In 1994, six weeks before the midterm elections, Newt Gingrich introduced the Contract with America, running on this the Republicans gained control of congress. For America to elect democrats we must have a new Contract with America and it must include these items:
1 The Progressive Tax Act: the Bush tax cuts must be repealed, we must introduce a progressive tax system, it is imperative that the congress work to eliminate the massive budget deficit and return to an era of balanced budgets and fiscal responsibility.
2 The National Privacy Act: the unconstitutional aspects of the Patriot Act must be repealed, the government has no place in family matters (ieTerri Schiavo) unless a law is being broken, if the National ID is to go into effect it may not make available any personal information such as credit history, medical records, etc.
3 The Media Reform Act: the Telecommunication Act of 1996 must be repealed, media ownership must again be regulated and the Fairness Doctrine must be re-instituted.
4 The Energy Independence Act: America must wean itself from its dependence on foreign oil, it is a matter of national security and environmental importance.
5 The Affordable Health Care Act: America must move toward an affordable universal health care system, we must cut inflated drug and medical equipment prices and better regulate insurance companies.
6 The Ethics in Government Act: this bill seeks to reduce the influence of lobbiests in congress and governmental agencies, corporations WILL NOT be allowed to write policy (ie Enron writing our energy policy and pharmaceutical industries writing our drug prescription plan), their must be no conflict of interests for people appointed to head government agencies like the FDA, EPA, etc (pretty much all of Nancy Pelosi's recent bill on ethics).
7 The Descent Foreign Policy Act: the United States may NOT engage in pre-emptive war, the administration may NOT for any reason lie to the American people under the guise of security, the United States will NOT condone torture and will ad hear to the Geneva Convention, a military draft may NOT be reinstated, an all volunteer army provides Americans with popular veto against any and all wars.
8 The Healthy Respect for Science Act: The government may NOT refuse to award grants to those studies that disagree with the current administration's agenda IE global warming and stem cell research.
9 The Election Reform Act: electronic voting machines MUST have an auditible paper trail, voting machine manufacturers must make their source code available to states using their equipment, and voting machines must be equally distributed proportional to population.
10 The Real National Security Act: the national guard may NOT be sent abroad, our ports and harbors must be protected, and boarder patrol must be adequately funded to cut down the flow of illegal immigration.
Gingrich had 10 bills in his Contract with America, we will one up him and have an 11th bill.
11 The Restore Checks and Balances to Government Act: all three branches of Government must ad hear to the Constitution of the United States, there are no exceptions to the Separation of Powers as written in the Constitution.
Tamyrlin79 and I wrote these over the phone earlier, I think that we should start sending this or something like it to all Dems who plan on running for office in 2006.
We must find a way to make these our talking points, we have to streamline and clarify these ideas and let the public know our agenda.
It's late, I'm tired, there are probably a million mistakes, sorry Tamyrlin, and probably plenty of better ways to phrase these ideas than the way I have above.
If anyone has any suggestions/corrections please do tell.
Here is a link to Gingrich's Contract with America, feel free to compare and contrast:
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Contract-with-America