Statements of Belief

Statements for PowerPoint slides
  1. Americans overseas in a combat situation should be members of the military and must obey military law.

  2. Except for the Cabinet, high ranking officers in Executive Departments work for the American people under the jurisdiction of the Constitution.

  3. Abortion should be safe, legal, and rare.

  4. A college or technical education should be available for all who desire it, have the aptitude, and are willing to work for it.

  5. Military personnel and their dependents should receive guarantees of medical treatment as soon as they finish basic training.

  6. The tax code needs to be simplified and changed so that it rewards work and not wealth.

  7. The President, the Congress, and the Courts are equal members in the governing of the nation and all are accountable to each other and to the American people.

  8. The War on Terror is a war based in ideology, not territory.  It needs to be fought by military, police, political, economic, and diplomatic efforts.

  9. All children should be guaranteed health care.

  10. We all need to act as "Good Stewards" of the earth.  We must leave this earth in better shape and healthier than when we arrived.

  11. America has always led the way into the future.  We need to invest more in energy research, high speed internet and high speed trains, science and technology, and knowledge-based jobs.

  12. We need to reform lobbying and campaign financing,  allow no gifts or "freebies" to legislators, require reporting of all contacts with lobbyists, and explicitly labeling all "special" bill provisions.

  13. Progressive government has two aspects, protection and empowerment.

  14. Protection: military, police, fire, social security, environmental, consumer, public health, balance of powers, governmental openness, explicit rights.

  15. Empowerment: roads and bridges, education, banking, courts, foreign policy, SEC: stock markets, FCC: communication regulation.

  16. Medicare and Medicaid need to be continued, improved, and put on a sound financial basis.

  17. Social Security needs to be continued, improved, put on a sound financial basis and not privatized.

  18. Affordable health care needs to be available to all citizens.

  19. We need to expand economic opportunities in Rural Communities.

  20. NAFTA, CAFTA:  Trade is good, exporting jobs to slave wage factories is not.

  21. IRAQ:  We won the War in three weeks.  When are we going to end the occupation?

A few comments from the Sept Jane Cody Club meeting

Americans are angry with their government because of:

Torture

Spying on Citizens

Using the army to get oil

The image, both in the US and abroad, that the US is a bully

Our use of mercenaries

The lack of concern by the Federal government for the needs of the citizens.