I don’t usually like it when adults hire adorable little kids to deliver their political messages, but, judging from my response to this short video just put out by Van Jones and the folks at Rebuild the Dream, I guess I’m alright with it when said kids are articulately and enthusiastically parroting ideas that I wholeheartedly agree with… Anyway, I challenge you to watch the following and tell me that the Democratic party has offered any better with the resources that we’ve given them over the past several years. Yes, I’ve got a few issues with the presentation, but I think that platform itself is more clear, concise and focused than anything I’ve seen from the party in my lifetime… Now we just need to spread the word, and identify the candidates who will carry the banner forward.
And, for those of you who refuse to have your policy positions outlined by adorable kids, here are the cold, hard facts, as taken from the organization’s newly announced Contract for the American Dream.
I. Invest in America’s Infrastructure: Rebuild our crumbling bridges, dams, levees, ports, water and sewer lines, railways, roads, and public transit. We must invest in high-speed Internet and a modern, energy-saving electric grid. These investments will create good jobs and rebuild America. To help finance these projects, we need national and state infrastructure banks.
II. Create 21st Century Energy Jobs: We should invest in American businesses that can power our country with innovative technologies like wind turbines, solar panels, geothermal systems, hybrid and electric cars, and next-generation batteries. And we should put Americans to work making our homes and buildings energy efficient. We can create good, green jobs in America, address the climate crisis, and build the clean energy economy.
III. Invest in Public Education: We should provide universal access to early childhood education, make school funding equitable, invest in high-quality teachers, and build safe, well-equipped school buildings for our students. A high-quality education system, from universal preschool to vocational training and affordable higher education, is critical for our future and can create badly needed jobs now.
IV. Offer Medicare for All: We should expand Medicare so it’s available to all Americans, and reform it to provide even more cost-effective, quality care. The Affordable Care Act is a good start and we must implement it — but it’s not enough. We can save trillions of dollars by joining every other industrialized country — paying much less for health care while getting the same or better results.
V. Make Work Pay: Americans have a right to fair minimum and living wages, to organize and collectively bargain, to enjoy equal opportunity, and to earn equal pay for equal work. Corporate assaults on these rights bring down wages and benefits for all of us. They must be outlawed.
VI. Secure Social Security: Keep Social Security sound, and strengthen the retirement, disability, and survivors’ protections Americans earn through their hard work. Pay for it by removing the cap on the Social Security tax, so that upper-income people pay into Social Security on all they make, just like the rest of us.
VII. Return to Fairer Tax Rates: End, once and for all, the Bush-era tax giveaways for the rich, which the rest of us — or our kids — must pay eventually. Also, we must outlaw corporate tax havens and tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas. Lastly, with millionaires and billionaires taking a growing share of our country’s wealth, we should add new tax brackets for those making more than $1 million each year.
VIII. End the Wars and Invest at Home: Our troops have done everything that’s been asked of them, and it’s time to bring them home to good jobs here. We’re sending $3 billion each week overseas that we should be investing to rebuild America.
IX. Tax Wall Street Speculation: A tiny fee of a twentieth of 1% on each Wall Street trade could raise tens of billions of dollars annually with little impact on actual investment. This would reduce speculation, “flash trading,” and outrageous bankers’ bonuses — and we’d have a lot more money to spend on Main Street job creation.
X. Strengthen Democracy: We need clean, fair elections — where no one’s right to vote can be taken away, and where money doesn’t buy you your own member of Congress. We must ban anonymous political influence, slam shut the lobbyists’ revolving door in D.C., and publicly finance elections. Immigrants who want to join in our democracy deserve a clear path to citizenship. We must stop giving corporations the rights of people when it comes to our elections. And we must ensure our judiciary’s respect for the Constitution. Together, we will reclaim our democracy to get our country back on track.
Sounds good, right?
And, I don’t know about you, but I’d rather give these kids what they want now, before they start blowing shit up, like in England.
[Our earlier discussion on the Rebuild the Dream initiative, can be found here.]
20 Comments
The dance sequence at the end sealed it for me.
It not only sounds goo, it sounds super goo!
In truth, they’re all goo points, and I wish those kids the best of uck.
It’s goo to see young folks finally stepping up and taking their rightful place in leading this nation. And you thought no goo would come of repealing child labor laws.
The Guardian’s coverage of the riots in England is quite good.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/blog/2011/aug/09/london-riots-violence-looting-live?commentpage=1#start-of-comments
I’m curious what people think of this ten point plan. Do people think it covers most of the important bases? Are there things left out that should be there? I don’t for instance, see the closing of Gitmo. “Respect for the constitution” is there, though, which I suppose could cover it. Are there other things that should have been included? How about the prosecution of those behind the Wall Street crash?
A response from a group called United Liberty:
http://www.unitedliberty.org/articles/8568-the-progressive-contract-for-america
in a nutshell…
Just keyed this Van Jones, Rebuild The Dream into Google and found this:
http://www.myforecast.com/bin/city_search.m?searchText=15857&submit=Get+Forecast%21
All these comments are BAD for Van Jones
“These people are so impertinent as to view paying taxes as a civic duty … ”
TRANSLATION: “These people are so impertinent as to suggest that us decent, God-fearing white folks should actually have to pitch in and help PAY for the myriad government services … public schools; paved roads; clean drinking water; food that’s safe to eat; police and fire protection; dam, bridge and airline inspections; weather forecasting, etc. … that we ALL benefit from EVERY DAY, and which, in fact, provide the basic foundation for modern, civilized society — instead of a nightmarish, post-apocalyptic Ayn Randian netherworld without taxes, laws or government — i.e. modern-day Somalia.
Lets try again:http://www.theblaze.com/stories/van-jones-and-co-unveil-contract-for-the-american-dream/
Funny that Beck’s main criticism in that article, Stephen, seems to be that the stole the name “Contract for America” from Newt, kind of ignoring that he ripped off “Common Sense” from Thomas Paine.
It looks like about 39,000 people have signed the Contract now. You can join them by following this link.
http://contract.rebuildthedream.com/
Ok, I’m not so sure about the kids (although I think a few of them have a future in politics), but I LOVE the ten points. Yeah, it’s not as out there as I’d like but it is still progressive, and honestly, something I think many people could get behind. Awesome.
Hi! I’m going to play the part of the turd in the punchbowl tonight! Thanks for attending the show. This all sounds lovely–it really does–and I really do love signing online petitions–honest I do–but HOW does this get done? What are the action steps? I’m reading a lot of “we should!”s in there and again, I am all for signing things and chatting about things, but at some point the “shoulds” need to become “do” or else what is the point?
Sorry, I’m in a pissy mood tonight…someone hit an Achilles heel of mine and I probably shouldn’t even be posting but there you are. xxoo
Paying taxes is a civic duty, just like voting. It has been pretty much all the way back to Athens.
And the government is just us, not some super secret clandestine force.
I paid condo fees once. That was much worse than paying taxes.
I realize that’s where America is going, but condo associations are true hotbeds are corruption.
I’m with Patti on this one. After reading the contract I thought that it’s all well and good, but whom does Moveon think is going to carry it out? Certainly not Obama. He’s been there for four years and has done nothing but cave in to the right. Are we supposed to believe that if we elect him to a second term he will somehow morphe into the moderate liberal we all thought he was? Tough sell.
The Agenda to bring America to its knees. It is being done by the Obama adminstration as we speak.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQf_QfitmKE
The Ten Planks of the Communist Manifesto is now in place right here in the United States. This next year with President Barack Obama will be the “big push” to get America “over the top” and into a socialist state.
http://www.criminalgovernment.com/docs/planks.html
………and while you are reading about 10 point plans and stuff, give your Representatives a ring:
It is working! The people of Michigan are and have come through again. We need more e-mails to the Speaker of the House, State of Michigan to keep the support growing to ban Sharia Law for good in the state of Michigan.
To the people of Michigan who have responed to the below message and sent it to their state Congressmen……….thank you! Please keep passing this message along to your friends and elected officials in Michigan.
http://barenakedislam.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/michiganistan-legislation-seeks-to-ban-sharia-law-muslims-express-outrage/
Please cut & paste the below message and send it to our Michigan Speaker of the House, James “Jase” Bolger to support HB-4769. This bill makes it final and complete making our Constitution and the State of Michigan the “only” form of laws to be considered in the court of law. Say no to Sharia Law.
http://www.House.Michigan.gov/leadership.asp
Dear Speaker Bolger,
I am contacting you to urge you to support Representative Dave Agema’s HB 4769 regarding Michigan Law for Michigan Courts.
This important legislation would clarify situations where foreign laws and foreign legal doctrines compete with our constitutional ideals. This bill will insure the Michigan State Constitution and the U.S. Constitution prevail in such instances.
Thank you for your leadership on this vital matter.
Sincerely,
(Your name and city)
Thanks for the thoughtful insight tater. I hope you recover soon from your dilusional state. I suppose you’re all excited about bachman’s win in Iowa. God help us all.
There is going to be the need of “more Tea” for the 2012 elections. This last debt ceiling bill proved it. We do not need to complain but instead we need to start our recruiting for more members and get our message out that we are for smaller government and fiscal responsibility with a balanced budget.
http://godfatherpolitics.com/369/more-tea-in-2012/
The New American Tipping Point has arrived: http://spectator.org/archives/2011/08/02/american-tipping-point/print#
Please let your voice & opinions be heard and join the following Tea Party websites to become part of the movement in taking our country back from liberal/progressive left wing loons who are destroying capitalism and the Free Market System that has built this great country:
http://WWW.PatriotsActionNetwork.com
http://www.Meetup.com
http://www.grassfire.com
http://www.teaparty365.org/
http://www.TeaParty.org
http://www.TeaPartyExpress.com
http://www.TeaPartyNation.com
http://www.TeaPartyPatriots.com
http://www.The912Project.com
http://www.NationalCenter.org
http://www.teapartyrevolution.com
http://teapartybell.com
http://www.TeaPartyActivists.com
http://patriotsforamerica.ning.com
http://www.IamtheTeaParty.net