Posted on 12 April 2007, by Anna
Convention News
- There is a chance for some fireworks in San Diego beyond the remarks delegates will hear from Clinton, Obama and other top-tier Democratic candidates. Members of the state’s Progressive Democrats, part of a national group founded in 2004 with 15 chapters in California, say they plan to push for resolutions and commitments from the candidates to end the war in Iraq, put impeachment of President Bush front and center and call for universal health insurance. –
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/04/10/news/top_stories/20_49_474_9_07.txt
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And here are the Resolutions that PDA’ers and the CDP Progressive Caucus will be supporting – Ed.
Resolution to Stop Funding Iraq Occupation
WHEREAS: The California Democratic Party in 2005 passed an anti-war resolution (LA05.45A) condemning the Bush Administration for “using false intelligence estimates to launch an illegal, unnecessary, and unwise invasion and occupation” against a sovereign nation that had neither attacked nor posed an immediate threat to the United States, and
WHEREAS: As a result of that action, more than 3,000 American troops and an estimated 650,000 Iraqis have been killed, an estimated 20,000 – 50,000 American troops have been injured, and many thousands of Iraqis hospitalized in a country where basic necessities, such as running water and electricity, are still not widely available, despite the fact that the war has cost American taxpayers over 450-billion dollars, at least 10-billion of which is missing and unaccounted for; and
WHEREAS: The United States’ own National Intelligence Estimate of April, 2006, states, “The Iraq conflict has become the “cause celebre” for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement” with the result that every additional day of the occupation erodes our nation’s reputation, creates terrorism, and makes us less safe;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: The California Democratic Party hereby encourages its members to endorse only those candidates whose platform states they will not provide any further funding for the establishment of US bases in Iraq or the deployment of US military troops in Iraq, beyond those funds needed to support the immediate withdrawal of US troops and contracted security forces, said withdrawal not to exceed six months duration.
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Resolution to Oppose Attack on Iran
WHEREAS: The Bush Administration, in a move reminiscent to the run-up to the Iraq invasion, now claims Iran is an imminent nuclear and terrorist threat to our country, despite the fact that intelligence experts and military analysts strongly question the veracity of these claims; and
WHEREAS: The Bush Administration in provocative and confrontational moves that put all Americans at risk has refused overtures to meet directly with representatives of the Iranian government, choosing instead to kidnap and detain Iranian diplomats in Iraq, while deploying more aircraft carrier groups and Patriot missiles to the Persian Gulf region near Iran; and
WHEREAS: Diplomacy and direct talks, not war, is the best approach to resolving tensions in the Middle East;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: The California Democratic Party encourages its members to endorse only those candidates who support direct talks with Iran and categorically oppose a pre-emptive military action, be it an expeditionary force, a Bunker Buster or nuclear bombing, or a conventional attack on the sovereign nation of Iran and its 70-million inhabitants.
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That should the Bush
administration invade or attack Iran, we demand Congress immediately invoke the War Powers Act to remove US armed forces from hostilities if Congress has not declared war or passed a resolution authorizing the use of force within 90 days.
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Net Neutrality – Free Speech & Free Enterprise Resolution
WHEREAS, the growth of a free and open internet has provided historic advances in the realms of democracy, free speech, communication and small business economic development; and
WHEREAS, to encourage the build-out of statewide internet
availability, preserve the right to the free flow of information and promote the open and interconnected nature of the internet, California consumers are entitled to access the internet content of their choice without interference by any entity, public or private; and
WHEREAS, to secure the rights of assembly and free speech online, which are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, provide for equal distribution of Internet content over all Internet connections without pricing or censorship barriers and encourage new innovative California businesses to flourish, Californians are entitled to, and require, open, equal and unfettered internet access;
THEREFORE be it resolved that the California Democratic Party
supports passage of Net Neutrality legislation in California and at the Federal level.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the California State Democratic Party adopt a position in favor of Net Neutrality in the State Party Platform.
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Resolution to End Phone and Email Surveillance
WHEREAS, the Bush administration defines their “war on terror” as a Global War, and our patriotic American citizens live in part of this globe, and
WHEREAS, the mammoth phone monopolies have been spying, intercepting, and recording innocent American citizens’ phone calls, private emails, and Internet searches and activities for decades, predating the Patriot Act,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the California Democratic Party will encourage and support only candidates who vote to uphold the Bill of Rights and U.S. Constitution, which prohibit unreasonable search and seizure, a Fourth Amendment Right protecting the privacy of phone calls, private emails, and internet searches and activities.
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Clean Money Resolution
Whereas: Candidates for public office in California are unduly
burdened by the incessant rigors of fundraising, thus undermining the democratic process and discouraging the participation of ordinary citizens in their government.
Whereas: The 2006 Platform of the California Democratic Party states that California Democrats will support and implement clean money legislation; and
Whereas: Public confidence in the impartiality of all elected
officials would benefit from a voluntary system of full public funding of election campaigns and adoption of such a system would allow the average citizen lacking great wealth to participate more effectively in the political arena.
Therefore Be It Resolved: That the California Democratic Party
reaffirms its support for the concept of public financing, calling upon the State Legislature to make establishment of a workable Clean Money system one of its highest priorities; and
Be It Further Resolved: That the California Democratic Party shall
prevail upon the State Legislature to enact clean money legislation which a) benefits from the model legislation provided by other states, including Arizona, Connecticut and New Mexico that could be adopted for California unique electoral circumstances; b) sets the scope of the Clean Money system established thereby to address concerns about practicality and cost; and c) includes a provision for evaluating its success, with the intent of fine-tuning and expanding the scope of public financing in California if proven feasible.
Submitted by 42nd AD Elected Delegates
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Resolution to Promote Universal Single-Payer Health Care
SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS California is facing a major public health crisis due to the skyrocketing costs and diminishing benefits of the current healthcare system resulting in 7 million uninsured and countless underinsured Californians, and
WHEREAS The 25% or greater cost that the private health insurance system spends on the administration of health plans makes apparent the inefficiency of this system in contrast to the less than 3% it would cost to administer a “single payer. “
“Medicare-type” insurance system; and
WHEREAS the California Democratic Party is already on record as endorsing the move toward a “single payer system” as stated in the 2006 CDP Platform, as well as being on record as endorsing a universal health care proposal that covers all state residents
through a non-profit, single payer, comprehensive health plan,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the CDP recognizes that the health and well being of Californians is not a commodity to be subjected to the demands of the free market, and the profiteering of stockholders and CEOs, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the CDP strongly encourages its members to only endorse Democratic candidates and elected oficials who support the drafting and passage of legislation that creates and enacts a single payer healthcare program which provides comprehensive, secure, high quality, efficient and sustainable access to healthcare for all Californians.
Submitted by the Delegates of the 42nd AD
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Resolution in Support of Fair Trade
WHEREAS: A Nixon Administration relic known as Fast Track, a.k.a. Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), has enabled the crafting of such destructive “free trade” agreements as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), and the World Trade Oganization (WTO);
WHEREAS: Fast Track, the blueprint for building U.S. trade policies, has enabled corporate dominated globalization to flourish by literally locking labor unions, environmental interests, immigrants rights advocates, family farmers, and even Congress out of the negotiating room, creating a virtual “back room” where the White House and corporate trade advisors chart the course of U.S. trade policies, and the trajectory of globalization in general;
WHEREAS: Trade agreements and global economic policies dictated by a narrow set of interests has created an unbalanced global economy that threatens core Democratic Party values such as preserving a secure middle class, ensuring affordable health care and quality public education, promoting conservation, a secure homeland, and supporting respect for internationally recognized worker and human rights;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: The California Democratic Party, while deeply committed to expanding trade and deepening our engagement in the global economy, calls on our Democratic Representatives and Senators to reject the Bush Administration’s request for Fast Track reauthorization, and to take advantage of the opportunity to correct the course of globalization and implement deep reforms to U.S. trade policy;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: Paralleling the positions of such respectable organizations as the AFL-CIO, CTW, Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, the National Farmers Union and the California Coalition for Fair Trade and Human Rights, who believe moving toward “fair trade” requires policy changes in two principal areas—process and substance, Democrats must 1) demand a transparent process that includes direct, meaningful
participation from our base constituencies, 2) ensure reasonable power sharing between Congressional Representatives and the Executive Branch as outlined in the U.S. Constitution, 3) protect all non-discriminatory local and state rules or regulations from challenge under any provision of U.S. trade agreements (i.e. zoning regulations, prevailing wage laws, public health & environmental protections, procurement policies), 4) include International Labor Organization (ILO) and Multilateral
Environmental Agreement (MEA) standards that are enforced equally with commercial provisions, and 5) allow Congress to certify by vote that an agreement has met all mandatory objectives before negotiations can be officially closed.
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Resolution to restore integrity and confidence in our elections
WHEREAS a government can be considered a democracy only if its voting methods can be relied on to accurately represent the will of the people; and
WHEREAS the advent of electronic voting equipment throughout our voting process, whether to sign-in at the precinct, or to cast, verify or tabulate the vote, exposes our vote to innumerable vulnerabilities that can corrupt an election, ranging from the basic risks possible with all electronic systems, such as unintentional power failures and paper jams, to the more sophisticated risks possible from the use of proprietary secret software, such as the intentional alteration of votes, which has been proven by multiple university scientists to be achievable without leaving a trace of evidence; and
WHEREAS the corruption of our electoral process by the use of these highly vulnerable electronic voting systems, as witnessed nationwide in hundreds of documented incidents of lost or switched votes and unexplainable vote totals, has resulted in a national crisis of confidence in our elections, and has led elected officials, including the governors of New Mexico, Maryland and Florida, to repudiate their states’ direct recording electronic (“DRE”) voting systems;
THEREFORE, the California Democratic Party calls for our Secretary of State and election officials, as well as our federal representatives and national Democratic Party leaders, to restore and protect the integrity of our electoral process and re-establish confidence in our elections’ “checks and balances” by the following means:
(1) require paper ballots; specifically, all votes shall be cast on a
voter-verified paper BALLOT, which shall serve as the legal ballot of record and final arbiter of voter intent, and which shall be directly and indelibly marked on archival paper by the voter; (however, a limited EXCEPTION shall be made to permit computerized ballot marking devices to mark ballots or read back the selections on marked ballots, but only for voters with disabilities or who do not speak English and require this accommodation to vote).
(2) eliminate exclusive reliance on software; specifically, eliminate the use of software as the exclusive means to mediate any portion of our voting process, including but not limited to electronic sign-in books, as well as devices for signature matching, ballot marking, ballot verification, and ballot tabulation. (Note: Reliance on software, including for electronic tabulation, is considered non-exclusive, and thereby is permissible, when its results are verified as accurate by the rigorous hand counted audit requirements described hereafter.)
(3) eliminate proprietary secret software; specifically, prohibit the
use of any software, used in any aspect of the voting process, for
which the source code is not fully disclosed to the public.
(4) require significant precinct audits; specifically, require a 99%
or higher degree of confidence that all votes have been counted, as cast, by complementing our current Election Code 15360’s statistically inadequate 1% audit (the “State Audit”) with the addition of a hand count of a statistically significant random sampling of ballots from each and every precinct (the “Precinct Audit”), to occur on election night, before the paper ballots leave each precinct’s citizen-controlled purview.
(5) require “checks & balances” in election tabulation; specifically,
require that the official election results must concur with both the
“Precinct Audit” results and “State Audit” results without a
significant discrepancy, (i.e., results must concur within a margin of error that would NOT change the outcome of the election); but when there is a significant discrepancy, then the State shall be required to provide a full hand count of ALL the paper ballots, and the results of the hand count shall be the official count.
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Resolution to Bring Home the California National Guard
WHEREAS, the California Democratic Party, in April 2005, passed a resolution opposing the U.S. war and occupation of Iraq, and
WHEREAS the United States’ invasion of Iraq was engendered with what have proven to be false claims about both weapons and links to Al Qaeda, and the United States’ own National Intelligence Estimate of April, 2006 stated, “The Iraq conflict has become the “cause celebre” for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement.”, with the result that every additional day of the occupation makes us less safe, by further eroding our nation’s reputation and creating and encouraging terrorists, and
WHEREAS California’s vulnerabilities to earthquakes, fire or failure of our vast levee system are greatly multiplied by having much of its National Guard away in Iraq,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that:
The California Democratic Party calls upon the Democratic members of the California legislature to introduce and pass legislation which would immediately begin the return of California’s National Guard members from the illegal and immoral occupation of Iraq, and oppose further deployment of California National Guard troops to Iraq.
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Resolution to Impeach Bush & Cheney
WHEREAS, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney have acted in a manner contrary to their trust as President and Vice President, subversive of constitutional government to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of California and the United States of America, by intentionally disseminating and propagating knowingly false and fabricated “evidence” regarding the threat from Iraq in order to wage an illegal war against a sovereign nation in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 371; and
WHEREAS, George W. Bush further acted to strip American citizens of their constitutional rights in violation of the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution, by ordering the National Security agency to conduct electronic surveillance of American civilians without seeking warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, duly constituted by Congress in 1978, in violation of Title 50 United States Code, Section 1805; and, by suspending or denying the rights guaranteed by the Writ of Habeas Corpus by ordering infinite detention without access to legal counsel, without charge and without the opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention, based solely on the discretionary designation by the President of a US citizen as an “enemy combatant,” all in subversion of law; and
WHEREAS, George W. Bush has disobeyed over 750 Congressional statutes he brought into law, through the use of signing statements asserting illegal authority, in violation of the US Constitution Article I Section 1, over which aspects of the law he would choose to ignore, including an amendment to the 2006 Defense Appropriations bill outlawing the use of “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment” to prisoners of the United States in custody; and further that George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney conspired to commit the torture of prisoners in violation of the “Federal Torture Act” Title 18 United States Code,
Section 113C, the UN Torture Convention and the Geneva Convention, which under Article VI of the Constitution are part of the “supreme Law of the Land”; therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED that George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, warrant impeachment and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of the State of
California must move to act under Section LIII, Section 603 of the
Jefferson Manual and the Hinds Precedents, which allow impeachment to be set in motion “by charges transmitted from the legislature of a state”; and that the State Legislature, having acted through resolution to cause to be instituted in the Congress of the United States proper proceedings for the investigation of the activities of the George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney, to the end that they may be impeached and removed from such office, in concert with their oath of office to defend the United States Constitution, must then transmit a copy of this resolution and its adoption by the Legislature to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, under the great seal of the State of California, marked with the word “Petition” at the top of the document
and containing the authorizing signature of the Secretary of State; and that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in conjunction with the Constitutional duty granted the office, must route the petition to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration.
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RESOLUTION TO REPEAL SECTION 9528 OF THE 2002 “NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND” ACT
Whereas military recruitment of students on public school secondary campuses as mandated in section 9528 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 2002 – also known as the “No Child left Behind” (NCLB) Act – lacks standard application and is fraught with serious concerns such as: funneling student directory information to the Pentagon by default ( students must proactively “opt out”), military recruiters engaging in unsupervised conversations with students as young as 13 years old without parental knowledge and recruiter misconduct including fraudulent claims, false promises, inaccurate portrayals of military service, omission of pertinent information, aggressive solicitation, emotional manipulation and sexual crimes against minors.
Whereas students under the age of 18 are deemed to be minors and have legal rights to privacy and protection from predatory practices within the school environment are instead targeted as “sales” (recruiters manual), routinely tested at school with the ASVAB test (a military recruitment tool), included in a Pentagon data base using school directory information without explicit consent, subjected to coercive and relentless marketing strategies and enlisted in the Delayed Entry Program (DEP) prior to graduation at 17 years of age through campus recruitment.
Whereas schools are designated as centers for providing education in safe and secure environments, mandated compliance with NCLB sec.9528 has led to violations of student privacy, parental rights, and disrupted the best practices model of school culture as a collegial community of stakeholders (students, parents, and personnel) engaged in an open, informed and respectful process of nurturing the education opportunities and aspirations of their students.
THEREFOE BE IT RESOLVED that the California State Democratic Party support student rights to privacy and personal security, informed consent, parental rights and the integrity of our education system by supporting removal of section 9528 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) also known as “The No Child left Behind Act” (NCLB) of 2002; by rejecting any subsequent mandates for military recruiter access to public school students on school campuses and by prohibiting military access to students’ personal or contact information or any other data generated within our schools.
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Sonoma County Democratic Central Committee Resolution
Supporting Legislation for a United States Department of Peace and Nonviolence
WHEREAS military conflicts worldwide in the 20th century alone have killed millions of people, most of them innocent civilians; with a proliferation of weapons of mass destruction on a global scale including nuclear, biological and chemical weapons developed for use on land, sea, air and space; and the US Government’s launch of a preemptive war against Iraq in 2003, unsupported by the UN, and currently mocks the Geneva Conventions and the writ of Habeas Corpus and condones the use of torture: and
WHEREAS the US is experiencing societal problems with increased
violence in schools from gang related incidents associated with race, religion, homophobia, and misogyny, with increased police and community challenges to address domestic violence including child abuse, partner abuse, elder abuse, and teen suicides, a country having the world’s highest incarceration rate with easy access to guns and automatic weapons; and
WHEREAS there is no single government entity or existence of a
cabinet level position dedicated to peace building, or the study of
conditions to promote domestic and international peace, despite
resolutions that have been passed by many cities including Oakland, Minnesota, Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago and Atlanta to create a Department of Peace to advance work to improve security through peace education and the study of root causes of conflict, work initiated at an international level by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, (UNESCO) who declared an “International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children” 2001-10:
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the California Democratic Party
supports and encourages the creation of a cabinet – level Department of Peace and Nonviolence which would hold peace as an organizing principal, coordinating services to every level of society, endeavoring to promote justice and democratic principles to expand human rights; legislation, that would fund proactive strategic approaches to develop policies that promote national and international prevention of violence through cooperation, collaboration and synergy using field tested programs;
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the CDP supports and encourages
the development of a Peace Academy within the Department of Peace and Non-violence that would strengthen the military with new tools of engagement for peacekeeping and peace building to help divert from armed conflict, develop new structures in peaceful conflict resolution, intervention and mediation of conflict to improve human relations from families and neighborhoods, to courts and congresses both nationally and worldwide; and that the CDP distribute copies of this resolution to both California Senators Feinstein and Boxer, all California Representatives, and such media outlets as the CDP may deem appropriate.
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All District Strategy for Funding California Legislative Races
Whereas the recent Democratic takeover of Congress has proven
the effectiveness of Howard Dean’s 50 state strategy for funding the Democratic Party in every state regardless of the voter registration advantage to the other side or the history of Republican voting patterns and resulted in election victories and Democratic Party advances and
Whereas the California Democratic Party’s recent election
funding decision resulted in only modest advances and victories not on the scale of results nationally, and
Whereas providing resources for candidates in each legislative
district will build the Party’s identity in every geographical area,
develop a deep reserve of competitive Democratic candidates and encourage volunteer loyalty,
Be it resolved that the California Democratic Party shall adopt
at it’s 2007 Convention to allocate at least $4 million to be spent in all Assembly and State Senate districts that are open seats or in which there is a Democratic challenger to a Republican incumbent, to assure that every endorsed Democratic candidate for the state legislature gets at least some funding for the general election, enabling candidates to mount a viable campaign, then
Be it resolved that for the general election, each party-
endorsed Democratic challenger or party – endorsed Democratic candidate for an open legislative seat shall receive at least $50,000 in seed money, and that candidates who raise $50,000, produce a field plan, and sign up 50 volunteers or more shall received at least $50,000 in additional matching funds. The money shall be spent to implement a grassroots organizing and GOTV effort by the candidate. Evidence of volunteer sincerity will be a five dollar check to the candidate.
This policy will spread the Democratic message to voters in every
part of California, thus helping to grow the Party and get out the vote even in conservative regions. This strategy will improve the chances of victory not only for those legislative seats funded, but for all Democratic candidates in California – including “down-ticket” candidates for local offices as well as candidates running for statewide and national offices.
Submitted by Leon Thompson
77th Assembly District E-board Representative
leon@eastcountyunited.org; 619-316-0657
COSPONSORS: Riverside County Democratic Central Committee; East County Democratic Club, La Mesa – Foothills Democratic Club, San Diego East Region of the Central Committee, PDA California, PDA San Diego Metro, San Diego For Democracy, DFA Meetup 23, East County United PAC, Rural Caucus, Progressive Caucus, La Jolla Democratic Club, Take Back Red California (PAC), Moreno Valley Democratic Club, 65th Assembly
District, Yucaipa/Calimesa Democratic Club, Pass Democratic Club, Progressive Democrats of Riverside County, Democrats of Hemet/San Jacinto, and over 100 delegates
