Role & Purpose of Government
The Party’s charter states that, under God:
– it seeks for the nation and hopes for all people individual freedom in the framework of a just society, political freedom in the framework of meaningful participation by all citizens
– bound by the United States Constitution, and aware that a party must be responsive to be worthy of responsibility, its members pledge themselves to open, honest endeavor and to the conduct of public affairs in a manner worthy of a society of free people

The Party’s Credo states that:
– it recognizes that the capacity of government is limited, but that it regards democratic government as force for good and a source of hope
– it is the responsibility of government to achieve a society in which:
* taxes are clearly based on ability to pay
* a strong national defense is a common effort, where promoting human rights is a basic value of our foreign policy, and where we ensure that future by ending the nuclear arms race

The Party’s 2024 platform states that:
– history has shown that nothing about democracy is guaranteed. Every generation has to protect it, preserve it, choose it. Americans must stand together to choose what they want America to be.
– acknowledging that most Americans agree on more than they disagree on, it is committed to a unity agenda to advance solutions to big challenges that Americans have in common: beating the opioid epidemic, tackling the mental health crisis, holding Big Tech accountable, ending cancer as we know it, and meeting the nation’s sacred obligation to veterans.

Stewardship of Office

Taxes& Financial Responsibility

The party advocates:
– reinstating higher tax brackets for wealthy Americans
– closing tax loopholes and cracking down on overseas tax havens
– requiring investors to pay the same tax rates as workers

The party states that during its term in office the current administration, it:
– has reduced the federal deficit by more than $1 trillion, partly through the strong economic recovery following the pandemic and the vaccination program that allowed early responsible reopening of businesses
– has enacted another roughly $1 trillion in savings over the next decade through the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, and provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act that empower Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices; and by imposing a 15-percent minimum tax on corporations with profits of more than $1 billion in profit, to address the unfairness of 55 of the most profitable corporations paying $0 in Federal income taxes; and by investment in rebuilding and modernizing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to recover taxes from wealthy earners
– is proposing to increase the corporate minimum tax rate to 21 percent, quadrupling the surcharge on stock buybacks, extending the IRS investment, and other reforms, resulting in about $3 trillion of deficit reduction

In order to further reduce the deficit, the party advocates:
– noting the tax code currently offers special treatment for the types of income that wealthy people enjoy, and that while the wages and salaries that everyday workers earn are taxed as ordinary income, billionaires make their money in ways that are taxed at lower rates, and sometimes not taxed at all, and that such special treatment, combined with sophisticated tax planning and tax loopholes, allows many of the wealthiest Americans to pay lower rates on their full income than many middle-class households pay
– in its 2025 budget, imposing a 25 percent minimum tax on the wealthiest 0.01 percent, those with wealth of more than $100 million
– repeal of 2017 tax cuts in favor of the top one percent of earners, restoring the 39.6 percent for single filers making more than $400,000 a year and married couples making more than $450,000 per year
– taxing capital gains at the same rate as wage income for those with more than $1 million in income and finally closes the carried interest loophole that allows some wealthy investment fund managers to pay tax at lower rates than their secretaries

Corporate Taxation
To ensure that corporations pay a fair share of taxes, the party advocates increasing corporate tax rates. The party states that:
– Corporations received a tax break in 2017, cutting effective U.S. tax rates for U.S. corporations to a low of less than 10 percent. While profits rose, however, their investment in their workers and the economy did not. Shareholders and top executives reaped the benefits, without the promised trickle down to workers, consumers, or communities
– therefore the party’s 2025 budget proposes setting the corporate tax rate at 28 percent, still below the 35 percent rate that prevailed prior to the 2017 tax law
– in addition, the budget proposes raising the Inflation Reduction Act’s corporate minimum tax rate on billion-dollar corporations from 15 percent to 21 percent
– in view of significant rises in executive compensation during recent decades, with Chief Executive Officer pay averaging more than 300 times that of a typical worker in 2022, the party’s 2025 budget proposes to deny deductions for all compensation over $1 million paid to any employee of a C corporation
– to comply with an agreement on a global tax framework and end international competition for corporations, the party advocates reducing tax incentives to book profits in low-tax jurisdictions, stopping corporate inversions to tax havens, and raising the tax rate on U.S. multinationals’ foreign earnings from 10.5 percent to 21 percent

Accountability in Office & Campaign Reform
The party advocates:
– a federal ethics commission to aggressively enforce and strengthen federal ethics laws
– requiring all candidates for federal office to publicly disclose at least 10 years of tax returns
– reinstating merit-based federal contracting processes
– restoration of independent inspectors general
– banning of lobbying by foreign governments
– requiring that advocacy groups that run ads to influence elections disclose donors who contribute more than $10,000, and ban foreign entities from contributing to them.
– expanding political advertising disclaimer requirements for online public communications.
– strengthening of public financing with small-dollar matching for all federal candidates and cracking down on foreign nationals who try to influence elections, including keeping super PACs wholly independent of campaigns and parties and passing a constitutional amendment that will ban all private financing from federal elections.
– ending “dark money” by requiring full disclosure of contributors and banning 501(c)(4) organizations from spending on elections. And, to curb the influence of special interests in our elections, prohibiting corporate PACs and lobbyists from donating to anyone they lobby.

Democratic Reform
The party states that:
– democracy has always been America’s sacred cause, and whether that is still true is the most urgent question of our time, and is what the 2024 election is all about.
– it is concerned about attacks by the previous administration on core tenets of American democracy: the Constitution, truth, the rule of law, its system of checks and balances, and even warnings of a “bloodbath” if it is not re-elected.
– it undertakes to defend freedoms, restore essential trust in the nation’s institutions, and preserve America’s vital role as a beacon of democracy across the world

To ensure that voting rights are available to all, the party advocates:
– full restoration of the Voting Rights Act
– full implementation of the Help America Vote Act, and accessible polling places
– mandatory, statistically meaningful post-election audits
– professional, well-trained election officials
– measures to ensure the integrity of the 2020 Census, in order to prevent gerrymandering of congressional districts
– increased investment in election technology, including cybersecurity
– a Constitutional amendment to eliminate all private financing of federal elections
– strengthening the public funding system, cracking down on foreign nationals who try to influence elections
– eliminating ‘dark money’ by requiring disclosure of contributors who contribute for or against candidates or parties
– requiring all candidates for federal office to publicly disclose at least 10 years of tax returns

Peace & International Relations

States, Territories, Municipalities
The party states that:
– the current administration has made historic investments in Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa – delivering billions for infrastructure, semiconductor, clean energy, and transportation projects, and creating thousands of good jobs.
– it rejects the unequal treatment of residents of D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. territories, and unequivocally supports statehood for D.C., which its residents overwhelmingly support
– the people of Puerto Rico have earned and deserve to resolve the political status questions. To that end it supports enactment of the Puerto Rico Status Act/H.R. 2757, and promotes full civic and political representation for Puerto Ricans.
– it will work to end the unequal treatment of Puerto Rico by the federal government, and fight to provide equal access to federal programs like Medicaid, SNAP, and the CTC.
– it advocates speedy access to recovery funds to help Puerto Rico and other territories rebuild.
– it will continue the administration’s investments to invest further in energy, infrastructure, economic development, education, health care, housing, energy, and climate resilience in the territories, and help restructure Puerto Rico’s debt to relieve its debt burden, and we will work to dissolve the Financial Oversight and Management Board.
– it also supports self-determination for the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa, and undertakes to create a Congressional task force to study equal voting rights and House representation; and to work to ensure equal access to federal programs like veterans’ benefits, the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, and SNAP food assistance for all those eligible.
– it advocates investment in agriculture, economic development, education, employment, energy, health care, housing, and infrastructure, and helping U.S. territories diversify their economies.

Peace & International Relations

The party states that:
– the world is in a period of significant global change, in an inflection point between those who argue that autocracy (rule by dictators or single leaders) is the answer to facing today’s challenges and those who understand that democracy (rule by the people) is essential to moving our world forward and uplifting people everywhere. America must demonstrate that democracy can still deliver for the nation’s people. It must rally the world to address the challenges that impact all of us, from climate change and global health to human rights, technology, food security, and inclusive economic growth.
– the nation must revisit old assumptions and invest in new sources of its power. It has seen aggression from authoritarian powers, the destabilizing impact of a global pandemic, the growing existential danger of the climate crisis, the awesome power of emerging technologies, and the shared vulnerabilities that underlie the 21st century global economy. Most importantly, these challenges underscore how lives and livelihoods across the world are increasingly interdependent.
– for too long, American foreign policy was conducted as if its domestic challenges were disconnected from global ones. The party understands that the two go hand-in-hand, and that leading abroad means being strong and resilient at home.
– it believes that that the United States is strongest when its partners are strong.  To that end, the current administration has met the of its first term, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the existential threat of climate change, and intense strategic competition with China, by leading coalitions of nations who share our values to stand together.
– it will lead with diplomacy as its tool of first resort, and mobilize the nation’s allies and partners to meet the tests America cannot meet on its own.
– it will stand up to the forces of authoritarianism.
– it will speak and act with clarity and purpose on behalf of human rights wherever they are under threat.

The Global Environment
The party advocates:
– reaffirming US commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals
– rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, committing the US to capping global warming at 1.5 degrees C.
– reviving and expanding climate related foreign assistance, including aid to the Green Climate Fund

Ukraine
The party states that the administration:
– has rallied the world to support Ukraine’s defense and stand up against dictatorship
– has  pursued three core objectives: to help Ukraine defend its sovereignty, maintain unity in our transatlantic alliances, and prevent direct conflict with Russia
– continues to secure critical support for Ukraine while enhancing the collective security capabilities and readiness of the US, its allies and partners, including congressional support to add Finland and Sweden to NATO

Middle East
The party states that the administration is working to build a durable peace in the Middle East bolstered by regional integration, a strong coalition to counter and deter Iran and prevent it and its terrorist proxies from threatening the security of the region, and a negotiated two-state solution that ensures Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state with recognized borders and upholds the right of Palestinians to live in freedom and security in a viable state of their own.

Israel
The party states that:
– the terrorist group Hamas will not succeed in destroying the administration’s attempt to build a durable peace in the middle East. The United States strongly supports Israel in the fight against Hamas. And the hard work of diplomacy under the President’s leadership has made real progress on a way forward that will free the hostages, establish a durable ceasefire, ease humanitarian suffering in Gaza, and make possible normalization between Israel and key Arab states, together with meaningful progress and a political horizon for the Palestinian people.
– it has led the United States to support Israel’s right to itself against the terrorist attacks of Hamas in a way that upholds international humanitarian law, while ensuring the Palestinian people have access to vital humanitarian aid and lifesaving assistance.
– it continues to press for congressional support to provide the necessary security assistance to Israel and to extend humanitarian assistance to civilians impacted by conflict in the region, while working toward a future where Palestinians have a state of their own and Israel’s security is assured.

In response to the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the party states that the administration:
– believes that a strong, secure, and democratic Israel is vital to the interests of the United States. Their commitment to Israel’s security, its qualitative military edge, its right to defend itself, and the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding is ironclad.
– also recognizes the worth of every innocent life, whether Israeli or Palestinian.
– has unequivocally denounced Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel on October 7, condemned the gruesome violence – including conflict-related sexual violence – demonstrated by Hamas and made clear that the United States wants to see Hamas defeated.
– worked with Congressional leaders to pass an aid package worth $14 billion to help Israel defend itself and to provide more than $1 billion for additional humanitarian aid to Gaza.
– has been determined to broker an immediate and lasting ceasefire deal that secures the return of all hostages, including Americans held in Gaza; addresses the immense civilian pain and extreme suffering being caused by the conflict, including the displacement and death of so many innocent people in Gaza; results in a durable end to the war in Gaza; and sets the stage for a lasting regional peace.
– has worked tirelessly – including through the appointment of a senior civilian coordinator for humanitarian relief – to surge and ensure the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people.
– seeks a ceasefire deal that will lead to a more secure Israel and unlock the possibility of greater regional integration and normalization with its Arab neighbors, and create the conditions for a better future for the Palestinian people, one of self-determination, dignity, security, and freedom, and ultimately a state of their own
– opposes settlement expansion, including speaking out against extremist settler violence and issuing an executive order establishing U.S. authority to impose financial sanctions against foreign persons engaged in actions that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the West Bank.
– believes that while Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations, it should remain the capital of Israel, an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.

Lebanon
The party states that that the Lebanese people deserve to live in an independent and sovereign Lebanon that is free from the grip of Iran-backed Hezbollah, and a corruption-free, competent, reform-minded government focused on addressing the needs of its people.  The administration is committed to facilitating a diplomatic resolution to the ongoing hostilities along the Israel-Lebanon border that would ensure the return of both Israeli and Lebanese families to their homes.

Iran
The party states that:
– through aggressive diplomacy backed by U.S. military power, the administration has worked alongside allies and partners to deter and defend against Iran and its terrorist surrogates. It has postured U.S. military forces in the region and authorized precision airstrikes on key Iranian-linked targets tied to attacks against U.S. troops to deter further aggression by Iran.
– the administration has also continued to protect the American people from terrorism, authorizing military strikes that took out ISIS emirs and the leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
– in response to brazen attacks by Iranian-linked Houthi forces against international commercial shipping, U.S. naval vessels in the Red Sea, and Israel, President Biden ordered military strikes, alongside key allies, against Houthi targets and organized Operation Prosperity Guardian, a coalition of more than 20 nations committed to defending international shipping and deterring Houthi attacks.
– in response to launching by Iran of more than 300 missiles and drones against Israel in April 2024, President Biden led an unprecedented defensive coalition – together with partners from Europe and across the Middle East – to defeat the attack, protect Israel, and stop the spread of a wider war. Through direct defensive action by the U.S. military and its partners, Iranian munitions did not cause significant damage, demonstrating both America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel and our unrivaled ability to leverage growing regional integration among U.S. partners to counter Iranian aggression.
– it remains committed to a diplomatic solution with Iran to prevent the building of nuclear weapons, while remaining resolved that Iran will never be allowed to do so.

China
The party states that:
– it recognizes that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is America’s most consequential strategic competitor. The PRC is the only global actor that combines the intention to fundamentally reshape the U.S.-led international order with an increasing military, economic, diplomatic, and technological capacity to do so. President Biden understands the imperative of rising to this challenge while managing the competition between our countries responsibly.
– the administration continues to focus on the Nation’s strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China while promoting American competitiveness worldwide
– the administration has advocated for congressional support to invest in the American defense industrial base to ensure military readiness and strengthen integrated deterrence for the growing security requirements in the Indo-Pacific region
– the administration has increased U.S. foreign assistance in the Indo-Pacific region in support of a more free, open, secure, and connected Indo-Pacific, while also expanding America’s diplomatic presence

Indo-Pacific
The party states that:
– the United States is an Indo-Pacific power.  The Indo-Pacific region is home to more than half of the world’s people, nearly two-thirds of the world’s economy, and seven of the world’s largest militaries. In the years ahead, its influence will only grow, along with its importance to the United States.
– standing up for the rules of the road in the Indo-Pacific, and standing by America’s allies, makes the nation safer. To that end the current administration has maintained a commitment to freedom of navigation across the Indo-Pacific, standing with the Philippines and other allies and partners to push back against hostile actions and coercion by China. He also worked to expand US military presence in Japan and secure access to strategic sites in the Philippines through a new defense cooperation agreement.

The Party’s 2025 budget advocates allocation of:
– over $4 billion to realize a more free, open, secure, and connected Indo-Pacific that bolsters U.S. alliances and partnerships, including $2.1 billion in bilateral and regional foreign assistance, including $100 million for a standalone request for Taiwan military assistance, and $20 million for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework
– over $62 million in support of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
– $2 billion to support diplomatic presence and programs in the region, including new and planned U.S. diplomatic posts in the Pacific and Indian Oceans
– $7.1 billion for renewal of the Compact of Free Association relationships with the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

The Americas
The party states that:
– no region impacts the United States more directly than the Western Hemisphere, with $1.9 trillion in annual trade, shared values and democratic traditions, and family bonds.
– the administration is building coalitions across the region to make America safer and more prosperous. During its current term, the administration has strengthened ties with key allies, including Colombia as a major non-NATO ally, a recognition of the close and unique relationship between the countries that will strengthen our military and economic ties.
– understanding that irregular migration affects every country in the hemisphere, the administration has led development of the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, which strengthens cooperation on migration among 22 countries and promotes responsibility-sharing and a more orderly and humane management of migration across the region, and has created over 250,000 new jobs in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala under the Administration’s ambitious Root Causes strategy.
– the administration has also hosted the inaugural Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity Leaders’ Summit to establish an enduring forum to mobilize economic investment for the region, while strengthening bonds with America’s closest neighbors, Canada and Mexico, on issues ranging from border security to trade.
– in order to counter corruption, authoritarianism, democratic backsliding, and violence, the administration has continued to seek progress on U.S.-Cuba relations in a manner that benefits Americans, resuming flights between the two nations, reuniting separated families, and restoring diplomatic engagement on discrete issues like migration; and has supported Haiti’s stabilization efforts, becoming the largest financial sponsor to the Kenyan Multinational Security Support mission that is countering gang violence in the country and providing humanitarian aid.
– the administration also reinstated sanctions on Venezuela’s oil and gas sector in response to President Nicolás Maduro failing to commit to free and fair elections, and cracked down on Nicaragua for repression of their population and abuse of migrants.

The party advocates:
– providing approximately $1 billion for Central American programming to meet the President’s commitment to invest $4 billion in Central America over four years to address the root causes of migration.
– support for Western Hemisphere programs to advance economic prosperity and regional security through key initiatives such as the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, including $75 million for a capital increase to the Inter-American Investment Corporation—known as IDB Invest—to advance clean energy projects, modernize agriculture, strengthen transportation systems, and expand access to financing
– reserving $35 million in additional targeted funding for regional migration management, including $25 million for the IDB’s Migration Grant Facility to support integration efforts for migrants and host communities and address the root causes of irregular migration.

Africa
The party states that:
– by the end of the century, an estimated 40 percent of the world’s population will live in Africa.
– the current administration has strengthened partnerships in the region and recognizes African nations’ critical role in global stability and economic development.
– in a historic move, the administration successfully advocated for the African Union to become a permanent member of the G20, ensuring Africa’s voice in global economic discussions. It also hosted Kenyan President Ruto for a state visit, reflecting a broader strategy of strengthening bilateral ties across the continent grounded in mutual respect.
– the administration has focused on advancing democratic governance, fostering sustainable economic growth, improving health outcomes, and addressing the urgent challenges of climate change. The U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit in 2022 highlighted expansion of partnerships to meet shared challenges.
– the administration has pledged to invest $55 billion over three years across Africa through initiatives like the African Growth and Opportunity Act and Prosper Africa, the Administration; and has committed to provide nearly $20 billion in health programs.
– strengthening the capacity of African nations to address security threats, including terrorism and violent extremism, remains a priority, including support for African-led peacekeeping operations and conflict resolution initiatives, ensuring that interventions align with the aspirations of local communities.
– the administration has emphasized human rights and the rule of law, leveraging diplomatic channels and development assistance to promote these values. It will continue to push for a return to democracy in cooperation with the African Union in areas experiencing violence and instability, including Sudan, where he named a Special Envoy to work towards ending the conflict.

Peacekeeping & Embargoes
The party advocates:
– developing shared responses to non-military threats like disinformation, corruption, and economic coercion
– improving interoperability with allies, and encouraging allies to build up their defense capabilities and take responsibility for regional conflicts
– enhanced cooperation in fisheries management

Refugees & Humanitarian Aid
The party advocates:
– addressing the root causes of forced migration, including violence, poverty, corruption, lack of opportunity, and climate change
– working with Central American and Caribbean governments to strengthen security and prosperity
– mobilizing allies, partners, and international institutions to develop a more robust and effective global public health system
– providing more and better disaster relief
– $10.3 billion in lifesaving humanitarian and refugee assistance to support more than 330 million people in need in more than 70 countries, and to support the President’s commitment to resettle up to 125,000 refugees in the United States
– allocating $1 billion to alleviate global food insecurity, including $100 million for the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils, as part of the overall U.S. Government’s food security initiative Feed the Future

International Development
The party advocates:
– $3 billion for bolstering global democracy, including $345 million for the President’s Initiative for Democratic Renewal to foster transparent and accountable governance
– more than $3 billion to advance gender equity and equality worldwide, including $200 million for the Gender Equity and Equality Action Fund
– $110 million in support of internet freedom, including $50 million for the U.S. Agency for Global Media Open Technology Fund
– $594 million (an increase of $37 million above the 2023 level) for USAID directed high-impact and lifesaving voluntary family planning and reproductive health programs and America’s voluntary contribution to the United Nations Population Fund. The Budget continues America’s commitment to contributions for the United Nations.

International Finance
The party advocates:
– ensuring the US International Development Finance Corporation is successfully integrated into broader international and private-sector development efforts
– making anti-corruption efforts a foreign policy priority
– allocating $231 million to the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence to expand Treasury’s capacity to provide financial intelligence and conduct sanctions-
related economic analysis while continuing to modernize the sanctions process, expanding expand Treasury’s ability to craft, implement, and enforce sanctions, including sanctions program targeting the war in Ukraine, and sanctions on key Hamas terrorist group members and financial facilitators in Gaza

Trade
The party states that:
– more products in homes, stores, workplaces, and communities should be stamped “Made in America”
– it will expand support for American manufacturing

The party advocates:
– working with allies to shape global trade, so that China is not able to manipulate or distort world markets
– ensuring USMCA creates prosperity for American workers, and strictly enforce compliance with labor and environmental provisions
– enhanced Buy-America requirements in federal, state, and local procurement
– requiring US-made cargo to be carried on US-flagged ships
– disincentivizing off-shore manufacturing, and accelerate on-shoring of critical supply chains
– expansion of tax credits for domestic manufacturing
– putting American workers and unions first in trade agreements
– aggressive action against dumping and currency manipulations by China and others
– protection against theft of US intellectual property rights, and cyberespionage against American companies
– elimination of tax advantages for those who ship jobs overseas

Economic Aid
The party states that:
– its 2025 budget advances the President’s goal of mobilizing $200 billion for infrastructure investment in low- and middle-income countries by 2027. The Partnership for Global Infrastructure & Investment (PGI) aims to promote infrastructure development along critical economic corridors to drive inclusive and sustainable economic growth, secure energy supply chains, fortify trusted digital connectivity, and build more resilient food and health systems, as well as critical transport and logistics networks, while advancing gender equality and equity
– to that end the 2025 budget allocates $50 billion for PGI across all departments and agencies, inclusive of private sector, to support strategic, high-quality infrastructure to connect workers to good jobs, allow businesses to grow and thrive, and advance shared national security priorities
– in addition, the budget allocates $2 billion in mandatory funding over five years to establish the International Infrastructure Fund to combat People’s Republic of China coercive financing
– to promote global health, the budget allocates nearly $10 billion, to support programs including pandemic preparedness, the fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria
– the budget further allocates $30 million in new resources for the World Bank’s Global Financing Facility for Women, Children, and Adolescents, a contribution anticipated to leverage at least $210 million to strengthen health systems
– the budget further allocates $20 million to better train, equip, and protect the health workforce
– the budget further includes loan guarantees to the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Disarmament & Arms Sales
The party advocates:
– maintaining a strong nuclear deterrent force while reducing over-reliance on nuclear weapons, and reducing new weapon expenditures
– strengthening the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
– maintaining a moratorium on explosive nuclear testing

National Defense & Security
The party states that:
– the United States has the finest fighting force in the history of the world. Maintaining the nation’s military advantages in the future means making strategic investments now.
– to that end, the administration has invested in cutting-edge capabilities across all services and maintained a commitment to modernize and recapitalize the nuclear triad as the bedrock of deterrence. It has also made historic investments in America’s military industrial base, putting billions of dollars to work in America to increase production capacity of critical munitions and other capabilities to support U.S. and allied forces in combat zones such as Ukraine.
– the administration has also maintained its ability to address terrorist threats, evidenced by successful strikes against leaders of al-Qa’ida and ISIS.
– properly investing in our military also means investing in those who are the bedrock of it: our service members. The administration has secured pay raises for military and has allocated over $10 billion to enhance health care services for veterans and active-duty personnel, including expanded mental health resources and programs to support those suffering from PTSD and other service-related conditions.
– being aware of exacerbated nuclear proliferation challenges that the world is facing as Russia, the PRC and North Korea expand and diversify their nuclear arsenals, and in the context of Iran continuing to enrich uranium at dangerous levels, the administration is showing what it means to act responsibly as a nuclear power. Nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. The United States is developing and fielding only what is required to deter while signaling openness to future arms control negotiations if competitors are interested. The administration has reaffirmed in U.S. doctrine that U.S. nuclear weapons are reserved for deterring strategic attack by those that threaten us and our allies and partners with nuclear weapons.

The party advocates:
– ensuring that the US military has no peer
– spending defense dollars wisely, focused on a force that can deter and win the conflicts of the 21st century
– reducing defense spending relative to diplomacy and foreign assistance
– reinstating national security policy processes that advance civilian control based on appropriate military advice
– using force as a last resort, with the informed consent of the people
– negotiating a durable and inclusive settlement in Afghanistan, ensuring that al-Qaeda is not allowed to reconstitute and ISIS is not allowed to grow
– ending support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, and helping to end the war
– seeking application of diplomacy, intelligence, and law enforcement to resolve conflicts, rather than open-ended military conflicts

In its proposed 2025 budget, the party advocates:
– emergency supplemental allocations totaling $92 billion to for urgent national security needs through the end of 2024, comprising $58 billion was for DOD, $32 billion was for the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development, and $2 billion for the Department of the Treasury, including:
– $61.4 billion to support Ukraine as it continues to defend itself against Russian aggression
– $14.3 billion to support Israel’s defense against terrorism
– $10 billion for lifesaving humanitarian assistance, including for the Palestinian people
– $3.4 billion for the Submarine Industrial Base (SIB), and $4 billion in other national security priorities
– funding to prioritize China as America’s pacing challenge in line with the 2022 National Defense Strategy. DOD’s 2025 Pacific Deterrence Initiative highlights some of the key investments the Federal Government is making, focuses on strengthening deterrence in the region, and demonstrates the Administration’s long-term commitment to the Indo-Pacific

Nuclear deterrence
The party states that:
– nuclear deterrence remains a top priority for the Nation and is foundational to integrated deterrence. A safe, secure, and effective nuclear force deters strategic attacks and assures allies and partners
– to ensure the United States’ nuclear deterrent remains responsive to all threats, DOD and DOE continue to modernize the nuclear Triad, nuclear command, control,
and communications, and nuclear weapons infrastructure, while strengthening extended deterrence commitments to America’s allies
– it’s proposed budget also seeks to reduce nuclear risks and strengthen the global non-proliferation regime by simultaneously pursuing realistic goals for mutual, verifiable arms control and efforts to protect against the existential threats posed by weapons of mass destruction terrorism.

Veterans and Personnel
The party states that:
– the nation has no more sacred obligation than providing for its military service members when they’re sent into harm’s way and caring for them and their families after they come home.
– during its term in office the administration, it has signed into law over 30 bipartisan bills that address some of the most important issues facing veterans today, including the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 to expand benefits and services for veterans exposed to toxic substances
– in order to end veterans’ homelessness, it has provided permanent housing for over 46,000 veterans
– it has worked with Congress to expand access to healthcare, improve access to child and long-term care, and support education and workforce opportunity for veterans and their families
– it has, through VA, delivered $163 billion in earned benefits to 6.3 million veterans and survivors
– through the First Lady, it has championed meaningful policy solutions to improve military spouse employment and entrepreneurship, military children’s education, and military family mental health and wellbeing
– it established Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts for service members; funded universal pre-school for military children living overseas; expanded child care options for military families; increased the amount of child care fee assistance available to offset costs; and reduced military child development center costs for lower income military families by 30 percent

The party advocates:
– rebuilding trust and accountability in the Veterans Administration
– allocating $135 million within VA research programs, together with $17.1 billion within the VA Medical Care program, to increase access to quality mental healthcare, to help veterans take charge of their treatment and live full, meaningful lives
– allocating a further $583 million to further advance veteran suicide prevention initiatives, including continued support of the Veterans Crisis Line’s 988, and implementing DOD recommendations from the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee
– funding to support DOD’s efforts on Sexual Assault Prevention designed to increase awareness, provide support mechanisms to victims, and significantly reduce the environment for, tolerance of, and occurrence of sexual assault in the Joint Force
– allocating $13.7 billion for women veterans’ healthcare, including $1.1 billion toward women’s gender-specific care
– allocating $713 million toward opioid use disorder prevention and treatment programs for veterans, including use of predictive modeling techniques and distribution of naloxone to veterans
– ensuring military pay keeps pace with economy
– increased time between deployments

Criminal Justice & Public Safety
The party states that:
– the nation needs to overhaul the criminal justice system from top to bottom. Police brutality is a stain on the soul of our nation. It is unacceptable that more than 1,000 people, a quarter of them Black, have been killed by police every year since 2015
– it also recognizes that all too often, systematic cuts to public services have left police officers on the front lines of responding to social challenges for which they have not been trained, from homelessness to mental health crises to the opioid epidemic

The party advocates:
– significant increases in funding the Legal Services Corporation, for those in need of criminal defense.
– Strict national standards barring police use of chokeholds and permitting deadly force only when necessary as a last resort to prevent an imminent threat to life
– rooting out structural and systemic racism in our criminal justice system and our society, and reimagining public safety.
– ending the war on drugs, and focusing on prevention, decriminalization of marijuana
– reinvigorating community policing approaches
– expanding federal judiciary to keep up with population and crime
– ending use of private businesses to run detention facilities
– deepening commitment to redemption and rehabilitation
– fighting to repeal mandatory sentences
– strengthening police misconduct reviews by the Department of Justice
– re-issuing federal guidance from the Department of Education and the Department of Justice to prevent the disparate disciplinary treatment of children of color and children with disabilities

Gun Violence
The party states that during its term in office the administration has:
– signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law, the first significant gun violence legislation in nearly 30 years, which includes background checks for buyers under 21, expanded mental health programs, and support for implementation of red flag laws that keep guns away from dangerous people
– created the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, overseen by the Vice President, and has announced nearly 40 executive actions to keep guns out of dangerous hands

To address the nearly 40,000 deaths each year by firearm in the US, the party advocates:
– making mental health care more available and supporting suicide reduction initiatives
– funding interventions to reduce homicides and gun violence
– ensuring that the Center for Disease Control has sufficient funding to study gun violence as a public health issue
– universal background checks for gun purchases, and abolishment of online gun and ammunition sales
– closing loopholes that allow offenders to buy and posses firearms
– banning manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines
– legislation requiring safe gun storage at home
– liability for firearm manufacturers and distributors

Law Enforcement
The party states that:
– the current administration recognizes the sacrifices police officers and their families make to keep communities safe. Every day, officers risk their lives for the safety of people they do not know.
– since Day One, the administration has been working to ensure police officers have the tools they need to protect their communities, including more police officers on the street.
– America needs to fund the police, not defund the police.
– it signed the American Rescue Plan, with the largest-ever federal investment in fighting and preventing crime, reducing violence, and investing in public safety.
– to restore public trust in the police, it signed a historic executive order on police reform alongside George Floyd’s family, and launched the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database with information on misconduct by federal law enforcement officers, and sharply restricted chokeholds and no-knock warrants for federal law enforcement.
– it is publishing data on the use of force and is also preventing certain militarized equipment from being sold or transferred to local police agencies.

The party’s 2025 budget advocates allocating $17.7 billion, an increase of $2.6 billion from 2021, for DOJ law enforcement, including:
– $2 billion for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to effectively investigate and prosecute gun crimes; expand multijurisdictional gun trafficking strike forces; increase regulation of the firearms industry; bolster crime-solving ballistics, gunshot residue, and other forensic technologies as well as analysts; and implement the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act
– $1.9 billion for the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) for fugitive apprehension and enforcement operations
– $51 million to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to support the continued implementation of enhanced background checks
– $2.8 billion for the U.S. Attorneys, which includes funding for 50 new attorneys to prosecute violent crimes
– $15 million for the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act
– $3.3 billion to the DEA to combat drug trafficking, including $1.2 billion to combat opioid trafficking and $18 million in Domestic Counter-Fentanyl Threat Targeting Teams at the Drug Enforcement Administration for use against transnational criminal networks
– $494 million in grants supporting efforts to address substance use, including $190 million for the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program, $95 million to support Drug Courts, and $51 million for anti-drug task forces
– $169 million to counter fentanyl and other synthetic drug production and trafficking

Support for state, local, and tribal law enforcement
The party’s 2025 budget advocates allocating $34 billion to support State, local, and tribal efforts to protect U.S. communities and promote public safety, including:
– support to recruit, train, support, and hire 100,000 additional police officers for effective, accountable community policing
– fund bonuses for retention of police officers; provide student loan repayment, tuition reimbursement, and higher education grant programs to incentivize service-minded candidates, including women and individuals from underrepresented communities to become officers
– explore more flexibility in scheduling and work arrangements; expand mental health and wellness care for police officers; and fund life-saving equipment
– support evidence-based training of law enforcement on topics including crime control and deterrence tactics, community engagement, use of force, interacting with people with disabilities, and responding to persons in mental health crisis and to domestic violence calls
– promote efforts to advance transparency, accountability, and safety to simultaneously strengthen public safety and public trust through funding to support the purchase and operation of body-worn cameras, modernize police academies and training

Courts & Victims
The party states that:
– one of a president’s most important duties is appointing judges, who shape the nation’s laws.
– judges should reflect the diverse population whose laws they shape.  During its current term in office, it has appointed more than 200 highly qualified federal judges, two thirds of whom are women, and nearly two-thirds of whom are people of color.
– it undertakes to continue selecting judges who will protect fundamental rights and who represent the diversity of the American experience.
– the administration is committed to rehabilitation and reentry for people returning to their communities after incarceration, and to building a criminal justice system that lives up to those ideals and ensures that everyone receives equal justice under law.
– no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana. Sending people to prison for possession has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit. Those criminal records impose needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities, disproportionately affecting Black and brown people. The administration took historic action to end this failed approach by pardoning people convicted federally for using or possessing marijuana, and has called on governors to use their pardon power to do the same for state-level offenses.
– in addition to pardoning simple possession and use of marijuana, it has pardoned or shortened the sentences of people convicted of other nonviolent drug offenses and pardoned approximately 2,000 gay, lesbian, and bisexual veterans who were convicted years ago just for being themselves.

The party advocates:
– funding for courts around the Nation to clear their backlogs and improve accountability and deterrence for people on pretrial supervision, and modernized technology and data systems
– support for pretrial and post-conviction supervision staffing and systems, ensuring that persons on release are appropriately monitored and given assistance with the employment, health, housing, and other supportive services that reduce the risk of recidivism

Domestic violence
The party states that:
– during its current term in office it increased funding under the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 to combat gender-based violence, and issued a U.S. National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.
– it advocates continued work to end sexual assault, domestic violence, online abuse, and all violence against women. It continues to strengthen VAWA; keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers; and expand housing and legal services for survivors.
– to keep students safe on campus, it will work with schools to implement and enforce Title IX and end sexual harassment and assault in our nation’s schools, and eliminate the rape kit backlog.
– it will strengthen legal protections for and support survivors of deepfake image-based sexual abuse building on the federal civil cause of action established under the president’s reauthorization of VAWA in 2022.

Border protection
The party states that during its term in office the administration:
– has taken action to process noncitizens to protect and secure national borders at record scale and efficiency.
– has maximized the use of expedited removal processes, placing more than 900 individuals into the process each day on average, and conducting more than 100,000 credible fear interviews, both of which are record highs, and that as a result, DHS has removed or returned more than 565,000 noncitizens who did not have a lawful basis to remain in the United States, the vast majority of whom crossed the Southwest land border, since May 12, 2023. The majority of all individuals encountered
at the Southwest land border over the past three years have been removed, returned, or expelled.

The party further states that:
– when the system is overwhelmed, the president should have emergency authority to expel migrants who are crossing unlawfully and stop processing asylum claims except for those using a safe and orderly process at Ports of Entry. The authority should be accompanied by humanitarian exceptions for vulnerable populations including unaccompanied children and victims of trafficking.
– Congress should also dedicate resources to detain and remove individuals quickly, and rapidly process those who cannot be detained in a non-custodial setting under government supervision. Those who pose a threat to public safety or national security must be identified and removed as quickly as possible.

The party’s 2025 budget advocates allocation of:
– $11.8 billion to secure the Southwest border, including building longer-term capacity in the areas of border security, immigration enforcement, and countering fentanyl, hiring 1,300 additional Border Patrol Agents
– $239 million to hire 1,000 additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers to stop fentanyl and other contraband from entering the United
States
– $755 million to hire an additional 1,600 Asylum Officers and support staff to facilitate timely immigration dispositions
– $100 million for Homeland Security investigations of transnational criminal organizations and drug traffickers
– $849 million for cutting-edge detection technology at ports of entry
– $1.3 billion to fund the hiring of 375 new immigration judge teams to help reduce the immigration case backlog
– $25.9 billion to hire an additional 350 Border Patrol Agents and 310 processing coordinators; improve border security technology between ports of entry; and bolster air and maritime operational support; support 34,000 ICE immigration detention beds; $225 million to address increased transportation and removal costs; and $34 million to combat child exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking
– to address uncertainty surrounding border conditions in any given year, a $4.7 billion contingency fund to aid DHS and its components when responding to migration surges

Emergency Response
The party advocates:
– ensuring that FEMA has the experienced leadership, staff, and resources necessary to coordinate the federal response to climate change-influenced and other disasters, and is equipped to work in partnership with, and drive federal resources to, state, local, Tribal, and territorial governments
– to protect ccommunities and ecosystems from flooding, wildfires, extreme heat, and drought, allocating $23 billion in the Department of Commerce, DOI, the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), USDA, Army Corps of Engineers, EPA, and DOD, including resources for flood hazard mapping and investments to mitigate the impacts of extreme heat in low-income and disadvantaged communities, and to assist farmers, ranchers, and forestland owners with production goals in the face of climate change
– allocating $522 million above 2023 funding levels to address long-standing recruitment and retention challenges for the USDA wildland firefighting workforce

Terrorism
The party advocates:
– sustaining the effort to defeat ISIA, al-Qaeda, and their affiliates.
– addressing the conditions that allow violent extremism to flourish
– working with partners to prioritize diplomatic, low enforcement, and intelligence tools

Communications Security
The party advocates:
– mobilizing public and private actors to ensure that new communications products and discoveries are bound by law, ethics, and civil liberties
– recommiting to open internet, including net neutrality

The Role & Purpose of Government
The party states, among its ten key values, that:
– all human beings must be allowed a say in decisions that affect their lives; no one should be subject to the will of another
– it works to improve public participation in every aspect of government and seek to ensure that our public representatives are fully accountable to the people who elect them.
– it works to create new types of political organizations that expand the process of participatory democracy by directly including citizens in decision-making
– as a matter of right, all persons must have the opportunity to benefit equally from the resources afforded us by society and the environment
– we must consciously confront in ourselves, our organizations, and society at large, any discrimination by race, class, gender, sexual orientation, age, nationality, religion, or physical or mental ability that denies fair treatment and equal justice under the law

Democratic Reform
The party states that:
– It seeks to rescue that the nation’s proud democratic heritage from the erosion of citizen participation, and to refute ideologies holding that government is intrinsically undesirable and destructive of liberty, and that elected officials should slash spending on social programs in the name of freedom
– it challenges all Americans to think deeply about the meaning of government of the people, by the people, and for the people
– it seeks to repair U.S. electoral system, from how elections are financed, to conducting them in more fair and representative ways, to ensuring accountability and transparency on all levels of government
– We, the People, have a responsibility to participate in self-government through all the means that our Constitution provides

The party advocates:
– enactment of proportional representation voting systems for legislative seats on municipal, county, state and federal levels, so that people are represented in the proportion their views are held in society and are based on dividing seats proportionally within multi-seat districts, compared to the standard U.S. single-seat, winner-take-all districts
– enactment of instant run-off voting (IRV) for chief executive offices like mayor, governor and president and other single-seat elections, to enable voters to rank candidates in their order of preference (1,2,3, etc.)
– substantial expansion of the number of seats in the House, based on proportional election of multi-seat districts
– abolishing the US Senate, by constitutional amendment
– abolishing the Electoral College, and implementation of direct proportional voting
– creation of a publicly-funded People’s Commission on Presidential Debates, with debates being open to all candidates who appear on at least as many ballots as would represent a majority of the Electoral College and who raise enough funds to qualify for general election public financing
– full public financing of federal, state and local elections, including free and equal radio and television time on the public airwaves for all ballot-qualified candidates and parties
– prohibiting corporations from spending to influence elections, preferably by constitutional amendment abolishing granting corporations constitutional rights guaranteed to natural persons, or as a condition of receipt of a corporate charter by federal chartering of corporations
– elimination of all ballot access laws and rules that discriminate against smaller parties and independents, and otherwise place undue burden on the right of citizens to run for office
– abolishment of the Electoral College in favor of direct national election of the president by Instant Runoff Voting
– creation of a new publicly-funded People’s Commission on Presidential Debates, and open its presidential debates to all candidates who appear on at least as many ballots as would represent a majority of the Electoral College and who raise enough funds to otherwise qualify for general election public financing
– repealing the federal the non-profit tax exemption status that allows corporations to fund the existing Commission on Presidential Debates and other such exclusive privately controlled debate entities
– lowering the percentage of the presidential popular vote required for a new party’s candidate to receive first time General Election public funding from 5% in the previous general election to 1%
– inclusion of an option to vote for a binding None of the Above (NOTA) on all party primary and general election ballots
– the right to initiative, referendum and recall at all levels of government
– a national “right to vote” law to guarantee universal, automatic, permanent voter registration, along with fail-safe voting procedures, so that eligible voters whose names are not on the voter rolls can correct the rolls and vote on the same day
– statehood for the District of Columbia, and ensuring that residents of the District of Columbia have the same rights and representation as all other U.S. citizens
– restoration of full citizenship rights to felons upon completion of their sentence, including the right to vote and to run for elected office
– greater enfranchisement of overseas voters
– strong enforcement of the Federal Voting Rights Act and state voting rights acts
– making Election Day a national holiday and/or weekend elections
– amending the U.S. Constitution to require that all vacancies in the U.S. Senate be filled by election rather than appointment
– development of publicly-owned, open source voting equipment and deployment across the nation to ensure high national standards, performance, transparency and accountability
– the use of verifiable paper ballots
– institution of mandatory automatic random precinct recounts to ensure a high level of accuracy in election results
– establishment of a National Elections Commission with the mandate to establish minimum national election standards and uniformity, partner with state and local election officials to ensure pre-election and post-election accountability for their election plans, require nonpartisan election boards, and depoliticize and professionalize election administration across the United States
– establishment of independent and transparent non-partisan redistricting processes to stop partisan gerrymandering and protect minority rights and representation
– increasing the number of polling places, and increase the pay for poll workers
– Ensuring that all important federal, state and local government documents are on the Internet, especially texts of bills, searchable databases of voting records, draft committee and conference reports, and court decisions
– reinvigorating the independent investigative agencies, such as the General Accounting Office and the inspectors general
– enacting tough new federal anti-bribery and gratuity laws to stop corporations and the wealthy from purchasing government action, and vigorous enforcement of anti-corruption laws by the Justice Department
– prohibiting members of Congress, Governors, state legislators and their staffs from accepting for their own personal benefit any gifts of any amount from lobbyists or the general public
– requiring outside counsel to investigate ethics complaints against members of Congress, and toughening of punishments within the congressional ethics processes for corruption, abuse of power and other wrongdoing
– expansion of revolving-door lobbying “cooling off” periods for members of Congress and their top staff to at least two years
– allowing any member of Congress to require a floor vote on any congressional earmark, to stop wasteful spending

National Debt
The party states that:
– recent presidents have irresponsibly expanded our national debt by trillions of dollars to finance tax cuts for America’s wealthiest citizens, war, corporate welfare and bailouts of Wall Street and the automotive industry. This debt and the interest that must be paid on it is not sustainable
– working people and the small business community are bearing a disproportionate amount of the federal debt burden

The party advocates:
– reduce of the national debt by increasing taxes on large corporations, the super-rich and pollution; and decreasing expenditures in some areas, especially for war, armaments and corporate welfare
– opposing the privatization of Social Security
– increased funding for green jobs, Social Security, public housing, higher education, public transportation, environmental protection, renewable energy and energy conservation.

Taxes & Public Finance 
The party states that:
– our current tax system is outrageously unjust. It is riddled with loopholes, subsidies and dodges for corporations and the super-rich
– federal and state taxes must be strongly progressive
– most working people pay too much in taxes compared to corporations, multi-millionaires and billionaires. Many of our biggest and most profitable corporations pay little or no tax
– much investment income is taxed at less than the rate workers pay
– the nation can afford to cut taxes for most people if we make corporations and the super-rich pay their fair share. Then we can cut them even more when we halt
our nation’s wasteful spending on wars, weaponry and militarism
– its 2020 presidential campaign produced a Budget for an Ecosocialist Green New Deal that estimated sector by sector its cost of implementation over ten years, as well as the number of jobs it would create
– it estimates its Green Economy Reconstruction Program to reach 100% clean energy and zero emissions to be a 10-year, $27.5 trillion program. It would create 30,484,000 jobs, including 8,564,000 jobs in manufacturing.
– its Economic Bill of Rights is estimated to cost $1.42 trillion a year. It would create another 7,586,000 jobs, including 304,000 manufacturing jobs.
– the total for the Ecosocialist Green New Deal came to $42 trillion over ten years. Total jobs created is 38,070,000, including 8,868,000 manufacturing jobs.

To finance the Green New Deal, the party advocates:
– Progressive Tax Reform, including closing tax havens and implementing (more) progressive taxes on wealth, estates, personal income, corporate income, and financial transactions
– Ecological Taxes, the point of which is not to raise revenues but reduce pollution and resource destruction. If they are successful, they eliminate the source of their revenue. As such, they should not be considered long-term revenue sources but can be useful for shorter-term financing of environmental goals. Ecological taxes are scarcity rents on the use of natural resources, such as the atmosphere, land, fossil fuels, and mineral resources. While ecological taxes are not a substitute for social ownership and economic planning in a green energy transition, they can be part of economic planning to disincentivize fossil fuel use and natural resource extraction, dumping, and depletion. Three ecological taxes should be instituted to support the Ecosocialist Green New Deal:
1_ a carbon tax to disincentivize fossil fuel use and do so internationally because carbon taxes function as a tariff on high-carbon imports, encouraging firms and nations that want to export products to the US to lower their carbon content
2_ land value taxation enables the whole community to benefit from the land values of a limited resource instead of a landowning class. Its revenues could be dedicated to funding affordable homes, farms, and business locations
3_ federal severance taxes on non-renewable resources, including reform of the 1872 Mining Law that now enables corporations to purchase mineral rights on public lands for a mere $5 an acre and pay no severance tax for minerals taken

Additional means of financing the Green New Deal include:
– peace conversion — deep cuts in the US military budget on the order of 50% to 75% and reallocating the savings into the Ecosocialist Green New Deal
– public money – monetary reform based on the creation of debt-free public money by a Monetary Authority in the Treasury Department and spending that money into the economy through the federal budget, including the budget for the Ecosocialist Green New Deal
– borrowing — because taxes and reallocation of military spending may not generate enough revenue to make the massive investments immediately needed to rapidly transform the economy to clean energy, the federal government may have to borrow to make the needed investments. In such borrowing, the party favors a program of Green Quantitative Easing where the Federal Reserve creates the money to buy the Treasury securities issued to support the Green New Deal investments. This quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve would be used to bail out the planet and the people instead of the big banks as happened in the wake of the Great Recession. This would include creation of public banks at the local, state, and federal levels to help finance and target Green New Deal and other socially beneficial investments
– sales of public goods and services- the Ecosocialist Green New Deal will be producing and selling public goods and services through the public sector and receiving income for them, including power bill payments, transit fees, housing rents, and green machinery leases. Over time, these revenues should cover the costs of the initial borrowing like any successful business investment

The party advocates:
– progressive taxation
– shifting tax from individuals to corporations
– taxing “bads” not “goods”
– taxing unearned income at the same rate as earned income, taxing speculation on Wall Street, and cutting corporate tax giveaways
– comprehensive tax reform to simplify the tax system
– small business, in particular, should not be penalized by a tax system which benefits those who can “work” the legislative tax committees for breaks and
subsidies
– substantive and wide-ranging re- form of the tax system that helps create jobs, economic efficiencies and innovation within the small business community
– exempting people earning less than $25,000 per year and families earning less than $50,000 per year (adjusted for inflation) from the federal and
state income taxes
– exempt food, clothing, prescription medications, other necessities and second-hand goods from sales taxes
– ending corporate welfare, including bailouts for Wall Street, the big bank and the automobile industry; subsidies for agribusiness, Export-Import Bank loan guarantees; tax abatements for big box stores; the tax loophole for “carried interest” from private equity and hedge fund managers; tax deductibility for advertising and business entertainment; offshore tax avoidance schemes; giveaways for new sports stadiums and casinos
– a financial transaction tax on trades of stocks, bonds, currency derivatives, and other financial instruments
– blocking financial transactions with tax havens, to stop tax evasion
– decreasing the $1 million home value cap on the mortgage interest tax deduction for federal income taxes, to reduce the tax subsidy provided to
those living in the most expensive homes
– restoring the estate tax
– opposing the privatization of Social Security
– a wealth tax of 0.5% per year on an individual’s assets over $5 million
– establishment of a system of carbon taxes on all fossil fuels, to begin to reflect the real environmental cost of their extraction and use
– application of carbon taxes as far upstream as possible, preferably when possession of the carbon-bearing fuel passes from extraction (for ex- ample, coal mine; oil
wellhead or tanker; gas wellhead) to the next entity in the supply chain
– eliminating tax subsidies for the oil, gas, coal, nuclear and timber and mining industries
– enacting a system of Community Ground Rent/Land Value Taxation that distinguishes between the socially and privately created wealth of land, by increasing the taxes on the former to retain for society the value that it collectively creates and lowers them on the latter to reward individuals for their initiative and work
– to ensure that prices reflect their true environmental cost, enacting a system of True Cost Pricing (TCP) for goods and services, including immediate or prolonged damage (pollution of air and water) and diminishment of natural resources
– raising taxes on tobacco, alcohol, soda pop and other junk food.

International Relations
The party states, among its ten key values, that:
– it is essential that we develop effective alternatives to society’s current patterns of violence
– it will work to demilitarize and eliminate weapons of mass destruction, without being naive about the intentions of other governments
– it recognizes the need for self-defense and the defense of others who are in danger
– it promotes non-violent methods to oppose practices and policies with which we disagree, and will guide the country’s actions toward lasting personal, community and global peace
– public health agencies operating abroad should be allowed to offer family planning, contraception, and abortion in all countries that ask for those services. We oppose our government’s habit of cutting family planning funds when those funds go to agencies in foreign countries that give out contraceptive devices, offer advice on abortion, and perform abortions

The party further states that:
– the world and the nation stand poised between the geopolitical conflict of East versus West, marked by the aftermath of the catastrophic events of September 11, 2001; the dangers of global terrorism; the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq; the escalation of conflict in the Middle East; and continued research and development of nuclear weapons and the stockpiling of bio-chemical weapons
– third- and fourth-world economies and resources are being ravaged and the US’s economy
– global corporatization, concentrates greater power in the hands of fewer interests who are unaccountable to the vast majority of the world’s people threatens job security and other common goods

International Finance and Trade
The party advocates:
– re-formulation of all international trade relations and commerce as currently upheld by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) to protect the labor, human rights, economy, environment and domestic industry of partner and recipient nations so that the growth of local industry and agriculture has the advantage over foreign corporate domination
– re-structure the rules of performance of the IMF/WB to end the debts of recipient nations, prohibit the use of IMF/WB loans to impose structural adjustment programs that emphasize debt service and export-led development at the expense of social needs, and to install strict standards in the IMF/WB that control the use of grants or loans to prevent fraud, misuse, and subversion of funds by recipient governments
– re-writing the rules for investment of corporate capital in projects operated under the IMF/WB to guarantee the rights of the citizens of the nations receiving the investment and their right to public ownership and control of their own resources, including protections for labor’s right to organize, create unions and negotiate with management in all countries receiving U.S. investment, and require U.S. corporations that operate in other countries to adhere to the core labor standards established by the International Labor Organization (ILO) Declaration of the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
– secure the rights of all US states to establish stricter standards for health, safety, and for the environment than those of our national government, and to protect themselves against substandard, imported goods
– prohibiting U.S. corporations from avoiding or evading payment of their taxes by banking abroad or locating their charters offshore
– to restrict the unfettered flow of capital and currency trade, levying the Tobin tax of .05% on cross border currency transactions
– supporting the funding and expansion of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in their missions to educate and train people of less developed nations in initiating local business and economic development, and in providing health care and family planning
– demand that the US government renew and initiate government funding and support for family planning, contraception, and abortion in all countries that request it
– ending the U.S. government’s economic blockade of Cuba, lifting the embargo, and restoring normal diplomatic relations and respect for national sovereignty, and ending U.S. government veto of U.N. resolutions pertaining to Cuba
– imposing a Carbon Fee on imported fossil fuel, in order to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and reduce the impact of fuel importation on American foreign policy and the American economy

Peace and Demilitarization
The party states that:
– under the U.S. Constitution, ratified treaties such as the United Nations Charter hold the authority of U.S. law. Thus the U.S. government is pledged to abide by its principles and guidelines in the conduct of foreign relations and affairs
– the US has an obligation to take disputes with other nations or foreign bodies to the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly forum for negotiation and resolution
– the U.N. and international laws, treaties and conventions that the U.S. has signed are the framework that controls U.S. military actions abroad
– the U.S. must recognize the sovereignty of nation-states and their right of self-determination
– it recognizes and supports the right of the U.N. to intervene in a nation-state engaged in genocidal acts or in its persistent violation and denial of the human rights of an ethnic or religious group within its boundaries, and the right to protect the victims of such acts
– the U.S. is obligated to render military assistance or service under U.N. command to enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions
– to act in a crisis situation, the US is obligated to obtain a UN resolution under the Uniting for Peace Procedure when the U.N. Security Council is stalemated by vetoes
– it seeks permanent repeal of the veto power enjoyed by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council
– it urges the US government to sign the International Criminal Court agreement and respect the authority of that institution
– the US has no moral or legal right, or any justification, to pre-emptively attack another nation. The only legitimate use of military force is to repel an actual attack on our nation
– it demands repeal – not amendment — of the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) passed by Congress in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001, and opposes any other measure purporting to ‘authorize’ pre-emptive or illegal military action. In passing the AUMF, Congress abdicated its exclusive authority under the Constitution to declare war
– the Congress further violated the Constitution and betrayed its responsibility to the American people by delegating to the president – one person – virtually dictatorial power to commit acts of war whenever he or she chooses
– it supports abolishment of nuclear weapons, and calls upon the government to:
* declare a no-first-strike policy
* declare a no-pre-emptive strike policy
* declare that the U.S. will never threaten or use a nuclear weapon, regardless of size, on a non-nuclear nation
* sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and honor conditions set in the Non-Proliferation Treaty for nuclear nations
* reverse our withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and honor its stipulations
* end the research, testing and stockpiling of all nuclear weapons of any size
* dismantle all nuclear warheads from their missiles
– it supports signature of the Toronto treaty banning the production, stockpiling, use and sale of land mines, and assisting other nations in unearthing and disabling land mines buried in their lands
– it urges an end of US stockpiling of chemical and biological weapons and all research, use, and sale of such weapons; and signing of the convention that will establish the decrease and inspection of all nations’ stockpiles of such weapons
– it supports allowing foreign teams to visit the U.S. for verification purposes at least annually
– reduction of the US defense budget to half of its current size
– it supports phasing out all US bases on foreign soil not specifically functioning under a U.N. resolution to keep peace
– it supports repatriation of all US troops stationed abroad, except for the military assigned to protect a U.S. embassy
– closing the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as the School of the Americas, in Ft. Benning
– prohibiting all US arms sales to foreign nations and likewise prohibiting grants to impoverished and undemocratic nations unless the money is targeted on domestic, non-military needs
– prohibiting all covert actions used to influence, destabilize or usurp the governments of other nations, or the assassination of, or assistance in any form for the assassination of, foreign government officials

Demilitarization and Exploration of Space
The party:
– recognizes a need for the inspiration and education that the peaceful exploration of Space provides; the need for space-based systems to monitor environmental conditions on Earth; the many advances in space technology that benefit all people on Earth; and the inspiration provided to children by Space exploration can prompt them to pursue math, science, and other important courses of study
– states that the last four U.S.—backed military conflicts have used space-based technology to disrupt the computer and communication systems of sovereign states
– funds required for continuing peaceful Space exploration have been used, instead, for the design, implementation and deployment of wasteful and dangerous space hardware, such as the Strategic Defense Initiative

The party advocates:
– ending of space militarization, and any form of space-based military aggression
– peaceful and sustainable exploration of Space, determined on a case-by-case, mission-specific basis, including the signing of the International Treaty for the Demilitarization of Space
– a reduction of human-staffed space flight due to the high cost and risk for human life and the availability of automated technology that can perform necessary functions in space-based research

Middle East
The party states that:
– its commitments to ecological wisdom, social justice, grass-roots democracy, and non-violence compel it to oppose U.S. government support for “friendly” regimes in the region when those regimes violate human rights, international law, and existing treaties
– it calls on congressional intelligence committees to conduct comprehensive public hearings on the development and deployment of weapons of mass destruction by all states in the Middle East region. U.S. policy should support the removal and/or destruction of all such weapons wherever they are found there.
– it supports the “joint comprehensive plan of action” signed in July, 2015 by Iran and the P5+1 (five permanent members of the UN Security Council: China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States plus Germany), and the European Union, which confirms Iran’s status as a zone free of nuclear weapons
– Iran, which has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, has consistently called for a nuclear-free zone in the entire Middle East
– it supports swift elimination of economic sanctions on Iran and looks to the normalization of relations between Iran and the United States
– in keeping with UN resolutions call for a nuclear-free Middle East, it calls on Israel, the only nuclear power in the Middle East with at least 200 nuclear warheads, to dismantle its nuclear weapons program and sign on to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

Palestine
The party states that:
– its values oblige it to support popular movements for peace and demilitarization in Israel-Palestine, especially those that reach across the lines of conflict to engage both Palestinians and Israelis of good will
– it affirms the right of self-determination for both Palestinians and Israelis, which precludes the self-determination of one at the expense of the other
– it recognizes the historical and contemporary cultural diversity of Israeli-Palestinian society, including the religious heritage of Jews, Christians, Muslims and others, which is a significant part of the rich cultural legacy of all these peoples and must be respected
– its supports equality before international law rather than appeals to religious faith as the fair basis on which claims to the land of Palestine-Israel are resolved
– Jewish insecurity and fear of non-Jews are understandable in light of Jewish history of horrific oppression in Europe. However, it opposes as both discriminatory and ultimately self-defeating the position that Jews would be fundamentally threatened by the implementation of full rights to Palestinian-Israelis and Palestinian refugees who wish to return to their homes
– without wishing to impose US views on the people of the region, it would turn the U.S. government towards a new policy, which itself recognizes the equality, humanity, and civil rights of Jews, Muslims, Christians, and all others who live in the region, and which seeks to build confidence in prospects for secular democracy. – it reaffirms the right and feasibility of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in Israel
– it rejects U.S. unbalanced financial and military support of Israel while Israel occupies Palestinian lands and maintains an apartheid-like system in both the Occupied Palestinian Territories and in Israel toward its non-Jewish citizens. Therefore it calls on the U.S. President and Congress to suspend all military and foreign aid, including loans and grants, to Israel until Israel withdraws from the Occupied Territories, dismantles the separation wall in the Occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem, ends its siege of Gaza and its apartheid-like system both within the Occupied Palestinian Territories and in Israel toward its non-Jewish citizens
– it also rejects U.S. political support for Israel and demands that the U.S. government end its veto of Security Council resolutions pertaining to Israel
– decades of continuous diplomatic attempts by the international community have failed to bring about Israel’s compliance with international law or respect for basic Palestinian human rights. Despite abundant condemnation of Israel’s policies by the UN, International Court of Justice, and all relevant international conventions, the international community of nations has failed to stop Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights in Israel and the OPT, while Israeli crimes continue with impunity
– ending institutionalized racism (apartheid) in South Africa demanded an unusual, cooperative action by the entire international community in the form of a boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaign against apartheid South Africa, and that can become the most effective nonviolent means for achieving justice and genuine peace between Palestinians and Israelis
– Palestinian resistance to ongoing dispossession has mainly been nonviolent, including its most basic form—remaining in their homes, on their land; and that while Palestinian armed resistance is legitimate under international law when directed at non-civilian targets
– it believes that only nonviolent resistance will maintain the humanity of Palestinian society, elicit the greatest solidarity from others, and maximize the chance for future reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians

The party advocates:
– joining with the U.N. to secure Israel’s complete withdrawal to the 1967 boundaries and its compliance with international law.
– a much stronger and supportive U.S. position with respect to all United Nations, European Union, and Arab League initiatives that seek a negotiated peace
– and immediate U.N.-sponsored, multinational peacekeeping and protection force in the Palestinian territories with the mandate to initiate a conflict-resolution commission
– investigations by the foreign and military affairs committees of the U.S. House and Senate to conduct full hearings on the status of human rights and war crimes in Palestine-Israel, especially violations committed during Israel’s 2008-2009 invasion of Gaza (“Operation Cast Lead”) as documented in the 2009 “UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict”(“The Goldstone Report”) authorized by the UN Commission on Human Rights
– it supports a boycott and divestment strategy (BDS) against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era, which includes pressuring our government to impose embargoes and sanctions against Israel, until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law
– it views the proposed two-state solution as neither democratic nor viable in the face of international law, material conditions and “facts on the ground” that now exist in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Therefor it supports a U.S. foreign policy that promotes the creation of one secular, democratic state for Palestinians and Israelis on the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan as the national home of both peoples, with Jerusalem as its capital
– as an integral part of peace negotiations and the transition to a peaceful democracy, it calls for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission whose inaugurating action would be mutual acknowledgement by Israelis and Palestinians that they have the same basic rights, including the right to exist in the same, secure place

Military Service
The party advocates:
– requiring full written disclosure of what is expected of military recruits and what they can expect in return from the government
– recognizing the practice of deceiving prospective service recruits about the truth of their service contract as fraudulent, and sufficient grounds for revoking an enlistment contract
– applying all terms of military service contracts to the government as well as recruits

Veterans
The party states that:
– support for men and women in the armed forces must go far beyond the rhetoric used to discredit the peace movement in the U.S. today
– the dangerous burden of fighting the war in Iraq is disproportionately borne by families of lesser means
– its first priority in foreign policy considerations is to creating a future without war

The party advocates:
– increased pay levels, including monthly combat pay, imminent danger pay and family separation allowances for those risking their lives in combat zones
– better care for the wounded, sick and injured soldiers, and restoration of full funding for veterans’ health programs
– full diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental health conditions resulting from service in combat zones, including post-traumatic stress disorder, including increased funding for additional clinics to provide services which now are too often delayed or denied because of over crowding and budget constraints
– honoring all laws concerning time limits on deployments
– to ensure a smooth transition from active military service to civilian life, providing counseling, housing, emergency management, job protection and other support systems
– a comprehensive program to survey Vets and the impacts of Gulf War Syndrome on them and their families and to provide the best possible medical treatment available to minimize the suffering of these men and women and their families
– establishment of a panel of independent medical doctors to examine and oversee military policies regarding forced vaccinations and shots, especially with experimental drugs
– ending the practice of testing experimental medicines and inoculations on service members without their consent
– a new GI Bill, similar to the one that began after World War II and ended in 1981, to provide tuition grants for four years of college or other educational opportunities, low-interest loans for housing or business start-ups, and free medical care for military personnel and their families for ten years following separation from the armed forces
– a transparent and democratic conscientious objection process free of harassment, imprisonment, or deployment to war zones for conscientious objectors
– the right of individuals in the military service to modify or completely separate from military involvement because of conscientious objection

Police & Public Safety

Terrorism
The party states that:
– since the attacks of September 11, 2001, there has been an erosion of freedom in the United States, from many sources and taking many forms, including the war on drugs and widespread imprisonment of nonviolent drug offenders; the increased use of personal identification, surveillance of employees at work, and the growing use of private security forces by corporations; restrictions on the speech of protesters and students; and random traffic stops of persons of color and the commonplace use of roadblocks

The party advocates:
– complete, thorough, impartial, and independent investigation of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, including the role of the administration of George W, Bush, various U.S. based corporations and interests, and other nations and third parties
– repeal of the USA PATRIOT Act, the provisions of which undermine and erode our Bill of Rights and contribute to the destruction of the democratic foundation of checks and balances between the branches of government
– strict enforcement of First Amendment rights of speech, assembly, association and petition, including the right to public, non-violent protest
– ending torture, such as in prisons like Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and other U.S.-controlled facilities, and ensuring that those guilty of ordering or executing torture are held accountable for violations U.S. and international law
– restoration of the right of habeas corpus, a legal action to obtain relief from illegal detention, and ending indefinite detention without trial
– ending abuse of National Security Letters, which the FBI uses to force Internet service providers, libraries, banks, and credit reporting companies to reveal sensitive information about their patrons
– opposing the death penalty in the United States and worldwide
– strict application of Fourth Amendment protections against illegal search and seizure
– confirming that privacy protections of the 4th amendment extend to the Internet
– supporting the ability of cities to establish civilian police review boards to increase understanding between community members and police officers, provide a public forum to air concerns on policy matters and to ensure public oversight and accountability of their local police department
– stronger legislation, programs, and enforcement to address violence against women and all other forms of violence
– replacement of the term “domestic violence” with the term “violence,” because “domestic violence” is not perceived as real violence, which leads to it not being treated legally and practically for the violence that it is
– ending use of the term “sex work” in relation to prostitution. With the increasing conflation of trafficking (the violent and illegal trafficking in women and girls for forced sex) with prostitution, it is impossible to know which is which, and what violence the term “sex work” is masking. No source in existence knows which forms of prostitution comprise forced sex and which comprise free will or choice prostitution.

Corrections
The party states that:
– the United States has the highest incarceration and recidivism rates of industrialized countries, and its criminal justice system in general is too often inhumane, ineffective, and prohibitively expensive
– the current approach to law enforcement places too much emphasis on drug-related and petty, non-violent crimes, and not enough on prosecution of corporate, white collar, and environmental crime
– the poor, the under-educated and various racial and ethnic minorities are overrepresented in the prison population
– negative effects of imprisonment include isolation of prisoners from their communities, media, and education

The party advocates:
– reducing the prison population, investing in rehabilitation, and ending the war on drugs
– prioritizing efforts to prevent violent crime and address the legitimate needs of victims, while addressing the socio-economic root causes of crime and practicing policies that prevent recidivism
– ending the privatization of prison, as profits in such entitles are derived from understaffing, which severely reduces the quality of care for inmates
– an end to the “war on drugs”, legalization of drugs and treating drug abuse as a health issue
– as alternatives to encouraging and supporting positive approaches to punishment that build hope, responsibility and a sense of belonging, and use of prisons as a last resort, reserved for violent criminals
– handling non-violent offenses through alternative, community-based programs including halfway houses, work-furlough, community service, electronic monitoring, restitution, and rehabilitation programs
– releasing prisoners with diagnosed mental disorders to secure mental health treatment centers, and releasing prisoners who are too old and/or infirm to pose a threat to society to less expensive, community-based facilities
– treating parole as a time of reintegration into the community, not as a continuation of sentence
– providing counseling and other services to the members of a parolee’s family, to help them with the changes caused by the parolee’s return
-restoring the right to hold public office to felons who have completed their prison sentence
– repealing “three strikes” laws, and restoring judicial discretion in sentencing

Courts & Police
The party advocates:
– sharp restriction of police use of weapons and restraining techniques such as pepper spray, stun belts, tasers and choke holds
– prohibiting property forfeiture and denial of due process for unconvicted suspects
– establishing freedom on bail as a right of all defendants charged with non-violent crimes
– incorporating mental health and social services in bail agreements
– increased compensation for jurors and provision of childcare for those serving jury duty
– protection of victims’ rights, including the opportunity for victims to make victim-impact statements and consideration of restitution to victims
– gun control as is contained in the Brady Bill (1993)
– eliminating sale of weapons without background checks
– redirection of funds presently budgeted for the “war on drugs” toward expanded research, education, counseling and treatment
– amending the Controlled Substances Act to reflect that drug use in itself is not a crime
– legalizing the possession, sale, and cultivation of cannabis/marijuana, and striking from the record prior felony convictions for marijuana possession, sale, or cultivation, and amnesty for those who have been incarcerated for the use, sale, or cultivation of marijuana

Role & Purpose of Government; Democratic Reform
The campaign states that:
– a democratic government is supposed to be of, by, and for the people
– however, government institutions have betrayed the peoples’ trust. Intelligence agencies spy on our own people. Government and tech platforms conspire to surveil and censor the public. Regulatory agencies have been captured by those they are supposed to regulate: Wall Street controls the SEC. Polluters and extractive industries dominate the EPAand BLM. Pharma controls the CDC, NIH, and FDA. Big Ag controls the USDA. Big Tech has captured the FTC. No wonder trust in government is at all-time lows. It’s time to earn it back
– Candidate Kennedy understands from experience with systems of power that most people in corporations and government are perfectly decent human beings. They play the game, but a lot of them are fed up with its phoniness, and cynical about the paralysis of the system. They feel trapped in it. Clean government isn’t just about removing corrupt individuals, but about changing as system in which perfectly decent people become agents of corruption without even knowing it

The campaign advocates remaking public institutions to serve the public, including
– rolling back secrecy and making government transparent, protecting whistleblowers and prosecuting officials who abuse the public trust
– reining in lobbyists and closing the revolving door that shunts people from government agencies to lucrative positions in the companies they were supposed to regulate, and back agai
– getting money out of politics, and opening government institutions to real citizen involvement, to restore integrity to government

Respect in civic discourse
The campaign states that:
– America is more polarized and divided now than at any time in living memory
– both sides seem to agree that the basic problem is the horrible people on the other side
– both sides are wrong. The basic problem is the division itself. A divided public lacks the strength to resist exploitation or to overcome the inertia of the status quo
– the classic American can-do spirit exhausts itself in endless battles, while powerful undemocratic forces have a death grip on the nation
– there is only one way to break that grip and restore power to the people: a broad popular movement that unites left and right, Black and White, urban and rural, young and old, and working people of all ethnicities.
– but such a movement is not to be defined by its enemies. Candidate Kennedy recognizes that even the elites have become prisoners of the system they have created. Many of them no longer believe in it, despite the wealth and power it gives them. They too are welcome to defect to the movement of peoplepower
– the candidate has clear positions on most of today’s divisive trigger issues like abortion, guns, and immigration, but he knows that both sides have legitimate concerns and legitimate moral positions. No one is deplorable. Furthermore, most of the disagreements obscure deeper shared values.
– everyone wants their children to be safe. No one wants more abortions, nor do they want to force women to undergo unwanted pregnancies. Everyone wants safe streets, yet few wish for millions of people to languish in prison.

The campaign advocates:
– drawing on the broad moral agreements that exist beneath our divisions. Candidate Kennedy will model careful listening, and create conditions where each group can hear the stories of the other.
– promoting national reconciliation, respectful dialog, and willingness to change, to grow, and to forgive, starting during the campaign. In Kennedy’s own words, “Every nation, like every individual, has a darker side and a lighter side. The easiest thing for a politician to do is to appeal to our greed, to our anger, to our fear, to our xenophobia, our bigotry, all of the alchemies of tribalism. I will appeal instead to our generosity as a people, our goodness, our kindness, and our courage.”

Military & Foreign Relations
The campaign states that:
– in the long term, a nation’s strength does not come from its armies. America spends as much on weaponry as the next nine nations combined, yet the country has grown weaker, not stronger, over the last 30 years
– even as its military technology has reigned supreme, America has been hollowing out from the inside. We cannot be a strong or secure nation when our infrastructure, industry, society, and economy are infirm
– one of its high priorities is to make America strong again. When a body is sick, it withdraws its energy from the extremities in order to nourish the vital organs. It is time to end the imperial project and attend to all that has been neglected: the crumbling cities, the antiquated railways, the failing water systems, the decaying infrastructure, the ailing economy. Annual defense-related spending is close to one trillion dollars. We maintain 800 military bases around the world. The peace dividend that was supposed to come after the Berlin Wall fell was never redeemed
– the country is ailing, but underneath there is vitality still. The nation is rich in resources, creativity, and intelligence. We just need to get serious about healing our society, to become strong again from the inside

To start the process of unwinding empire, the campaign advocates:
– bringing the troops home, and ending the creation of unpayable debt to fight one war after another, returning the military will return to its proper role of defending the nation
– ending the proxy wars, bombing campaigns, covert operations, coups, paramilitaries, and everything else that has become so normal most people don’t know it’s happening
– as a priority in Ukraine, ending the suffering of the Ukrainian people, victims of a brutal Russian invasion, and also victims of American geopolitical machinations going back at least to 2014, including clarifying the mission: to help the brave Ukrainians defend their sovereignty, rather than using Ukraine as a pawn to weaken Russia, and seeking a diplomatic solution that brings peace to Ukraine and brings American resources home, including offering to withdraw American troops and nuclear-capable missiles from Russia’s borders, with Russia withdrawing its troops from Ukraine and guaranteeing its freedom and independence
– providing UN peacekeepers to guarantee peace to the Russian-speaking eastern regions
– turning away from a tendency to see the world in terms of enemies and adversaries, and returning to the sentiment expressed by John Quincy Adams, “Americans go not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.
– ending the imperialistic policies of the past, reining in the CIA, and supporting freedom movements around the world
– to restore America’s moral leadership, promoting healing from inside. When a warlike imperial nation disarms of its own accord, it sets a template for peace everywhere. It is not too late for us to voluntarily let go of empire and serve peace instead, as a strong and healthy nation.

Border Security
The campaign states that:
– it sees the situation at the border primarily as a humanitarian crisis which has spread far beyond the border, as a flood of migrants has overwhelmed the resources of cities as faraway as New York. The suffering of the migrants at the hands of drug cartels, human traffickers, and exploitative employers is heartbreaking
– it seeks to end the humanitarian crisis, starting with its most immediate cause — an uncontrolled border. While sealing the border to illegal immigration, it proposes to enact deeper reforms to stem illegal migration in the long term, while expanding lawful, orderly immigration according to principles of justice and fairness
– Americans must recognize that the foremost victims of a porous, chaotic border are the immigrants themselves. Compassion and decency demand that we do not allow the current situation to continue
– ruthless criminal cartels have woven drugs, immigration, and human trafficking together into a multi-billion dollar business, and American policy has exacerbated the situation. Immigration is being administered by the cartels, not our government
– yet a controlled border is necessary

The campaign advocates:
– first, getting the border under control. There are two ways people enter this country illegally. One way is by sneaking in. The other is by simply walking across at an entry point, claiming asylum, and disappearing. Both must be addressed simultaneously
– second, working with other countries to stem the tide of migrants
– third, to fully fund and prioritize the administrative infrastructure for lawful, orderly immigration to this country

To regain control over the border, the campaign advocates:
– closing the border by returning to use of technology dismantled by the current administration, such as cameras, lights, and motion detectors, coupled with physical barriers in key areas. There is no need to build a wall across the entire 2,000-mile border. We have the technology to prevent people from getting through undetected.
– regaining control asylum of claims by fully funding courts, services, and border agencies to allow lawful immigration in accordance with U.S. law and deny non-compliant access, and appoint more judges to handle asylum cases. There are too few asylum judges to process even the legitimate claims of political refugees. If claimants of political asylum knew their case would be heard swiftly, and that specious claims would be met with swift deportation, the cartels’ business model would fail. Hundreds more judges need to be appointed to deal with the backlog of 1.6 million immigrants living in the US while they await their asylum hearing

In working with other countries to stem the tide of migrants, the campaign advocates a new kind of Good Neighbor Policy, to reestablish regional diplomatic, proper planning, and end economic exploitation, including:
– ending military adventurism that destabilizes other nations and generates millions of refugees, as in Syria and Iraq, which sent millions of migrants into Europe. The current flood of arms into Ukraine sends ripples of instability across the continent. Some of the weapons have already ended up in Africa and central Asia, two major sources of immigration.
– ending support for despotic governments, juntas, coups, death squads, and repressive regimes that persecute and impoverish their own people
– ending opposition to governments that seek land reform, labor reform, and social welfare for their people. These create a desperate and miserable population prone to flee their homeland for a better life
– cooperating with Mexico and Central American countries to improve economies and provide economic incentives to build jobs and develop much-needed infrastructure and a better standard of living, so people will be motivated to stay in their home country and enjoy their natural culture and heritage
– pursuing a different trade and economic policy, including ending decades of neoliberal austerity measures and US encouragement of financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank to demand that developing nations gut their social programs, privatize public assets, and strip away environmental and labor protections
– ending appeals to xenophobia and bigotry in calling for a tough border policy and turning toward compassion and humanitarian conscience

Veterans
The party states that:
– since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, American servicemen and women have been called upon to support a state of near-perpetual war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unlike any period of conflict in American history, these wars have been fought by an all-volunteer force, of which 77% deployed twice or more. Mr. Kennedy embraces this sacrifice made by veterans to the country, their sense of honor, and their desire to serve.
– it understands veterans’ acute awareness of the true nature, enormous cost and sacrifice, and folly of America’s engagement in these conflicts. Veterans deserve recognition for their remarkable service. More importantly, they deserve a special voice in the nation’s councils of war and peace and in re-uniting our country around shared purposes. The stark absence, except in rare circumstances, of input from veterans in the more extensive debate about the US role in the world is improper. Mr. Kennedy seeks to change this on day one.
– it understands that veterans are not victims. Instead, their steadfast dedication has been misused by politicians and the military-industrial complex, who have deliberately kept the true opinions of those who have served in these wars out of the conversation. For example, veterans have first-hand knowledge of the waste and fraud endemic to the government contracting system, and ideas of how to fix it.

The campaign advocates:
– making the security of America and her citizens the first priority of the military
– establishing a Veterans Council within the President’s Executive Office, with the purpose of respond quickly to veteran’s issues while by passing the bureaucracy of the VA and, in effect, bringing solutions to the VA for that department to execute, and giving the head of the PVC a seat at National Security Council meetings to bring veterans’ unique perspective on war and leverage their experience.
– protecting veterans’ benefits and optimizing the VA, including solicit veterans’ input on making benefits more impactful to enable veterans to reach the highest echelons of success and prosperity
– encouraging veterans to become community leaders and an economic power, to counterbalance the efforts of those seeking self-enrichment, which have cost this nation its role and reputation as a beacon of hope and a moral leader worldwide

Public Safety & Police
The campaign advocates:
– ending the failed War on Drugs and granting amnesty to nonviolent drug offenders
– closing the school-to-prison pipeline, and transitioning prisons away from a punishment paradigm to a rehabilitation paradigm. Prisons will be an intervention in a life gone wrong, and a way to prevent offenders from harming others again.
– instead of defunding the police, transforming the police, incentivizing them to prevent violence, not make unnecessary arrests, including training them in de-escalation and mediation skills and partnering them with neighborhood organizations. No longer will their relationship to the public be adversarial. They will focus their attention on serious crimes, not harassing ordinary people.

Role & Purpose of Government
The party states that:
– it seeks a world of liberty: a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and are not forced to sacrifice their values for the benefit of others
– it believes that respect for individual rights is the essential precondition for a free and prosperous world, that force and fraud must be banished from human relationships, and that only through freedom can peace and prosperity be realized
– consequently, it defends each person’s right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest, and welcome the diversity that freedom brings
– it seeks to build a world in which individuals are free to follow their own dreams in their own ways, without interference from government or any authoritarian power
– it holds that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose
– the only proper purpose of government is the protection of individual rights. Government is constitutionally limited so as to prevent the infringement of individual rights by the government itself
– governments throughout history have regularly operated on the opposite principle, that the State has the right to dispose of the lives of individuals and the fruits of their labor
– it denies the right of government to regulate the lives of individuals or seize the fruits of their labor without their consent
– where governments exist, they must not violate the rights of any individual: namely:
(1) the right to life, accordingly it supports prohibition of the initiation of physical force against others;
(2) the right to liberty of speech and action — accordingly it opposes all attempts by government to abridge the freedom of speech and press, as well as government censorship in any form; and
(3) the right to property — accordingly it opposes all government interference with private property, such as confiscation, nationalization, and eminent domain, and support the prohibition of robbery, trespass, fraud, and misrepresentation

Representative Government & Reform
The party states that:
– it supports election systems that are more representative of the electorate at the federal, state, and local levels
– as private voluntary groups, political parties should be free to establish their own rules for nomination procedures, primaries, and conventions
– it calls for an end to any tax-financed subsidies to candidates or parties and the repeal of all laws that restrict voluntary financing of election campaigns
– it opposes laws that effectively exclude alternative candidates and parties deny ballot access, gerrymander districts, or deny the voters their right to consider all legitimate alternatives
– it advocates initiative, referendum, recall, and repeal when used as popular checks on government
– whenever any form of government becomes destructive of individual liberty, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to agree to such new governance as to them shall seem most likely to protect their liberty

Government Finance and Spending
The party states that:
– all persons are entitled to keep the fruits of their labor. It calls for the repeal of the income tax, abolishment of the Internal Revenue Service, and all federal programs and services not required under the U.S. Constitution
– it opposes any legal requirements forcing employers to serve as tax collectors
– it supports any initiative to reduce or abolish any tax, and opposes any increase on any tax for any reason
– to the extent possible, it advocates that all public services be funded in a voluntary manner

Government Debt
The party states that:
– government should not incur debt, which burdens future generations without their consent
– it supports passage of a “Balanced Budget Amendment” to the U.S. Constitution, provided that the budget is balanced exclusively by cutting expenditures, and not by raising taxes

Government Employees
The party advocates:
– repeal of any requirement that one must join or pay dues to a union as a condition of government employment
– it advocates replacing defined-benefit pensions with defined contribution plans, as are commonly offered in the private sector, so as not to impose debt on future generations without their consent

Courts & Public Safety
The party states that:
– government force must be limited to the protection of the rights of individuals to life, liberty, and property, and governments must never be permitted to violate these rights
– laws should be limited in their application to violations of the rights of others through force or fraud, or to deliberate actions that place others involuntarily at significant risk of harm

The party advocates:
– repeal of all laws creating “crimes” without victims, such as gambling, the use of drugs for medicinal or recreational purposes, and consensual transactions involving sexual services
– restitution to the victim to the fullest degree possible at the expense of the criminal or the negligent wrongdoer
– preservation of the constitutional rights of the criminally accused, including due process, a speedy trial, legal counsel, trial by jury, and the legal presumption of innocence until proven guilty
– the common-law right of juries to judge not only the facts but also the justice of the law
– ending the prosecutorial practice of “over-charging” in criminal prosecutions so as to avoid jury trials by intimidating defendants into accepting plea bargains

– ending administration of the death penalty by the state

Self-Defense
The party states that:
– the only legitimate use of force is in defense of individual rights — life, liberty, and justly acquired property — against aggression
– this right inheres in the individual, who may agree to be aided by any other individual or group
– it affirms the individual right recognized by the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms, and opposes the prosecution of individuals for exercising their rights of self-defense
– private property owners should be free to establish their own conditions regarding the presence of personal defense weapons on their own property
– it opposes all laws at any level of government restricting, registering, or monitoring the ownership, manufacture, or transfer of firearms or ammunition

International Relations & Defense
The party states that:
– the principle of non-initiation of force should guide the relationships between governments.

National Defense
The party advocates:
– maintenance of a sufficient military to defend the United States against aggression
– avoidance of entangling alliances and abandonment of national attempts to act as policeman for the world
– ending of all forms of compulsory national service.

Internal Security and Individual Rights
The party states that:
– national defense requires that the nation have adequate intelligence to detect and to counter threats to domestic security. This requirement must not take priority over maintaining the civil liberties of our citizens
– the Constitution and Bill of Rights should not be suspended even during time of war. Intelligence agencies that legitimately seek to preserve the security of the nation must be subject to oversight and transparency
– it opposes governmental use of secret classifications to keep from the public information that it should have, especially that which shows that the government has violated the law
– it opposes the use of torture and other cruel and unusual punishments, without exception

International Affairs
The party states that
– American foreign policy should seek an America at peace with the world. Our foreign policy should emphasize defense against attack from abroad and enhance the likelihood of peace by avoiding foreign entanglements
– it would end the current U.S. government policy of foreign intervention, including military and economic aid
– it recognizes the right of all people to resist tyranny and defend themselves and their rights.
– it condemns the use of force, and especially the use of terrorism, against the innocent, regardless of whether such acts are committed by governments or by political or revolutionary groups

Free Trade and Migration
The party states that:
– it supports removal of governmental impediments to free trade
– political freedom and escape from tyranny demand that individuals not be unreasonably constrained by government in the crossing of political boundaries
– economic freedom demands the unrestricted movement of human as well as financial capital across national border

The Role of Government

The party advocates:
– ending the weaponization of government against the America people
– uniting the country by bringing it to new and record levels of success

Stewardship of Office

Taxes & Budget

The party advocates:
– large tax cuts for workers, and no taxes on tips

Democratic Reform

The party advocates:
– ensuring secure elections, including same-day voting, voter identification, paper ballots, and proof of citizenship

States, Territories, Municipalities

The party advocates:
– rebuilding cities, making them safe, clean, and beautiful again
– restoring law and order, by replenishing police departments, restoring common sense policing, and protecting officers from frivolous lawsuits. It undertakes to stand up to Marxist Prosecutors, vigorously defend the right of every American to live in peace, and to compassionately address homelessness to restore order to the nation’s streets.
– making Washington D.C. the safest and most beautiful capital city by reasserting greater federal control over the city, to restore law and order in our Capital City and ensure federal buildings and monuments are well-maintained.

Peace & International Relations

The party advocates:
– promoting a Foreign Policy centered on the most essential American Interests, starting with protecting the American homeland, the American people, national borders, the Great American Flag, and American rights under God.
– preventing World War 3, restoring peace in Europe and in the Middle East, and building a great iron dome missile defense shield over the entire country, all made in America
– keeping the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency
– strengthening alliances by ensuring that Allies meet their obligations to invest in common defense initiatives and by restoring peace to Europe, standing with Israel, and seeking peace in the Middle East
– rebuilding the nation’s Alliance Network in the region and championing strong, sovereign, and independent Nations in the Indo-Pacific, to build stability and peace, thriving in commerce with others.
– strengthen the nation’s economic, military, and diplomatic capabilities to protect the American way of life from the malign influences of Countries that stand against it around the World.

National Defense & Security

The party states that:
– it advocates strengthening and modernizing the military, making it, without question, the strongest and most powerful in the world
– keeping the American People safe requires a strong America.  Its plan is to return Peace through Strength, rebuilding our Military and Alliances, countering China, defeating terrorism, building an Iron Dome Missile Defense Shield, promoting American values, securing national borders, and reviving the defense industrial base
– it advocates building a military that is bigger, better, and stronger than ever before. Its full commitment is to protecting America and ensuring a safe and prosperous future for all.

The party advocates:
– modernizing the military, and ensuring that it is the most modern, lethal, and powerful force in the world, including investing in cutting-edge research and advanced technologies, including an Iron Dome Missile Defense Shield, supporting troops with higher pay, and getting its woke leftwing opponents fired as soon as possible.
– defending the nation’s borders, including rapid completion of the southern border wall begun during the party’s last term in office and mobilizing military personnel and assets as necessary to crack down hard on the cartels that traffic drugs and people into the country
– reviving the nation’s industrial base, which is critical to ensuring good jobs for our people but also the reliable production of vital Defense platforms and supplies, with priority on Defense-critical industries. Equipment and parts critical to American security must be made in the USA.
– using all tools of National Power to protect our Nation’s critical infrastructure and industrial base from malicious cyber actors, as a matter of national priority, both raising the Security Standards for our critical systems and networks and defending them against bad actors.

Veterans

The party advocates taking care of veterans, by ending luxury housing and taxpayer benefits for Illegal immigrants and using those savings to shelter and treat homeless veterans, and restoring the reforms of its prior term in office to to expand veterans’ healthcare choices, protect whistleblowers, and hold accountable poorly performing employees not giving our Veterans the care they deserve.

Criminal Justice & Public Safety

The party advocates:
– stopping the migrant crime epidemic
– demolishing the foreign drug cartels
– crushing gang violence
– locking up violent offenders