Well, I finally made it. It was a lot more difficult and time-consuming than I had expected, but I managed to put together a 44-point program for progressive politics. (Don’t you love alliteration?)

The first thing you figure out when trying to create a list like this is that you will quickly run out of broad generalities. I ran dry at about 12, and while a more creative mind might manage to squeeze out a few more, it wouldn’t be able to reach forty-four. So you have to get specific. That actually turns out to tax the imagination even more than thinking in generalities, and the last seven or so were extremely difficult. So I started browsing CP and other sites, looking for inspiration. So now I present to you my 44 points, organized into seven general categories.

(Two caveats: 1. I am not a professional, nor am I running for office. Therefore, in many cases, I cannot provide a means to these ends. But I’m sure there are people out there could fill in those gaps.
2. Some of these ideas are bad politics --they would destroy the campaign of any candidate that dared to mention them aloud. But they are all good policy, and being a progressive means standing up for what’s right, even when it’s unpopular.)


THE LIST IS BEHIND THE CUT!

Social Justice

1. Guarantee equal pay for equal work. It’s high time that we extended “equality before the law” to economic equality as well.
2. Raise the minimum wage to a living wage. It’s inexcusable to strand our poorest workers below the poverty line. Anyone who works deserves to be able to earn a living at the same time. We should enact legislation to permanently link the minimum wage to the poverty line.
3. Defend gay rights. Marriage is a start, but it’s not enough. Homosexuals (etc) should be welcomed into the Armed Services and all other areas of public and private life with no questions asked.
4. Fix the voting system. The fiascos of the last two presidential elections have clearly demonstrated the need for reform. We need to protect the ballot box, and ensure that every vote is counted. (I am not necessarily against electronic voting, but it’s not ready yet.) We also need to step up efforts to end the disenfranchisement of entire classes of potential voters.
5. Enact stricter search and seizure laws. As we’ve seen on the New York City subways, if we don’t actively guard our freedoms, we are bound to lose them. Already politicians on both sides of the aisle have come out in favor of racial profiling. We need to rewrite search and seizure laws with an eye towards modern problems.
6. Toughen internet privacy laws. Both commercial and judicial access to our online habits is far too easy. We need new laws to protect civil liberties on the cutting-edge of technology.
7. Encourage corporate responsibility. While we value the importance of the free market, progressive must realize when it becomes too much of a good thing. There are entire industries that make their living standing on the broken back of the consumer. Government must gently remind all companies of their duties as corporate citizens, and take action against those who wantonly ignore them.
8. Establish a new National Service plan. We have long since forgotten the call of President Kennedy to ask “what [we] can do for [our] country.” All teenagers should be required to perform some form of National Service before, after, during, or instead of college. I’m thinking of programs more like Teach for America than the Peace Corps, but we can figure out where the need lies as the program develops.



Closing the Opportunity Gap

9. Save Social Security (and Medicare). Just because there isn’t a crisis now doesn’t mean we should avoid fixing a very real problem. We need to look at realistic fixes, including raising the retirement age and rescaling benefits. These programs are to important to allow them to languish in political hell.
10. Create a healthcare safety net. Our system works well, but not nearly well enough. In the richest country in the world, no one should be left unable to afford medical attention. We are morally and ethically obligated to provide for those who cannot help themselves.
11. Bring schools up to par. I have two words for the Republicans: Unfunded Mandate. During the height of the Cold War, this country prided itself on turning out the best and brightest students in the world. Today, only students living in the wealthiest districts are guaranteed that kind of an education. We need to ensure that minority and disadvantaged students receive the same opportunities.
12. Make college affordable. All politicians will tell you that any one who wants to go to college should be able to afford it. So why hasn’t anybody done anything about it? Whether we are talking about tax credits, grants, or whatever, we need to fulfill this promise of the American Dream.
13. Stop homelessness. Providing shelter and housing for those who can’t afford it is not only a moral obligation, but also lowers crime and generally improves society.



Criminal Justice

14. Prevent and prosecute identity theft. This is one of the most prevalent and devastating forms of fraud there is. We need to educate people on how to protect themselves, and take stronger measure against perpetrators.
15. Legalize marijuana. Yes, you heard me correctly. We waste way too many resources (in money, time, and man-power) on the investigation and prosecution of crimes involving marijuana. Let’s legalize it, require a special license to sell it, and tax it mercilessly. Then let’s take the proceeds from the tax and throw it into a public education campaign to discourage the use of marijuana. Meanwhile, let’s concentrate our resources on things that are truly dangerous, like meth.
16. End mandatory minimums. Such policies are inherently discriminatory, and need to be done away with. Let’s return the power of discretion to the judiciary, and stop scoring easy political points at the expense of underrepresented minorities.
17. Renew (and strengthen) the assault weapon ban. We need to keep guns off of our streets, period. It’s time somebody stood up to the NRA.
18. Reform the prison system. A far higher percentage of American adults are, have been, or will be in jail than in any other industrialized country. This, in turn, creates a huge tax-payer burden. We need to figure out a way to maintain law and order without such high rates of incarceration.
19. Lower the rate of recidivism. Not every criminal can be reformed. But for every one who can be but isn’t, society pays a terrible price. Small programs around the country have proved outstandingly effective at this sort of thing, and it’s time they are funded on a national level. Counseling and job placement really do work.



Environmental Protection

20. Raise CAFE standards. Off-the-shelf technology could as much as double average fuel efficiency within about five years. This is the quickest, most effective way to lower our dependency on foreign oil.
21. Sign Kyoto now. As one of the world’s worst polluters, we need to work with the global community on this important issue.
22. Build more nuclear power plants. Although there are legitimate concerns of safety and national security, these can be satisfactorily addressed. Meanwhile, nuclear power is the cheapest, most efficient, most environmentally friendly option that we know of. Why not use it?
23. Set concrete goals for developing alternative energy sources. And then provide the funding and incentives to make sure we meet them.
24. Teach conservation. Nobody remembers that “Recycle” is the last of the “3 R’s.” The first one is “Reduce.” In this consumerism-saturated era, we must remind and encourage the public that reducing what we use is the most effective way to protect our environment.
25. Revitalize our urban centers. Let’s face it: suburban sprawl is bad for the environment. We must invest as much as it takes to keep our urban centers clean, modern, and used-to-capacity.



Health, Science, and Technology

26. Cure cancer. We spent a decade last century getting to the moon. Let’s spend a decade this century curing cancer. We have a better head start this time, too. If we provide the funding and the encouragement, this is eminently possible.
27. Return the space program to its former glory. Over the decades, the space program has provided dramatic opportunities for novel science, while at the same time giving birth to technology with undreamt of applications. Let’s make this a priority again.
28. Tap the potential of stem cell research. Despite Senator Frist’s recent reversal, nothing is being done to open up this important avenue of research. We need to be able to explore these possibilities, while at the same time being respectful of the human life-potential involved.
29. Prepare for the flu pandemic. It will happen. With another recent up tick in avian flu cases, it could be sooner than we think, too. We must have a plan of action in place in order to minimize the impact of a pandemic and save as many lives as possible. We got lucky with SARS --let's not leave something so important to chance again!
30. Strengthen the family unit. This one, so crucial in the electoral battle against conservatives, actually includes a host of things that need to be done. We should provide education on parenting and maintaining healthy relationships. We must assure more and better access to child care and after-school programs. We need more effective methods for preventing, spotting, and stopping abuse. We have to lower the rate of teenage pregnancy, and provide better options for adoptions and foster care. We can make it easier for parents to reduce their children’s exposure to sexuality, nudity, and violence. We need to show that “progressive” values and “traditional” family values support each other quite nicely.



Economic Policy

31. Mandate fiscal responsibility. It’s not just about balancing the budget and “pay as you go.” We also must begin repaying publicly-held debt at once. Even in the bull market days of the Clinton administration, very little effort was made to alleviate this burden we have placed on future generations. It’s okay to borrow a little now and then, but if we don’t repay it when we come out ahead, then we are headed for disaster.
32. Demand fair labor standards. Whether we are talking about companies in the US that employ illegal immigrants, or foreign companies making use of slave labor, we have to stand up for fair labor practices. Slave labor (and anything resembling it) should be a thing of the past. Let’s make it so.
33. Remove unfair farm and cotton subsidies. Besides costing tax-payers billions of dollars, these subsidies make it impossible for Second and Third World competitors to sell their product and earn any kind of living. We need to level the playing field for everybody.
34. Modernize American industry for the New Economy. Across the Rust Belt, America got caught resting on its laurels and missed the boat into the Information Age. We need to return our industry to the cutting edge, and help those areas that have not yet succeeded in making the transition on their own.
35. Initiate a new Marshall Plan. The success of the original plan should speak for itself. We need to help bring Africa into the 21st century. We owe Iraq a hell of a lot in rebuilding funds. While we’re at it, we might even be able to encourage modernization in the rest of the Arab world, too.



Foreign Policy and National Security

36. Promote nuclear containment. The Bush administration has talked a good game on this one, but hasn’t actually done anything. We need to rejoin the Non-Proliferation treaty, and show North Korea and Iran that we mean business. We also need to make sure that all Soviet nuclear material is secured beyond the reach of terrorists.
37. Join the International Criminal Court. It needs the force of our weight behind it if it is to succeed. Plus, who are we to put ourselves above the law.
38. Intervene in Darfur. I don’t know if we have the physical resources (i.e. manpower) to put an army on the ground. But we have other options, including working with the UN and the global community to end an atrocity that should have been stamped out long ago.
39. Negotiate a Middle East peace treaty. Clinton had the two sides agonizingly close to a deal. Since then, Bush’s indifference has allowed the Second Intifada to fester for five years, costing thousands of lives. Now there may be a new opportunity to bring the sides together. Let’s not miss the boat on this one.
40. Rebuild international alliances and friendships. Bush’s policies (and now his UN ambassador) have cost the US a lot of goodwill in the global community. We need to rebuild the ties he has torn and affirm the place of multilateralism in our foreign policy.
41. Halt the AIDS epidemic. We need to make drugs and other treatments available at prices the stricken areas can afford. We need an education campaign to help people protect themselves. And yes, that includes distributing condoms.
42. Secure the Mexican border. I’m all for open immigration, but you have to do it through the proper channels. The wide-open and unmonitored border with Mexico poses a tremendous threat to national security. We need to know who is entering our country and why.
43. Check all incoming containers for radioactivity. It’s not hard, and it could make the difference in preventing a nuclear attack on American soil. The fact that this has been ignored for so long is inexcusable.
44. Protect our mass-transit systems. Free-for-all searches are not the answer. But that doesn’t mean the question isn’t important. Subways, buses, and airplanes (yes, airplanes) are all vulnerable. Four years after 9/11, we’ve begun to let down our guard, which is a recipe for disaster.



And there you have it. Of course, I could also add such things as campaign finance reform; more funding for our first responders; a standardized bumper height on all automotive vehicles; the close of corporate tax shelters; a better, more general, approach to poverty; and many others. But these forty-four are plenty important enough to start with.

I eagerly await your questions, comments, and (especially) debate. I also hope to see other people post their own lists. (I’m looking at you, Joe.) I’m not haughty enough to think that my perspective is the only one.

Your turn!