Fantasy Campaign Platform

[wawa]

I just got a survey from my state dem party asking me what I think their priorities should be (and asking me for money, of course), and I was struck that several of my important issues didn't even make their list.  

So now I'm curious...what would be your list?  If this gets traction I'll take the replies and make a second post with an actual poll.  Now With Poll! I'm curious what this group would crowd source as a top 5.

This is what MD Dems gave me as options:

• Democracy
• Inflation
• Abortion Rights
• Public Education
• Social Security and Medicare
• Gun safety Reforms
• Public Safety
• Job Creation
• Immigration
• Voting Rights
• Other

I picked abortion rights and democracy - which I took to mean the electoral collage, but also fixing things like felons being allowed to run for office, former presidents not being allowed to be held accountable for shit like Nov 6, and the brokenness of the supreme court. All that shit we didn't know as was on the honor system until trump was in office.  
I chose other as one of my three and wrote in Climate Action.  I also would have liked to write in general civil rights protection - specifically trans rights as a top of mind issue, but that could be a whole bucket and would probably encompass voting rights at the end of the day.

there's nothing on that list I don't think is important, but very few of them are the reason I vote for Dems at the end of the day.  Like, I care less about your aims for policy at the Fed when I'm voting to prevent living in the dystopian fiction I used to read for funsies, but is no longer fun because it's too real.  I realize this is not how most americans vote.

[basilosaurus]

No option for judiciary? From federal courts, judge shopping, all the way to scotus corruption. I think that encompasses lots of rights at risk or already taken away. Maybe they want more specificity?

[pixy0stix]

I think these options are terrible as presented.

Mine would be, in no particular order:

• Climate Change
• Racial justice/social justice reform
• Abortion
• Gun reform
• Update SCOTUS

[stuffandthings]

I'm intrigued about "inflation" as a campaign issue, for either side. I'm not an economist, so please correct me here if I'm wrong, but--isn't inflation something that is largely dependent on a number of market forces that are largely external to the US government? Like, we can do various things to help families struggling with inflation (or any other economic factor), but I don't see what a political party or candidate could claim to be doing about inflation itself.

Also...job creation? Isn't this, like, a period of record employment? If anything, don't we have an EMPLOYEE shortage?

ETA: Mine are:

-Abortion
-Trans rights
-Climate Change
-Student loans
-Increasing immigration dramatically

[pixy0stix]

Things I give two shits about from that list:

Inflation - inflation is going down, we should be messaging this

Social Security and Medicare - Boomers broke the system, now they're going to have to live with it

Public Safety - what does this even mean? Usually this is how the dems soothe themselves that they're not racist, and they do actually care about the unhoused, but omg public safety!

Job Creation - We don't have enough people for the jobs that need done. See the articles from last year where we're relying on child immigrant labor for the shitty warehouse jobs. How about we work on improving the jobs people already have?

Immigration - see "not enough labor" for jobs. We need people to work. We need to show people the real numbers on immigration and jobs.

[Deleted]

Oof. In no particular order:

- Access to healthcare/Medical autonomy (which would include reproductive rights and right to gender-affirming care)

- Social Justice (includes decriminalizing weed, and major reform in policing/justice/corrections)

- Economic reform (taxing the rich appropriately, closing loopholes in the tax code, reducing the actual cost of goods/increasing wages)

- Protecting Democracy (protecting the right to vote, reducing corruption, campaign finance reform, Supreme Court reform, term limits/max ages maybe)

- Gun reform (assault weapons ban, red flag laws that actually focus on helping people, limits on ammo/magazine size/bump stocks)

I had environmental protection, and it’s really important to me, but not more important than social justice.

[mcsangel2]

Aug 1, 2024 14:30:13 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Social Security and Medicare - Boomers broke the system, now they're going to have to live with it

No, WE'RE going to have to live with it, that's the problem. They could fix it (or at least significantly ameliorate it) if they would remove the fucking SS tax cap! 10 years before SS starts having to pay out at a reduced percentage. 

[wawa]

Aug 1, 2024 14:22:18 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I think these options are terrible as presented.

Mine would be, in no particular order:

• Climate Change
• Racial justice/social justice reform
• Abortion
• Gun reform
• Update SCOTUS

I agree.  that's why I wanted to hear ours!  LOL

[pixy0stix]

Aug 1, 2024 14:47:30 GMT -5 mcsangel2 said:

Aug 1, 2024 14:30:13 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Social Security and Medicare - Boomers broke the system, now they're going to have to live with it

No, WE'RE going to have to live with it, that's the problem. They could fix it (or at least significantly ameliorate it) if they would remove the fucking SS tax cap! 10 years before SS starts having to pay out at a reduced percentage. 

Right, but I was told when I started working several decades ago that SS wasn't going to be there for me. I'm pretty shruggy shoulders about it because I never expected it to still be here.

[stuffandthings]

Aug 1, 2024 14:51:05 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Aug 1, 2024 14:47:30 GMT -5 mcsangel2 said:

No, WE'RE going to have to live with it, that's the problem. They could fix it (or at least significantly ameliorate it) if they would remove the fucking SS tax cap! 10 years before SS starts having to pay out at a reduced percentage. 

Right, but I was told when I started working several decades ago that SS wasn't going to be there for me. I'm pretty shruggy shoulders about it because I never expected it to still be here.

I was also told this, but I could still really use that sweet sweet social security $$$, lol

[pixy0stix]

Aug 1, 2024 15:00:44 GMT -5 stuffandthings said:

Aug 1, 2024 14:51:05 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Right, but I was told when I started working several decades ago that SS wasn't going to be there for me. I'm pretty shruggy shoulders about it because I never expected it to still be here.

I was also told this, but I could still really use that sweet sweet social security $$$, lol

My retirement plan is climate change taking us down in fire and sea.

[pixy0stix]

Aug 1, 2024 14:44:17 GMT -5 @villainv said:

Oof. In no particular order:

- Access to healthcare/Medical autonomy (which would include reproductive rights and right to gender-affirming care)

- Social Justice (includes decriminalizing weed, and major reform in policing/justice/corrections)

- Economic reform (taxing the rich appropriately, closing loopholes in the tax code, reducing the actual cost of goods/increasing wages)

- Protecting Democracy (protecting the right to vote, reducing corruption, campaign finance reform, Supreme Court reform, term limits/max ages maybe)

- Gun reform (assault weapons ban, red flag laws that actually focus on helping people, limits on ammo/magazine size/bump stocks)

I had environmental protection, and it’s really important to me, but not more important than social justice.

I like the way you worded several of these.

[stuffandthings]

Aug 1, 2024 15:03:00 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Aug 1, 2024 15:00:44 GMT -5 stuffandthings said:

I was also told this, but I could still really use that sweet sweet social security $$$, lol

My retirement plan is climate change taking us down in fire and sea.

Twinsies! Mine is drowning in the lake flooding that I'm pretty sure is gonna take out my town. 

[stuffandthings]

Aug 1, 2024 14:44:17 GMT -5 @villainv said:

Oof. In no particular order:

- Access to healthcare/Medical autonomy (which would include reproductive rights and right to gender-affirming care)

- Social Justice (includes decriminalizing weed, and major reform in policing/justice/corrections)

- Economic reform (taxing the rich appropriately, closing loopholes in the tax code, reducing the actual cost of goods/increasing wages)

- Protecting Democracy (protecting the right to vote, reducing corruption, campaign finance reform, Supreme Court reform, term limits/max ages maybe)

- Gun reform (assault weapons ban, red flag laws that actually focus on helping people, limits on ammo/magazine size/bump stocks)

I had environmental protection, and it’s really important to me, but not more important than social justice.

I really love these groupings.

[sunshineandpinot]

Abortion rights is my #1 by a long shot.

[wildrice]

It's not exactly inflation, but cost of living is a high priority for me, particularly when it comes to housing affordability. It's a combination of needing to raise wages and also put a cap on profits when it comes to things like food and shelter.

Affordable healthcare access for all.

Racial equity and justice, as well as the same for LGBTQIA+ folks.

Abortion access.

Gun control

Ceasefire in Gaza

Climate change

[macmars45]

My number one by a long shot is climate change. Without that there is nothing else.
After that:
abortion access
gun control
racial equality & justice for PoC as well as for LGBTQIA+ folks
SCOTUS updating
economic reform (tax the damn rich) so we can do the above & so much more

[imimahoney]

Personally, I think there needs to be a massive restructuring of the funding for public education.

Leaving it up to the states is not working. Even in states that value public education, schools are widely underfunded leaving students undeserved.

Wide spread change can only come from the federal government.

[wawa]

grrr, annoyed at myself that I didnt add Ceasefire in Gaza (or any other international issues) to the list.  apparently cant edit a poll after it's been posted (which is probably for the best).  

[wanderingback]

What does medical autonomy mean in this poll?

[ellipses84]

All the things everyone has listed and I can’t even put them in priority order. There are too many major issues we are facing! I’ve also received a poll like that from a local federal representative where I was a little WTF that some of these weren’t even mentioned.

On the inflation item, it’s not inflation I have an issue with, it’s that minimum wage hasn’t been raised in many years, and that impacts all pay bands and our economy. I’d like to see a cap on CEO pay, like 5-7x the lowest paid employee and for any financial laws that don’t have an expiration date to have automatic increases built in to attempt to keep pace with inflation. Like, raise minimum wage to $15 and then raise it 3% per year or whatever the standard is that matches federal employees COL raise (or even $10 at this point, or raise it $1 per year until it’s not at poverty level then an COL %). How about a law that a 40 hour per week person’s pay after taxes must be more than the dollar amount to qualify them for food stamps?

[wawa]

Aug 2, 2024 10:01:33 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

What does medical autonomy mean in this poll?

as contributed by @villainv - - Access to healthcare/Medical autonomy (which would include reproductive rights and right to gender-affirming care)

[wawa]

Aug 2, 2024 10:12:01 GMT -5 ellipses84 said:

All the things everyone has listed and I can’t even put them in priority order. There are too many major issues we are facing! I’ve also received a poll like that from a local federal representative where I was a little WTF that some of these weren’t even mentioned.

On the inflation item, it’s not inflation I have an issue with, it’s that minimum wage hasn’t been raised in many years, and that impacts all pay bands and our economy. I’d like to see a cap on CEO pay, like 5-7x the lowest paid employee and for any financial laws that don’t have an expiration date to have automatic increases built in to attempt to keep pace with inflation. Like, raise minimum wage to $15 and then raise it 3% per year or whatever the standard is that matches federal employees COL raise (or even $10 at this point, or raise it $1 per year until it’s not at poverty level then an COL %). How about a law that a 40 hour per week person’s pay after taxes must be more than the dollar amount to qualify them for food stamps?

the CEO cap at 7x the lowest paid employee feels completely wild to me.  Am I just...trapped in capitalism?  Is that a real thing people are actually pushing for?  

[erbear]

This was very hard to choose. I want all of those things!!

[basilosaurus]

Aug 2, 2024 8:37:11 GMT -5 wildrice said:

It's not exactly inflation, but cost of living is a high priority for me, particularly when it comes to housing affordability. It's a combination of needing to raise wages and also put a cap on profits when it comes to things like food and shelter.

I think COL is related to a lot of things that the gov't can and should step in.

Massive hikes in rent and evictions due to corporations buying up everything and monopolizing developments and chasing out lower income renters

Student loans and their insane interests where after 10 years of paying more than the minimum you still owe more than you borrowed

Healthcare

CEO pay in the bajillions while minimum wage is in the toilet and those trillions in tax breaks for the uber-rich. How many everyday products are massively increased, blaming inflation, when inflation is demonstrably not increasing yet CEO and stakeholder payouts have massively increasing margins.

It's not COL per se. It's corporate greed and crazy ass tax breaks, yes, Reagan is to blame, but drumpf made it so very many times worse.

I don't think we're disagreeing exactly, but I want the blame to lie solidly with those causing it and not some general "oh, costs are going up. It's probably biden and inflation that the gop loves to run with

[wawa]

side note - whenever there is a poll here I'm always surprised by how many responses it has vs. people chatting. There's 61 people clicking away in here, but only a dozen discussing. The idea of reading this board but not piping up is so funny to me. I can't possibly be quiet like that.

[wildrice]

Aug 2, 2024 11:34:55 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

Aug 2, 2024 8:37:11 GMT -5 wildrice said:

It's not exactly inflation, but cost of living is a high priority for me, particularly when it comes to housing affordability. It's a combination of needing to raise wages and also put a cap on profits when it comes to things like food and shelter.

I think COL is related to a lot of things that the gov't can and should step in.

Massive hikes in rent and evictions due to corporations buying up everything and monopolizing developments and chasing out lower income renters

Student loans and their insane interests where after 10 years of paying more than the minimum you still owe more than you borrowed

Healthcare

CEO pay in the bajillions while minimum wage is in the toilet and those trillions in tax breaks for the uber-rich. How many everyday products are massively increased, blaming inflation, when inflation is demonstrably not increasing yet CEO and stakeholder payouts have massively increasing margins.

It's not COL per se. It's corporate greed and crazy ass tax breaks, yes, Reagan is to blame, but drumpf made it so very many times worse.

I don't think we're disagreeing exactly, but I want the blame to lie solidly with those causing it and not some general "oh, costs are going up. It's probably biden and inflation that the gop loves to run with

Of course it's not Biden! But all of those things have made the cost of living go up, COL is just kind of a catch all term for the fact that everyday life has become unaffordable for so many people. Putting regulations on price gouging, especially for necessary goods and services, is a top priority for me.

ETA: I just mentioned the world inflation since it was on the list in the OP and is most similar to what I was talking about. It's definitely not JUST inflation.

[aurora]

Aug 2, 2024 11:53:20 GMT -5 wawa said:

side note - whenever there is a poll here I'm always surprised by how many responses it has vs. people chatting. There's 61 people clicking away in here, but only a dozen discussing. The idea of reading this board but not piping up is so funny to me. I can't possibly be quiet like that.

Because of Reasons I haven't been posting as much lately but clicking on a poll is so easy.

It is really hard to choose among some of these, though.

[wanderingback]

Aug 2, 2024 11:01:37 GMT -5 wawa said:

Aug 2, 2024 10:12:01 GMT -5 ellipses84 said:

All the things everyone has listed and I can’t even put them in priority order. There are too many major issues we are facing! I’ve also received a poll like that from a local federal representative where I was a little WTF that some of these weren’t even mentioned.

On the inflation item, it’s not inflation I have an issue with, it’s that minimum wage hasn’t been raised in many years, and that impacts all pay bands and our economy. I’d like to see a cap on CEO pay, like 5-7x the lowest paid employee and for any financial laws that don’t have an expiration date to have automatic increases built in to attempt to keep pace with inflation. Like, raise minimum wage to $15 and then raise it 3% per year or whatever the standard is that matches federal employees COL raise (or even $10 at this point, or raise it $1 per year until it’s not at poverty level then an COL %). How about a law that a 40 hour per week person’s pay after taxes must be more than the dollar amount to qualify them for food stamps?

the CEO cap at 7x the lowest paid employee feels completely wild to me.  Am I just...trapped in capitalism?  Is that a real thing people are actually pushing for?  

I don’t know if people are "pushing for it" but it’s definitely something I’ve heard, that it should be between 5-7x as a max.

I work for an org where all of us are consultants and we had a finance consultant come in to assess what people were getting paid and she mentioned something similar, in order to bring the lowest paid consultant up.

Per different sources a living wage is typically between 50k-70k/year depending on your state. So when thinking about it that way if your lowest paid person gets 70k per year you can do the math to see what the CEO cap would be and that clearly is never going to happen! I think it’s aimed at obviously people who are multimillionaires so yeah a cap at $490,000 does not seem realistic in our capitalistic society.

[msmerymac]

Aug 1, 2024 14:51:05 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Aug 1, 2024 14:47:30 GMT -5 mcsangel2 said:

No, WE'RE going to have to live with it, that's the problem. They could fix it (or at least significantly ameliorate it) if they would remove the fucking SS tax cap! 10 years before SS starts having to pay out at a reduced percentage. 

Right, but I was told when I started working several decades ago that SS wasn't going to be there for me. I'm pretty shruggy shoulders about it because I never expected it to still be here.

Such a Gen Xer!