Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Progressive Party Party Platform
Progressive Party Party Platform
11/7/2018
Govt/Econ/English 4
Ms. Baker
Brandes
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
diseases better than having large groups of citizens, such as homeless citizens or low income
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.
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