Nathanael Fonken, Sam Gilboy, Jamie K, Sky Reents, Emily B

11/7/2018

Govt/Econ/English 4

Ms. Baker

Brandes

Party Name: The Progressive Party

Membership: Nathanael Fonken, Sam Gilboy, Jamie K, Sky Reents, Emily Barajas

Mascot: Shark

Party Platform

Foreign Policy:

Military Service: We believe that people should be free to pursue passions at the cusp of

adulthood how they want to, without being obligated to serve in the armed forces. Forcing youth

into the military forcefully takes valuable years off of lives and delays the development of

professional careers. If we want to be a nation of freedom and want to be economically

competitive with the rest of the world, we should maintain the right of American citizens to serve

of their of volition.

Military Spending: We believe that military spending is important, but not the most

pressing concern at the moment and so should be kept the same or slightly lowered. Heavily

decreasing funding costs the lives of American soldiers that would otherwise have the edge in a

combat situation. The military is functions as a form of welfare that provides money for

education, healthcare, and job training that citizens use to go back into the civilian economy and
remains an option for Americans who would otherwise be stuck with none. It also pours money

into scientific research that goes back into the civilian economy, super glue, rockets,

microwaves, and even video games started out as military technologies. The money we pour into

is not a waste when it saves lives, helps people survive, educates them to be professionals, and

pours technology into the free market.

Syria: We believe that direct intervention in Syria should be avoided and that we should

maintain a support role by sending funding, weapons, training, and supporting airstrikes against

non-governmental factions to organizations sympathetic to the American government and our

constitutional ideals like the SDF and YPG; and take on a political role against Russian

intervention in the area. Putting our own boots on the ground commits us to a war that is not our

own to fight and overshadows the Syrian people’s own initiative in their political landscape,

which was absolutely disastrous in Iraq and Afghanistan. Meanwhile Russia, an ally of Syria, has

been using the advance of ISIS as an excuse for their own direct intervention in the Syria and is

using the opportunity to make strikes and to take military action against factions sympathetic to

America and to increase their own influence. If we want to maintain our own influence in the

area and let the conflict come to a natural conclusion we have to take the necessary steps, but not

make the same mistakes we had before.

Crime:

Body Cameras: We believe that police should have mandatory body cameras to insure

accountability on the officers and helping get possible witnesses in all cases in which a seperate

account of events is necessary. Having body cameras would solve a lot of problems with court
cases because there would be credible and undeniable evidence on whether a shooting was

justified. It would also make officers more conscious and give more thought to shooting

someone.

Felon Voting: We believe that violent felony offenders should not be able to vote. If

someone has committed a violent felony, based on statistics they are likely to be a repeat

offender. Someone like this does not have the judgment necessary to make decisions for our

country, as well as not having our country’s and its people’s best interests at heart. To be clear,

we only believe that ​violent f​ elons shouldn’t be able to vote, not felons of things like drug

possession or computer hacking.

Death Penalty: We believe that the death penalty should be reserved for extreme violent

cases, but as a whole don’t really agree with it from a moral standpoint. It seems like a somewhat

barbaric and outdated practice that doesn’t really have a place in the modern day. We believe it

should only be used when absolutely necessary, if someone has proved to be a danger to society

and we have exhausted all other options.

Domestic Policy:

Net Neutrality: We believe that the internet should be free and unrestricted by 3rd party,

monetary, and governmental interests. The internet allows anyone, and everyone to share their

opinions, and find people with the same mindset. Repealing Net Neutrality removes some of the

freedom that people otherwise wouldn’t have. Net Neutrality helps the market grow and have

competition rather than give the monopoly to the giant corporations.

 Gun Control: We believe that people should have their 2nd amendment respected, while

still ensuring that individuals seeking ownership are trained, licensed, and given more thorough

background checks, and have their weapons registered with the government. People are abusing

their right to bear arms and using their weapons for criminal acts. Increasing the inspections on

people who are attempting to buy firearms will decrease the chance of unsafe individuals getting

a weapon.

Drug Legalization: We believe in defelonizing drug possession, and seeking legality for

certain drugs. The legalization of drugs will allow people to get help, and recover from addiction

rather than being imprisoned. Drug use isn’t going to ever stop, so the best option is to make it

safer, and better regulated. Legalizing drugs doesn’t mean that everyone will have access to any

drug that they want to take, it just means that it won’t be demonized and people that would take

it anyway will have options, and help on recovery.

Environment:

Climate change regulations: We think it’s important to use the law to confront growing

environmental issues in the US and around the world, for the good of all people. Having more

programs for cleansing litter from the ocean and reducing land runoff in big business and

industrial communities should be enacted. Regulations should be monitored and reviewed for

industrial companies and fines on big businesses should be more thoroughly enforced.

Climate agreement: The climate issues we’re facing are not only local, so we believe

cooperation to confront these issues should be a global effort and we should re-enter the paris

agreement. We need to have a global effort going to have helpful regulation on these programs
for change. Carbon emissions must be regulated and output should be decreased for all factories

and their associated industrial partners.

Banning disposables: We believe that disposables should be slowly restricted to preserve

our environment, and also to lessen the immediate impact on our economy. A decrease in

disposables would help with a worldwide littering problem in cities and drifting in the ocean. In

certain communities, food production and catering businesses could reuse already existing items

with proper sterilization.

Economics:

Cutting public spending: We believe in maintaining a balanced budget for keeping public

spaces safe and hygenic as to prevent easily communicable disease outbreaks. Public spending

should not be cut, they should be increased as to funding towards road safety, public structures,

and city hygienics states.Public Spending should focus on the wellbeing of the public first.

Taxing the rich: We believe in taxing the rich to decrease the government deficit and to

fund education and public service.In the face of underfunded city cleanliness programs,

transportation issues, and the need for increased funding for those needing rehabilitation, we

should tax the rich and overly fortunate. Taxing the rich for temporary housing to improve

general livelihood of less fortunate citizens would be wise for the interest of the lower classes.

Minimum wage: We believe we should increase the minimum wage to a livable income.

There are a lot of people and families relying on minimum wage jobs and an increase would

benefit them. In the case of inflation, there are many ways around this, such as decreasing
portion sizes. Increasing the federal minimum wage would help a good amount of the homeless

and impoverished in America.

Immigration:

Separation of children: We believe that children should only be separated in cases where

they’re being check for human trafficking. Separating young kids from their families not only

affects the parents but can also cause the children to develop lasting mental issues and even

trauma. There are existing systems for detaining/housing unaccompanied minors -- however,

those kids were often much older than the ones being detained earlier this year.

Wall: We believe the wall would be ineffective and a huge waste of government

resources, and therefore should not be built. It would also be an extreme hassle because the wall

could cut through mountains, towns, rivers, etc. Regardless of what barriers anyone tries to

place to keep immigrants out, they’ll find a way to get over here because of the dangerous and

low quality lives a lot of them are living.

Deportation of criminals: We believe that people should only be deported for severe

crimes committed recently and repeatedly. If someone migrates here and is immediately showing

that they are a danger to society and its people, then they should be deported. However, people

should not be deported in cases where, for example, they’ve lived here for years and committed a

crime when they were very young.

Social Issues:
 Abortion: Abortion is a right that everyone should be entitled to, and people are entitled

to their own bodies. People have the right to decide if they are ready to be a parent and ready to

support a child, financially and emotionally, and this is especially true in cases of rape and

incest. We support Planned Parenthood and they do great things for thousands of people,

advocating for mindful sex education and supporting victims of sex crimes. Employers should be

required to cover birth control in their employees’ insurance plans, as it is a fundamental human

right. We also believe in more education and protection options for those wanting it, as well as

free birth control for anyone.

Same Sex Marriage: We believe that individuals should have the right and freedom to

pursue their own happiness, and in turn to have the ability to happily marry whoever they want.

There is nothing wrong with being LGBT and members of that community should be given the

same rights and opportunities as someone who is not a member of the community. Most

arguments against LGBT rights are religiously based, and we don’t believe that religion has a

place in government. Enforcing your agenda based on religious beliefs is a violation of the

constitutional right to separation of church and state.

Gay Adoption: We believe that LGBT couples should have the same right to adoption as

any other. The idea that LGBT individuals aren’t as suited to be parents is rooted in a belief that

LGBT people are morally corrupt, and this is a hateful and judgmental view that shouldn’t be

encouraged in our government. We believe in equality for all, and giving children in need a

home should always be encouraged.

Healthcare:
 Pre-Existing Conditions: We believe that insurance companies shouldn’t be to deny

people with pre-existing conditions, because under the financial weight of our healthcare system,

it virtually dooms them to bankruptcy. People have a right to get help for their conditions, and

denying people of this care seems very apathetic. It also gives insurance companies the

opportunity to discriminate against certain groups of people.

Legalization of Marijuana: We believe Marijuana has useful medicinal properties that we

aren’t taking advantage of and that it should be able to be used to treat a variety of conditions.

We also believe that, as a recreational drug, it is a lot safer than things we already have legalized,

and therefore, should be legal. Legalizing it will also help with the economy because we’ll be

able to tax and regulate it.

Obamacare: We believe that Obamacare is the best solution to pay for and cover for the

enormous financial burden of our healthcare system on the American people. Obamacare does a

lot of people a lot of good and also protects people with pre-existing conditions, which we

believe in. It is the best solution that we have as of now and therefore it should stay.

Education:

Taxing Rich For Student Loans: We believe that the rich should be taxed more for

student loans. Millionaires and billionaires would still be able to have the lifestyle they do now

while also contributing to the growing education of young adults. A college education is also

becoming increasingly necessary for finding a stable job, and so the rich should support the less

fortunate so they can have equal opportunities.

Common Core: We believe that common core standards are important, but ineffectively

implemented in their current state. Common core standards has allowed states to compare
standardized test scores accurately. However, the common core state standards are very vague

and broad.

Charter Schools: We believe that charter schools can be very beneficial to students. It’s

very common for students to fall behind because there’s a pace that everyone is meant to go at

when attending a private or public school. However, some students learn faster or slower than

others and charter schools give them the opportunity to go at their own pace. A charter is no

better or worse than a public or private school, it’s just a different environment with a different

way of learning.

Science:

Vaccinations: We believe that vaccinations should be mandatory for all who can safely

take them. In the cases of those at risk of autoimmune diseases and those allergic to certain

substances involved would be exempt from vaccination, and the minority of those not able to

effectively process the vaccine should be protected by Mass Immunization from those around

them. Government mandated vaccinations could stop or slow outbreaks of communicable

diseases better than having large groups of citizens, such as homeless citizens or low income

families without the proper precautions.

Nuclear power: We believe that nuclear energy and its waste disposal systems and

logistics can be dangerous as it is in its current state, but that there’s a lot of untapped potential in

Nuclear energy. We don’t have a standard national system or the logistics in place to properly

dispose of nuclear waste; and nuclear meltdowns, even if they are extremely rare, are chronically

severe. Almost all of the plants that we currently have in place producing our nuclear energy
were developed and built in the 1960s, since then several new generations of designs have been

developed which offer much safer alternatives to the systems we currently use. They often don’t

use uranium, the radioactivity of its waste is much less dangerous and decays much faster, and

they utilize elements like thorium that are much more readily available.

Evolution in school: We believe that teaching evolution in biology should be mandatory

and that any teaching of creationism should be reserved for an optional religious or history class.

Evolution is taught in schools because it’s relevant, essential, and proven science. Forcing

children to learn creationism in a public school is forcing your religious views into governmental

program, which is a violation of the separation of church and state.