Economy to Serve People

Cost of Living
The party states during its current term in office:
– the administration’s top economic priority is lowering costs for hardworking Americans, including reducing prescription drug costs, health insurance premiums, utility bills, and costs for everyday goods
– it also proposes to address junk fees that some airlines, banks, and other companies use to rip off consumers
– during its current term in office, the global pandemic and Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine have led to inflation all over the world
– significant progress has bee made in bringing down inflation. Over the last six months of 2023, core inflation was at the pre-COVID-19 pandemic benchmark of two percent—with average hourly earnings adjusted for inflation higher now than before the COVID-19 pandemic and rising faster than inflation over the last year
– it has released nearly 200 million barrels of gasoline from the national strategic reserve, and is lowering prices by 25 cents per gallon by making ethanol-blended gasoline available during the summer
– it is working to ensure that no American earning less than $400,000 a year will pay one single penny more in federal taxes.

The Dignity of Work
The Party’s Credo states that it believes it is the responsibility of government to achieve a society in which:
– all people can find jobs in a growing full-employment economy; and
– all workers are guaranteed without question the legal right to join unions of their own choosing and to bargain collectively for decent wages and conditions of employment

Artificial Intelligence
The party states that:
– by executive order it has taken a lead in seizing the promise and managing the risks of AI, including by establishing new standards for AI safety and security, protecting Americans’ privacy, advancing equity and civil rights, standing up for consumers and workers, promoting innovation and competition, and advancing American leadership around the world
– it advocates funding to responsibly develop, test, procure, and integrate transformative AI applications across the Federal Government, including causing the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to establish the U.S. AI Safety Institute to operationalize NIST’s AI Risk Management Framework by creating guidelines, tools, benchmarks, and best practices for evaluating and mitigating dangerous capabilities and conducting evaluations including red-teaming to identify and mitigate AI risk.

Poverty Reduction
The party states that:
– it remains committed to ending poverty and enabling all Americans to live up to their God-given potential.
– it knows that most folks fundamentally want the same things – not a hand out, but a fair shot.

The party advocates:
– 10-20-30 funding, to provide 10% of federal funding to communities in which at least 20% of population has lived beneath the poverty line for 30 years or more
– increasing funding for federal food assistance programs, to alleviate child hunger
– boosting funding for economic development in impoverished communities through grants, investment, and tax credits
– insuring access to low-cost, language accessible banking to low and middle income families programs, to alleviate child hunger
– improving economic mobility for people of color
– limiting gentrification of neighborhoods
– ending housing discrimination by equalizing access to credit and expanding first-time homebuyer’s support
– strengthening the Community Reinvestment Act to invest in low-income communities
– using federal procurement to incentivize private companies to recruit and advance people of color
– budgeting $4.1 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), to help families access home energy and weatherization assistance
– following expiration of the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program at the end of 2023, allowing States to use a portion of their LIHEAP funds to provide water bill assistance to low-income households

To benefit lower- and middle-income workers and families, the party’s 2025 budget advocates:
– restoring the full Child Tax Credit enacted in the American Rescue Plan, expanding the credit from $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child for children six years old and above, and to $3,600 per child for children under six, in addition to permanently reforming the credit to make it fully refundable, so that it no longer excludes
children in the lowest-income families from receiving the full credit, and allowing families to receive monthly advance payments
– making permanent the Earned Income Tax Credit expansion for workers not raising children in their homes, which would boost the income of 19 million very
low-paid workers.

Housing
The party states that:
– although housing remains a challenge for many families, homeownership is higher now than before the COVID-19 pandemic, including for African Americans and Hispanic Americans
– rental costs have moderated in 2023-2024; and a record number of apartments are under construction
– in 2023, the administration lowered Federal Housing Administration annual mortgage insurance premiums by about one third, saving more than 400,000 borrowers approximately $800 over the first year of the mortgage with continued savings in subsequent years
– the administration secured rental assistance for over 100,000 additional low-income households for the Housing Choice Voucher program, guaranteeing
rents at 30 percent of those families’ incomes

To reduce homelessness, the party advocates:
– allocation of $4.1 billion, an increase of $427 million over the 2023 level, for Homeless Assistance Grants to continue supporting approximately 1.2 million people experiencing homelessness each year and to expand assistance to approximately 25,000 additional households, specifically survivors of domestic violence and homeless youth
– in addition, allocating approximately $100 million in program recaptures to fund coordinated interventions to support nearly 11,000 additional homeless individuals and families, pursuant to the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
– allocating $505 million, or $6 million above the 2023 level, for Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS, serving a population with a disproportionately high rate of homelessness and providing a critical link to services
– allocation of a further $8 billion for acquisition, construction, or operation of housing to expand options for people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness, as well as $3 billion to provide counseling and emergency rental assistance to older adult renters at-risk of homelessness

To make housing more affordable, the party advocates:
– investing $1.3 billion in the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) to construct and rehabilitate affordable rental housing and provide homeownership opportunities
– to further address the critical shortage of affordable housing in communities throughout the Nation, providing $20 billion in mandatory funding for a new Innovation Fund for Housing Expansion, which would be a competitive grant program for municipalities and other entities that develop concrete plans for expanding housing supply, with additional funding for housing affordability pilots
– providing $7.5 billion in mandatory funding for new Project-Based Rental Assistance contracts to incentivize the development of new climate-resilient affordable housing
– expanding the existing Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and establishing a new Neighborhood Homes Tax Credit, to expand the supply of safe and affordable housing, bring new units to market, and help curb cost growth across the broader rental market

To assist first-time homebuyers, the party advocates:
– a new Mortgage Relief Credit for middle-class first-time homebuyers of up to $10,000 over two years
– to unlock starter home inventory for first-time homebuyers and help middle-class families who are “locked in” to their current homes due to rising mortgage rates a credit of up to $10,000 for one year to middle-class families who sell their starter home—a home at or below the area median home price—to another owner occupant
– $10 billion in mandatory funding for a new First-Generation Down Payment Assistance program to help address homeownership and wealth gaps
– up to $50 million for a HOME down payment assistance pilot program to reduce mortgage down payments for first-generation as well as low wealth first-time homebuyers

To assist renters, the party advocates:
– to increase the number of families that can be supported through the HCV program, which currently assists 2.3 million low-income families in obtaining housing in the private market, providing $32.8 billion in discretionary funding, an increase of $2.5 billion over the 2023 level, which assumes Public Housing Agencies will draw $963 million from HCV program reserves to maintain and protect critical services for all currently assisted families
– expanding assistance for those those who are experiencing homelessness or fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence or other forms of gender-based
Violence
– to assist youth aging out of foster care and extremely low-income (ELI) veterans, providing $9 billion to establish a housing voucher program for all 20,000 youth aging out of foster care annually, and $13 billion to incrementally expand rental assistance for 400,000 ELI veteran families

To protect families from health hazards imposed by lead water pipes and paint, the party’s 2025 budget proposal advocates:
– allocating a total of $101 million to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for remediating lead contamination in drinking water
– allocating an additional $2.4 billion for EPA’s State Revolving Funds for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, an increase of more than $1 billion over the 2023 enacted level for those programs
– allocating $350 million in HUD grants for States, local governments, and nonprofits to reduce lead-based paint and other health hazards, especially
in the homes of low-income families with young children, including $67 to prevent and mitigate lead-based paint and housing-related health hazards, such
as fire safety and mold, in public housing, an increase of $2 million above 2023 level

Living wage
The party advocates:
– raising wages for working people and improving job quality and security, including by raising the federal minimum wage so it reaches $15 an hour by 2026
– guaranteed equal pay for women
– reforming social security by increasing benefits for all, protecting surviving spouses
– rejecting efforts to privatize or weaken social security, including raising retirement age or cuts to cost-of-living increases
– addressing social security rights for unpaid caregivers

Jobs, Unions, Employment

The party states that:
– a four-year post-secondary degree is not and should not be the only route to a good job
– during the administration’s term in office the economy has added nearly 16 million jobs, including nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs, not only recovering all the positions lost during COVID, but adding 6.3 million more than existed before.
– 30 states from Mississippi to Pennsylvania have seen record-low unemployment; and the run of low unemployment nationwide hasn’t been this long in over 50 years. Wages are up across the board, and rising fastest for lower-income workers, Black workers, Latinos, and women. Today’s recovery is the fairest on record
– in just four years, 40 percent of the wage inequality gap has been erased.
– a record 18 million small business applications have been filed

Job training
The party states that:
– it is committed to ensuring high labor standards, involving workers in decision-making, and enforcing rules against unfair labor practices, at home and abroad
– the current administration has has invested in pathways to jobs in growing sectors, supporting both critical workforce programs at community colleges and career pathways programs in the K-12 system through the first-ever Career-Connected High Schools grants

The party advocates:
– increased investment in adult literacy and other skills development programs
– investment in career and technical education, including apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeship programs
– increased support for Registered Apprenticeships, including investment of $335 million, a $50 million increase, with expanded programs in clean energy-related occupations and to increase participation by historically underrepresented groups, including people of color, women, and people with disabilities, who participate in Registered Apprenticeships

Unions & employment
The party advocates:
– investment in clean energy, clean transportation, energy efficiency, and advanced manufacturing
– repeal of right-to-work legislation, to strengthen unions
– eliminating systematic racism and discrimination in employment by strengthening and increasing funding for the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission
– putting American workers first in trade negotiations
– implementing paid sick days and comprehensive paid family and medical leave for all workers
– major investment in quality, affordable child care, increase Child & Dependent tax credit
– increased wages for caregivers in all settings

Workers’ rights
To empower and protect workers, the party advocates:
– repealing right-to-work legislation to strengthen unions
– strengthening whistleblower and anti-retaliation legislation to protect workers
– personal accountability for executives who interfere with worker organization
– increased staff and funding for the Labor Department to enforce labor laws
– passing the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act to provide better pay and benefits for public sector employees
– investing $2 billion in its 2025 budget, to ensure that workers are treated with dignity and respect in the workplace through DOL worker protection agencies, including protection of workers’ wages and benefits, ensuring that children are working only in conditions that are safe and legal, addressing misclassification of workers as independent contractors, and improving workplace health and safety
– supporting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the implementation and enforcement of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and advancement of pay equity through the collection and analysis of employer pay data, and ensuring that use by employers of automated employment systems, including those that incorporate AI, does not result in discrimination against employees or job applicants

Child labor
The party states that:
– since 2019, DOL has seen an 88-percent increase in illegal child employment
– it is focused on preventing and addressing child labor exploitation, and has assessed more than $16 million in child labor penalties, including related to migrant children, who are particularly vulnerable

Family, medical, and sick leave
The Party states:
– that the vast majority of America’s workers do not have access to employer-provided paid family leave, including 73 percent of private sector workers, and that among the lowest-paid workers, who are disproportionately women and workers of color, 94 percent lack access to paid family leave through their employer
– in addition, as many as one in five retirees leave the workforce earlier than planned to care for an ill family member, which negatively impacts families, as well as the Nation’s labor supply and productivity

In its 2025 budget, the party proposes:
– establishment of a national, comprehensive paid family and medical leave program administered by SSA to ensure that all eligible workers can take up to 12 weeks to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill loved one, heal from their own serious illness, address circumstances arising from a loved one’s military deployment, find safety from domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking—otherwise known as “safe leave”; or up to three days to grieve the death of a loved one. The program would provide workers with progressive, partial wage replacement to take time off for family and medical reasons; include robust administrative funding; and use an inclusive family definition.
– requiring require employers to provide seven job-protected paid sick days each year to all workers, and ensure that employers cannot penalize workers for taking time off to address their health needs, or the health needs of their families, or for safe leave.

Unfair wage practices
The party states that during its term in office, the current administration:
– has recovered more than $770 million for more than 485,000 workers by enforcing laws for the protection of workers from wage theft and exploitation, including when they were not paid minimum wages or overtime, were denied tips, or were misclassified as independent contractors
– has proposed a new rule to extend overtime pay for up to an additional 3.6 million workers by raising the income threshold, meaning workers like fast-food
managers or executive assistants could qualify
– announced the publication of a final rule that will raise wage standards of construction workers by updating prevailing wage regulations, affecting more than one million workers constructing $200 billion in federally funded or assisted projects.

Corporations, Consumers, & Competition
The party states that:
– tech platforms and companies help keep us connected, inspire ideas and innovation, and create a global marketplace. At the same time, they collect, share, and exploit data; risk our children’s mental health; and deepen extremism and polarization.|
– there is growing scientific evidence for what so many Americans already know: social media and other online platforms can affect our mental health and well-being – particularly for our kids.
– in addition, a handful of dominant tech platforms and companies increasingly control much of the market, allowing them to exercise enormous power over Americans’ daily lives – and, too often, use that power to exclude competitors and undermine consumers and innovation.

The party advocates:
– review of recent mergers and acquisitions, with priority for pharmaceutical, health care, telecom, tech, and agriculture industries, to ensure no improper concentration, price increases, worker harm, inequality, reduced competition or innovation, etc.
– rewriting legislation to restrict non-compete clauses and mandatory arbitration for employment law disputes
– strengthening the anti-trust act, including in the agriculture industry
– updating of Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights to include national standards of protection
– enhanced privacy protection for children and students

Research
To maintain world-leading research capabilities, the party’s 2025 budget advocates investing $20 billion across major research agencies, an increase of $1.2 billion above the 2023 level, including:
– at the National Science Foundation (NSF), support for regional innovation programs, investments in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum information science, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce programs
– at the National Institute for Standards and Technology, supporting “Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence,” and funding construction and maintenance of research and development facilities
– in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science, supporting AI, high performance computing to improve climate modeling, clean energy technologies including fusion, and meeting national demand for isotopes

To promote science and exploration, the party’s 2025 budget advocates:
– allocating $7.8 billion for the Artemis space program, which would bring astronauts— including the first women, first people of color, and first international astronauts—to the lunar surface as part of a long-term journey of science and exploration, including a small lunar rover and a large cargo lander for use in delivering larger rovers and habitats to the surface in the 2030s.

Supply chain restoration and resilience
The party states that:
– the administration made restoration of supply chain resilience a top priority on day one, collaborating with industry and labor to address acute shortages and bottlenecks and securing critical supply chain investments through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. As a result, critical supply chains are significantly more fluid and resilient than they were at the start of the current term
– in addition, the administration has announced a new White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience to support enduring supply chain resilience

Small businesses
The party states that during the administration’s term in office:
– a record 18 million small business applications have been filed

The party advocates:
– providing technical and manufacturing expertise to small domestic manufacturers
– increased grants and loans to small businesses, including those owned by women and people of color, including increased lending levels across the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) business lending programs, including: the 7(a) business loan guarantee; capital for major fixed assets, known as a 504 loan guarantee; the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program; and Microloan programs

Agriculture
The party states that:
– farmers are the backbone of America. They feed America, and help feed the world. But rural America has been hard hit by trickle-down economics.
– as a result of corporate approaches to agriculture, the country has lost over 400,000 farms in the last 40 years.  Many young people have had to leave their hometowns to find good-paying work.  The administration believes that no one should have to leave the community where they grew up just to find opportunity.
– its Investing in America agenda is investing in all of America, including farms and rural areas. It’s creating new sources of income for farmers and increasing competition among suppliers, to both lower the cost of farm inputs and to get small and mid-size farmers a larger share of profits.
– its Inflation Reduction Act is helping farmers and ranchers adopt climate-smart practices, which make the land more resilient and increase profitability, while connecting them to new markets and premiums for sustainably produced commodities.
– it has supported independent meat and poultry processing, reducing producers’ reliance on big companies to buy their product; and it’s working to make livestock and poultry markets fairer and more transparent. Today, family farms have more income from more varied sources, so their children have more opportunity to stay family farmers.
– the administration is also helping family farmers service distressed loans in order to keep their lands and ultimately pass them down to their kids, and has worked with many farmers to boost the production of expensive fertilizer, increasing supply and easing costs.
– the U.S.D.A. also expanded farm insurance to allow for more double cropping, a practice that increases farm earnings, expands the food supply, and helps lower average food prices for American families.

The party advocates:
– getting farmers the right to repair their own equipment, without having to pay big equipment makers for diagnostic tools and repairs.
– further limiting foreign ownership of U.S. farmland, to protect the national food supply and national security.
– continued support for farm workers, including improving safety at meat processing facilities, continued enforcement and advancement of labor and environmental rules, for example promoting organizing rights and requiring overtime pay, and boosting protections against harmful pesticides and extreme heat.

Manufacturing, industries & agriculture
The Party states:
– as an article of its Credo, that at its heart lies a fundamental conviction that it is the responsibility of government to achieve a society where the livelihoods of our family farmers are as stable as the values they instill in the American character.
– during its term in office it has created nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs

The party advocates:
– disincentivizing off-shore manufacturing, and acceleration of on-shoring of critical supply chains
– expansion of tax credits for domestic manufacturing
– investment in innovation hubs, provision of technical and expertise to small manufacturers
– robust Buy America and Buy Clean standards for federally-supported projects

Tech & Communications; Artificial Intelligence
The party states that:
– artificial intelligence (AI) holds extraordinary potential for both promise and peril. While AI is helping to cure diseases, predict the weather, and transform education, it’s also being used to clone voices, commit fraud, institutionalize bias, and undermine democracy.
– the nation needs to act now and act fast to realize the promise of AI and manage its risks to ensure that AI serves the public interest.
– it is finding solutions to make sure that as AI’s capabilities grow, the implications for Americans’ rights, safety and security can be managed.  For example, the administration issued an Executive Order directing federal agencies to establish new high standards for AI safety and security, protect Americans’ privacy, advance equity and civil rights, stand up for workers and consumers, promote competitive markets for AI development and use, and more.
– it is committed to ensuring that workers get a voice in how AI is used in the workplace, and that they share fairly in any economic gains AI produces.
– it being known that AI can deepen discrimination, bias, and other abuses in justice, health care, education, and housing, the administration has taken action by publishing a Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights and issuing new guidance from federal agencies on combating algorithmic discrimination across the economy.
– to ensure that the brightest minds are working to understand new technologies, the administration has launched an AI Talent Surge to accelerate hiring of AI professionals across the federal government, with a pilot program to enhance successful initiatives for training additional scientists in AI, and an AI Safety Institute at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to set rigorous standards for extensive testing of powerful AI models to ensure safety before public release.

The party advocates:
– continuing to advocate for the safe and secure development of AI, including investing in the AI Safety Institute to create guidelines, tools, benchmarks, and best practices for evaluating dangerous capabilities and mitigating AI risk and prioritizing funding for research to advances AI safety.
– banning voice impersonations, along with heightened protections in critical sectors such as health care, financial services, education, housing, and transportation.

Transportation & infrastructure
The party believes that transportation is a public good, and that transit jobs should be good jobs

The party states that during its term in office the current administration:
– signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the largest infrastructure bill since the Eisenhower Administration, and has announced $400 billion for 40,000 infrastructure projects across 4,500 communities throughout every State, including $250 billion to improve roads and bridges, airports, and more reliable public transit and rail service, as well as affordable, reliable high-speed rural internet, clean drinking water, and reliable electricity
– through the Inflation Reduction Act, has spurred over $600 billion in private sector investments, including more than $160 billion announced investments in battery and EV supply chains, and creating more than 210,000 new clean energy jobs across the Nation with a projected 1.5 million additional jobs over the next decade
– through implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act, announced 31 Tech Hubs to help communities across the Nation become centers of innovation critical to
American competitiveness
– in order to ensure that every American has access to affordable broadband internet while creating high-paying union jobs, has provided through the Affordable Connectivity Program high-speed Internet service to over 23 million eligible low income households at low or no cost; through the Department of Commerce has allocated nearly $42 billion in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program funding to all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and five Territories to deploy reliable high-speed Internet service; and USDA has provided $2.3 billion to people living and working across 35 States and Territories expand broadband access to more than 137,000 households.

The party advocates:
– job creation through investment in repair, modernization and expansion of transportation infrastructure, including addition of 500,000 public electric-vehicle charging stations
– use of safe modern designs to allow cars, pedestrians, cyclists and others to share roads
– investment in high-speed rail and renovation of Amtrak, including $2.5 billion for grants to Amtrak, along with $250 million for the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program, in addition to the $13.2 billion in rail funding directly provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and additional funding for funding for critical rail safety programs.
– requiring that US-made cargo be carried on US-flagged ships
– creation of a public infrastructure bank to leverage public and private resources for projects of national or regional significance
– union protections for federal infrastructure projects
– allocating, in its 2025 budget, a total of $78.4 billion for highway, highway safety, and transit formula programs, supporting the amounts authorized for year four of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This includes $62.1 billion for the Federal-aid Highways program, to support the continued repair and upgrading of
highways and bridges
– an additional $14.3 billion for Transit Formula Grants, a $645 million increase above the 2023 level, to support core capital and planning programs
for transit agencies across the Nation, as well as transit research, technical assistance, and data collection
– an additional $9.5 billion in advance appropriations provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for bridge replacement and rehabilitation, electric vehicle charging infrastructure
– allocating $17.5 billion in discretionary budget authority for FAA, an increase of $2.1 billion above the 2023 enacted level, to support robust hiring and training of air traffic controllers started in 2023, to rebuild the pipeline of new controllers needed to safely meet projected air traffic demands, and continuing to reform aircraft certification and safety oversight capabilities
– allocating $8 billion to significantly modernize FAA’s major facilities and radars
– increasing the fuel tax for high-end business jets, to better align the costs of the services provided to those users on the system.

Competition
The party states that:
– capitalism without competition isn’t capitalism, it’s exploitation.
– during the current administration, it launched a Competition Council tasked with coordinating and advancing competition; and Agencies have taken dozens of actions to increase competition across markets and industries – from making hearing aids available over the counter, to reducing cargo and rail shipping costs for goods, to support efforts to allow farmers and other Americans to repair their own equipment.
– the Justice Department and the FTC have increased antitrust enforcement, releasing updated merger guidelines, and halting a slate of big mergers in the airline, food, and defense sectors that would have increased consumer prices.
– working to shore up a safe, secure banking system that protects consumer deposits and holds investors accountable. It has pushed for legislation to hold executives at all failed banks accountable, clawing back compensation and banning them from the industry.
– it is working to limit out-of-control Wall Street bonuses that encourage risky bank practices that jeopardize our whole economy, and will continue pushing to pass an updated Glass-Steagall Act, more clearly separating commercial and investment banking and expanding Volcker rule safeguards.

In its 2025 budget, the party advocates:
– allocating $288 million in the 2025 Budget for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ), an increase of $63 million over the 2023 enacted level and $103 million over the 2021 enacted level, to strengthen antitrust enforcement efforts to promote vigorous marketplace competition and reduce costs and raise wages for the American people.

Consumer protection
The party states that:
– hidden, surprise fees on customer bills cost families tens of billions of dollars each year and stifle competition
– the current administration has used every available tool to address them, including cracking down on hidden fees in airline tickets, banking, investment
advice, health insurance, and apartment rentals, and by pushing banks to reduce overdraft and bounced check fees
– the Federal Trade Commission has proposed rules to ban companies from charging hidden and misleading fees and requiring them to show the full price up front, and to require sellers to make it as easy for consumers to cancel their enrollment as it was to sign up
– the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed a rule that would lower credit card late fees from approximately $30 to $8
– to help stop price fixing or price gouging in grocery stores, and similar sharp practices, the Department of Agriculture has announced a new partnership with bipartisan State attorneys general
– the Department of Housing and Urban Development has called on industry, housing providers, and State and local governments to adopt policies that promote greater fairness and transparency of fees faced by renters
– it is cracking down to prevent collusion by oil companies that could raise prices
– the administration has met repeatedly with grocery CEOs and business leaders, who agreed this spring to lower prices, and is cracking down on price gouging and promoting competition in agriculture, making everything from fertilizer to poultry processing more affordable for farmers
– it has into law the bipartisan Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which lowers shipping prices and helps American farmers export their goods.

An Economy to Serve People
The party states, as part of its ten key values, that:
– all persons must have, as a matter of right, the opportunity to benefit equally from the resources afforded by society and the environment
– the accumulation of individual wealth in the U.S. has reached grossly unbalanced proportions. It is clear that we cannot rely on the rich to regulate their profit-making excesses for the good of society through “trickle-down economics.” We must take aggressive steps to restore a fair distribution of income
– it supports a major redesign of commerce, including endorsement of true-cost pricing and support production methods that eliminate waste
– it opposes capitalism and seeks to build an alternative economic system based on social ecology, decentralization of power, and freedom from state control, an eco-socialist economy based on large-scale green public works, municipalization, and workplace and community democracy. Worker and community empowerment will ensure that decisions that greatly affect our lives are made in the interests of our communities, not at the whim of capitalist CEOs and distant boards of directors. Democratically run enterprises embedded in and accountable to our communities will make more ecologically sound decisions and help end labor exploitation, environmental exploitation, and racial, gender, and wealth inequality and bring about economic and social justice
– it supports establishment of a form of basic economic security open to all
– it calls for moving beyond the narrow ‘job ethic’ to new definitions of ‘work,’ ‘jobs’ and ‘income’ in a cooperative and democratic economy
– it supports restructuring national patterns of income distribution to reflect the wealth created by those outside the formal monetary economy – those who take responsibility for parenting, housekeeping, home gardens, community volunteer work, and the like
– it supports restricting the size and concentrated power of corporations without discouraging superior efficiency or technological innovation
– all social actions and policies should be motivated by long-term goals, seeking to protect valuable natural resources and safely disposing of or ‘unmaking’ all waste we create, while developing a sustainable economics that does not depend on continual expansion for survival
– the economy must counterbalance the drive for short-term profits by assuring that economic development, new technologies, and fiscal policies are responsible to future generations who will inherit the results of our actions
– the quality of all lives, rather than open-ended economic growth, should be the focus of future thinking and policy

The party advocates an Economic Bill of Rights, as part of its Eco-socialist Green New Deal, including:
– Job Guarantee — A public living-wage job for those who cannot find work in the private sector
– Income Guarantee — A guaranteed minimum income above poverty built into the progressive income tax structure as monthly payments to bring people above the poverty line whose incomes are below it
– Housing Guarantee — An expansion of public housing until every person has an affordable housing option
– Universal Health Care — A single public payer covering all medically necessary services for all
– Lifelong Public Education — Tuition-free public education from child care and pre-K through post-secondary college and trade schools
– Secure Retirement — An increase in Social Security benefits so every recipient has an income above poverty

Measuring Economic Health
The party states that:
– economic growth remains a primary goal of U.S. policy, with corporations and others advocating a theory of unlimited economic growth through technological progress
– the physical and biological sciences, however, suggest that there is a limit to economic growth
– there is a fundamental conflict between economic growth and ecological health (for example, biodiversity conservation, clean air and water, atmospheric stability)
– we cannot rely on technological progress to solve ecological and long-term economic problems

The party advocates:
– promoting lifestyle choices that reinforce a general equilibrium of humans with nature, including conscious choices to foster environmentally sound technologies, whether new or old, and to discourage conspicuous consumption and waste
– pursuit of a steady-state economy, including a stable or mildly fluctuating product of population and per capita consumption and GDP
– an alternative way to measure the economy is to assess the value of non-monetary goods and services and measure the rate of infant mortality, life expectancy of people, educational opportunities offered by the state, family stability, environmental data, and health care for all people
– another measure includes quantifying human benefit (in terms of education, health care, elder care, etc.) provided by each unit of output. Measuring the gap between the most fortunate and the least fortunate in our society, for example, tells us how well or poorly we are doing in creating an economy that does not benefit some at the expense of others
– for nations with widespread poverty, increasing per capita consumption (through economic growth or through more equitable distributions of wealth)
– acknowledgment that ultimately the global ecosystem will not be able to support further economic growth
– an equitable distribution of wealth among nations, in order to maintain a global steady-state economy

Poverty Reduction
The party states that:
– it is time for a radical shift in our attitude toward support for families, children, the poor and the disabled
– such support must not be given grudgingly; it is the right of those presently in need and an investment in our future
– we should recognize that the work of their caregivers is of social and economic value, and reward it accordingly
– ensuring that children and their caregivers have access to an adequate, secure standard of living should form the cornerstone of our economic priorities. Only then can we hope to build our future on a foundation of healthy, educated children who are raised in an atmosphere of love and security
– all people have a right to food, housing, medical care, jobs that pay a living wage, education, and support in times of hardship
– work performed outside the monetary system has inherent social and economic value, and is essential to a healthy, sustainable economy and peaceful communities. Such work includes: child and elder care; homemaking; voluntary community service; continuing education; participating in government; and the arts
– we must take an uncompromising position that the care and nurture of children, elders and the disabled are essential to a healthy, peaceful, and sustainable society
– we have a special responsibility to the health and wellbeing of the young
– our community priorities must first protect the young and helpless
– local decision-making is important, but, as we learned during the civil rights era, strict federal standards must guide state actions in providing basic protections

The party advocates:
– as single mothers are the largest and most severely impoverished group in the United States, which explains why 22% of the children in our country live below the poverty line, and since welfare reform has forced mothers to abandon their children while they travel to work at minimum wage jobs, it advocates supports real reforms to end poverty and return dignity and opportunity to all mothers, including:
– innovative programs that work with the particular and special needs of motherhood, in addition to general programs such as a universal basic income
– restoration of a federally funded entitlement program to support children, families, the unemployed, elderly and disabled, with no time limit on benefits
– funding of such a program through the existing welfare budget, reductions in military spending and corporate subsidies, and a fair, progressive income tax
– a graduated supplemental income, or negative income tax, that would maintain all individual adult incomes above the poverty level, regardless of employment or marital status
– reinvestment of a significant portion of the military budget into family support, living-wage job development, and work training programs
– publicly funded work training and education programs which have a goal of increasing employment options at finding living-wage jobs
– public funding for the development of living-wage jobs in community and environmental service. For example, environmental clean-up, recycling, sustainable agriculture and food production, sustainable forest management, repair and maintenance of public facilities, neighborhood-based public safety, aides in schools, libraries and childcare centers, and construction and renovation of energy-efficient housing
– ending of enterprise zone giveaways, which benefit corporations more than inner-city communities
– tax incentives for businesses that apply fair employee wage distribution standards, and income tax policies that restrict the accumulation of excessive individual wealth
– requiring corporations receiving public subsidies must provide jobs that pay a living wage, observe basic workers’ rights, and agree to affirmative action policies

Livable Income
The party affirms the importance of access to a livable income, and advocates:
– a universal basic income (sometimes called a guaranteed income, negative income tax, citizen’s income, or citizen dividend), to go to every adult regardless of health, employment, or marital status, in order to minimize government bureaucracy and intrusiveness into people’s lives
– assuring such incomes in amounts sufficient so that anyone who is unemployed can afford basic food and shelter, with supplementation by state and local governments from local revenues where the cost of living is high
– prioritizing job banks and other innovative training and employment programs which bring together the private and public sector
– for people who are unable to find decent work in the private sector, options through publicly funded opportunities
– workforce development programs aimed at moving people out of poverty
– a clear living wage standard should serve as a foundation for trade between nations, and a “floor” of guaranteed wage protections and
workers’ rights should be negotiated in future trade agreements, with the United States taking the lead on this front
– ending destructive, predatory corporate practices under the guise of “free” international trade.

Housing
The party states that
– people have a right to a home and to be secure in their tenancy. However the supply of affordable housing is not meeting the need, while in an era of increasing deregulation, many tenants are losing important legal protections
– funding for affordable housing is decreasing, while rent control and tenant eviction protections do not exist in many jurisdictions
– housing discrimination also remains rampant against people of color, immigrants, disabled, single people, gays and lesbians, and families with children
– long-term stagnation of workers’ real wages further exacerbates the lack of housing availability and affordability
– moreover, although increased affordable housing can help alleviate the problem of homelessness, the homeless have additional needs that go far beyond housing

The party advocates:
– guaranteed rights for tenants, including: freedom from harassment and evictions without just cause; well-enforced habitability standards; strong anti-discrimination enforcement, including family protection laws and domestic partnerships; continuation of established services and amenities; the right to reasonable guest visitation; maintenance of roommate privileges; and the right to communicate with other tenants about conditions or circumstances in their buildings, with strong penalties for landlords who violate these rights
– funding of public and non-profit tenant-related counseling and legal assistance for renters
– defense and expansion of cities’ right to enact local rent control laws, including vacancy control/recontrol, that fit the needs of their communities
– publicly elected Rent Control/Stabilization Boards for communities with local rent control laws
– preservation and increase of affordable housing inclusionary ordinances that fit the needs of their communities, so that the private sector will contribute its share of affordable housing construction
– funding for publicly built affordable housing, including funding for non-profit corporations that build affordable housin
– zoning to promote mixed-use development along transit corridors to locate housing next to jobs and public transportation
– ensuring that fair housing principles are emphasized in programs addressing the mortgage and financial crisis
– prevention of homelessness before it occurs by addressing its structural causes, through raising the income floor under the working poor, creating living-wage jobs, providing job training and education that will enable low-wage workers to obtain living-wage jobs, preserving and expanding affordable housing, providing affordable health care, ensuring sufficient mental health care and substance abuse services, availability of healthy food and providing effective, holistic assistance that connects vulnerable individuals with sources of income and essential services
– recognition that there are multiple, related and individualized causes of homelessness, and develop solutions that address them
– to increase employment for homeless people, setting aside a share of public-sector jobs for homeless people who are able to work, and ensuring that public agencies devoted to job creation are active in providing job training and work opportunities for homeless residents, with support non-profit agencies engaged in such work
– involving homeless people in decision-making about short- and long-term solutions to homelessness
– educating homeless people about their right to vote, and encouraging voter registration and voter participation among homeless people

Jobs, Unions, & Employment
The party states that:
– it proposes a third alternative to a job or no job dichotomy: to provide everyone a sustainable livelihood. The need of our times is for security, not necessarily jobs. We need security in the knowledge that, while markets may fluctuate and jobs may come and go, we are still able to lead a life rooted in dignity and well-being
– the concept of a “job” is only a few hundred years old; and the artificial dichotomy between “employment” and “unemployment” has become a tool of
social leverage for corporate exploiters. This produces a dysfunctional society in various ways: (1) It is used to justify bringing harmful industries to rural
communities, such as extensive prison construction and clear cutting of pristine forests. (2) It has been used to pit workers (people needing jobs) against the
interests of their own communities. (3) It has created a self-esteem crisis in a large segment of the adult population who have been forced into doing work
that is irrelevant, socially harmful, or environmentally unsound.
– the right to organize unions, bargain freely and strike when necessary is being eroded by employers and their representatives in government
– nearly one out of ten workers involved in union organizing drives is illegally fired by employers who want to keep workers from exercising a genuinely free choice
– as union membership falls, so do the wages of all working people, union and non-union alike
– it supports the irreducible right of working people, without hindrance, to form unions and to bargain collectively with their employers, as guaranteed under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935
– it supports the right of workers, without penalty, to inform other workers on the premises of a union being formed, including the right to advertise and recruit
– a major consequence of enacting living wage laws that apply to all workers would be lessening of the ever-widening gap between CEOs’ income and workers’ pay. The growing gap between rich and poor is destructive of democracy and creates an uneven playing field for economic opportunity
– public welfare that depends on hand-outs from the corporate rich reduces democracy by that same amount
– every citizen is entitled to the leverage necessary to become a productive member of the economy and the society in which we live

The party advocates:
– creation of work that does not jeopardize our future or widen the gap between the richest and the poorest in our society, and that can enrich our communities
– creating alternative, low-consumption communities and living arrangements, including a reinvigorated sustainable homesteading movement in rural areas and voluntary shared housing in urban areas
– establishing local non-profit development corporations.
– providing people with information about alternatives to jobs
– adopting a reduced-hour (30-35 hours) work week as a standard. This could translate into as many as 26 million new jobs
-subsidizing renewable energy sources, which directly employ 2 to 5 times as many people for every unit of electricity generated as fossil or nuclear
sources yet are cost competitive
– supporting small business by reducing tax, fee and bureaucratic burdens
– opposing the trend toward “bundling” of contracts that minimizes opportunity for small, minority-owned, and women-owned businesses
– reducing consumption to minimize outsourcing — the exportation of jobs to other countries—thus reducing the relative price of using U.S. workers.
– a complete overhaul of this country’s labor laws
– a right of employees to sit equally with management on company the Boards of Directors
– the right of members to fair and democratic elections of their own union officers
– prohibiting the permanent replacement of striking workers
– the prohibition of forced overtime
– flexible working schedules so employees can arrange their own time to deal with personal and family concerns
– the right of all workers, temporary or permanent, to a living wage
– a federal minimum wage for all workers of at least $15 per hour, indexed to inflation
– health care coverage for all workers, at least half paid by employer, until the passage of universal health care
– unemployment insurance, workers compensation, and access to a jobs search program for all unemployed workers, including farm workers as well
– fully vested and portable pension benefits, which do not reduce social security benefits, for all workers
– mediation as the first available solution to labor– management disputes, with an agreed-upon time limit
– labor’s first right to buy out a company that is for sale or is going bankrupt, or being outsourced to another state or another country
– requiring employers who purchase or merge with other companies to honor all existing collective bargaining agreements and contracts
– labor’s right to stock ownership and oversight of the investment of its own funds in the company where it works
– encouragement of cooperative ownership and management of enterprises
– restriction of management’s ability to close its workplace and move to a lower-pay locale, to protect the local workforce and their job security
– establishment of a reduced-hour work week and at least one month of vacation per year for all workers
– to ensure that all workers have safe and humane working environments, protection and enforcement of OSHA laws, adequate testing of equipment and funding of enforcement procedures, informing workers of workplace hazards

Pension Reform
The party advocates:
– to give workers options concerning investment of their pension funds, including those used used for corporate mergers, acquisitions and leveraged
buyouts, decisions that undercut workers rights, employment, and retirement while generously rewarding non-productive speculation, joint control of corporate-sponsored pension funds (the biggest category of funds) by management and workers, not exclusively management
– implementation of federal laws to enable pension funds to simply seek a reasonable rate of return, not the prevailing market rate which greatly restricts where investments can be made
– establishment of a secondary pension market by the government to insure pension investments made in socially beneficial programs must be considered as one method that could greatly expand the impact of this capital market

Small Businesses, Trades & Crafts
The party states that:
– small businesses are where the jobs are being created. Over the past decade and a half, all new net job growth has come from the small business sector
– conservation should be profitable, and employment should be creative, meaningful and fairly compensated
– access to capital is often an essential need in growing a business
– the present tax system acts to discourage small business as it encourages waste, discourages conservation, and rewards consumption.
– big business has used insider access to dominate the federal tax code. The tax system needs a major overhaul to favor the legitimate and critical needs of the small business community
– retention of capital through retained earnings, efficiencies, and savings is central to small business competitiveness. Current tax policies often act to unfairly penalize small business

The party advocates:
– going beyond the dedicated good work being done by many “socially responsible businesses” to present new ways of seeing how business can help create a sustainable world, while surviving in a competitive business climate
– reduction of unnecessary restrictions, fees, bureaucracy, including in particular use of the Paper Simplification Act should as a way to benefit small business
the self-employed
– full tax deductions for health insurance premiums paid by the self-employed
– examination of the use of pension funds (the result of workers’ investments) as additional sources of capital for small business
– reduction of insurance costs by means of active engagement with the insurance industry, and expansion of insurance pools
– one-stop government offices to assist individuals who want to change careers or go into business for the first time
– support for home offices

Corporations
The party states that:
– the legal imperative of profit above all else is damaging the nation and our planet in countless ways. We must change the legal design of corporations so that they generate profits, but not at the expense of the environment, human rights, public health, workers, or the communities in which the corporation operates

The party advocates:
– reducing the economic and political power of large corporations, ending corporate personhood, and re-designing corporations to serve our society, democracy and the environment
– strong and effectively enforced antitrust laws and regulation to counteract the concentration of economic and political power that imposes a severe toll on people, places and the planet. Greens believe the legal structure of the corporation is obsolete
– prevention and justice are at the heart of consumer protection
– millions of lives will be saved or lost depending on the strength of our consumer protection laws
– it aims to stop corporations and others from defrauding consumers or endangering them with defective products or negligence
– it stands with consumers who have been injured or defrauded by corporations and others, and with whistleblowers, who are often the public’s best protection against corporate crime, fraud and waste

Banks and Finance
The party states that:
– because finance, banking, and insurance institutions occupy a privileged position of power at the center of commerce, this special advantage brings with it
special social responsibilities
– the nation must ensure that institutions chartered for these roles take that responsibility seriously and serve the public interest
– it aims to reform the financial industry to eliminate usury (exorbitantly high interest rates on loans) and ensure that they meet their obligations to taxpayers and local communities

The party advocates:
– overhauling the financial industry to end its culture of impunity and to prevent it from committing fraud or malfeasance so severe as to drive our nation into a massive recession or depression
– breaking up the nation’s largest banks and financial institutions so that none is “too big to fail”
– ending taxpayer- funded bailouts for banks, insurers and other financial companies
– regulating all financial derivatives, banning predatory or gambling use of derivatives, and requiring full transparency for all derivative trades, to control risk of systemic financial collapse.
– requiring regulatory preapproval of exotic financial instruments
– reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act, which prohibited bank holding companies from owning other financial companies and engaging in risky economic transactions
– ending federal government guarantees for speculative investments
– ensuring that relief provided by the federal government during a financial crisis is provided in an equal manner and at the most local level possible, so that
benefits are equitably dispersed and burdens are equitably born
– ensuring that low- and middle-income people have access to banking services, affordable loans, and small-business supporting capital, especially through credit unions
– ending disinvestment practices in which lending and financial institutions move money deposited in local communities out of those same communities, damaging the best interests of their customers and community
– extension of the Community Reinvestment Act to provide public and timely information on the extent of housing loans, small business loans to minority-owned enterprises, investments in community development projects, and affordable housing
– strengthening of disclosure laws, anti-redlining laws, and openness on the part of lenders regarding what criteria they use in making lending decisions
– development of charter community development banks capitalized with public funds and working to meet the credit needs of local communities
– prosecution of criminal banking speculation
– a moratorium on foreclosures. An ongoing mortgage-related crime wave is occurring around fraudulent foreclosures, rushed through without proper legal clearances or documentation, often on properties which foreclosing entities cannot even prove they own
– restructuring of the monetary system, to prevent misdirection of resources to speculation, toxic loans, and phony financial instruments that create huge profits for the few but no real wealth or jobs
– to reverse the privatization of control over the money issuing process of our nation’s monetary system; reverse its resulting concentration of wealth and income; and to end the regular recurrence of severe and disruptive banking crises, nationalizing the 12 Federal Reserve Banks, reconstituting them and
the Federal Reserve Systems Washington Board of Governors under a new Monetary Authority Board within the U.S. Treasury
– insurance reform, including elimination of special-interest protections, collusion, over-pricing and industry-wide practices that injure the interests of the insured when they are most vulnerable

Anti-Trust Enforcement
The party states that:
– the anti-trust division of the Justice Department has had its scope and powers reduced
– growth in unregulated mergers and acquisitions, spinoffs, and leveraged buy-outs has overwhelmed the federal government’s capacity to provide effective
Oversight
– financial and trading markets have become particularly vulnerable to insider trading. Securities and Exchange Commission regulation of these markets has seriously fallen short

The party advocates:
– strong and effective enforcement of anti-trust regulations to counteract the concentration of economic power
– redefinition of “relevant market share” in assessing mergers
– Congressional action to stop illegal monopolistic practices

Technology & Defense
The party states that:
– it supports defense technology transfer towards a peacetime technology-based economy, particularly new industrial applications and developments in the areas of advanced communications, alternative energy, non-toxic battery technology and waste management
– consolidation of the nuclear weapons complex should move toward alternative civilian technologies and non-proliferation work, not toward a new generation of nuclear weapon design and production

The party advocates:
– going forward with government and civilian space programs; research initiatives in sustainability science, environmental protection, ecological economics and transportation, appropriate technologies and technology transfer; environmental sampling and onitoring; systems testing; laser communications; and high speed
computers
– ending patenting or copyrighting life forms, algorithms, DNA, colors or commonly used words and phrases, and broad interpretation and ultimate expansion of the Fair Use of copyrighted works

Nanotechnology
The party states that like nuclear science and biotechnology, nanotechnology is being pursued largely outside of public debate, risking great harm and abuse in its use and application

The party advocates halting nanotechnology development until the following conditions are met:
– development of full and open public debate about the implications of nanotechnology and the fusion of nanotech with biological, materials and information sciences
– development of democratic public control mechanisms to regulate the direction of nanotechnology research and development
– expanded research into the environmental and health consequences of exposure to nano-scale materials
– development of technology and precautionary safety measures for containment and control over nano-scale materials and development

Consumers
The party advocates:
– strong consumer protections against fraud, dangerous products, usury, corporate greed and rip-offs, including strengthening of product safety standards and enforcement for a variety of products, including food, motor vehicles, pharmaceuticals and airplanes
– restoration of state health, safety, and consumer protection laws by striking federal pre-emptions that weaken state law
– preservation and expansion of product labeling requirements to ensure that consumers are informed about the origin, ingredients and ecological life cycle of all products, including animal testing and the product’s organic, recycled and genetically-engineered content, and inclusion of information about the nutritional value and the vegetarian or vegan status of food products
– prohibiting corporations from concealing information about public health, labor conditions or environmental safety via protective orders or confidential settlements
– expansion of class action rights against manufacturers of unsafe products and practices, and strengthen the civil justice system and supply the resources necessary to bring to justice to those corporations that injure innocent consumers
– protection for whistle blowers against demotion, job loss, and other forms of retaliation
– ending of “tort reform” that undermines consumers’ ability to seek redress, and “medical malpractice reform” that relieves negligent doctors of responsibility for injuring or killing their patients
– granting consumers the right to limit collection and secondary use of personal information by any commercial entity
– prohibiting loan and credit card interest rates higher 12% annually, indexed for inflation
– prohibiting the widespread practice of price gouging against women and the poor
– restoration of Chapter 7 bankruptcy as a viable final safety net for consumers caught by health crises, unaffordable mortgages, credit card debts and student loans
– banning the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in consumer contracts, to protect consumers from anti-consumer and unfair dispute resolution processes
– establishment of new independent government consumer advocacy agencies to protect the interests of consumers and restoration of the U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs
– policies to encourage citizens, taxpayers, ratepayers and consumers to form Citizens Utility Boards to advocate for the public interest.

Agriculture
The party states that:
– all people have a right to adequate, safe, nutritional and high quality food; and those who grow it have a right to a fair return for their labor
– the nation’s industrialized agriculture system is highly destructive of our environment, of our people’s health, and of our society’s future. Unless it changes radically, we face desertification, ecosystem collapse, mass extinctions, and starvation. Our civilization itself is threatened by the loss of the ecosystem services on which it depends for its existence
– agriculture is the high-order term in climate change, not only because of the amount of carbon it contributes to the atmosphere, but more importantly because of the vital role it could play in sequestering carbon and restoring a healthy carbon cycle
– among other things, the adoption of regenerative agriculture throughout the food system will put a stop to unethical confined animal operations, improve the diversity and nutritional content of our food, and rationalize the pricing and distribution of food

The party advocates:
– legislation that assists new and existing farmers and ranchers to convert their operations to regenerative agricultural methods that promote widespread ownership of small and medium-sized farms and ranches, and that revitalizes and repopulates rural communities and promotes sustainable development and stewardship
– legislation and regulations that promote foods produced using regenerative methods, including no-till/minimum till, natural soil building techniques, development of natural soil biomes, and set-asides for wildlife alongside cultivated areas
– a regionalized food system and decentralization of agriculture lands, production, and distribution
– promotion of producer and consumer cooperatives, community kitchens, Community Supported Agriculture, urban agriculture, and community farms and gardens
– creation of a Food Policy Council composed of farmers, including small farmers and consumers, to oversee the USDA and all food policies at the local, state, and national level, without powers to adjudicate conflicts of interest that arise when industries police themselves
– shifting price supports and government subsidies to organic, regeneratively produced food products so that they will be competitive with chemically produced food
– banning of sewage sludge or hazardous wastes as fertilizer, and of irradiation and the use of genetic engineering in all food production
– phasing out of man-made pesticides and artificial fertilizers in favor of Integrated Pest Management techniques
– food prices rhat reflect the true cost of food, including the health effects of eating processed foods, antibiotic resistance, pesticide effects on growers and consumers, soil erosion, water pollution, pesticide drift, and air pollution
– ethical and sustainable methods of animal husbandry, including a rapid phase out of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and a complete transition to an integrated, regenerative agriculture approach to the cultivation, treatment, and use of livestock, not only for environmental reasons, but also for the sake of food safety (e.g. disease epidemics), public health, and animal protection
– application of the Precautionary Principle to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), including a moratorium until safety can be demonstrated by independent (non-corporate funded), long-term tests for food safety, genetic drift, resistance, soil health, effects on non-target organisms, and cumulative interactions
– elimination of patent rights for genetic material, life forms, gene-splicing techniques, and bio-chemicals derived from them
– mandatory, full-disclosure food and fiber labeling, including contents, method of production, source of origin, presence of GMOs, use of irradiation, pesticide application (in production, transport, storage, and retail), compliance with organic standards
– coverage of agricultural and other excluded workers by federal labor laws, except where existing state laws offer more protection
– coverage of agricultural workers under the jurisdiction of OSHA
– ending industrialized agriculture methods, including monocropping, reliance on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and the use of confined animal operations, all of which are high-order contributors to atmospheric greenhouse gases
– converting food producing systems to small-scale organic, regenerative agriculture (agroecology) systems to restore soil health, sequester carbon, foster biodiversity, discourage the currently unsustainable level of meat consumption, and secure robust ecosystem services for a sustainable future
– replacement of subsidized, industrially-produced agricultural products with support for small producers employing organic, regenerative agricultural methods
– localized food distribution systems to minimize waste, build rural communities, and eliminate reliance on fossil fuels
– relocalization and decarbonization of the food system

Infrastructure & Transportation
The party advocates:
– increased development of clean public transportation, including electric vehicles of all types
– decentralization of the electric power grid into a bioregional system for generation and distribution of electricity, with smart grid updates and net metering

Pedestrians & Cyclists
The party advocates:
– encouraging pedestrians and bicyclists, by making streets, neighborhoods and commercial districts more pedestrian friendly, increasing the greenery of streets, and utilizing traffic-calming methods, where the design of streets promotes safe speeds and safe interaction with pedestrians.
– creating auto-free zones by developing extensive networks of bikeways, bicycle lanes and paths and maintain free community bicycle fleets

Rail
The party advocates:
– expanding the national network of rail lines, including high-speed regional passenger service
– transferring ownership and operation of all intercity railroad trackage currently under control of freight railroads to responsible and adequately funded public agencies, as is done with highways, to provide for efficiency and safety of all rail traffic

Autos & Trucks
The party advocates:
– a moratorium on highway widening, appropriating funds instead for mass transit and facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists
– mandating HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes on freeways, and lower tolls for carpools
– discouraging unnecessary auto use by eliminating free parking in non-residential areas well served by mass transit, and preferential parking rates for HOV
– regular increases in Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to levels which truly challenge automakers to improve the state of the art, using the fuel economy performance of vehicles worldwide for reference
– a Fee & Dividend system on the carbon content of gasoline, Diesel fuel and E85, and a fuel-economy-based Federal sales tax that creates a significant incentive for people to select more efficient vehicles, and for automakers to make them available
– electrification of truck stops, freight terminals and loading docks
– enactment and enforcement of anti-idling regulations
– encouraging carpooling programs, telecommuting, and other creative solutions to reduce commuter traffic congestion

Air Travel
The party advocates:
– making airports accessible by local transit systems
– further incremental reductions in airplane noise and air pollution

Innovation
The party advocates:
– creation of an inclusive program to train workers for the new, clean energy economy. Focusing on both the environment and social justice, prioritize the creation of green jobs in communities of color and low-income Ecological Sustainability communities
– transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030 using wind, solar, ocean, small-scale hydro, and geothermal power
– end the use of nuclear power, which is massively polluting, dangerous, financially risky, expensive and slow to implement, and diverting funds to wind, solar, geothermal, conservation and small-scale hydroelectric

An Economy for All
The Campaign states that:
– the guiding principles of its economic policies is that people who work hard should be able to afford a decent life
– once upon a time, a blue-collar worker with a high school education could support a family, take vacations, and even save for retirement
– technology has made our productivity many times higher, but life is life poorer than in the 1960s
– it is possible to restore the middle class by reversing missteps of the last 50 years: a massive military machine has nearly bankrupted the country; Washington has put corporations in charge, enriching the wealthiest as working people have dropped out of the middle class
– official unemployment is low, but most of the new jobs are in the low-pay service sector
– wealth inequality in the country is at a 100-year high. More than 60% of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck, with no savings for an emergency. Take-home pay after inflation and taxes has fallen 9% under the current administration.
– under the current administration, the price of an average home has risen from $250,000 to around$400,000, and mortgage rates have more than doubled. Rents have followed the trend

The Campaign advocates:
– raising the minimum wage to $15, which is the equivalent to its 1967 level
– prosecuting union-busting corporations so that labor can organize and negotiate fair wages
– expanding free childcare to millions of families with programs like that pioneered by the state of New Mexico
– dropping housing costs by $1000 per family and make home ownership affordable by backing 3% home mortgages with tax-free bonds
– cutting energy prices by restricting natural gas exports
– supporting small businesses by redirecting regulatory scrutiny onto large corporations
– securing the border and bring illegal immigration to a halt, so that undocumented migrants won’t undercut wages
– negotiating trade deals that prevent low-wage countries from competing with American workers in a “race to the bottom.”
– reining in military spending and using the resources to fund infrastructure, health care, higher education, child care, and domestic prosperity
– reversing the chronic disease epidemic that is a $3.7 trillion drag on families and the American economy
– cleaning out corruption in Washington, D.C., which funnels so much of our nation’s wealth to giant corporations and billionaires
– establishing addiction healing centers on organic farms across the country
– making student debt dischargeable in bankruptcy and cutting interest rates on student loans to zero
– cutting by half to bring them in line with other nations

To finance the above measures, the campaign advocates:
– ending military adventures and regime-change wars, like the one in Ukraine. The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Libya $90,000 per family of four, enough to pay off all medical debt, all credit card debt, provide free childcare, feed every hungry child, repair our infrastructure, and make college tuition free — with money left over
– ending the corruption in Washington: the corporate giveaways, the boondoggles, the bailouts of the too-big-to-fail that leave the little guy at the mercy of the market. Corporations right now are sitting on $8 trillion in cash. Their contribution to tax revenues was 33% in the 1950s — it is 10% today

Poverty Reduction
The campaign states that:
– the nation faces a widening wealth gap (the most unequal since the 1920s), rampant debt, decaying infrastructure, and a hollowed-out industrial base
– every night, tens of millions of American children go to bed hungry. Millions of Americans must choose between food and medicine; millions more are living on the edge, just a single car repair away from disaster. And these problems are worse for Black, Native, and other minority populations
– government assistance to the nation’s most vulnerable is a high priority, but even more important is to reverse policies that have led to such poverty in the first place. It proposes to rebuild the industrial infrastructure, ruined by forty years of off-shoring and misguided “free trade” schemes
– it advocates policies that favor small and medium businesses, which are the nation’s real job creators and the dynamos of American enterprise
– it supports labor in reclaiming its fair share of American prosperity, breaking up “too-big-to-fail” banks and monopolies, instead bailing out homeowners, debtors, and small business owners in crises
– global developments, particularly the end of the US dollar’s status as the world’s unchallenged reserve currency, portend turbulent economic conditions ahead. Yet at the same time, we know that America is fundamentally a wealthy nation, blessed with vast lands, rich resources, and a creative population, and that is the tap the campaign intends to tap into to turn the national economy around
– healthcare is another key aspect of American revitalization, as it consumes nearly one-fifth of GDP. However, it’s not just a matter of shifting the burden of who pays: healthcare spending per capita has increased twelve-fold since 1960. Is America twelve times healthier? On the contrary, the nation faces a pandemic of chronic disease. Auto-immunity, allergies, diabetes, obesity, addiction, anxiety, and depression afflict two-thirds of the population, up from a few percent in our grandparents’ time. It advocates going beyond making existing modalities available to all, to include low-cost alternative and holistic therapies that have been marginalized in a pharma-dominated system, and moving a sick care system to a wellness society.

Housing
The Campaign states that:
– the dream of home ownership is slipping away for many Americans with high mortgage rates, rising prices, and stagnant income
– venture capital firms and hedge funds are buying up single-family homes by the millions
– as home ownership costs rise beyond reach, rents follow them

The campaign cites these statistics:
– American homeownership is declining at the highest rate since the great depression; the nation lost more than 1 million homeowners in 2021 —more than in the housing crash of 2008 —and then another million in 2022
– the median home price has risen from $250,000 in 2019 to $400,000 in 2023
– mortgage interest rates have more than doubled under the current administration
– the rise in interest rates, combined with rising housing prices, has pushed the average monthly payment for someone buying a home from $1,050 in 2019 to over $2,600 per month
– at the same time, take-home pay after inflation and taxes has fallen by 9%
– at the current pace, by 2030 60% of single-family homes will be owned by corporations
– home ownership is now out of reach for all but the top income bracket
– younger Americans in particular barely dream of ever owning a home. They face a future at the mercy of corporate landlords who will raise rent to the highest level the market will bear

The Campaign advocates:
– tax-free 3% government-backed mortgage bonds, to bring the mortgage interest rate back to 2019 levels and even lower. Because the financing will come from investors, the cost to taxpayers will be minimal while helping home buyers. This measure alone will reduce monthly costs for the average home purchase by $1,000
– bringing derelict land and buildings back online, by incentivizing local governments to buy back the thousands of vacant lots and buildings that have been seized in many cities for tax arrears or other reasons, and bring city-owned land and buildings back onto the market
– encouraging municipalities to change zoning laws to allow ancillary dwelling units (granny flats) on more properties, to make housing available, bring families together, and provide homeowners with rental income
– amendment of the tax code, including for example changing business depreciation rules and reforming the “enterprise zones” that have contributed so much to gentrification, in order to restore home ownership to tens of millions of Americans, and lower costs for tens of millions more and get large corporations out of the single-family home business

Unions & Employment
The campaign states that:
– Candidate Kennedy is a strong supporter of labor rights, going back to his youthful involvement with Cesar Chavez. He believes that capitalism can function only in the presence of a strong labor movement. If workers cannot bargain collectively, they will always be at a disadvantage negotiating with large corporations, who will relentlessly drive down wages and erode working conditions.
– it intends to make defense of the rights of workers a cardinal principle of governance.
– a Kennedy administration will defend worker’s rights: (i) to organize; (ii) to collective bargaining; (iii) to strike; (iv) to meaningful wages and benefits, including a significant increase to the minimum wage; (v) to a healthy and safe workplace with appropriate working conditions; (vi) to compensation if injured on the job; (vii) to a dignified and secure retirement

The campaign advocates:
– vigorous enforcement of laws against union-busting corporations so that workers at places like Starbucks and Amazon can organize
– a federal tax deduction for union dues, in recognition that strong unions are a boon to the nation
– raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, with automatic further increases to keep pace with inflation
– supporting legislation, such as the PRO Act, to boost worker protections and unionization
– amending bankruptcy laws so that collective bargaining agreements are preserved through bankruptcy and assumed by the new owner, so that corporations cannot use bankruptcy maneuvers to strip workers of their agreements, benefits, and pensions
– strengthening protections for workers in the gig economy, so that corporations can no longer use gig workers to undermine wages for regular employees
– protecting worker rights in trade agreements. Neoliberal free trade policies set American workers into competition with workers in low-wage countries that have few labor protections where, in some cases, unions are non-existent.
– promoting the on-shoring of industrial production, again so that American workers are not pitted in competition against workers from low-wage countries

Corporations, Consumers, & Competition
The campaign states that:
– it’s “We the People,” not “We the Corporations”
– one of its priorities is to dissolve the corrupt merger of state and corporate power, to free government agencies from the control of big corporations
– the nation’s food is unhealthy because Big Ag controls the Department of Agriculture. It has endless wars because military contractors control the Department of Defense, State Department, and intelligence agencies. The middle class is being decimated because Wall Street controls the Federal Reserve, Treasury, and SEC. The environment is a toxic mess because big polluters and extractive industries control the EPA. Healthcare costs and chronic disease run rampant because Big Pharma controls the CDC, FDA, and NIH.
– only an independent President beholden to neither major party can free our government from corporate capture. The previous administration promised to drain the swamp, but appointed corporate lobbyists and other “swamp creatures” to key posts; and the current administration has been wallowing in the corporate-controlled Washington swamp for 50 years
– candidate Kennedy has the experience to reclaim our government for the American people. For 40 years, he has sued countless government agencies. He knows all the tricks that corrupt officials use to advance the corporate agenda

The campaign advocates:
– installing honest, competent leadership throughout the federal bureaucracy, agency by agency
– rooting out corruption and replacing corporate-friendly agency leaders with reformers and whistle-blowers dedicated to the national interest
– shutting revolving door by executive order with a five year ban on administration officials lobbying their former government agency
– making government agencies transparent to public view, so that the American people can once again have faith that their government works for them — not big corporations.

An Economy for All
The party states that:
– it wants all members of society to have abundant opportunities to achieve economic success. A free and competitive market allocates resources in the most efficient manner
– each person has the right to offer goods and services to others on the free market. The only proper role of government in the economic realm is to protect property rights, adjudicate disputes, and provide a legal framework in which voluntary trade is protected
– all efforts by government to redistribute wealth, or to control or manage trade, are improper in a free society

Poverty Reduction
The party states that:
– the proper and most effective source of help for the poor is the voluntary efforts of private groups and individuals. It believes members of society will become even more charitable and civil society will be strengthened as government reduces its activity in this realm

Property and Contract
The party states that:
– the freedom to contract to obtain, retain, profit from, manage, or dispose of one’s property must be upheld. Libertarians would free property owners from government restrictions on their rights to control and enjoy their property, as long as their choices do not harm or infringe on the rights of others
– eminent domain, civil asset forfeiture, governmental limits on profits, governmental production mandates, and governmental controls on prices of goods and services (including wages, rents, and interest) are abridgements of such fundamental rights
– in voluntary dealings among private entities, parties should be free to choose with whom they trade and set whatever trade terms are mutually agreeable

Marketplace Freedom
The party states that:
– it supports free markets, and defends the right of individuals to form corporations, cooperatives and other types of entities based on voluntary association
– it opposes all forms of government subsidies and bailouts to business, labor, or any other special interest
– government should not compete with private enterprise

Labor & Employment
The party states that:
– employment and compensation agreements between private employers and employees are outside the scope of government, and these contracts should not be encumbered by government-mandated benefits or social engineering
– it supports the right of private employers and employees to choose whether or not to bargain with each other through a labor union. Bargaining should be free of government interference, such as compulsory arbitration or imposing an obligation to bargain

Licensing
The party states that:
– it supports the right of every person to earn an honest and peaceful living through the free and voluntary exchange of goods and services. Accordingly, it opposes occupational and other licensing laws that infringe on this right or treat it as a state-granted privilege
– it encourages certifications by voluntary associations of professionals

Sex Work
The party states that it supports the decriminalization of prostitution, and asserts the right of consenting adults to provide sexual services to clients for compensation, and the right of clients to purchase sexual services from consenting sex workers

Pensions; Retirement and Income Security
The party states that:
– retirement planning is the responsibility of the individual, not the government
– it would phase out the current government-sponsored Social Security system and transition to a private voluntary system
– the proper and most effective source of help for the poor is the voluntary efforts of private groups and individuals. It believes members of society will become even more charitable and civil society will be strengthened as government reduces its activity in this realm

Money and Financial Markets
The party states that:
– it advocates free-market banking, with unrestricted competition among banks and depository institutions of all types
– markets are not actually free unless fraud is vigorously combated
– those who enjoy the possibility of profits must not impose risks of losses upon others, such as through government guarantees or bailouts
– it supports ending federal student loan guarantees and special treatment of student loan debt in bankruptcy proceedings
– individuals engaged in voluntary exchange should be free to use as money any mutually agreeable commodity or item
– it supports a halt to inflationary monetary policies and unconstitutional legal tender laws

Economy for All

The party states that:
– the worst Inflation crisis in four decades has crushed the middle class, devastated family budgets, and pushed the dream of homeownership out of reach for millions
– history shows that Inflation will not magically disappear while policies remain the same
– to defeat inflation and bring down prices, it is committed to unleashing American Energy, reining in wasteful spending, cutting excessive regulations, securing national borders, and restoring peace through strength
– it dedication to the restoration of prosperity, ensuring economic security, and building a brighter future for American workers and their families will make America stronger, more resilient, and more prosperous than ever before.
– its America First economic agenda rests on five pillars: slashing regulations, cutting taxes, securing fair trade deals, ensuring reliable and abundant low-cost energy, and championing innovation.
– it commits to reducing housing, education, and healthcare costs, while lowering everyday expenses and increasing opportunities.

The party advocates:
– unleashing American energy, including making the U.S. the number one producer of oil and natural gas in the world by lifting  restrictions on energy production and terminating the Socialist Green New Deal, and unleashing energy production from all sources, including nuclear, to immediately slash Inflation and power homes, cars, and factories with reliable, abundant, and affordable energy.
– stabilizing the economy by slashing wasteful government spending and promoting economic growth
– reinstating deregulation policies from its prior term in office, which saved Americans $11,000 per household and ending the current administration’s regulatory policies, which disproportionately harm low and middle-income households
– reversing the current administration’s border policies, which have driven up the cost of housing, education, and healthcare for American families
– ending the global chaos, which breeds inflation, by restoring peace through strength and thereby reducing geopolitical risk and lower commodity prices
– stopping outsourcing, and turning the United States into a manufacturing superpower
– large tax cuts for workers, and no taxes on tips, including reinstating provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that doubled the standard deduction, expanded the Child Tax Credit, and spurred economic growth for all Americans, and eliminate taxes on tips for millions of restaurant and hospitality workers, and pursuing additional Tax Cuts.
– reducing the regulatory burden, lowering energy costs, and promoting economic policies that drive down the cost of living and prices for everyday goods and services
 

Housing & Poverty Reduction
To help new home buyers, the party advocates:
– reducing mortgage rates by slashing Inflation, limited opening of federal lands to allow for new home construction, promoting homeownership through tax incentives, and support for first-time buyers, and cutting unnecessary regulations that raise housing costs.

Jobs, Unions, Employment, Industries & Corporations
The party states that:
– American workers are the most productive, talented, and innovative on Earth, yet the national trade deficit in goods has grown to over $1 Trillion Dollars a year.
– its America First economic agenda rests on five pillars: slashing regulations, cutting taxes, securing fair trade deals, ensuring reliable and abundant low-cost energy, and championing innovation.
– it advocates a robust plan to protect American workers, farmers, and industries from unfair Foreign Competition, including commitment to rebalanced trade, securing of strategic independence, and revitalization of manufacturing, including prioritization of domestic production and ensuring of national independence in essential goods and services.

The party advocates:
– to rebalance trade, supporting baseline tariffs on foreign-made goods, passing a Reciprocal Trade Act, and responding to unfair Trading practices.  As tariffs on Foreign Producers go up, taxes on American workers, families, and businesses can come down.
– securing strategic independence from China, by revoking China’s Most Favored Nation status, phasing out imports of essential goods, and stopping China from buying American Real Estate and Industries.
– reviving the U.S. Auto Industry by reversing harmful regulations, canceling the current administration’s Electric Vehicle and other Mandates, and preventing the importation of Chinese vehicles.
– bringing critical supply chains back to the U.S., and thereby ensuring national security and economic stability while also creating jobs and raising wages for American workers
– strengthening Buy American and Hire American policies, and banning companies that outsource jobs from doing business with the Federal Government.
– becoming the world’s manufacturing superpower, by protecting American Workers from unfair Foreign Competition and unleashing American energy, thereby creating jobs, wealth, and investment.

Industries, Corporations & Consumers
The party advocates:
– canceling the electric vehicle mandate
– cutting costly burdensome regulations that stifle jobs, freedom, innovation and make everything more expensive, and implementing transparency and common sense in rulemaking.

Technology & Innovation
The party advocates paving the way for future Economic Greatness by leading the world in emerging industries:
– with respect to crypto, the party advocates ending the unlawful and un-American Crypto crackdown, and opposition to the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency.  It undertakes to defend the right to mine Bitcoin, and ensure every American has the right to self-custody of their Digital Assets, and to transact free from Government Surveillance and Control.
– with respect to Artificial Intelligence (AI), the party advocates repealing the current administration’s Executive Order that hinders AI Innovation, and imposes radical leftwing ideas on the development of this technology. In its place, it advocates development of AI rooted in free speech and human flourishing.
– to expand freedom, prosperity, and safety in space, the party advocates creating a robust Manufacturing Industry in Near Earth Orbit, sending American Astronauts back to the Moon and onward to Mars, and enhancing partnerships with the rapidly expanding Commercial Space sector to revolutionize the ability to access, live in, and develop assets in Space.