, sewage, non- biological medical waste, and toxic waste and
support rapid shutdown of existing such incinerators.
D. FOSSIL FUELS
We call for transition energy strategies, including the use of
relatively clean-burning natural gas, as a way to reorder our priorities
and for a phase-out of other fossil fuels. We oppose oil drilling or
exploration in our nation's outer continental shelf. We support public
ownership of utilities; strong regulation of private utilities; and
tax-exempt bonds to finance public ownership, conservation, and
renewable energy.
E. RENEWABLE GOODS
It is essential that alternative systems be put in place that produce
goods that are durable, repairable, reusable, recyclable, and
energy-efficient, using non-toxic materials and nonpolluting production
methods.
F. TRANSPORTATION
We encourage a broad range of incentives for alternative transportation,
including natural gas vehicles, solar and electric vehicles, bicycles
and bikeways, and mass transit. We must push for motor vehicle fuel
efficiency and raising the standard to a minimum of 45 miles per gallon
by 2005. Our weapons complex and labs should be converted to create
breakthrough battery technology for electric cars and solar electric
applications.
G. CLEAN AIR / GREENHOUSE EFFECT / OZONE DEPLETION
The strict, comprehensive protections of the Clean Air Act must be
maintained and enhanced. State and local clean air initiatives should
improve on national efforts.
Chloro-fluorocarbons (CFCs) and other related ozone-depleting substances
should be banned. Greenhouse gases and the threat of global warming must
be addressed with the industrial nations at the forefront of this vital
effort.
H. LAND USE
Greens are advocates for the Earth. This is our home. We encourage
social ownership and use of land, for example, land trusts under
ecological covenants. We demand a halt to federal resource giveaways,
royalty holidays, and flagrant concessions to the mining, energy and
timber industries. The impacts of resource extractions should be
minimized and the land restored to a healthy state.
We support mandated sustainable forestry practices that promote
biodiversity. We urge protection of "old growth" forests; a
ban on industrial timber harvest on public lands; a ban on all
clear-cutting; a reduction of road building on public lands; and public
involvement in decision-making via active and well-funded resource
management districts.
We advocate raising grazing fees on public land to fair market value. We
oppose any selling of our national parks; the commercial
"privatizing" of public lands; and cutbacks of or exploitation
in our national wilderness areas.
We must control urban sprawl and promote urban design that does not
alienate, but fulfills, the spirit. Rural areas and farmland should be
preserved.
I. WATER
Our right to clean water is non-negotiable. We support: The federal
Clean Water Act setting strict requirements for sewage discharges,
wetland protection and water quality standards; Establishment of
federal, state, and local groundwater protection agencies with authority
to establish standards for the use of water; Alternative solutions to
water treatment and clean-up, for example, constructed wetlands and
biological remediation; Elimination of wasteful subsidies of
agricultural water use; and Municipal water rates high enough to
discourage wasteful use.
J. AGRICULTURE
Family farms are essential to rural development and a healthy, diverse
economy. The Green Party strongly opposes the rampant and damaging
policies of corporate industrial farming and calls for a national shift
away from these practices.
Genetically engineered and irradiated food should be clearly labeled. It
is unacceptable that consumers do not know whether they are eating or
drinking genetically modified organisms. We stand in opposition to a gen-food
future as delivered by unaccountable mega-transnational
corporations.
We call for the establishment of an ecologically based, sustainable
agricultural system that moves as rapidly as possible towards
bioregional self-reliance. World hunger can be best addressed by food
supply independence. Man-made pesticides and artificial fertilizers
should be phased out and research funded to find acceptable
alternatives. We oppose the patenting of life forms.
We support the strongest organic standards and an end to government
price supports which aid in non-organic food production.
K. BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
Ecological systems are diverse and interlocking. Nature's survival
strategy can best be found in the adaptability that comes as a result of
biological diversity.
The Green Party supports a strong, enforceable Endangered Species Act
and the Convention on Biological Diversity. We oppose international
trade agreements which have provisions protecting transnational,
corporate control of the "intellectual property" of genetic
material, hybrid seeds and proprietary products.
Greens envision a healthy and sustainable food system, based on crop
diversity, community empowerment, self-sufficiency, cooperative
marketing, recycling, seed saving, local (and fresh) production, and
organic methods.
Cloning is a challenge to basic Green philosophy. To classify a human as
a commodity is to turn human beings into property. We call for an
intelligent, compassionate approach to the treatment of animals.
IV. ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY
A. ECO-NOMICS
Community-based economics constitutes an alternative to both corporate
capitalism and state socialism. We can learn from indigenous people. The
earth and its natural systems are to be respected and cared for.
Concepts of ownership should be employed in the context of stewardship
and social and ecological responsibility. To create an enduring society,
we must devise a system of production and commerce where every act is
sustainable and restorative.
Greens call for an economic system that is based on a combination of
private businesses, decentralized democratic cooperatives, publicly
owned enterprises, and alternative economic structures, all of which put
human and ecological needs alongside profits to measure success, and are
accountable to the communities in which they function. Recognition of
limits is central. The drive to accumulate power and wealth is
pathological. We advocate economic relations that are more direct, more
cooperative, and more egalitarian.
Greens support a major redesign of commerce. Everything recycles, there
is no waste. Consumables need to be designed to be thrown into a compost
heap or eaten. Durable goods would be designed in closed-loop systems,
ultimately to be disassembled and reassembled. Toxics would be
safeguarded and have markers identifying them as belonging, in
perpetuity, to their makers.
B. CITIZEN CONTROL OVER CORPORATIONS
Corporations possess more rights and freedoms than natural human
persons. Through a series of judicial rulings and their ability to
control governments and economies, corporations have rewritten our
Constitution and have emerged as unaccountable governments. Investment
and production decisions that can shape our communities and lives should
not be made from afar in boardrooms, closed-door regulatory agencies,
and prohibitively expensive courtrooms. Officers of corporations should
be directly liable for harm they cause.
We challenge the propriety and equity of corporate welfare in the form
of tax breaks, subsidies, grants, bailouts, giveaways, unenforced laws
and regulations; and continuing access to our public resources,
including land, forests, minerals, intellectual property rights, and
government-created research.
It is time to support government attempts to define corporations and to
prevent these entities from exercising democratic rights which are
uniquely possessed by the citizens of the United States. It is
unacceptable to have the level of influence now being exerted by
corporate interests over the public interest.
C. LIVABLE INCOME
We affirm the importance of access to a livable income. People who are
unable to find decent work in the private sector should have options
through publicly funded opportunities. A "living wage"
standard will go a long way toward achieving this goal.
D. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Reforms to allow communities to have influence in their economic future
should be implemented, including: Locally owned small businesses, which
are more accessible to community concerns. Local production and
consumption. Consumer co-ops, credit unions, micro-loan funds, local
currencies, and other institutions that help communities develop
economic projects. We endorse direct democracy through town meetings.
E. SMALL BUSINESS AND JOB CREATION
We support initiatives for forming small enterprises that together can
become an engine and a model of job creation, prosperity and progress.
Over the past decade and a half, all new net job growth has come from
the small business sector. We oppose arbitrary or discriminatory
practices which act to deny small business access to credit. The tax
system needs a major overhaul, since current tax policies often act to
unfairly penalize small business. Government should reduce wherever
possible unnecessary restrictions, fees, and red tape.
We support the full deductibility of health insurance premiums paid by
the self-employed. Insurance costs need to be brought down. Home-based
businesses and neighborhood-based businesses need to be assisted, not
hurt by out-of-date zoning ordinances. "Telecommuting" and
"home offices" should be aided by government.
F. TRADE
We reject trade agreements negotiated in secret and unduly influenced by
corporate representatives. We oppose the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT),
and its progeny, the World Trade Organization (WTO). We demand that
these agreements be updated to include more specific environmental,
worker, health and safety standards in the text itself, not as
"side agreements." We reject any agreement which threatens the
authority of states and local communities to establish more stringent
standards.
The Green Party urges a Tobin tax, a small tax on cross border currency
transactions ($1.8 trillion daily). It would cool the dangerous
speculative fever and raise up to $250 billion annually, which could be
devoted to world poverty, international peacekeeping, and environmental
problems.
G. RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Rural development policy should begin with local people, who are more
likely to follow ecological practices than corporate agribusiness.
Governments should provide financial assistance to small farmers to help
them compete against agribusiness; encourage bank policies that spread
loan portfolios beyond corporate agriculture and ranching; and
aggressively confronted anti-competitive actions of the corporate
giants. We support cooperative ventures to broaden markets of local
producers; state-assisted product marketing efforts; and rural
development banks.
H. BANKING FOR PEOPLE
The government should take serious steps to ensure that all have access
to banking services, affordable loans and small-business capital. We
support the extension of the Community Reinvestment Act and its key
performance data provisions to provide public and timely information on
affordable housing and small business loans, loans to minority-owned
enterprises, and investments in community development projects. Congress
should act to charter local community development banks, which would be
publicly capitalized.
I. INSURANCE REFORM
We call for insurance industry regulation to reduce the cost of
insurance and to rein in bad faith insurance actions, including the
widespread practices of legal avoidance of obligations and price fixing.
Health insurance must be fully transportable from job to job. We support
initiatives in secondary insurance markets to expand credit for
development in inner cities, affordable housing, sustainable
agriculture, and family farms.
J. PENSION REFORM
Pension funds (over $3 trillion total) are gigantic capital pools that
can be used to meet community needs and benefit workers and their
families directly. The current system allows the squandering of vast
amounts of American workers' hard-earned money on job-ending,
plant-moving, and corporate downsizing. Corporate-sponsored funds (the
biggest category) should be jointly controlled by management and
workers, not just management. Also, federal law must be changed so that
pension funds need not seek the prevailing market rate, but simply a
reasonable rate. A secondary pension market should be set up by the
government to ensure that pension investments are made in socially
beneficial programs, based on the model of federally insured and
subsidized mortgage lending.
K. ANTI-TRUST ENFORCEMENT
We support strong and effectively enforced anti-trust regulation to
counteract the concentration of economic power. Unchecked market power
leads to corruption, self-serving abuse of the democratic political
process, price gouging, loss of productivity and jobs, reduced
competitiveness, and an array of predatory market practices that history
has documented. Media mergers, especially, have been ineffectively
challenged.
L. ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AND DEFENSE CONVERSION
Greens generally support defense technology transfer efforts,
particularly new industrial applications and developments in the areas
of advanced communications, alternative energy, and waste management. We
support space programs and research initiatives in transportation,
advanced products and manufacturing, environmental sampling and
monitoring, laser communications, high speed computers; and genetic
mapping (with "Genome" project results in the public
domain).
We should move our nation's research and development budget, both
private and public, toward civilian use and away from military use. The
Internet holds great promise for education, decentralized economies, and
local control of decision-making. The public airwaves that will
accommodate the new generation of telecommunications technology should
not be giveaways to media giants. A federal Technology Assessment Office
should examine how technology fits in with life on Earth, in our
neighborhoods and in the quality of our daily lives.
M. THE NATIONAL DEBT
For many years the federal government borrowed hundreds of billions of
dollars. Money that should have been going into a better "safety
net" for the poor, homes for the homeless, new business and jobs,
research and development, roads and bridges, schools and the
technologies of tomorrow, has been lost to servicing the national debt.
We must continue to move toward reduction in the national debt and we
must make up for the neglect that the deficits caused.
Working people and the small business community are shouldering a
disproportionate amount the debt burden. To help make up for our
nation's neglect, we support tax increases on mega-corporate and wealthy
interests; defense budget reductions (see FOREIGN POLICY); and
entitlement reductions to those who can afford reductions most (by
"means testing," etc.).
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