DSA in Context: Party Platforms and Caucuses

The disruption of the world's ecological systems - from the rise of global warming and the consequent damage to our climate balance, to the loss of living species and the depletion of ocean fisheries and forest habitats - continues at a frightening rate. We must act now to protect our Earth while preserving and creating jobs for our people. In 1997, we negotiated the historic Kyoto Protocols, an international treaty that will establish a strong, realistic, and effective framework to reduce greenhouse emissions in an environmentally strong and economically sound way. We are working to develop a broad international effort to take action to meet this threat. Al Gore and the Democratic Party believe we must now ratify those Protocols.

Protecting public lands. We will use our natural resources to fuel our economy, but end Republican giveaways to special interests that exploit public lands without regard for environmental consequences. We will require companies to restore leased lands to their original state after their work is done. And we will make sure our government treats our national parks with the same respect and care that millions of families show each year when they visit.

We'll dramatically increase the fuel efficiency of automobiles, and we'll help auto manufacturers and parts suppliers convert to build the cars and trucks of the future and their key components in the United States. And we will help workers learn the skills they need to compete in the green economy. We are committed to getting at least 25 percent of our electricity from renewable sources by 2025. Building on the innovative efforts of the private sector, states, cities, and tribes across the country, we will create new federal-local partnerships to scale the success and deployment of new energy solutions, install a smarter grid, build more efficient buildings, and use the power of federal and military purchasing programs to jumpstart promising new markets and technologies. We'll invest in advanced biofuels like cellulosic ethanol which will provide American-grown fuel and help free us from the tyranny of oil. We will use innovative measures to dramatically improve the energy efficiency of buildings.

We can move towards a sustainable energy-independent future if we harness all of America's great natural resources. That means an all-of-the-above approach to developing America's many energy resources, including wind, solar, biofuels, geothermal, hydropower, nuclear, oil, clean coal, and natural gas. President Obama has encouraged innovation to reach his goal of generating 80 percent of our electricity from clean energy sources by 2035. Democrats support making America the world's leader in building a clean energy economy by extending clean energy incentives that support American businesses and American jobs in communities across the country. It's not enough to invent clean energy technologies here; we want to make them here and sell them around the world. We can further cut our reliance on oil with increased energy efficiency in buildings, industry, and homes, and through the promotion of advanced vehicles, fuel economy standards, and the greater use of natural gas in transportation. Harnessing our natural gas resources needs to be done in a safe and responsible manner, which is why the Obama administration has proposed a number of safeguards to protect against water contamination and air pollution. We will continue to advocate for the use of this clean fossil fuel, while ensuring that public and environmental health and workers' safety are protected. We support more infrastructure investment to speed the transition to cleaner fuels in the transportation sector.

We will work to expand access to cost-saving renewable energy by low-income households, create good-paying jobs in communities that have struggled with energy poverty, and oppose efforts by utilities to limit consumer choice or slow clean energy deployment. We will streamline federal permitting to accelerate the construction of new transmission lines to get low-cost renewable energy to market, and incentivize wind, solar, and other renewable energy over the development of new natural gas power plants.

Native American tribes have for too long been forced to cope with insufficient access to health care and mental health services, nutrition services, and modern infrastructure. Democrats are committed to pursuing environmental justice and climate justice, including for Indigenous peoples and communities, and will invest significant new resources in clean water and wastewater infrastructure, clean energy generation and distribution, and sustainable and regenerative agriculture. And we will make mandatory and work toward full funding for the Indian Health Service as part of our commitment to pursuing strong nation-to-nation relationships and honoring the United States' trust obligations to Native American communities.

Democrats oppose unfair loopholes and wasteful subsidies that benefit special interests at everyone else's expense. We will fight to get rid of them. That starts by eliminating tens of billions of dollars in subsidies for oil and gas companies. It means ending special tax breaks for corporate jets, and boosting fuel taxes on corporate and private jet travel, saving taxpayers $4 billion over 10 years. And we'll no longer permit companies to deduct the cost of paying executives more than $1 million a year. Corporations shouldn't get a tax break for giving huge pay packages to CEOs.

Advance clean coal technology.

Republicans will continue to support renewable energy through extension of the production tax credit for wind and biomass, as well as efforts to expand the use of biodiesel and ethanol, which can reduce America's dependence on foreign oil while increasing revenues to farmers.

Given that fully 97 percent of our current transportation vehicles rely on oil, we will aggressively support technological advances to reduce our petroleum dependence. For example, lightweight composites could halve the weight and double the gas mileage of cars and trucks, and together with flex-fuel and electric vehicles, could usher in a renaissance in the American auto industry.

Since the current President took office in 2009, consumers pay approximately twice as much for gas at the pump. Our common theme is to promote development of all forms of energy, enable consumer choice to keep energy costs low, and ensure that America remains competitive in the global marketplace. We will respect the States' proven ability to regulate the use of hydraulic fracturing, continue development of oil and gas resources in places like the Bakken formation and Marcellus Shale, and review the environmental laws that often thwart new energy exploration and production. We salute the Republican Members of the House of Representatives for passing the Domestic Energy and Jobs Act, a vital piece of pro-growth legislation now introduced by Republicans in the Senate.

We support the development of all forms of energy that are marketable in a free economy without subsidies, including coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear power, and hydropower. A federal judge has struck down the BLM's rule on hydraulic fracturing and we support upholding this decision. We respect the states' proven ability to regulate the use of hydraulic fracturing, methane emissions, and horizontal drilling, and we will end the Administration's disregard of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act with respect to the long-term storage of nuclear waste. We encourage the cost-effective development of renewable energy sources — wind, solar, biomass, biofuel, geothermal, and tidal energy — by private capital. The United States is overwhelmingly dependent on China and other nations for rare earth and other hardrock minerals. These minerals are critical to advanced technology, renewable energy, and defense manufacturing. We support expediting the permitting process for mineral production on public lands. We support lifting restrictions to allow responsible development of nuclear energy, including research into alternative processes like thorium nuclear energy.

Republicans will increase Energy Production across the board, streamline permitting, and end market-distorting restrictions on Oil, Natural Gas, and Coal. The Republican Party will once again make America Energy Independent, and then Energy Dominant, lowering Energy prices even below the record lows achieved during President Trump's first term.

Progressives must organize and demand a “bottom up” recovery program that is transparent, inclusive, and fully funded—without gut- ting other important programs, particularly those that benefit the poor. Poor people’s organizations and community-based organizations need to be at the center of planning and imple- menting the recovery. Katrina has exposed the Bush regime’s hypocrisy, but we cannot say previous administrations of either party would have done better. The failure to protect New Orleans stems from political leaders taking a pass on the public investments needed to provide true social security for all citizens. The literature on the vulnerability of the Gulf region is large, sci- entifically verified and accessible; it has even been featured on NOVA TV-episodes and in National Geographic. The de- velopment of the Gulf Coast involved billions of public dol- lars for the petro-chemical industry, and later the gaming in- dustry. Flood controls that benefited agri-business and real estate interests undermined the barrier islands and marshes

• DSA will join the peace movement in demanding an end to war in Afghanistan as well as Iraq and in calling for massive cuts in wasteful and misguided defense spending and for conversion from imperial war policies and arms manufacturing to those meeting domestic needs and stressing humanitarian foreign aid. • DSA will begin a public dialogue among progressives about how to restructure the United States and global econo- my so that it creates productive jobs that provide living wages for all. The United States economy can be restructured in an ecologically sustainable direction (and one that provides good jobs at good wages) only if the federal government invests significantly in infrastructure development, alternative energy, and mass-transit technologies. Only if the federal government restores an effective right to organize can a stengthened union movement force employers to pay wages and benefits that justly reward workers who labor under safe and humane working conditions. By itself, private capital has shown no willingness to take on the massive investments needed to create such new technologies nor has it been willing to recognize the rights of working people to form democratic unions. • Finally, DSA will work in 2010 to insure that progressive Democrats who support many of the above items are re- elected to Congress or replace right-wing Democratic or Republican incumbents.

The global climate system is in grave peril from the unrestricted use of fossil fuels that powered the industrial revolution. We are moving toward conditions incompatible with those that made human civilization possible. A transition to renewable energy and innovation in energy productivity can continue to raise living standards, but quality of life can improve even more with cultural change, in Bill McKibben’s phrase, toward “fewer belongings and more belonging.”

Very large, strategically important the terms ofour national political discourse sectors ofthe economy — such as housing, in the face ofthe often overwhelming logic utilities and heavy industry — would be of “there is no alternative.” History has subject to democratic planning outside the shown time and again that societies fall market, while a market sector consisting of short of their full potential for human worker-owned and -operated firms would emancipation without radical trailblazers be developed for the production and working ceaselessly to pull mainstream distribution of many consumer goods. In political discourse to the Left and thereby this society, large-scale investments in new expandthe“politicsofthepossible.” technologiesandenterpriseswouldbemade onthe basis ofmaximizingthe public good, DemocraticSocialismasRadical Democracy DSAbelievesthatthefightfordemocratic socialismisoneandthesameasthefightfor radical democracy, which we understand as the freedom of all people to determine all aspects of their lives to the greatest extent possible.Ourvisionentailsnothinglessthan the radical democratization of all areas of rather than shareholder value. Crucially, investments in renewable energy and efficient technologies would be prioritized to guarantee ecological sustainability and thefutureexistenceoflifeonEarth. A democratic socialist society would also guarantee a wide range of social rights in ordertoensureequalityofcitizenshipforall.

Green New Deal

[PDF page 7] 32-HOUR WORK WEEK A 32-hour work week with no reduction in pay or benefits. UNION POWER Protect all workers’ rights to strike and form a union, make it easier for workers to join unions, and invest in the National Labor Relations Board. TAX THE RICH Raise taxes on the richest earners, for-profit corporations, large inheritances, and private colleges and universities. Establish a wealth tax for the wealthiest in society. WE FIGHT FOR... AN ECONOMY FOR THE WORKING CLASS GREEN NEW DEAL Massive public investment to transition away from fossil fuels toward a green and sustainable economy. Guaranteed support for workers in the fossil fuel industry, massive infrastructure and jobs programs, and public ownership over major transportation and energy infrastructure and natural resources. 12 WORKERS DESERVE MORE! WORKERS DESERVE MORE! 13

That is why we support the "Better America Bonds" - tax credits for state and local bonds to build more livable communities. We must help communities reconnect to the land around them, preserve open spaces, build parks, improve water quality, and redevelop rusty old brown fields. We need to help save farms from being turned into strip malls and parks from being paved over. We should acquire new lands for urban and suburban forests and recreation sites and set aside wetlands, coastal and wildlife preserves. And it is time we enhanced our quality of life by unclogging our nation's roads and airports.

We will conserve and restore the habitats where wildlife flourish, expanding use of voluntary, incentive-based programs that target private landowners.

For the past eight years, the current Administration has ignored urban areas. We look forward to greater partnership with urban America. We will strengthen federal commitment to cities, including by creating a new White House Office on Urban Policy and fully funding the Community Development Block Grant. We support community-based initiatives, such as micro-loans, business assistance centers, community economic development corporations, and community development financial institutions. To help regional business development we will double federal funding for basic research, expand the deployment of broadband technology, increase access to capital for businesses in underserved areas, create a national network of public-private business incubators, and provide grants to support regional innovation clusters. Since businesses can only function when workers can get to their place of employment, we will invest in public transportation including rail, expand transportation options for low-income communities, and strengthen core infrastructure like our roads and bridges. We will provide cities the support they need to perform public safety and national security functions, reinvest in Community Oriented Policing Services, and keep children off the streets by supporting expanded after-school and summer opportunities. Finally, we will work to make cities greener and more livable by training employees to work in skilled clean technologies industries, improving the environmental efficiency of city buildings, and taking smart growth principles into account when designing transportation.

President Obama took swift action to stabilize a housing market in crisis, helping five million families restructure their loans to help them stay in their homes, making it easier for families to refinance their mortgages and save hundreds of dollars a month, and giving tax credits to first-time home buyers. He also cracked down on fraudulent mortgage lenders and other abuses that contributed to the housing crisis. Democrats have held the largest financial institutions accountable by requiring them to provide relief for homeowners still struggling to pay their mortgages and to change practices that took advantage of homeowners. Democrats also understand the importance of helping communities fight back against the foreclosures that threaten entire neighborhoods, which is why the President proposed to expand the successful neighborhood stabilization efforts in his American Jobs Act.

We reaffirm our commitment to eliminate poverty. Democrats will develop a national strategy, coordinated across all levels of government, to combat poverty. We will direct more federal resources to lifting up communities that have been left out and left behind, such as the 10-20-30 model, which directs 10 percent of program funds to communities where at least 20 percent of the population has been living below the poverty line for 30 years or more. We will also focus on communities that suffer from persistent poverty, including empowerment zones and areas that targeted government data indicate are in persistent poverty.

Democrats believe that all children across the United States should have access to high-quality early childhood education programs. We will work with states to offer pre-K for all three- and four-year-olds and expand Head Start and Early Head Start. We will drive increased resources to the communities with the highest need, including those with the highest concentrations of low-income students, impoverished urban areas impacted by gentrification, and rural areas, and will strive to support holistic school readiness. We also will ensure students with disabilities and English language learners have access to and are fully included in early childhood programs.

Democrats are dedicated to increasing the supply of an array of housing options like duplexes, triplexes, and townhomes that bridge the gap between single-family homes and large apartment buildings. By reducing barriers to building housing and providing federal tax incentives for the development of housing for people of all incomes, we can foster vibrant, inclusive communities where people from all walks of life can find affordable, diverse living options. Workforce housing must also be prioritized to ensure that our nation's teachers, nurses, firefighters, and other essential workers can afford to live in the communities they serve. We recognize that these workers are the backbone of our society, but they are left to struggle with housing costs that outpace their incomes, leaving them unable to live near their workplaces. Democrats will meet this challenge head-on by increasing funding for programs that support the creation and preservation of affordable housing options for essential workers, as well as collaborating with state and local governments to accelerate the development of workforce housing, ensuring that our communities remain accessible and affordable for all.

One area of health care that is sadly ignored is the role of primary and preventive care. This is particularly important in our inner cities and rural communities, where the emergency room may be the only avenue for assistance. People in rural and underserved areas need access to critical primary care. We will boost funding for community health centers and establish stronger public-private partnerships for safety net providers and hospitals in rural and underserved communities.

We endorse President Bush's plan to extend the benefits of welfare reform by strengthening work requirements and promoting healthy marriages, and offering training, transportation, and child care services to help people become self-sufficient. Every American deserves a chance to know the pride of earning a paycheck and providing for his or her family.

Although the Constitution assigns the federal government no role in local education, Washington's authority over the nation's schools has increased dramatically. In less than a decade, annual federal funding has shot up 41 percent to almost $25 billion, while the regulatory burden on state and local governments has risen by about 6.7 million hours — and added $141 million in costs — during that time. We call for a review of Department of Education programs and administration to identify and eliminate ineffective programs, to respect the role of states, and to better meet state needs.

We support efforts to ensure equitable participation in federal programs by American Indians, including Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians and to preserve their culture and languages that we consider to be national treasures. Lastly, we recognize that American Indians have responded to the call for military service in percentage numbers far greater than have other groups of Americans. We honor that commitment, loyalty, and sacrifice of all American Indians serving in the military today and in years past and will ensure that all veterans and their families receive the care and respect they have earned through their loyal service to America.

We call for removal of structural impediments which progressives throw in the path of poor people: Over-regulation of start-up enterprises, excessive licensing requirements, needless restrictions on formation of schools and day-care centers serving neighborhood families, and restrictions on providing public services in fields like transport and sanitation that close the opportunity door to all but a favored few. We will continue our fight for school choice until all parents can find good, safe schools for their children. To protect religious liberty we will ensure that faith-based institutions, especially those that are vital parts of underserved neighborhoods, do not face discrimination by government. We propose new partnerships between those who manage federal programs and those who are on the front lines of fighting poverty on the ground. We must encourage their efforts to reclaim their communities from the culture of poverty. To advance this process, we urge greater state and local responsibility for, and control over, public assistance programs.

Republicans will support increased focus on Chronic Disease prevention and management, Long-Term Care, and Benefit flexibility. We will expand access to Primary Care and support Policies that help Seniors remain in their homes and maintain Financial Security.

Our Priorities For most of history our main focus has been on domestic policies and chc inequalities endemic in our sociery. Thac shall remain our main focus. \X'e shall concencrare mosr of our resource~ on issues and campaigns relat- ed ro injustices faced by low-wage workers in America. \X!e shall support campaigns to raise the minimum wage and to legislate a "living wage." We shall continue our support of union organizing efforts and support meas- ures in the upcoming legislative fight around renewing "welfare reform'' char will aid che poor and noc punish chem. We will concinue our work ro defend Mcdican.: anc..l Social Security. And we will engage in visible, pub- lic activity aimed at educating rhe American public abour the systematic inequalities of our economy. This campaign will be begin with a confer- ence highlighting the 40th Anniversary of che publicacion of The Od1er An1crica and the plighc of the working poor poignanclr depicted in Barbara Ehrenrcich's, Nickel and Dimed. Bue this campaign will be much more rhan a Wasbingcon cvenc. We will rake our message co local com- munities in events and activist campaigns organized over the ncxc cwo years. Recognizing our organizational limitations, we will focus our resources, 10 the near term on enhancing our capacity for political educa- tion and analysis through forums, speaker tours, rctn.~ats. chink-ranks and publications, pa~sing ouc liceracure.

Convention Resolution: DSA Priorities 1. The Low-Wage Justice Project Since 2001 the national organization has focused our political work on combating global capitalism’s ‘race-to-the- bottom’ development strategy. This ‘Walmart-ization’ of the global economy has depressed the quality of life of the world’s working people, including those residing in the United States. DSA has “added value” at the national and local levels through efforts to build the community component of a citizen-labor alliance to fight the low-wage economy, which also negates the conservative argument that organized labor’s efforts are ‘self-interested’. DSA has engaged in public political education aimed at illustrating that ‘Walmart-ization’ is not caused by the actions of one particular rapacious corporation but by a systemic and irrational model of global capitalist development. As an al- ternative, DSA has highlighted local, national, and transnational efforts to construct an alternative model of fair trade, global labor and human rights, and equitable develop- ment strategies. Therefore, this convention endorses a continuation and deepening of the organizational focus and coordinated activ- ism that the “Low Wage Justice” campaign (initiated at the 2001 DSA convention) has brought to the organization. In particular, the focus on Wal-Mart, as an exemplar of the cor- porate “race-to-the-bottom” economic strategy, will continue. Thus, this convention commits itself to: a. The DSA NPC and national office continuing to pro- vide resources and information to aid locals in living wage campaigns, immigrant justice activism, and labor support work.

Facilitate the transition of YDS activists into leadership roles in the adult organization when they graduate or leave campus. c. Build the capacity of our locals, commissions, networks, and activists to take a pro-active role in both visible public education and credible political action. d. Modernize the on-line capacity of the organization and its use of new communication technologies in general. Democratic Left • Winter 2009 • page 5

A progressive approach to housing affordability, in contrast, would treat housing as a social good rather than as a profit-producing commodity. Government should promote alternative forms of housing owner- ship — co-ops, nonprofit and community development corporations — that would also be committed to revitalizing communities. Despite being much maligned, public housing has served more low income tenants than any single program and should therefore remain a core element of housing policy. In order to meet the housing affordability crisis, all public housing units should be replaced with new units at no less than a one-to-one basis.

[PDF page 12] time. In order to take advantage of this potential, DSA chapters will use a range of tactics to help expand our activist and membership base. First, we will place a greater emphasis on our critique of capitalism andpositive vision ofdemocratic socialism in our coalition, public education and community organizing work. We will also devote more resources to developing new leaders through individual mentoring, skills training and educational programming. Finally, we will engage in regular and intensive assessments of our organizational progress, while always working to recruit as many new members fromadiverseanarrayofbackgrounds. Success across this spectrum ofstruggles should lead to a period when we can talk seriouslyabout the transition to democratic socialism through reforms that fundamentally undermine the power ofthe capitalist system (often referred to as “non- reformist reforms”), such as the nationalization of strategic industries (banking, auto, etc.) and the creation of worker-controlledinvestmentfunds(created bytaxingcorporateprofits) thatwillbuyout capitalist stakes in firms and set up worker- JOINUS! ownedand-operatedfirms onalarge scale. While it may sound premature to begin discussing such long-term objectives before we have achievedourmore modest(though ambitious)short-termgoals,itiscriticalthat we advance a clear vision of our short-, medium- and long-term objectives and a credible account of how we might move from each stage of struggle to the next (moredetailsrelatedto thisquestioncanbe foundinDSA’sstrategydocument).Ifweare not clear about where we are heading, we risk both losing track ofthe importance of our socialist identity and making strategic errors for the sake of short-term tactical gains.

We propose a program of transformative regulation, nationalization, social ownership, and internationalism that builds the solidarity and democratic power necessary for us to succeed. We call for the nationalization of businesses like utilities and critical manufacturing and technology companies, alongside regulation of corporate, communications, data, and financial sectors. We seek to ensure social and worker control over these businesses. We support an expansion of worker cooperatives, mutual aid institutions, cooperative media, physical infrastructure, care work, and collective land ownership. To ensure the well-being of everyone, we also must secure adequate compensation and living standards, as well as effective infrastructure, healthcare, and institutions in our communities and abroad. We can fund much of this through public development and retail banks, socialized government finance, and taxing the rich and corporations. Wealth taxes, increased progressive income tax rates on the highest earners, and increased estate taxes can redistribute wealth from the billionaires who hoard it to the workers who made it.

[PDF page 7] 32-HOUR WORK WEEK A 32-hour work week with no reduction in pay or benefits. UNION POWER Protect all workers’ rights to strike and form a union, make it easier for workers to join unions, and invest in the National Labor Relations Board. TAX THE RICH Raise taxes on the richest earners, for-profit corporations, large inheritances, and private colleges and universities. Establish a wealth tax for the wealthiest in society. WE FIGHT FOR... AN ECONOMY FOR THE WORKING CLASS GREEN NEW DEAL Massive public investment to transition away from fossil fuels toward a green and sustainable economy. Guaranteed support for workers in the fossil fuel industry, massive infrastructure and jobs programs, and public ownership over major transportation and energy infrastructure and natural resources. 12 WORKERS DESERVE MORE! WORKERS DESERVE MORE! 13

We know that even as the economy changes and expands, millions of workers will continue to labor in jobs that pay low wages and may not require significant education or skills. Many of these workers are women, people of color, or recent immigrants. These workers provide invaluable services to American society and their work has great dignity. Democrats are committed to ensuring that these workers - no less than their counterparts in more highly-skilled, better paid positions - are treated with dignity, respect, and fairness on the job. Democrats also believe that workers in temporary, part-time, and contract jobs should be treated fairly and earn the wages and benefits they deserve because of the jobs they do.

Standing up for workers. We will ensure that the right to organize a union exists in the real world, not just on paper, because that's how we create more jobs that can support families. That means reforming our labor laws to protect the rights of workers (including public employees) to bargain contracts and organize on a level playing field without interference. It also means barring the permanent replacement of legal strikers. And we will of course reverse this Administration's cuts in wages for working people by restoring overtime protections for hard-working Americans. We will strengthen health and safety protections as well.

Working together, we can cut poverty in half within ten years. We will provide all our children a world-class education, from early childhood through college. We will develop innovative transitional job programs that place unemployed people into temporary jobs and train them for permanent ones. To help workers share in our country's productivity, we'll expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, and raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation. The majority of adults in poverty are women, and to combat poverty we must work for fair pay, support for mothers, and policies that promote responsible fatherhood. We'll start letting our unions do what they do best again—organize and lift up our workers. We'll make sure that every American has affordable health care that stays with them no matter what happens. We will assist American Indian communities, since 10 of the 20 poorest counties in the United States are on Indian lands. We'll bring businesses back to our inner-cities, increase the supply of affordable housing, and establish "promise neighborhoods" that provide comprehensive services in areas of concentrated poverty. These will be based on proven models, such as the Harlem Children's Zone in New York City, which seeks to engage all residents with tangible goals such as attendance at parenting schools, retention of meaningful employment, college for every participating student, and strong physical and mental health outcomes for children.

Democrats believe that the right to organize and collectively bargain is a fundamental American value; every American should have a voice on the job and a chance to negotiate for a fair day's pay after a hard day's work. We will continue to fight for the right of all workers to organize and join a union. Unions helped build the greatest middle class the world has ever known. Their work resulted in the 40-hour workweek and weekends, paid leave and pensions, the minimum wage and health insurance, and Social Security and Medicare - the cornerstones of middle class security. We will fight for labor laws that provide a fair process for workers to choose union representation, that facilitate the collective bargaining process, and that strengthen remedies for violations of the law. We will fight for collective bargaining rights for police officers, nurses, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, teachers, and other public sector workers - jobs that are a proven path to the middle class for millions of Americans. We will continue to vigorously oppose “Right to Work” and “paycheck protection” efforts, and so-called “Save our Secret Ballot” measures whenever they are proposed.

The Democratic Party believes that when workers are strong, America is strong. Democrats will make it easier for workers, public and private, to exercise their right to organize and join unions. We will fight to pass laws that direct the National Labor Relations Board to certify a union if a simple majority of eligible workers sign valid authorization cards, as well as laws that bring companies to the negotiating table. We support binding arbitration to help workers who have voted to join a union reach a first contract.

Democrats will fight to raise wages for working people and improve job quality and security, including by raising the federal minimum wage so it reaches $15 an hour by 2026. Raising the federal minimum wage, so fewer workers are forced to hold down multiple jobs to make ends meet, will significantly decrease risks of infection from COVID-19 and in the future. We know that strong American labor unions help increase wages and job standards for workers across the economy, which is why Democrats will prioritize passing the PRO Act and restoring workers' rights, including the right to launch secondary boycotts. We will repeal so-called "right to work" laws that undermine worker power and lead to lower wages and less protection for workers across the economy, and ensure those who have been left without wage and hour protections for decades—including domestic workers and farmworkers—have the same rights as other workers. Democrats will support legislation to strengthen whistleblower and anti-retaliation protections for workers who speak for themselves or their coworkers. And we will take action to rein in anti-competitive corporate power by rewriting the rules that have undermined workers' ability to advocate for themselves, including non-compete clauses, no-poaching agreements, and contracts that force workers into mandatory arbitration to resolve violations of employment laws.

Democrats will keep fighting to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, to give everyone the right to organize for better pay, benefits, and working conditions, and to hold abusive bosses accountable for violating workers' rights. We oppose state right-to-work laws, which drive down wages and leave workers unsafe; and we support penalizing employers who engage in union busting. We'll work to pass the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, guaranteeing public sector bargaining rights; and to codify a right to organize for domestic workers, farm workers, and other unprotected laborers. Democrats will continue to create strong labor standards for jobs created with taxpayer dollars through legislation and with strong Buy American rules. Consistent with the law, we will ensure that federal grants and other assistance to employers are contingent on recipients committing to not interfering with workers' efforts to form a union. By leveraging the benefits of federal grants for infrastructure, manufacturing and services, we will seek to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to participate in the American Dream.

We affirm the right of individuals to voluntarily participate in labor organizations and to bargain collectively. We therefore support the right of states to enact Right-to-Work laws. No one should be forced to contribute to a campaign or a candidate, so we will vigorously implement the Supreme Court's Beck decision to stop the involuntary use of union dues for political purposes. We will revoke the illegal executive order excluding millions of workers from federal contracts, and safeguard the unemployment compensation system against the diversion of its funds for political purposes.

We affirm the time-honored right of individuals to voluntarily participate in labor organizations and to bargain collectively. We also believe that no American should be coerced into an association they do not wish to join. And no one should be kept out of a job for which they are qualified simply because they choose to remain independent of labor unions. We therefore support the right of states to enact Right-to-Work laws.

We affirm both the right of individuals to voluntarily participate in labor organizations and bargain collectively and the right of states to enact Right-to- Work laws. But the nation's labor laws, to a large extent formed out of conflicts several generations ago, should be modernized to make it easier for employers and employees to plan, execute, and profit together. To protect workers from misuse of their funds, we will conscientiously enforce federal law requiring financial reporting and transparency by labor unions. We advocate paycheck protection laws to guard the integrity of the political process and the security of workers' earnings.

We will restore the rule of law to labor law by blocking "card check," enacting the Secret Ballot Protection Act, enforcing the Hobbs Act against labor violence, and passing the Raise Act to allow all workers to receive well-earned raises without the approval of their union representative. We demand an end to the Project Labor Agreements; and we call for repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act, which costs the taxpayers billions of dollars annually in artificially high wages on government projects. We support the right of States to enact Right-to-Work laws and encourage them to do so to promote greater economic liberty. Ultimately, we support the enactment of a National Right-to-Work law to promote worker freedom and to promote greater economic liberty. We will aggressively enforce the recent decision by the Supreme Court barring the use of union dues for political purposes without the consent of the worker.

We intend to encourage those trends by bringing labor law into the 21st century. It should encourage cooperation between management and workers, not conflict. All workers, including union members, must be free to accept raises and rewards without veto power from union officials. All unionized workers should be able to find out what is going on in their union trust funds and in their executive compensation. We support the right of states to enact Right-to-Work laws and call for a national law to protect the economic liberty of the modern workforce.

Republicans will promote a Culture that values the Sanctity of Marriage, the blessings of childhood, the foundational role of families, and supports working parents. We will end policies that punish families.

Our Priorities For most of history our main focus has been on domestic policies and chc inequalities endemic in our sociery. Thac shall remain our main focus. \X'e shall concencrare mosr of our resource~ on issues and campaigns relat- ed ro injustices faced by low-wage workers in America. \X!e shall support campaigns to raise the minimum wage and to legislate a "living wage." We shall continue our support of union organizing efforts and support meas- ures in the upcoming legislative fight around renewing "welfare reform'' char will aid che poor and noc punish chem. We will concinue our work ro defend Mcdican.: anc..l Social Security. And we will engage in visible, pub- lic activity aimed at educating rhe American public abour the systematic inequalities of our economy. This campaign will be begin with a confer- ence highlighting the 40th Anniversary of che publicacion of The Od1er An1crica and the plighc of the working poor poignanclr depicted in Barbara Ehrenrcich's, Nickel and Dimed. Bue this campaign will be much more rhan a Wasbingcon cvenc. We will rake our message co local com- munities in events and activist campaigns organized over the ncxc cwo years. Recognizing our organizational limitations, we will focus our resources, 10 the near term on enhancing our capacity for political educa- tion and analysis through forums, speaker tours, rctn.~ats. chink-ranks and publications, pa~sing ouc liceracure.

[PDF page 3] “blank check.” Despite the horrific Israeli occupation, no mainstream politi- cians have the courage or foresight to call for the end of U.S. military aid to Israel, a cessation that should last until Israel ends all illegal settlement activity and demonstrates a renewed willingness to trade land for peace. The militarization of Israeli society is complemented by right-wing-backed free market “reforms,”austerity measures and other blatant attacks on workers’ living standards.These have made Israel less secure, vulnerable not just from physical assault by external enemies but from a self-induced crisis economy. The recent massive public workers strike, led by the Histadrut Labour Federation – the third nationwide strike in 18 months – is a direct outcome of the government’s iron-wall intransigence, the accumulated financial burden of maintaining Israel as a garrison state, and efforts by the Likud-led government to ruthlessly privatize Israel’s public sector. Similarly, the continued violence buttresses the role of the most regressive elements in Palestinian society, at the expense of the emergence of a secular, progressive leadership. As socialists, DSA supports workers on both sides of the Green Line, and not their reac- tionary political leaderships. The pro-peace and labor forces in both Palestine and Israel are the seg- ments of the region’s societies with which we politically identify and from which we draw strength.They cannot succeed absent the aid of the interna- tional community. Only a U.S.

Joining progressive forces fighting for a new round of massive federal financial aid to state, county, and municipal governments. Only by such measures can essential public services be maintained and massive deflationary layoffs be avoided. 3. Holding public hearings on an Economic Bill of Rights, to be developed in conjunction with our allies, and using the Economic Justice Agenda as a starting point. 4. Continuing to work with labor and its allies to pass meaningful labor law reform that would restore a real right to organize and strike and ensure that the NLRB enforces these laws. In particular, we will work to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, with an emphasis on encouraging our coalition partners in the non-labor left to understand the impor- tance of rebuilding the labor movement as a vital element in progressing on all our issues. Furthermore: (A section on Immigration Reform will be added later by the NPC) • DSA reasserts its commitment to passing single-payer health care legislation at either the federal or state level. page 4 • Democratic Left • Winter 2003 page 4 • Democratic Left • Winter 2009

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) would restore the original intent of the NLRB by permitting workers to choose union representation without fear and intimidation. If a majority of workers demonstrated their choice to form a union, it would be certified without a delay-ridden and coercive election process. Employer stonewalling on negotiating a first collective agreement could trigger an arbitration process. Penalties for serious abuses of workers’ rights to organize would be stiffened.

DSA will stand in solidarity with movements around the world fighting to raise global labor, environmental, and human rights standards in opposition to corporate“racetothebottom”policies.Such solidarity often will take the form of opposing our government’s own foreign policy, which supports undemocratic international institutions (including pro- corporate “free trade agreements”), and which backs, often through military intervention, authoritarian regimes that support U.S. government and economic interests. BuildingDSAandtheSocialistLeft DSA’s role in building progressive social movements is essential to our work; regardless of what we gain as an organization from this work, it is an end in itself. Additionally, through our coalition work and community organizing we learn invaluable organizing skills and discover countless ways to improve the workthatwe do. However, in order to be effective in this work, as well as to build broader-based, "Weneedtodramaticallyincreasetheranksof thesocialistmovementintheUnitedStates."independent socialist organizations that we hope will grow over time into a powerful political force, we need to dramatically increasetheranksofthesocialistmovement in the United States. While DSA has expanded significantly since 2010, there is stilltremendousroomforgrowth,especially inthe wake ofSanders’ PoliticalRevolution, which exposed countless young people to theideaofdemocraticsocialismforthefirst

Labor rights for all, regardless of immigration status, and inclusion of farm workers, street vendors, day laborers, and domestic workers under National Labor Relations Board legal protections

[PDF page 7] 32-HOUR WORK WEEK A 32-hour work week with no reduction in pay or benefits. UNION POWER Protect all workers’ rights to strike and form a union, make it easier for workers to join unions, and invest in the National Labor Relations Board. TAX THE RICH Raise taxes on the richest earners, for-profit corporations, large inheritances, and private colleges and universities. Establish a wealth tax for the wealthiest in society. WE FIGHT FOR... AN ECONOMY FOR THE WORKING CLASS GREEN NEW DEAL Massive public investment to transition away from fossil fuels toward a green and sustainable economy. Guaranteed support for workers in the fossil fuel industry, massive infrastructure and jobs programs, and public ownership over major transportation and energy infrastructure and natural resources. 12 WORKERS DESERVE MORE! WORKERS DESERVE MORE! 13

But ours is a record to build on, not to rest on. That's because eight years later, we face a new challenge: how to keep prosperity alive - and how to deepen it - in a fast-moving, fast-changing economy. We can never take our economic prosperity for granted nor can we afford to go back to either tax-and-spend or cut-and-run - the failed policies of the past. It took innovative, new Democratic policies to create the environment where prosperity could bloom. It will take more such policies to allow prosperity to blossom - to forge a prosperity that does not leave anyone out and does not leave anyone behind.

The heart of the American promise has always been the middle class, the greatest engine of economic growth the world has ever known. When the middle class grows in size and security, our country gets stronger. And when more American families save and invest in their children's future, America grows stronger still.

We believe that trade should strengthen the American economy and create more American jobs, while also laying a foundation for democratic, equitable, and sustainable growth around the world. Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development, but we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few rather than the many. We must build on the wealth that open markets have created, and share its benefits more equitably.

The United States continues to move forward towards a future of strong and sustained growth. Thanks to the leadership of President Obama and Democrats around the country, we're fighting back from the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression by making investments to create jobs, grow the middle class, and lay the foundations for an economy that out-educates, out-builds, and out-innovates the rest of the world. Today, America is both stronger and safer than it was four years ago. Now, we must continue the work we've started so that the United States of America never fails to meet the tests of our time.

We believe the United States must continue to be a strong advocate for the rights and opportunities of women and girls around the world. Elevating their status is not just the right thing to do—it is also a strategic imperative that advances American interests in prosperity and stability. When women and girls are healthy, educated, and able to participate economically, their families and communities prosper, poverty decreases, and economies grow. And when women participate in conflict resolution and post-conflict processes, it improves the likelihood of securing sustainable peace. Democrats are committed to advancing the rights and opportunities of women and girls as a central focus of American diplomacy, development, and defense efforts and will continue to support the United States National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security. We will work to end the epidemic of gender-based violence around the world. We will urge ratification of the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

It is past time to end the failed "War on Drugs," which has imprisoned millions of Americans—disproportionately Black people and Latinos—and hasn't been effective in reducing drug use. Democrats support policies that will reorient our public safety approach toward prevention, and away from over-policing—including by making evidence-based investments in jobs, housing, education, and the arts that will make our nation fairer, freer, and more prosperous.

President Biden believes the United States must continue to be a strong advocate for the rights and opportunities of women and girls around the world. Under his leadership, the United States issued its first-ever National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality, which recognizes that elevating the status of women and girls is not just the right thing to do – it is a strategic imperative that advances American interests in prosperity and stability. When women and girls are healthy, educated, and able to participate economically, their families and communities prosper, poverty decreases, and economies grow. And when women participate in conflict resolution and post-conflict processes, it improves the likelihood of securing sustainable peace.

Twenty years ago, the economy was in shambles. Unemployment was at 7.1 percent, inflation at 13.5 percent, and interest rates at 15.3 percent. The Democratic Party accepted that malaise as the price the nation had to pay for Big Government, and in so doing lost the confidence of the American people. Inspired by Presidents Reagan and Bush, Republicans hammered into place the framework for today's prosperity and surpluses. We cut tax rates, simplified the tax code, deregulated industries, and opened world markets to American enterprise. The result was the tremendous growth in the 1980s that created the venture capital to launch the technology revolution of the 1990s.

Republicans know that a strong world economy enhances our national security by advancing prosperity and freedom in the rest of the world. Economic growth supported by free trade and free markets creates new jobs and higher incomes. It allows people to lift their lives out of poverty, spurs economic and legal reform, enhances the fight against corruption, and reinforces the habits of liberty.

Homeownership remains key to creating an opportunity society. We support timely and carefully targeted aid to those hurt by the housing crisis so that affected individuals can have a chance to trade a burdensome mortgage for a manageable loan that reflects their home's market value. At the same time, government action must not implicitly encourage anyone to borrow more than they can afford to repay. We support energetic federal investigation and, where appropriate, prosecution of criminal wrongdoing in the mortgage industry and investment sector. We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself. We believe in the free market as the best tool to sustained prosperity and opportunity for all. We encourage potential buyers to work in concert with the lending community to educate themselves about the responsibilities of purchasing a home, condo, or land.

We are the party of maximum economic freedom and the prosperity freedom makes possible. Prosperity is the product of self-discipline, work, savings, and investment by individual Americans, but it is not an end in itself. Prosperity provides the means by which individuals and families can maintain their independence from government, raise their children by their own values, practice their faith, and build communities of self-reliant neighbors. It is also the means by which the United States is able to assert global leadership. The vigor of our economy makes possible our military strength and is critical to our national security.

We recognize the challenges facing all the U.S. territories in an era of dramatic global economic change. They need venture capital to retain existing industries and develop new ones. A stronger private sector can reduce dependence on public employment and lead toward self-sufficiency. Their development of local energy options will be crucial to reduce dependence on costly imported fuel.

1. DEFEAT INFLATION, AND QUICKLY BRING DOWN ALL PRICES.

National Priori.ties Resolution Introduction We meer in Philadelphia at a rime of national crisis. The great economic expansion of the lase decade, an expan- sion that primarily benefired the well off. is over. The economic recession will incrc::ase already morally unacceptable levels of inequality by worsening the conditions of low-wage workers and threatening the living standards of the middle class. Americans have been subject co ter- rorist arcacl<s and are deeply concerned about the security of their fumilies and

3. Public Socialist Education A staple of viable DSA locals and campus chapters has been visible, well-publicized socialist education. Socialists understand that ideological struggle is political work, and that socialist agitation and education must focus on the health and perspectives of movements opposing corporate domination as well as “imagining” socialism and sketching what a better world would look like. Over the past few years, however, particularly on cam- pus and areas where DSA has numerous members but weak (or no-longer existing) locals, the organization has engaged in little public educational work. This work remains impera- tive as, given the weakness of liberalism, the critique of indi- vidualist marketplace ideology and the defense of social soli- darity and public provision is only coherently done by social- ists. There remains a popular audience open to a critique of the stifling center-right consensus that dominates American politics. Such work provides a viable way for even small

DSA will endeavor to take advantage of the massive “socialist-baiting” campaign of the right to educate the American public as to the major role socialist-inspired reforms have played in building more equitable societies than our own in Northern Europe and elsewhere. II. DSA will engage in both education and action to rebuild a United States economy that serves the needs of working Americans and their families rather than the narrow interests of corporate elites. We will fight to defend people’s basic needs against the continued effects of the global economic meltdown and to restructure the U.S. economy in a demo- cratic direction. We will prepare for a range of struggles so as to be able to join nascent movements where and when we are most needed. Key to this defense are: 1. Building an anti-foreclosure fight-back. The anti-foreclosure movement should use whatever forms of protest that can protect citizens from being evicted ftom their homes and literally put onto the streets. DSA will join movements demand- ing a moratorium on foreclosures and the creation of a Federal Home Mortgage Administration that would refinance “underwater mortgages” at affordable rates and force banks to absorb more of the losses on their speculative mortgages. Short of affordable re-financing, distressed home-owners should have the right to stay in their homes and pay the holders of their mortgages an affordable, current-market-value rent. 2.

In a society that assures income security, loss of a job will open opportunities to new employment without the pressure to accept the first job offer that emerges. Thus, income security gives all of us the freedom to take a chance on a new job that may more fully develop our potential as workers and as human beings. Income security also provides the economic space for development of independent ideas and thinking. These in turn provide the basis for an independent politics that articulates the needs and wants of the population as a whole rather than the desires and fancies of a wealthy elite.

With more free time, protection from the vagaries of economic exploitation and deepened norms of respect and solidarity, individuals onamass scale would be able for the first time to freely choose how they wanted to develop as individuals, limited onlybyprinciples ofmutual respect and the absence of exploitation and oppression. Race- and gender-based identities, despite having their origins in systems of oppression, would no longer be imposed upon individuals by society, and would likely play a positive role in shaping individuals’identities. Itshouldalways be remembered, however, that like every other form of society, a democratic socialist societycannot produce total social harmony. Such a society will always have to navigate among the competing claims of different groups and democratic political institutions will always be needed to arbitrate and mediate such conflict. Democratic socialism, that is, will notbetheutopiathatmanysocialistsofold imagined. Yet the achievement of a democratic socialist society would nevertheless mark one of the greatest advances in human history. Instead of war, there would be peace; instead of competition, cooperation; instead of exploitation, equality; instead of pollution, sustainability and instead of domination, freedom. Life would still have sorrows as well as joys, and there would still be failed projects and unrequited love. But with democratic socialismthere wouldno longer be unnecessary suffering imposed on the mass of society by institutions over which wehavenocontrol. III.OurStrategy Withthisvisioninplace,weturnfinallyto anoverviewofDSA’sstrategyformovingthe needleofemancipationclosertodemocratic socialism over the coming years and

Social ownership of all major industry and infrastructure

[PDF page 4] 6 PROGRAM FOR 2024 The US political and economic system is failing the working class. Millions struggle with low wages, dangerous working conditions, and limited control over our own lives, all while the top one percent has gotten richer and richer. Billionaires control access to basic human needs like housing, healthcare, and education and make a profit off of them...This capitalist economic system is the cause of violence, unemployment, and a climate crisis that poses an existential threat to life on earth. Black and brown workers in racially segregated communities bear the brunt of capitalism’s cruelties, suffering especially from poverty wages, discrimination, deportation, and unemployment, often pushing workers into illegal activity to survive. Instead of investing in working-class communities, capitalists prefer to police and incarcerate workers they consider expendable to protect their wealth. Accelerating declines in living standards are exploited by the Christian nationalist right and figures like Donald Trump. Americans rejected the far- right agenda in the 2020 elections and watched a failed coup attempt to overturn the election results.... The far-right threatens Americans’ civil liberties. They attack the right of people to decide whether to have a kid by overturning Roe v. Wade and continue to restrict abortion access. Now they attack the rights of queer and transgender people by banning gender-affirming care. These culture wars are intended to pit workers against each other to empower a right- wing government.

The Democratic Party proudly upholds its tradition of support for the first Americans. The sovereignty of the American Indians and Native Alaskans and a strong affirmation of the government-to-government relationship are basic to our approach to the tribal governments. As we move into the 21st century, we have to renew our trust obligations and work to improve the lives of the many Indians who live in terrible poverty. The Democratic Party pledges to continue our work to make a difference in the lives of those who occupied this land before us. We affirm the legal and political relationship between the United States and Native Hawaiians as an important step in the continuing process of reconciliation. We will work to pass legislation establishing a process for Native Hawaiians to reorganize a governing body, freely chosen, expressing their rights to self-determination. The justice we provide the first Americans is a measure of our nation's character, and Democrats believe we should build on the progress of the last eight years.

Voting is the foundation of democracy, a central act of civic engagement, and an expression of equal citizenship. Voting rights are important precisely because they are protective of all other rights. We will call for legislative action that will fully protect and enforce the fundamental Constitutional right of every American to vote -- to ensure that the Constitution's promise is fully realized and that, in disputed elections, every vote is counted fully and fairly.

Voting rights are fundamental rights because they are protective of all other rights. We will work to fully protect and enforce the fundamental Constitutional right of every American vote—to ensure that the Constitution's promise is fully realized. We will fully fund the Help America Vote Act and work to fulfill the promise of election reform, including fighting to end long lines at voting booths and ensuring that all registration materials, voting materials, polling places, and voting machines are truly accessible to seniors, Americans with disabilities, and citizens with limited English proficiency. We will call for a national standard for voting that includes voter-verified paper ballots. We will ensure that absentee ballots are accessible and accurately counted. We will vigorously enforce our voting rights laws instead of making them tools of partisan political agendas; we oppose laws that require identification in order to vote or register to vote, which create discriminatory barriers to the right to vote and disenfranchise many eligible voters; and we oppose tactics which purge eligible voters from voter rolls. We are committed to passing the Count Every Vote Act. Finally, we will enact legislation that establishes harsh penalties for those who engage in voter intimidation and creates a process for providing accurate information to misinformed voters so they can cast their votes in time.

President Obama signed an executive order to establish unprecedented ethics rules so that those who leave the executive branch may not lobby this administration and officials may not accept gifts from lobbyists. We support campaign finance reform, by constitutional amendment if necessary. We support legislation to close loopholes and require greater disclosure of campaign spending. President Obama and the national Democratic Party do not accept contributions from federal lobbyists this cycle. We support requiring groups trying to influence elections to reveal their donors so the public will know who's funding the political ads it sees. President Obama and the Democrats are fighting to reduce the influence of money in politics, and holding Congress to higher conflict-of-interest standards.

We must restore the full protections of the Voting Rights Act. We will bring our democracy into the 21st century by expanding early voting and vote-by-mail, implementing universal automatic voter registration and same day voter registration, ending partisan and racial gerrymandering, and making Election Day a national holiday. We will restore voting rights for those who have served their sentences. And we will continue to fight against discriminatory voter identification laws, which disproportionately burden young voters, diverse communities, people of color, low-income families, people with disabilities, the elderly, and women.

We must steel and strengthen our democracy, not distort and debase it. Democrats believe there is nothing to fear from the voices and votes of the American people. We will restore the full power of the Voting Rights Act and stamp out voter suppression in all its forms. We will curb the corrupting influence of money in politics and protect the integrity of our elections from all enemies, foreign and domestic. We will never accept political gridlock as our fate. We will never tire in our fight to deliver results and create opportunity for all Americans. And we will end the war on government that has politicized our institutions, denigrated public service, and left the American people on their own instead of working to make them whole.

Democrats will end state-level use of private prisons and detention centers, and we will restrict state and local practices like solitary confinement, chokeholds, and restraints on pregnant inmates. We will guarantee access to medical care in prison and will eliminate profiteering from diversion, bail, electronic monitoring, commissaries, and reentry programs. We will support rehabilitation and education, including college programs, for inmates in prison and after their release. To help returning citizens succeed upon their release, we will boost access to transitional housing, affordable housing, mental health and substance use treatment. We will limit reincarcerating people federally to only serious violations of supervised release. And, we will work to expand "ban the box" so returning citizens can more easily find work, protect their right to vote, and protect their right to public services like Pell Grants and nutrition assistance.

Our country's ethnic diversity within a shared national culture is unique in all the world. We benefit from our differences, but we must also strengthen the ties that bind us to one another. Foremost among those is the flag. Its deliberate desecration is not "free speech" but an assault against both our proud history and our greatest hopes. We therefore support a constitutional amendment that will restore to the people, through their elected representatives, their right to safeguard Old Glory.

We strongly support President Bush's call for a Constitutional amendment that fully protects marriage, and we believe that neither federal nor state judges nor bureaucrats should force states to recognize other living arrangements as equivalent to marriage. We believe, and the social science confirms, that the well-being of children is best accomplished in the environment of the home, nurtured by their mother and father anchored by the bonds of marriage. We further believe that legal recognition and the accompanying benefits afforded couples should be preserved for that unique and special union of one man and one woman which has historically been called marriage.

Preventing voting fraud is a civil rights issue. We support the right of states to require an official government-issued photo identification for voting and call upon the Department of Justice to deploy its resources to prevent ballot tampering in the November elections. We support efforts by state and local election officials to ensure integrity in the voting process and to prevent voter fraud and abuse, particularly as it relates to voter registration and absentee ballots.

We will restore the rule of law to labor law by blocking "card check," enacting the Secret Ballot Protection Act, enforcing the Hobbs Act against labor violence, and passing the Raise Act to allow all workers to receive well-earned raises without the approval of their union representative. We demand an end to the Project Labor Agreements; and we call for repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act, which costs the taxpayers billions of dollars annually in artificially high wages on government projects. We support the right of States to enact Right-to-Work laws and encourage them to do so to promote greater economic liberty. Ultimately, we support the enactment of a National Right-to-Work law to promote worker freedom and to promote greater economic liberty. We will aggressively enforce the recent decision by the Supreme Court barring the use of union dues for political purposes without the consent of the worker.

Honest elections are the foundation of representative government. We pledge to protect the voting rights of every citizen, as well as their rights of conscience when they are harassed or denied a job because of their contributions to a candidate or a cause. We support state efforts to ensure ballot access for the elderly, the handicapped, military personnel, and all legitimate voters. We urge state and local officials to take all appropriate steps to allow voters to cast their ballots in a timely manner. We are concerned, however, that some voting procedures may be open to abuse. For this reason, we support legislation to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote and secure photo ID when voting. We strongly oppose litigation against states exercising their sovereign authority to enact such laws. In addition, to guarantee that everyone's vote is counted, we urge that electronic voting systems have a voter-verified paper audit trail. We urge every state to join the Interstate Voter Registration Cross Check Program to keep voter rolls accurate and to prevent people from voting in more than one state in the same election. To guard against foreign involvement in our elections, we call for vigilance regarding online credit card contributions to candidates and campaigns.

SECURE OUR ELECTIONS, INCLUDING SAME DAY VOTING, VOTER IDENTIFICATION, PAPER BALLOTS, AND PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP

Democratic Socialists of America Statement on the September 11th Terrorists Attacks terrorist attacks that Nothing can justify the came from the skies on September 11th. Democratic Socialists of America condemns these brutal crimes. The victims of this tragedy require effective justice, not politically motivat- ed hyperbole. Few have been spared the agony of some per- sonal connection to the pain and anguish caused to those who have lost family or friends. Our hearts are with all who have lost loved ones and col- leagues. All of the perpetrators of these criminal acts must be brought before the bar of jus- tice. In the days and weeks ahead we will begin to learn the identities of those who perished, com- pounding the shock of the terrible images that we all saw time and time again on our television screens. Our television screens have also been filled with the pundits of the right pushing their agenda of increased military spending and diminished civil lib- erties. Progressives and progressive elected officials must demand that all proposals be based on proven need rather than emotional excess. Sadly, such excess has already result- ed in attacks against Americans of the Islamic and Sikh faiths. There can be no doubt that more effective anti-terrorist measures, including more effective intelligence gather- ing, better security measures, and policing of the skies, are necessary.

•Control Corporations by Expanding Democracy

DSA will endeavor to take advantage of the massive “socialist-baiting” campaign of the right to educate the American public as to the major role socialist-inspired reforms have played in building more equitable societies than our own in Northern Europe and elsewhere. II. DSA will engage in both education and action to rebuild a United States economy that serves the needs of working Americans and their families rather than the narrow interests of corporate elites. We will fight to defend people’s basic needs against the continued effects of the global economic meltdown and to restructure the U.S. economy in a demo- cratic direction. We will prepare for a range of struggles so as to be able to join nascent movements where and when we are most needed. Key to this defense are: 1. Building an anti-foreclosure fight-back. The anti-foreclosure movement should use whatever forms of protest that can protect citizens from being evicted ftom their homes and literally put onto the streets. DSA will join movements demand- ing a moratorium on foreclosures and the creation of a Federal Home Mortgage Administration that would refinance “underwater mortgages” at affordable rates and force banks to absorb more of the losses on their speculative mortgages. Short of affordable re-financing, distressed home-owners should have the right to stay in their homes and pay the holders of their mortgages an affordable, current-market-value rent. 2.

Eight hours for work, Eight hours for rest, and Eight hours for what we will. A truly participatory democracy requires that every citizen have adequate leisure time, in which to fully develop intellectually, culturally, politically and spiritually in the manner of their own choosing. A democracy’s strength is the thoughtful and full engagement of all of its citizens in the decision-making processes in their communities and at all levels of government. To reach our full potential, we must have adequate leisure time in which to think, learn and play. All the art that a society produces is only possible when people have enough time free from the demands of earning a living to freely express their creativity and ingenuity.

[PDF page 6] Vitalservicessuchashealthcare, childcare, education (from pre-K through higher education),shelterandtransportationwould be publicly provided to everyone on demand, free ofcharge. Further, in order to ensurethattheenjoymentoffullcitizenship was not tied to ups and downs in the labor market, everyone would also receive a universal basic income — that is, a base salary for every member of society, regardless of the person’s employment status. Finally, the work week would be gradually reduced and vacation time would be expanded to guarantee that everyone in society benefited from increasingly efficient technologies that decrease the overall amount of labor needed in the economy (andalso to ensurethatallwho wishto find employmentareabletodoso). Economic democracy would be complemented in the political sphere by a new system that combined an overhauled form of representative democracy (our current system) with direct democracy, a system in which individuals participate directly in the making ofpolitical decisions that affect them. In this system, the Senate (an extremely unrepresentative political body in which states with very small populations have the same level of representation as the most populous states) would be abolished, and a system of proportional representation would be establishedsothatCongressactuallyreflects the political will of the electorate. A democratic socialist government would also implement new referenda and recall mechanisms to hold elected officials accountable during their tenure in office, and a vast system of local participatory institutions would be set up to ensure individuals had a direct voice in political decision-making beyond the ballot box.

Guarantee the right to vote

[PDF page 9] UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE Extend full voting rights to people with criminal convictions and noncitizens and establish statehood for Washington D.C. A REPRESENTATIVE CONGRESS Replace the two-party system with a multi-party democracy through proportional representation elections. Expand the number of seats in the House of Representatives and end the Senate filibuster. POPULAR VOTE FOR PRESIDENT Replace the Electoral College with a national popular vote for President. WE FIGHT FOR... WORKING-CLASS DEMOCRACY REDUCE THE POWER OF THE SUPREME COURT Limit the Court’s power of judicial review which it uses to effectively create and abolish laws outside the legislative process. 16 WORKERS DESERVE MORE! WORKERS DESERVE MORE! 17

Today, America finds itself in the midst of prosperity, progress, and peace. We have arrived at this moment because of the hard work of the American people. This election will be about the big choices we have to make to secure prosperity that is broadly shared and progress that reaches all families in this new American century. In the year 2000, the Democratic Party stands ready to meet that challenge and to build on our achievements.

For all those who live under our flag, we support strong economic development and fair and equitable treatment under federal programs.

No country in the world has benefited more from the worldwide expansion of democracy than the United States. Democracies are our best trading partners, our most valuable allies, and the nations with which we share our deepest values. The United States must join with our democratic partners around the world to meet common security challenges and uphold our shared values whenever they are threatened by autocratic practices, coups, human rights abuses, or genocide.

As Americans, we are bound together by more than nationality or geography. We are bound by a shared set of ideals and values rooted in the notion that we are greater together; that our collective efforts produce something better than the sum of our individual actions; and that together, rather than divided, we can overcome the greatest challenges that come our way.

Donald Trump believes America is weak and an embarrassment. We believe America is unlike any other nation on earth. Our ingenuity is unparalleled, our military unrivaled, our economy the largest, most dynamic, and innovative, and our values an enduring source of strength and inspiration the world over. We are not a country that cowers behind walls. We lead with purpose. With American leadership, guided by our principles and in concert with our allies and partners, the coming years can be the most stable, secure, and prosperous time we and the world have ever known.

Democrats believe that American security and prosperity are enhanced when the United States leads in shaping the rules, forging the agreements, and steering the institutions that guide international relations. We believe the system of international institutions we built and led over the past seven decades has generated an enormous return on our investment. And in today's more competitive world, its renovation is a critical diplomatic priority. Unfortunately, President Trump has orchestrated an American retreat from global bodies that weakens our influence, cedes ground to our adversaries, and puts global peace and prosperity in jeopardy.

For too long, American foreign policy was conducted as if our domestic challenges were disconnected from global ones. President Biden understands that the two go hand-in-hand, and that leading abroad means being strong and resilient at home. He also knows that the United States is strongest when our partners are strong too. That's why he has met the challenges of his first term – including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the existential threat of climate change, and intense strategic competition with China – by leading coalitions of nations who share our values to stand together.

'The fearful build walls; the confident demolish them. I am confident in American workers, farmers, and producers, and I am confident that America's best is the best in the world."

We affirm America's role in leading the world toward greater freedom, opportunity, and prosperity. Our efforts to expand the reach of economic and political freedom are complemented by our work in fostering religious liberty. Republicans will continue to make the protection and promotion of religious freedom abroad a cardinal principle of our foreign policy. This reflects our national values and protects our national interests, and renders our actions in the world consistent with our ideals as a people. America is a working example of religious liberty, home to millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims, and people of many other faiths who live in harmony and contribute to our culture. In the President's words, "It is not an accident that freedom of religion is one of the central freedoms in our Bill of Rights. It is the first freedom of the human soul.… We must stand for that freedom in our country. We must speak for that freedom in the world." We applaud President Bush's record of accomplishment in broadening the realm of liberty and promoting prosperity and opportunity in the world, and we endorse his vision for the future.

From its founding, America has been an idea as much as a political or geographic entity. It has meant, for untold millions around the world, a set of ideals that speak to the highest aspirations of humanity. From its own beginning, the Republican Party has boldly asserted those ideals, as we now do again, to affirm the rights of the people under the rule of law.

History proves that the best way to promote peace and prevent costly wars is to ensure that we constantly renew America's economic strength. A healthy American economy is what underwrites and sustains American power. The current Administration is weakening America at home through anemic growth, high unemployment, and record-setting debt. We must therefore rebuild our economy and solve our fiscal crisis. In an American century, America will have the strongest economy and the strongest military in the world.

We stand in solidarity with those African countries now under assault by the forces of radical Islam: Boko Haram, al-Shabaab, and others like them. Their terror falls on both Muslims and Christians, on anyone who will not submit to their savage ideology. We urge governments throughout the continent to recognize this threat to their own people. We support closer cooperation in both military and economic matters with those on the front lines of civilization's battle against the forces of evil.

Our Nation's History is filled with the stories of brave men and women who gave everything they had to build America into the Greatest Nation in the History of the World. Generations of American Patriots have summoned the American Spirit of Strength, Determination, and Love of Country to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges. The American People have proven time and again that we can overcome any obstacle and any force pitted against us.

National Priori.ties Resolution Introduction We meer in Philadelphia at a rime of national crisis. The great economic expansion of the lase decade, an expan- sion that primarily benefired the well off. is over. The economic recession will incrc::ase already morally unacceptable levels of inequality by worsening the conditions of low-wage workers and threatening the living standards of the middle class. Americans have been subject co ter- rorist arcacl<s and are deeply concerned about the security of their fumilies and

crises that have wiped out much of the middle classes of Latin America and Southeast Asia. And while government expenditures for legitimate national defense needs may be necessary, U.S. military spending is today neither legitimate nor prudent. The United States today spends more on its armed forces than does the rest of the world— combined! And the cost of growing and maintaining an empire is contributing to the demise of social and economic democracy at home.

[PDF page 6] migrate in search of work. Anti-war work will emphasize not just the undemocratic nature of much of U.S. foreign policy, but especially the domestic impact of such massive economic resources being devoted to the military-industrial complex rather than social programs or job creation. II. Public Educational Initiatives for Economic Justice Unlike many other single-issue or activist progressive groups, DSA takes the struggle against “dominant ideology” (the conventional ways citizens are taught to view the world) as central to progressive political work. Americans must be organized to understand, for example, that not only wise governments and corporations, but also families, borrow prudently to finance investments that enhance long-term productivity. Only then can we break the stranglehold of a perverse neoliberal ideology that contends that the United States must continue to deregulate, privatize and de-unionize in order to grow (despite thirty years of such bankrupt policies being the primary cause of the Great Recession!). DSA already has a worthwhile track record in this area, as, if implemented, our 2007 Economic Justice Agenda and 2010 Social and Economic Bill of Rights would have both staved off the economic crisis and achieved a more just United States and global economy. But beyond developing these policy and educational resources, we need to train ourselves to deliver this analysis in an accessible fashion.

The United States is unique among advanced democratic nations by making caring for one’s loved ones primarily a private burden. Northern and Western European nations use policies that include high-quality public day care and preschool, as well as paid maternity and paternity leave. They have initiated child allowances to enable working families to better afford the costs of raising children, while, their health and social insurance systems enable a high proportion of the dependent elderly to afford dignified, professional, in-home care.

[PDF page 1] RESISTANCE RISING SOCIALIST STRATEGY IN THE AGE OF POLITICAL REVOLUTION A Summary of Democratic Socialists of America’s Strategy Document June 201 6 D S A I. Analysis of Current Challenges and Opportunities 2016 was a game changing year for leftists and progressives. We are finally re- emerging as a vital and powerful force after an extended period of stagnation and demoralization, and we face a political landscape more favorable than perhaps at any time since the 1960s. For roughly 30 years after the end of World War II, the United States and non-Communist Europe experienced solid economic growth, declining inequality, expanding social services and increasing working-class power, coupled with landmark advances toward racial, gender and sexual equality. In countries such as France and Sweden, labor and socialist movements even made significant (if fleeting) progress toward a democratic socialist transition. Though these gains were tainted in countries such as the

Support self-determination and full sovereignty for Hawai’i; Puerto Rico; Amerika Sāmoa (American Samoa); Guåhån (Guam); Northern Mariana Islands; Virgin Islands; and for all indigenous nations whose ancestral lands are within current US borders; as well as for the independence of all other overseas territories and dependencies controlled, occupied, or otherwise exploited by the USA.

[PDF page 15] END THE U.S. WAR MACHINE Defund the Department of War. End all foreign wars and close overseas military bases. Support and fully employ veterans. End immunity for U.S. war criminals and support the International Criminal Court’s mandate to prosecute war crimes. FREE PALESTINE Recognize the rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of return, the right to resist military occupation, and the right to self determination in a free Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital. End all military and economic aid to Israel. Prosecute U.S. and Israeli leaders responsible for the genocide in Gaza. END BLOCKADES, EMBARGOES, AND SANCTIONS People around the world deserve to live their lives without U.S. interference. End economic warfare against countries whose governments act independently of the United States, such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran. ABOLISH ICE End ICE detention and deportations and punish federal agents’ brutality. Legalize migration, grant amnesty for all immigrants regardless of status, provide a path to citizenship for all permanent residents, and end visa caps and quotas. 15 Workers Deserve More!

We must also continue to decentralize our government, to make it more flexible and responsive towards communities and individuals, and to turn its focus towards empowering Americans to take charge of their own lives.

And we will honor the values of a strong American community: widening the circle of equality, protecting the sanctity of freedom, and deepening our commitment to this country.

We will pursue policies to undermine extremism, recognizing that this contest is also between two competing ideas and visions of the future. A crucial debate is occurring within Islam. The vast majority of Muslims believe in a future of peace, tolerance, development, and democratization. A small minority embrace a rigid and violent intolerance of personal liberty and the world at large. To empower forces of moderation, America must live up to our values, respect civil liberties, reject torture, and lead by example. We will make every effort to export hope and opportunity–access to education, that opens minds to tolerance, not extremism; secure food and water supplies; and health care, trade, capital, and investment. We will provide steady support for political reformers, democratic institutions, and civil society that is necessary to uphold human rights and build respect for the rule of law.

We know that putting America back to work is Job One, and we are committed to ensuring that Americans do not face employment discrimination. We support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act because people should not be fired based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Democrats will protect our country. We will strengthen our homeland security, deal wisely and firmly with those who seek to imperil America or our partners, deter aggression, and promote peace. We will use all the tools of American power, especially diplomacy and development, to confront global threats and ensure war is the last resort.

Democrats believe that torture is immoral and ineffective. President Trump's fondness for torture and other war crimes only gives fodder to America's enemies. Democrats will immediately reaffirm the Obama-Biden Administration's ban on torture and commit to upholding American values at home and abroad. We will condemn the mistreatment of imprisoned individuals wherever it occurs, and we will hold to account those who perpetrate human rights abuses.

Original extracted wording: Commitment to commit to upholding American values at home and abroad.

Democrats won't let that happen. Generations of Americans have paid into these programs, with every paycheck of their lives. We'll never back down from our ironclad commitment to protecting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. We reject any effort to privatize Social Security or to cut any of the benefits that the American people have earned. Middle-class Americans pay 6.2 percent of their income to support Social Security, and the self-employed pay twice that. But people with multi-million dollar incomes pay a fraction of 1 percent. We'll strengthen the program and expand benefits by asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share. We also oppose any actions to cut Medicare benefits. We'll look to expand traditional Medicare coverage to include dental, vision, and hearing services, which are so key to health and quality of life, by making the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share.

We commit ourselves to tax reforms that will sustain our nation's prosperity and reflect its decency. We will reduce the burden on all Americans, especially those who struggle most.

"We are living in a time of great change – in our world, in our economy, in science and medicine. Yet some things endure – courage and compassion, reverence and integrity, respect for differences of faith and race. The values we try to live by never change. And they are instilled in us by fundamental institutions, such as families and schools and religious congregations. These institutions, these unseen pillars of civilization, must remain strong in America, and we will defend them. We must stand with our families to help them raise healthy, responsible children."

The other party wants more government control over people's lives and earnings; Republicans do not. The other party wants to continue pork barrel politics; we are disgusted by it, no matter who practices it. The other party wants to ignore fiscal problems while squandering billions on ineffective programs; we are determined to end that waste. The entrenched culture of official Washington — an intrusive tax-and-spend liberalism — remains a formidable foe, but we will confront and ultimately defeat it.

The institution of marriage is the foundation of civil society. Its success as an institution will determine our success as a nation. It has been proven by both experience and endless social science studies that traditional marriage is best for children. Children raised in intact married families are more likely to attend college, are physically and emotionally healthier, are less likely to use drugs or alcohol, engage in crime, or get pregnant outside of marriage. The success of marriage directly impacts the economic well-being of individuals. Furthermore, the future of marriage affects freedom. The lack of family formation not only leads to more government costs, but also to more government control over the lives of its citizens in all aspects. We recognize and honor the courageous efforts of those who bear the many burdens of parenting alone, even as we believe that marriage, the union of one man and one woman must be upheld as the national standard, a goal to stand for, encourage, and promote through laws governing marriage. We embrace the principle that all Americans should be treated with respect and dignity.

Founding Father and Constitution Framer James Wilson declared that in America, "the people are the masters of government," but that in other countries, "the government is master of the people." We pledge to make government work for the people, rather than the other way around. Much of what the federal government does can be improved, much should be replaced, and much needs to be done away with or returned to the states. It is long past time for just tinkering around the edges of a bloated and unresponsive bureaucratic state. Its poorly managed programs, some begun generations ago, are ill-suited to meet present needs and future requirements. Its credit card budgets impose massive indebtedness on every American today and on children yet unborn. The more it intrudes into every aspect of American life the more it alienates the citizens who work, pay taxes, and wonder what has happened to the country they love. We agree with Thomas Jefferson that "[t]he multiplication of public offices, increase of expense beyond income, growth and entailment of a public debt, are indications soliciting the employment of the pruning knife."

President Trump has made absolutely clear that he will not cut one penny from Medicare or Social Security. American Citizens work hard their whole lives, contributing to Social Security and Medicare. These programs are promises to our Seniors, ensuring they can live their golden years with dignity. Republicans will protect these vital programs and ensure Economic Stability. We will work with our Great Seniors, in order to allow them to be active and healthy. We commit to safeguarding the future for our Seniors and all American families.

[PDF page 4] Convention Directs Focus on Low-mtge Economy continued from page 3 our government's own covert oper- ations. The peace movement, as the ineffectiveness of the administra- tion's military tactics become appar- ent, can begin ro operate within mainstream American politics. We will participate, with ochers, in broad educational campaigns and protests consistent wich our values on the issues of terrorism and the response to ic. No discussion of inequality in our domestic economy or the wide- spread poverty in che developing world can avoid the globalization debate. DSA will continue to actively participate in social move- ments to democratize control of the global economy. Our tics to transnational movements of oppo- sition to corporate globalizarion and co socialist parties and left trade union confederations central to such struggles provides DSA with the ability to make a unique contri- bution to these campaigns. We wiU continue our opposition co those trade and investment agree- ments that structure che global econ- omy in the interests of global corpo-

DSA will endeavor to take advantage of the massive “socialist-baiting” campaign of the right to educate the American public as to the major role socialist-inspired reforms have played in building more equitable societies than our own in Northern Europe and elsewhere. II. DSA will engage in both education and action to rebuild a United States economy that serves the needs of working Americans and their families rather than the narrow interests of corporate elites. We will fight to defend people’s basic needs against the continued effects of the global economic meltdown and to restructure the U.S. economy in a demo- cratic direction. We will prepare for a range of struggles so as to be able to join nascent movements where and when we are most needed. Key to this defense are: 1. Building an anti-foreclosure fight-back. The anti-foreclosure movement should use whatever forms of protest that can protect citizens from being evicted ftom their homes and literally put onto the streets. DSA will join movements demand- ing a moratorium on foreclosures and the creation of a Federal Home Mortgage Administration that would refinance “underwater mortgages” at affordable rates and force banks to absorb more of the losses on their speculative mortgages. Short of affordable re-financing, distressed home-owners should have the right to stay in their homes and pay the holders of their mortgages an affordable, current-market-value rent. 2.

DSA welcomes and will work with broad national and local coalitions that are forming to fight cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; to preserve programs that benefit the working poor and most vulnerable; to promote greater investment in public education and healthcare and to raise revenues by taxing the rich and corporations. We also support Tavis Smiley’s and DSA National Honorary Chair Cornel West’s call for President Obama to convene a White House conference on poverty.

[PDF page 8] decades. We believe democratic socialismis theonlyhumaneanddemocraticalternative to capitalism, but considering our limited resourcesatpresentwemustthinkcarefully about how to translate our socialist ideals and values into a viable political strategy. Given the magnitude and scope of the challengesweface,aswellasthedemocratic and decentralized nature of our organization, there is no strategic silver bullet, orsingle, all-encompassingcampaign to which we can devote all of our organizational resources. Rather, our strategy — based on the preceding analysis ofcurrentpoliticalandeconomicconditions — consists of fighting on a number of interconnected fronts in the short-term, leveraginggainsmadeinthesestrugglesinto more structural, offensively-oriented changes inthe medium-termandultimately employing the strength of a mass socialist party or coalition of leftist and progressive parties to win political power and begin the processofsocialisttransformation. Inthe short-term, ourstrategyconsists of workingconcurrentlyonarange ofprojects that we detail below (the relative emphasis placed on each will be determined by local conditions). Regardless of the particular struggle(s) in which a given DSA chapter is engaged, however, in all cases we will focus on overcoming the historic bias of our organization toward white (particularly male) activists. We will do this by building deeper ties with organizations representing poor and working-class women and people of color, and by devoting significant organizational resources to educating our members aboutthe importance ofantiracist organizing and of cultivating welcoming, inclusiveDSAchapters.Belowisasummary of the most important struggles in which DSA will participate over the coming years (thislistisbynomeansexhaustiveofallthe activities undertaken by DSA chapters; details of additional lines of work can be foundinDSA’sstrategydocument).

Share the burden of preparing the world for inevitable climate change effects.

[PDF page 8] FREE PALESTINE An immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an end to military and economic aid, and weapons sales to Israel, respect of the authority of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, and national sovereignty for the Palestinian people. END THE U.S. WAR MACHINE Greatly reduce the U.S. military budget, close overseas bases, and bring troops home. WE FIGHT FOR... WORKING-CLASS FOREIGN POLICY NO MORE ECONOMIC WARFARE End economic sanctions that impact the sovereignty of countries whose governments act independently of the United States, such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran. FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT Allow workers to freely migrate between countries to seek employment without restrictive immigration controls. Demilitarize the border, end all immigrant detention and deportations, immediate amnesty for all immigrants regardless of current immigration status, and provide access to jobs, labor rights, and social services to all immigrants. 14 WORKERS DESERVE MORE! WORKERS DESERVE MORE! 15

Democrats support ambitious public and private investments in science, technology, and research. We are focused on creating good jobs in communities across America. Entrepreneurship and innovation are fundamental to our future economic growth—in the information technology (IT) industry as well as energy, manufacturing, transportation, health, retail, services, and countless other sectors. We will nurture the next generation of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs, especially women and people of color, to make sure America continues to out-compete and out-innovate the rest of the world with our bold innovation agenda.

The Democratic Party believes that when workers are strong, America is strong. Democrats will make it easier for workers, public and private, to exercise their right to organize and join unions. We will fight to pass laws that direct the National Labor Relations Board to certify a union if a simple majority of eligible workers sign valid authorization cards, as well as laws that bring companies to the negotiating table. We support binding arbitration to help workers who have voted to join a union reach a first contract.

Many Democrats, however, believe the government has a right to claim the money earned by working Americans. They fight any attempt to return the balance of power from Washington to individual families and businesses. Furthermore, the slim majority held by Republicans in the Senate and the rules of the Senate make it difficult to pass permanent tax relief. All of the tax relief provided over the last four years will be eliminated in the next six years if Congress does not take action to make the relief permanent. Our Party endorses the President's proposals to make tax relief permanent, so that families and businesses can plan for the future with confidence. Anything less will result in a significant tax increase on Americans. Making the tax cuts permanent is a crucial first step toward expanding ownership and ensuring that America turns economic growth into lasting prosperity. The only way to accomplish this goal is to elect a solid Republican majority to both houses of Congress. We look forward to a new Congress with larger Republican majorities working with President Bush to ensure that taxes do not go back up on American families.

Currently, the Democratic Party is inching towards alignment around the impeachment of President Donald Trump. Democrats holding power only responded to Trump’s actions because they attempted to impact others in the capitalist class, particularly Joe Biden, the presumed Democratic front-runner for 2020. Meanwhile, corporate-owned media outlets attempt to erase democratic socialists like Representative Rashida Tlaib, who has been calling to “impeach the motherf**ker” since the day she was elected. As socialists, it’s imperative that we weave together the complex dynamics between supporting the candidates we’ve elected, while articulating a positive vision for the world we’re building — and welcoming the hatred of the Establishment who would both take credit for our work and try to dilute it beyond recognition.

We also are committed to enhancing our alliance with the countries of Latin America. We must build on the work that we began when we hosted the first Summit of the Americas, and we must accelerate implementation of the Plan of Action that will promote hemispheric cooperation on a full spectrum of political, economic, security and social issues.

Latin America and the Caribbean. We believe that it is time to create a new Community of the Americas that reflects our close relationship with our regional neighbors. We will return U.S.-Latin American relations to a place marked by dialogue, consensus and concerted action to address common concerns. We understand that our collective security and prosperity are furthered by mutual efforts to promote democracy, generate wealth, reduce income disparities, and provide sound environmental stewardship. We are committed to strong and steady support for democratic processes and institutions in our hemisphere. We believe that democratic governments deserve our support, and that we should exercise our considerable diplomatic and moral force in support of democratically elected leaders. Mexico has made steady progress toward building a mature democracy, and we will make relations with Mexico a priority in order to best address economic, environmental and social issues of concern. We support effective and peaceful strategies to end the Castro regime as soon as possible and enable the Cuban people to take their rightful place in the democratic Community of the Americas. We will work with the international community to increase political and diplomatic pressure on the Castro regime to release all political prisoners, support civil society, promote the important work of Cuban dissidents, and begin a process of genuine political reform.

Deepen Ties with Emerging Powers

Transnational Crime. Transnational criminal networks also pose significant national security challenges. These networks continue to expand dramatically in size and scope, harming people worldwide, posing threats to stability, and subverting government institutions through corruption. Transnational criminal organizations have accumulated unprecedented wealth and power through the drug trade, arms smuggling, human trafficking, and other illicit activities, penetrating legitimate financial systems and destabilizing commercial markets. They extend their reach by forming alliances with terrorist organizations, government officials, and some state security services. That's why, in 2011, the Obama administration released a comprehensive Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime. We are committed to a multidimensional approach that safeguards citizens, breaks the financial strength of criminal and terrorist networks, disrupts illicit trafficking networks, fights government corruption, strengthens the rule of law, bolsters judicial systems, and improves transparency. We have responded to this threat through aggressive targeting of the illicit financial infrastructure supporting cross-border criminal activity. And we will continue to coordinate with other nations and build their capacity to combat these threats.

Democrats will protect our country. We will strengthen our homeland security, deal wisely and firmly with those who seek to imperil America or our partners, deter aggression, and promote peace. We will use all the tools of American power, especially diplomacy and development, to confront global threats and ensure war is the last resort.

Finally, Democrats will address the root causes of migration—violence and insecurity, poverty, pervasive corruption, lack of educational and economic opportunity, and the impacts of climate change. Disciplined American leadership and well-designed assistance programs can help prevent and mitigate the effects of migration crises around the world, from Southeast Asia to Sub-Saharan Africa to Central America. We will support a comprehensive strategy to strengthen security and prosperity in partnership with the people of Central America and the Caribbean and with the support of the international community. And we will renew American diplomacy as our tool of first resort, rebuild our partnerships and alliances, and once again lead the global humanitarian response.

Trust in democracy is critical to protecting democracy. Democrats will adopt ethics reforms to ensure every American can feel confident that their government is working for them, not for special interests. Democrats will enact legislation to apply similar standards to Members of Congress. Democrats will create a federal ethics commission to strengthen good governance laws, like those requiring financial and lobbying disclosure. Democrats will require all federal candidates to disclose at least 10 years of tax returns. To ensure tax dollars go to work for the American people, not for special interests, Democrats will reestablish merit-based federal contracting and ban political appointees from interfering in grantmaking. And to ensure that policy decisions are guided by what's best for the American people, not by special interests, Democrats will strengthen laws that regulate lobbying by foreign governments and lower the threshold for registering as a federal lobbyist.

Revitalize the World Trade Organization negotiations on agriculture and services.

Free trade must be fair trade that advances America's economic goals and protects American jobs. To achieve this goal, we must act globally, regionally, and bilaterally to negotiate new trade agreements and enforce existing trade commitments. We must be at the table when trade agreements are negotiated, make the interests of American workers and farmers paramount, and ensure that the drive to open new markets is successful. We reject moves toward economic isolationism. America is the best place in the world to do business, and our workers and products are the best in the world. On a level playing field we can outmatch any other nation. We applaud the President's actions to open foreign markets to American manufacturing products, agricultural goods, services, and intellectual property, while ensuring enforcement of trade agreements so that other nations live up to their promises.

The great promise of Africa has been dimmed by disease, hunger, and violence. Republicans have faced up to each of those challenges because, in addition to humanitarian concerns, the U.S. has important security interests in the stability and progress of African nations. The devastating toll of HIV/AIDS threatens to destabilize entire societies through large numbers of orphaned youths. In response, the U.S. has become the unrivaled leader in fighting the diseases that are the scourge of much of the continent. Republican-sponsored legislation has brought jobs and investment to sub-Saharan Africa. To continue that progress, we advocate continued expansion of trade with African nations.

We stand in solidarity with those African countries now under assault by the forces of radical Islam and urge other governments throughout the continent to recognize this threat to them as well. We support closer cooperation in both military and economic matters with those who are under attack by forces which seek our destruction.

International trade is crucial for all sectors of America's economy. Massive trade deficits are not. We envision a worldwide multilateral agreement among nations committed to the principles of open markets, what has been called a "Reagan Economic Zone," in which free trade will truly be fair trade for all concerned.

Republicans will continue forging an America First Trade Policy as set forth in Chapter 5, standing up to Countries that cheat and prioritizing American Producers over Foreign Outsourcers. We will bring our critical Supply Chains back home. President Trump turned American Trade Policy around, protecting U.S. Producers, and renegotiating failed agreements.

[PDF page 4] Convention Directs Focus on Low-mtge Economy continued from page 3 our government's own covert oper- ations. The peace movement, as the ineffectiveness of the administra- tion's military tactics become appar- ent, can begin ro operate within mainstream American politics. We will participate, with ochers, in broad educational campaigns and protests consistent wich our values on the issues of terrorism and the response to ic. No discussion of inequality in our domestic economy or the wide- spread poverty in che developing world can avoid the globalization debate. DSA will continue to actively participate in social move- ments to democratize control of the global economy. Our tics to transnational movements of oppo- sition to corporate globalizarion and co socialist parties and left trade union confederations central to such struggles provides DSA with the ability to make a unique contri- bution to these campaigns. We wiU continue our opposition co those trade and investment agree- ments that structure che global econ- omy in the interests of global corpo-

[PDF page 5] DSA groups to reach out to others who share our politics and those open to a radical analysis. Thus, this convention commits itself to: a. Increasing the amount of internal and public educa- tion done at all levels of the organization in regard to the relevance of democratic socialist vision, analysis, and pro- gram to contemporary politics and to popular democratic re- sistance movements at home and abroad. b. The NPC and staff working to develop a speakers’ bureau of DSA members who can speak at locals and YDS- sponsored public meetings, thus providing a socialist perspec- tive on key issues of the day. c. The NPC and national staff continuing efforts to im- prove Democratic Left, the website, e-mail announcements, and other forms of public communication. d. The NPC and staff organizing a working retreat of key DSA and YDS activists to address revitalizing a socialist political and intellectual center in the United States e. The NPC and staff using the organization’s interna- tional ties and other contacts to facilitate a dialogue between progressive elected officials in the United States and in other countries that would focus on policy alternatives to the “Wash- ington consensus.” f. The NPC and staff opposing neoliberalism and other forms of pro-corporate ideology and dominance within the Democratic Party and elsewhere.

DSA Statement on the Middle East continued from previous page As the preponderant military force in the region, Israel can best reinitiate the peace process. Israel could help restore its tarnished international image by taking up the Arab League’s 2002 initiative as a starting point for comprehen- sive peace negotiations. In 2002, the Arab League abandoned its long-stand- ing denial of the right of the state of Israel to exist and offered to recognize the state of Israel in return for the creation of a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with its capital in East Jerusalem. DSA recognizes that its primary political responsibility is to change a U.S. for- eign policy that continues to give a blank check to Israeli government policy by prolonging its policy of massive unconditional military aid to Israel. The Bush administration’s unyielding support for Israeli intransigence harmed the people of Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel itself. Thus, DSA will work, along with other pro-peace forces in the American Jewish, Arab, and broader progressive community, to pressure the Obama administration to adopt a bal- anced Middle-East approach. We support the Obama administration’s call for an end to expansion of settlements, and we urge pressure on Israel to freeze any settlement activity as a prelude to abandoning them in an effort to bring peace.

3. DSA locals and YDS chapters will be active in the struggles they identify, based upon unique local conditions, to be most helpful to defending democracy and building the popular movements needed to overcome neoliberal capitalist control of our country and world. We will partner with other organizations in issue coalitions whenever feasible to build these social movements that will constitute the next Left. The national office will continue to promote and help coordinate local/chapter involvement in the following issues at whatever capacity possible, given staff and national volunteer resources.

DSA will stand in solidarity with movements around the world fighting to raise global labor, environmental, and human rights standards in opposition to corporate“racetothebottom”policies.Such solidarity often will take the form of opposing our government’s own foreign policy, which supports undemocratic international institutions (including pro- corporate “free trade agreements”), and which backs, often through military intervention, authoritarian regimes that support U.S. government and economic interests. BuildingDSAandtheSocialistLeft DSA’s role in building progressive social movements is essential to our work; regardless of what we gain as an organization from this work, it is an end in itself. Additionally, through our coalition work and community organizing we learn invaluable organizing skills and discover countless ways to improve the workthatwe do. However, in order to be effective in this work, as well as to build broader-based, "Weneedtodramaticallyincreasetheranksof thesocialistmovementintheUnitedStates."independent socialist organizations that we hope will grow over time into a powerful political force, we need to dramatically increasetheranksofthesocialistmovement in the United States. While DSA has expanded significantly since 2010, there is stilltremendousroomforgrowth,especially inthe wake ofSanders’ PoliticalRevolution, which exposed countless young people to theideaofdemocraticsocialismforthefirst

Work cooperatively with other governments and through the United Nations to solve global problems.

[PDF page 8] FREE PALESTINE An immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an end to military and economic aid, and weapons sales to Israel, respect of the authority of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, and national sovereignty for the Palestinian people. END THE U.S. WAR MACHINE Greatly reduce the U.S. military budget, close overseas bases, and bring troops home. WE FIGHT FOR... WORKING-CLASS FOREIGN POLICY NO MORE ECONOMIC WARFARE End economic sanctions that impact the sovereignty of countries whose governments act independently of the United States, such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran. FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT Allow workers to freely migrate between countries to seek employment without restrictive immigration controls. Demilitarize the border, end all immigrant detention and deportations, immediate amnesty for all immigrants regardless of current immigration status, and provide access to jobs, labor rights, and social services to all immigrants. 14 WORKERS DESERVE MORE! WORKERS DESERVE MORE! 15

Good policing demands mutual trust and respect between the community and the police. We shouldn't let the acts of a few rogue officers undermine that trust or the reputation of the outstanding work of the vast majority of our dedicated men and women in blue. That is why we need to end the unjust practice of racial profiling in America - because it's not only unfair, it is inconsistent with America's community policing success, it is a violation of the basic American principle of innocent until proven guilty, it views Americans as members of groups instead of as individuals, and it is just plain shoddy policing. We believe that all law enforcement agencies in America should adopt a zero-tolerance policy toward racial profiling.

Crime and violence. While terrorism poses an especially menacing threat to our nation, a strong America must remain vigilant against the scourge of homegrown crime as well. We are proud that Democrats led the fight to put more than 100,000 cops on the beat through the COPS program, and we will continue our steadfast support for COPS and community policing. To keep our streets safe for our families, we support tough punishment of violent crime and smart efforts to reintegrate former prisoners into our communities as productive citizens. We will crack down on the gang violence and drug crime that devastate so many communities, and we will increase drug treatment, including mandatory drug courts and mandatory drug testing for parolees and probationers, so fewer crimes are committed in the first place. We support the rights of victims to be respected, to be heard, and to be compensated. We will help break the cycle of domestic violence by punishing offenders and standing with victims. We will protect Americans' Second Amendment right to own firearms, and we will keep guns out of the hands of criminals and terrorists by fighting gun crime, reauthorizing the assault weapons ban, and closing the gun show loophole, as President Bush proposed and failed to do.

We will end the dangerous cycle of violence, especially youth violence, with proven community-based law enforcement programs such as the Community Oriented Policing Services. We will reduce recidivism in our neighborhoods by supporting local prison-to-work programs. We will continue to fight inequalities in our criminal justice system. We believe that the death penalty must not be arbitrary. DNA testing should be used in all appropriate circumstances, defendants should have effective assistance of counsel. In all death row cases, and thorough post-conviction reviews should be available.

We will continue to fight inequalities in our criminal justice system. We believe that the death penalty must not be arbitrary. DNA testing should be used in all appropriate circumstances, defendants should have effective assistance of counsel, and the administration of justice should be fair and impartial. That's why we enacted the Fair Sentencing Act, reducing racial disparities in sentencing for drug crimes. That's why President Obama appointed two distinguished jurists to the Supreme Court: Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. Moving forward, we will continue to nominate and confirm judges who are men and women of unquestionable talent and character and will always demonstrate their faithfulness to our law and our Constitution and bring with them a sense of how American society works and how the American people live.

Democrats are committed to reforming our criminal justice system and ending mass incarceration. Something is profoundly wrong when almost a quarter of the world's prison population is in the United States, even though our country has less than five percent of the world's population. We will reform mandatory minimum sentences and close private prisons and detention centers. Research and evidence, rather than slogans and sound bites, must guide criminal justice policies.

Democrats are committed to ending discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, language, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability status. We will appoint U.S. Supreme Court justices and federal judges who look like America, are committed to the rule of law, will uphold individual civil rights and civil liberties as essential components of a free and democratic society, and will respect and enforce foundational precedents, including Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade . Democrats are committed to restoring the full power of the Voting Rights Act and ensuring every citizen can access the ballot box. We will enforce and strengthen the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and will end racial and religious profiling in law enforcement.

Democrats will take action to expunge federal marijuana-only convictions. We will combat drug trafficking and expand the use of drug courts, interventions, and diversion for people with substance use disorders. We will fund a new Accelerating Justice System Reform grant program to provide jurisdictions with critical resources to foster community trust and safety, reduce inequity and justice system involvement, and alleviate burdens on police. We will expand access to public defenders and step up civil rights enforcement, including by boosting funding for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and hiring 50 new Assistant U.S. Attorneys. And, we will remove barriers to legal access, combat hate crimes, and counter cyber threats. To keep children and teens safe and out of the justice system, we will invest in after-school programs, community centers, and summer jobs. And, to ensure young people get a second chance after leaving the justice system, we will automatically seal and expunge juvenile records.

We defend the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, and we affirm the individual responsibility to safely use and store firearms. Because self-defense is a basic human right, we will promote training in their safe usage, especially in federal programs for women and the elderly. A Republican administration will vigorously enforce current gun laws, neglected by the Democrats, especially by prosecuting dangerous offenders identified as felons in instant background checks. Although we support background checks to ensure that guns do not fall into the hands of criminals, we oppose federal licensing of law-abiding gun owners and national gun registration as a violation of the Second Amendment and an invasion of privacy of honest citizens. Through programs like Project Exile, we will hold criminals individually accountable for their actions by strong enforcement of federal and state firearm laws, especially when guns are used in violent or drug-related crimes. With a special emphasis upon school safety, we propose the crackdown on youth violence explained elsewhere in this platform.

To continue this progress, we must ensure that jail time is used as an effective deterrent to drug use and support the continued funding of grants to assist schools in drug testing. At the same time, we should make drug treatment available to people willing to take the courageous step of admitting they have a problem and working hard to overcome it. The President's Access to Recovery (ATR) program is giving individuals seeking drug treatment expanded access to effective providers through a new voucher program.

In solidarity with those who protect us, we call for mandatory prison time for all assaults involving bodily injury to law enforcement officers. Reviews of death sentences imposed for murdering a police officer should be expedited, and a retrial of the penalty phase of the killer's trial should be allowed in the absence of a unanimous verdict. We support the right of off-duty and retired officers to carry firearms. Criminals should be barred from seeking monetary damages for injuries they incur while committing a crime.

Liberals do not understand this simple axiom: criminals behind bars cannot harm the general public. To that end, we support mandatory prison sentencing for gang crimes, violent or sexual offenses against children, repeat drug dealers, rape, robbery and murder. We support a national registry for convicted child murderers. We oppose parole for dangerous or repeat felons. Courts should have the option of imposing the death penalty in capital murder cases.

We applaud the Republican Governors and legislators who have been implementing criminal justice reforms like those proposed by our 2012 platform. Along with diversion of first-time, nonviolent offenders to community sentencing, accountability courts, drug courts, veterans treatment courts, and guidance by faith-based institutions with proven track records of rehabilitation, our platform emphasized restorative justice to make the victim whole and put the offender on the right path. As variants of these reforms are undertaken in many states, we urge the Congress to learn from what works. In the past, judicial discretion about sentences led to serious mistakes concerning dangerous criminals. Mandatory minimum sentencing became an important tool for keeping them off the streets. Modifications to it should be targeted toward particular categories, especially nonviolent offenders and persons with drug, alcohol, or mental health issues, and should require disclosure by the courts of any judicial departure from the state's sentencing requirements.

STOP THE MIGRANT CRIME EPIDEMIC, DEMOLISH THE FOREIGN DRUG CARTELS, CRUSH GANG VIOLENCE, AND LOCK UP VIOLENT OFFENDERS

Democratic Socialists of America Statement on the September 11th Terrorists Attacks terrorist attacks that Nothing can justify the came from the skies on September 11th. Democratic Socialists of America condemns these brutal crimes. The victims of this tragedy require effective justice, not politically motivat- ed hyperbole. Few have been spared the agony of some per- sonal connection to the pain and anguish caused to those who have lost family or friends. Our hearts are with all who have lost loved ones and col- leagues. All of the perpetrators of these criminal acts must be brought before the bar of jus- tice. In the days and weeks ahead we will begin to learn the identities of those who perished, com- pounding the shock of the terrible images that we all saw time and time again on our television screens. Our television screens have also been filled with the pundits of the right pushing their agenda of increased military spending and diminished civil lib- erties. Progressives and progressive elected officials must demand that all proposals be based on proven need rather than emotional excess. Sadly, such excess has already result- ed in attacks against Americans of the Islamic and Sikh faiths. There can be no doubt that more effective anti-terrorist measures, including more effective intelligence gather- ing, better security measures, and policing of the skies, are necessary.

DSA supports a special, independent commission to in- vestigate the Katrina disaster as well as the long-term neglect of investment in public infrastructure that makes all of us vul- nerable to further “acts of nature.” We demand that poor people’s organizations such as ACORN be involved in plan- ning the rebuild from its earliest stages. We call on the Attor- ney Generals of the relevant states to appoint special pros- ecutors to investigate those public officials and private insti- tutions that recklessly disregarded the poor and frail. We de- mand vast increases in legal service budgets so that low-in- come people can protect themselves from predatory develop- ers. We call on Congress to implement a need-based system for rationing heating oil, and other petroleum products if nec- essary, to counter the rationing created by price-gouging specu- lative “market forces.” Democratic socialists understand that we live in a soci- ety driven by the priorities of large corporations. Such corpo- rations are “retooling” the economy and the wage structure to inflate profits and drive down living standards. At the center of this “race-to-the-bottom” economic strategy is the elimi- nation of unions and other institutions that allow ordinary people to fight back and to contest for a government that will act on their behalf. The forces of reaction also deliberately use racially coded language and symbols to maintain institu- tionalized racism and to divide a potential multi-racial coali- tion against corporate power.

DSA will endeavor to take advantage of the massive “socialist-baiting” campaign of the right to educate the American public as to the major role socialist-inspired reforms have played in building more equitable societies than our own in Northern Europe and elsewhere. II. DSA will engage in both education and action to rebuild a United States economy that serves the needs of working Americans and their families rather than the narrow interests of corporate elites. We will fight to defend people’s basic needs against the continued effects of the global economic meltdown and to restructure the U.S. economy in a demo- cratic direction. We will prepare for a range of struggles so as to be able to join nascent movements where and when we are most needed. Key to this defense are: 1. Building an anti-foreclosure fight-back. The anti-foreclosure movement should use whatever forms of protest that can protect citizens from being evicted ftom their homes and literally put onto the streets. DSA will join movements demand- ing a moratorium on foreclosures and the creation of a Federal Home Mortgage Administration that would refinance “underwater mortgages” at affordable rates and force banks to absorb more of the losses on their speculative mortgages. Short of affordable re-financing, distressed home-owners should have the right to stay in their homes and pay the holders of their mortgages an affordable, current-market-value rent. 2.

The goal of the 1949 Housing Act was “a decent home and a suitable home environment for every American family.” However,even before the financial meltdown and the resulting tidal wave of foreclosures, FDR’s depiction of a nation one-third ill-housed, remained accurate. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, one in three households, split equally between home owners and renters, confront the problem of housing affordability. In addition, as many as 3.5 million people face homeless for varying periods of time in any given year and another 1 million are chronically homeless, some suffering from mental illness or addiction. Ordinances criminalizing loitering, sleeping and panhandling behavior are enacted by cities to keep the homeless out of public view.

[PDF page 7] universal daycare, eldercare and paid family leave. In the legal sphere, all citizens would have equal rights, in contrast to the current reality in which millions of citizens (in the District ofColumbia, Puerto Rico, overseas territories and Native American tribes) do not have the ability to elect their own congressional representatives. In the legal system, the racialized system of unequal justice that currently exists would be replaced by a system that featured citizen reviewboards(vestedwithrealauthority) of both the police and court systems. The disgraceful use of prisons to regulate behavior (which disproportionately affects communities of color and the poor) would be replaced with a system that decriminalized a wide range of offenses (particularly nonviolent drug-related offenses) and combined full services to victims with restorative justice, mental health care and various forms ofcounseling tohelppeoplefindproductivewaystomove forward after committing serious crimes. Finally, racial/ethnic and sex/gender-based oppressions maywell continue in a socialist society. Hence a wide range ofprograms to dismantle the privileges associated with whiteness, maleness and heteronormativity would have to be developed, and anti- discriminationpoliciesintheworkplaceand in social organizations would have to be intensified. Beyondaddressingthelegaciesofgender, racial, sexualandotherformsofoppression, democratic socialism would bring about a cultural renaissance in which a vastarrayof new artistic practices and lifestyles would flourish.

End mandatory arrest and failure to protect laws that lead to the criminalization of survivors of gendered violence; grant clemency to criminalized survivors

[PDF page 6] MEDICARE FOR ALL Universal healthcare with no premiums, co-pays, or deductibles. Guarantees for reproductive and gender-affirming care. END THE WAR ON DRUGS Treat drug addiction as a health issue, not a criminal one. FIGHT MASS INCARCERATION AND POLICE BRUTALITY Abolish mandatory minimums and cash bail, and demilitarize police departments. COLLEGE FOR ALL Make all public higher education tuition-free with no out-of-pocket cost for room and board and cancel all student loan debt. WE FIGHT FOR... THRIVING WORKING CLASS COMMUNITIES HOUSING FOR ALL Establish universal rent-control and the guaranteed right to counsel for all tenants. Public investment in building quality multi-income social housing. SUPPORT WORKING FAMILIES Expansive paid family leave for all workers, and free public universal childcare and pre-K. 10 WORKERS DESERVE MORE! WORKERS DESERVE MORE! 11

The Bush tax slash takes a different course. It is bigger than any cut Newt Gingrich ever dreamed of. It would let the richest one percent of Americans afford a new sports car and middle class Americans afford a warm soda. It is so out-of-step with reality that the Republican Congress refused to enact it. It would undermine the American economy and undercut our prosperity. Under the leadership of Al Gore, Democrats want to give middle class families tax cuts they can use - tax cuts that will put their own values into action and that will not injure the economic vitality they rely on. Democrats seek the right kind of tax relief - tax cuts that are specifically targeted to help those who need them the most. These tax cuts would let families live their values by helping them save for college, invest in their job skills and lifelong learning, pay for health insurance, afford child care, eliminate the marriage penalty for working families, care for elderly or disabled loved ones, invest in clean cars and clean homes, and build additional security for their retirement.

We will fight for American jobs and we will fight for American workers. Under John Kerry and John Edwards, we will revive America's manufacturing sector, create new jobs and protect existing ones by ending tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas and cutting taxes for companies that create jobs here at home; by fighting for free, fair and balanced trade; by encouraging investment in small businesses and helping companies deal with rising health care costs; by promoting new technologies, like energy, that will lead to the companies and jobs of tomorrow; and by ensuring that people of every age learn the skills to succeed in today's economy.

We must reform our tax code. It's thousands of pages long, a monstrosity that high-priced lobbyists have rigged with page after page of special interest loopholes and tax shelters. We will shut down the corporate loopholes and tax havens and use the money so that we can provide an immediate middle-class tax cut that will offer relief to workers and their families. We'll eliminate federal income taxes for millions of retirees, because all seniors deserve to live out their lives with dignity and respect. We will not increase taxes on any family earning under $250,000 and we will offer additional tax cuts for middle class families. For families making more than $250,000, we'll ask them to give back a portion of the Bush tax cuts to invest in health care and other key priorities. We will end the penalty within the current Social Security system for public service that exists in several states. We will expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, and dramatically simplify tax filings so that millions of Americans can do their taxes in less than five minutes.

In order to reduce the deficit while still making the investments we need in education, research, infrastructure, and clean energy, the President has asked for the wealthiest taxpayers to pay their fair share. We have to cut what we don't need in order to make room for the things we do need to grow our economy. We support allowing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest to expire and closing loopholes and deductions for the largest corporations and the highest-earning taxpayers. We are committed to reforming our tax code so that it is fairer and simpler, creating a tax code that lives up to the Buffett Rule so no millionaire pays a smaller share of his or her income in taxes than middle class families do. We are also committed to reforming the corporate tax code to lower tax rates for companies in the United States, with additional relief for those locating manufacturing and research and development on our shores, while closing loopholes and reducing incentives for corporations to shift jobs overseas.

We will offer tax relief to hard working, middle-class families for the cost squeeze they have faced for years from rising health care, childcare, education, and other expenses. Donald Trump and the Republican Party would do the opposite and provide trillions in tax cuts for millionaires, billionaires, and corporations at the expense of working families, seniors, and the health of our economy.

Democrats will take action to reverse the Trump Administration's tax cuts benefiting the wealthiest Americans and rewarding corporations for shipping American jobs overseas. We will crack down on overseas tax havens and close loopholes that are exploited by the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations. We will make sure the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes. We will make sure investors pay the same tax rates as workers and bring an end to expensive and unproductive tax loopholes, including the carried interest loophole. Corporate tax rates, which were cut sharply by the 2017 Republican tax cut, must be raised, and "trickle-down" tax cuts must be rejected. Estate taxes should also be raised back to the historical norm.

Democrats will protect everyone earning less than $400,000 a year from any tax increase; and we will fight to protect and expand other tax benefits for working people and families with children.

Reward work with tax reform that takes 6 million families off the tax rolls, cuts the rate for those who remain on the rolls, and doubles the child tax credit to $1,000.

We know what brought us this success – the hard work of the American people and the Republican commitment to low taxes. Now we must keep our economy on the right path by preventing taxes on families from going up next year, making the tax relief of the last four years permanent, and reforming the tax code to make it simpler, fairer, and more growth-oriented.

We support a tax code that encourages personal savings. High tax rates discourage thrift by penalizing the return on savings and should be replaced with incentives to save. We support a plan to encourage employers to offer automatic enrollment in tax-deferred savings programs. The current limits on tax-free savings accounts should be removed.

Eliminate the taxes on interest, dividends, and capital gains altogether for lower and middle-income taxpayers;

Our proposal is straightforward. Wherever tax rates penalize thrift or discourage investment, they must be lowered. Wherever current provisions of the code are disincentives for economic growth, they must be changed. We will not divide the American people into winners and losers. We will eliminate as many special interest provisions and loopholes as possible and curb corporate welfare, especially where their erosion of the tax base has created pressure for higher rates. We will be mindful of the burdens on families with children and the impact on an aging population. We will seek simplicity and clarity so that every taxpayer can understand how much of their income is consumed by the federal government.

LARGE TAX CUTS FOR WORKERS, AND NO TAX ON TIPS!

[PDF page 13] that protected the region from flooding. Any sane rebuilding of the Gulf region must follow the principles of sustainable development—even when such principles run up against the capitalist values of privatization and profit maximization. Since the election of Ronald Reagan, the work of the g o v e r n i n g Right has been to cut taxes, shrink government services, and starve income support pro- grams. It’s been a bi-par- tisan policy, where Demo- crats offered a version of conservatism- lite promoting neo-liberal policies of “re-inventing government,” making it smaller but less effective. Both sides, though the Right has been more blatant, have used racist stereotyping to demonize the poor and thus erode public support for the social safety net. After a generation of choosing between neo-conservatism and New Democrats, the public is left with a government incapable of responding to a crisis that even Republican voters say requires a governmental response. Because there is less financial profit in building public levees, restoring marshland, constructing affordable housing, or providing meaningful job training for the unemployed, it takes a democratic government using funds collected via progressive taxation to create such public goods.

In the spirit of solidarity, we encourage the movement to demand: • A public jobs program • The nationalization of failed banks • Medicare for all • The forgiveness of student debt • An end to foreclosures • Substantial investment in clean energy • A fair & progressive, income & corporate tax structure • A tax on all speculative financial transactions We can fund these vital public policies if we reverse the Bush and Reagan tax cuts for the top two per cent, restore effective corporate taxation, and end wasteful military spending. And we can only reverse the decline in working people's standard of living if we restore the democratic right of working people to unionize. This is the crossroads of our age. Before us lie two divergent paths. One leads to further domination of capital and the descent of our society into a world of “have-nots” dominated by a handful of “have-lots,” a world where the government values bombs over books, where the poor pay more taxes than the rich, where environmental destruction continues to accelerate, and where racist, patriarchal and homophobic structures grow stronger. The other path leads towards greater freedom and democracy, guided by the vision of a democratic society. We must refuse to continue down the established road of increasing injustice and instead choose the difficult trek towards liberation. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

United States budget deficits are the result of public-policy decisions. They were created by three decades of tax cuts for the rich and corporations, an inefficient and expensive health care system and out- of-control military spending. If we restored taxes on corporations and the rich to 1960s levels, eliminated waste, fraud and boondoggle weapons contracts in defense spending and eliminated private profit in health care, we could recreate the economy and society that existed between 1947 and 1973 when marginal tax rates on the wealthy and excess profits taxes on corporations ranged between 50 percent and 90 percent. During this period workers benefited from union density of 35 percent at its peak, an opportunity to enjoy middle-class standards of consumption, and income in- equality reached its lowest point in U.S. history. Progressive personal and corporate income tax rates would fund a robust public education system, childcare, pa- rental leave and universal health care. Moreover, a simple and just reform in the financing of Social Security — removing the cap on income subject to the Social Security tax — would secure benefits for projected recipients into the foreseeable future.

[PDF page 2] UnitedStatesbytheracializedandgendered manner inwhichtheyweredistributed,this period represents the high-water mark of working-class strength and security in the 20thcentury. TheRiseofNeoliberalism Starting in the 1970s, however, in a movement that would become known as neoliberalism, economic elites in these countries began mobilizing politically to lowertaxesfor therichandcorporations,to eviscerate democratic decision-makingboth intheworkplaceaswellasattheballotbox, toslashspendingonessentialsocialservices such as education and social security, to deregulate industries across the economy and to open up flows of capital across national borders. These “reforms” enabled corporations to evade virtually all forms of accountability either to the workers they employed or to the communities in which they operated. In the United States neoliberalism was aided by racialized attacks on social service provision in which African American and Latino recipients of welfare and other anti-poverty programs were portrayed as an “undeserving poor” whose lifestyle was being subsidized by (white) taxpayers (even though whites constituted the largest group of welfare beneficiaries). The success of neoliberalism across the United States and Europe differed based upon the relative strength or weakness of left-wingpoliticalpartiesandtradeunions– leaving working people in traditional bastions of social democracy such as Sweden relatively better off than working people in countries such the United States where trade unions and the Left have been weakhistorically. Butbythe early2000s the historicgainsmadeacrossthesecountriesin the post-World War Two period had been rolled back dramatically.

Taxation: Reduce and eliminate regressive sales and excise taxes that punish the working class; increase tax rates on upper income earners, institute wealth taxes, increase estate taxes, and tax financial transactions, capital gains, luxury purchases, and domestic and global corporations

[PDF page 7] 32-HOUR WORK WEEK A 32-hour work week with no reduction in pay or benefits. UNION POWER Protect all workers’ rights to strike and form a union, make it easier for workers to join unions, and invest in the National Labor Relations Board. TAX THE RICH Raise taxes on the richest earners, for-profit corporations, large inheritances, and private colleges and universities. Establish a wealth tax for the wealthiest in society. WE FIGHT FOR... AN ECONOMY FOR THE WORKING CLASS GREEN NEW DEAL Massive public investment to transition away from fossil fuels toward a green and sustainable economy. Guaranteed support for workers in the fossil fuel industry, massive infrastructure and jobs programs, and public ownership over major transportation and energy infrastructure and natural resources. 12 WORKERS DESERVE MORE! WORKERS DESERVE MORE! 13

We must also remember that our schools are not just training the next generation of workers, they are also educating the next generation of citizens. That's why Democrats support democracy education, civic education, and service requirements in our schools.

We believe in an America where every child comes to school ready to learn. Where every student is held to high standards, and every school has the resources and responsibility to meet those standards. Where every classroom has a great teacher, and every student gets enough personal attention to foster a talent or overcome a difficulty. We believe in an America where every teenager completes a rigorous high school curriculum. Where every qualified young person who wants to go to college can afford it. And where every adult who needs additional job training can get it.

But it is no good to be able to ride the bus when you can't afford the bus fare. We will work to provide real opportunities for all Americans suffering from disadvantage; we will pioneer new policies and remedies against poverty and violence that address real human needs and we will close the achievement gap in education and provide every child a world-class education. We support affirmative action, including in federal contracting and higher education, to make sure that those locked out of the doors of opportunity will be able to walk through those doors in the future. As the late Ann Richards said, "We offer a vision where opportunity knows no race, no gender, no color, a glimpse of what can happen in government if we simply open the doors let the people in."

But there is still more work to do. Democrats believe that we must raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation. We will continue to fight for equal pay for equal work, a strong labor movement, and access to a world-class education for every child. We will help lift people with disabilities out of poverty. We understand that poverty disproportionately affects communities of color and we are committed to working with those most affected by poverty. We will continue the improvements in refundable tax credits for low-income families to encourage work and education while lifting families out of poverty. To enhance access and equity in employment, education, and business opportunities, we encourage initiatives to remove barriers to equal opportunity that still exist in America. We will expand the Promise Neighborhoods Program to prepare more students for college.

Democrats believe all students should be taught to high academic standards. Schools should have adequate resources to provide programs and support to help meet the needs of every child. We will hold schools, districts, communities, and states accountable for raising achievement levels for all students—particularly low-income students, students of color, English Language Learners, and students with disabilities.

Democrats believe it is unacceptable that schools are more segregated today than they were in the late 1960s. We believe education is a critical public good, and will increase investments to guarantee all students can access high-quality public schools, no matter where they live, so students of color are well prepared to thrive in college and careers. We will break the school-to-prison pipeline that sees children of color disproportionately punished by the criminal justice system for disciplinary issues that should be handled by school administrators or counselors.

The Administration supports a multitude of approaches that have been proven to help students learn: reducing chronic absenteeism by building social and emotional supports at schools, offering literacy programs, and setting high expectations for student attendance; providing intensive tutoring; extending the school day and school year; expanding community schools; and helping schools to lift student achievement, rather than punishing them based on state standardized tests. We support fully funding IDEA to prioritize students with disabilities and the special educator workforce. We support efforts to provide more timely, well-rounded, actionable feedback on student learning and progress to educators and to families that will support instruction and student success, while upholding rigorous academic standards. We oppose the use of private-school vouchers, tuition tax credits, opportunity scholarships, and other schemes that divert taxpayer-funded resources away from public education. Public tax dollars should never be used to discriminate. And we'll continue working to increase accountability at charters, holding them to the same transparency standards as public schools. We'll prioritize education in cutting-edge STEAM fields as well, especially for students from underrepresented communities, preparing every child to compete and thrive. And we're working to provide every student with a pathway to multilingual education, while ensuring equitable access to a high-quality education for English learners, who've historically been underserved.

Assist states in closing the achievement gap and empower needy families to escape persistently failing schools by allowing federal dollars to follow their children to the school of their choice.

As stated earlier, we applaud efforts to promote school choice initiatives that give parents more control over their children's education. By the same token, we defend the option for home schooling and call for vigilant enforcement of laws designed to protect family rights and privacy in education. Children should not be compelled to answer offensive or intrusive questionnaires. We will continue to work for the return of voluntary school prayer to our schools and will strongly enforce the Republican legislation that guarantees equal access to school facilities by student religious groups. We strongly support voluntary student-initiated prayer in school without governmental interference. We strongly disagree with the Supreme Court's rulings against student-initiated prayer.

We advocate policies and methods that are proven and effective: building on the basics, especially phonics; ending social promotion; merit pay for good teachers; classroom discipline; parental involvement; and strong leadership by principals. We reject a one-size-fits-all approach and support parental options, including home schooling, and local innovations such as schools or classes for boys only or for girls only and alternative and innovative school schedules. We recognize and appreciate the importance of innovative education environments, particularly homeschooling, for stimulating academic achievement. We oppose over-reaching judicial decisions which deny children access to such environments. We support state efforts to build coordination between elementary and secondary education and higher education such as K-16 councils and dual credit programs.

The Republican Party is the party of fresh and innovative ideas in education. We support options for learning, including home schooling and local innovations like single-sex classes, full-day school hours, and year-round schools. School choice—whether through charter schools, open enrollment requests, college lab schools, virtual schools, career and technical education programs, vouchers, or tax credits—is important for all children, especially for families with children trapped in failing schools. Getting those youngsters into decent learning environments and helping them to realize their full potential is the greatest civil rights challenge of our time. We support the promotion of local career and technical educational programs and entrepreneurial programs that have been supported by leaders in industry and will retrain and retool the American workforce, which is the best in the world. A young person's ability to achieve in school must be based on his or her God-given talent and motivation, not an address, zip code, or economic status.

We support options for learning, including home-schooling, career and technical education, private or parochial schools, magnet schools, charter schools, online learning, and early-college high schools. We especially support the innovative financing mechanisms that make options available to all children: education savings accounts (ESAs), vouchers, and tuition tax credits. Empowering families to access the learning environments that will best help their children to realize their full potential is one of the greatest civil rights challenges of our time. A young person's ability to succeed in school must be based on his or her God-given talent and motivation, not an address, ZIP code, or economic status. We propose that the bulk of federal money through Title I for low-income children and through IDEA for children with special needs should follow the child to whatever school the family thinks will work best for them.

Republicans will support overhauling standards on school discipline, advocate for immediate suspension of violent students, and support hardening schools to help keep violence away from our places of learning.

3. Public Socialist Education A staple of viable DSA locals and campus chapters has been visible, well-publicized socialist education. Socialists understand that ideological struggle is political work, and that socialist agitation and education must focus on the health and perspectives of movements opposing corporate domination as well as “imagining” socialism and sketching what a better world would look like. Over the past few years, however, particularly on cam- pus and areas where DSA has numerous members but weak (or no-longer existing) locals, the organization has engaged in little public educational work. This work remains impera- tive as, given the weakness of liberalism, the critique of indi- vidualist marketplace ideology and the defense of social soli- darity and public provision is only coherently done by social- ists. There remains a popular audience open to a critique of the stifling center-right consensus that dominates American politics. Such work provides a viable way for even small

[PDF page 5] We will also support national health care reform that contains a meaningful public option and state single-payer opt-out clause. Short of single payer, only by establishing a public insurer that can compete against wasteful private insurers can health care costs be contained against the pressures of private interests to inflate the cost of health care. DSA locals will actively participate in coalitions fighting for the creation of state-level single-payer health insurance systems. • DSA will work with other progressive organizations to achieve real regulation of banks and the shadow banking system. We favor a financial regulatory system with teeth, one that: restores the Glass-Steagall Act’s separation of invest- ment and commercial banks; and prioritizes investment in productive capital and commercial banks lending at affordable rates to consumers and small business. • DSA will join young people in demanding that higher education, in the long run, be a universal, public good financed through general taxation. In the short run, we will fight for a reversal of cuts in state funding for public higher education. We will join forces with those fighting for a radical expansion in public funding of higher education and for a major increase in federal and state grants to university students.

Everyone has a right to free, high quality public education

Free public higher education would mean taking what should be a universal public good out of the marketplace, putting it under democratic control and guaranteeing it as a right to all citizens — and funding it by a truly progressive tax system that makes the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share of government revenue. Beyond its inherent benefits, such a campaign would also show people that socialist policies are both desirable and achievable. Gaining free public higher education could serve as a crucial step in making democratic socialist politics more attractive to a wider cross-section of the U.S. public. Electoral Organizing Achieving our goals will require grassroots organizing and “street heat,” but it will also require a critical mass of political office holders to implement them. Although elections in and of themselves will not bring about major political, economic or social reforms — let alone establish a pathway to socialism — it is difficult to imagine how we could achieve any of our objectives in the United States without taking part in the electoral process.

Ensure free and democratic public college and, where viable, free private college for all students and democratize and fund instruction inclusive of all students while minimizing testing at all levels of education

[PDF page 6] MEDICARE FOR ALL Universal healthcare with no premiums, co-pays, or deductibles. Guarantees for reproductive and gender-affirming care. END THE WAR ON DRUGS Treat drug addiction as a health issue, not a criminal one. FIGHT MASS INCARCERATION AND POLICE BRUTALITY Abolish mandatory minimums and cash bail, and demilitarize police departments. COLLEGE FOR ALL Make all public higher education tuition-free with no out-of-pocket cost for room and board and cancel all student loan debt. WE FIGHT FOR... THRIVING WORKING CLASS COMMUNITIES HOUSING FOR ALL Establish universal rent-control and the guaranteed right to counsel for all tenants. Public investment in building quality multi-income social housing. SUPPORT WORKING FAMILIES Expansive paid family leave for all workers, and free public universal childcare and pre-K. 10 WORKERS DESERVE MORE! WORKERS DESERVE MORE! 11

Our goal is to make abortion less necessary and more rare, not more difficult and more dangerous. We support contraceptive research, family planning, comprehensive family life education, and policies that support healthy childbearing. The abortion rate is dropping. Now we must continue to support efforts to reduce unintended pregnancies, and we call on all Americans to take personal responsibility to meet this important goal.

We will defend the dignity of all Americans against those who would undermine it. Because we believe in the privacy and equality of women, we stand proudly for a woman's right to choose, consistent with Roe v. Wade, and regardless of her ability to pay. We stand firmly against Republican efforts to undermine that right. At the same time, we strongly support family planning and adoption incentives. Abortion should be safe, legal, and rare.

The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.

Women. President Obama - the son of a single mother and the father of two daughters - understands that women aren't a special interest group. They are more than half of this country, and issues that affect women also affect families. That is why the first bill he signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which helps women fight back when they are paid less than men, and why we continue to fight to overcome Republican opposition and pass the Paycheck Fairness Act to help stop gender discrimination in pay before it starts. And that is why the Justice Department and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, led by President Obama's appointees, have investigated and prosecuted numerous violations of the nation's civil rights laws, and obtained more than $140 million in relief for victims of gender discrimination. We Democrats will continue to support efforts to ensure that workers can combat gender discrimination in the workplace and to protect women against pregnancy discrimination. And that's why we support passing the Healthy Families Act, broadening the Family and Medical Leave Act, and partnering with states to move toward paid leave.

Democrats have been fighting to secure universal health care for the American people for generations, and we are proud to be the party that passed Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Being stronger together means finally achieving that goal. We are going to fight to make sure every American has access to quality, affordable health care. We will tackle the problems that remain in our health care system, including cracking down on runaway prescription drug prices and addressing mental health with the same seriousness that we treat physical health. We will fight Republican efforts to roll back the clock on women's health and reproductive rights, and stand up for Planned Parenthood. And we will tackle the epidemics of substance abuse and gun violence, which each claim tens of thousands of lives every year.

Like the majority of Americans, Democrats believe every woman should be able to access high-quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion. We oppose and will fight to overturn federal and state laws that create barriers to women's reproductive health and rights, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment and protecting and codifying the right to reproductive freedom. And Democrats will take action to protect the rights of pregnant women in the workplace, including by requiring employers to make reasonable accommodations for pregnant and breastfeeding workers and those who have recently given birth and at last joining other advanced economies by enacting paid sick days and universal paid family and medical leave.

Democrats will also keep fighting to address disparities in health care and make sure every American has access to quality, affordable health care. We've continued to protect and expand the Affordable Care Act, expanding coverage to more Americans ever in history; and we're taking historic steps to lower the cost of prescription drugs — like capping insulin at $35 a month and prescription drug costs at $2,000 a year for seniors — and we'll keep fighting to expand those caps for every American. We will keep pushing to provide Medicaid-like coverage to people in states that have not expanded Medicaid, and to make it easier for parents to keep children enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP. We'll defend all women's right to reproductive health care. As highlighted above, we're tackling the crisis of maternal mortality, expanding Medicaid to cover women for a full year postpartum and investing in a diverse workforce to support pregnant and postpartum women. And, we will address the disproportionate impact of infectious diseases, including HIV and Hepatitis C, and expand access to PrEP to end the HIV epidemic.

The Supreme Court's recent decision, prohibiting states from banning partial-birth abortions — a procedure denounced by a committee of the American Medical Association and rightly branded as four-fifths infanticide — shocks the conscience of the nation. As a country, we must keep our pledge to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence. That is why we say the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children. Our purpose is to have legislative and judicial protection of that right against those who perform abortions. We oppose using public revenues for abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it. We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life.

As a country, we must keep our pledge to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence. That is why we say the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and we endorse legislation to make it clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children. Our purpose is to have legislative and judicial protection of that right against those who perform abortions. We oppose using public revenues for abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it. We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life.

Faithful to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence, we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children. We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it. We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life.

Republican leadership has led the effort to prohibit the barbaric practice of partial-birth abortion and permitted States to extend health care coverage to children before birth. We urge Congress to strengthen the Born Alive Infant Protection Act by enacting appropriate civil and criminal penalties on healthcare providers who fail to provide treatment and care to an infant who survives an abortion, including early induction delivery where the death of the infant is intended. We call for legislation to ban sex-selective abortions—gender discrimination in its most lethal form—and to protect from abortion unborn children who are capable of feeling pain; and we applaud U.S. House Republicans for leading the effort to protect the lives of pain-capable unborn children in the District of Columbia. We call for a ban on the use of body parts from aborted fetuses for research. We support and applaud adult stem cell research to develop lifesaving therapies, and we oppose the killing of embryos for their stem cells. We oppose federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.

We call on Congress to ban sex-selection abortions and abortions based on disabilities — discrimination in its most lethal form. We oppose embryonic stem cell research. We oppose federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. We support adult stem cell research and urge the restoration of the national placental stem cell bank created by President George H.W. Bush but abolished by his Democrat successor, President Bill Clinton. We oppose federal funding for harvesting embryos and call for a ban on human cloning.

We will keep men out of women's sports, ban Taxpayer funding for sex change surgeries, and stop Taxpayer-funded Schools from promoting gender transition, reverse Biden's radical rewrite of Title IX Education Regulations, and restore protections for women and girls.

5. DSA supports the rights of LGBTQ parents and endorses challenging discriminatory laws that restrict the rights of LGBTQ people to parent.

The labor, women’s and civil rights movements have all fought to limit the force of unregulated capitalist markets in order to insure equal social rights for all. Thus, the labor movement fought for unemployment, disability and old-age insurance. The feminist movement fought for parental leave and publicly funded child care. Movements of the poor fought for income security, job training and affordable higher education.

Leftists and progressives also face a staggeringarrayofadditionalchallenges: we mustdefendawoman’srighttoabortionand confront a wide range of gender inequities that persist in our male dominant society, even as neoliberalism increasingly divides working and professional women through therhetoricofmeritocracyand“leaning-in.” We must curtail the United States’ often illegal and generally counterproductive military adventures and “democracy promotion” efforts around the world. We mustfighttowincitizenshipforthemillions of immigrants who contribute massively to our national prosperity but who are forced to live in constant fear ofdeportation, and whodonotenjoythepoliticalandeconomic benefits ofcitizenship. We must find a way to forge deeper cross-national ties among an increasingly global working class with diverse and often conflicting material interests and, perhaps most critically ofall given the grave implications of inaction, we must build a progressive coalition capable of forcing the U.S. government to take dramatic action around theeffectsofhuman-causedclimatechange. Despite these challenges, once in a generation opportunities currently exist for taking the offensive and launching an assertiveanti-capitalistpoliticsintheUnited States. The most difficult — and most important — question that remains, is how, specifically, to make democratic socialist politics a force to be reckoned with in rural communities, towns, citiesandstatesacross the country in the coming years. Before addressing this question, however, we turn first to a no less fundamental issue: what is democratic socialism, and why do we place

Repeal of the Hyde Amendment and all legal restrictions on abortion access

[PDF page 6] MEDICARE FOR ALL Universal healthcare with no premiums, co-pays, or deductibles. Guarantees for reproductive and gender-affirming care. END THE WAR ON DRUGS Treat drug addiction as a health issue, not a criminal one. FIGHT MASS INCARCERATION AND POLICE BRUTALITY Abolish mandatory minimums and cash bail, and demilitarize police departments. COLLEGE FOR ALL Make all public higher education tuition-free with no out-of-pocket cost for room and board and cancel all student loan debt. WE FIGHT FOR... THRIVING WORKING CLASS COMMUNITIES HOUSING FOR ALL Establish universal rent-control and the guaranteed right to counsel for all tenants. Public investment in building quality multi-income social housing. SUPPORT WORKING FAMILIES Expansive paid family leave for all workers, and free public universal childcare and pre-K. 10 WORKERS DESERVE MORE! WORKERS DESERVE MORE! 11

We must strengthen our defense against the proliferation of conventional and unconventional weapons that threaten America. Our first priority must be to continue the work we have begun in cutting stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, halting testing, and ensuring that weapons and weapons-grade material do not fall into the wrong hands. Working with the government of the Russian Federation, we have helped safeguard nuclear material against the danger of theft. We have made it possible for thousands of Russia's nuclear scientists and weapons experts to find peaceful pursuits. And we have helped deactivate nearly 5,000 nuclear warheads.

Improving intelligence to find and stop terrorists. We will train and equip the military to enhance its capabilities to seek out and destroy terrorists. We will strengthen the capacity of intelligence and law enforcement around the world by forging stronger international coalitions to provide better information and communication.

The central front in the war on terror is not Iraq, and it never was. We will defeat Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where those who actually attacked us on 9-11 reside and are resurgent.

Eleven years of continuous military operations and repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan have stretched our forces and strained their families. Going forward, our troops will face fewer deployments, allowing them more time to train and ensuring that they are ready for the full range of missions they may have to face.

We must defeat ISIS, al Qaeda, and their affiliates, and prevent other groups from emerging in their place. Democrats will continue to lead a broad coalition of allies and partners to destroy ISIS' stronghold in Iraq and Syria. We will press those in the region, especially the Gulf countries and local forces on the ground, to carry their weight in prosecuting this fight. We will dismantle the global network of terror, which supplies terrorists with money, arms, and fighters, and stop them from recruiting and inspiring potential radicals. We will improve our intelligence capabilities, with appropriate safeguards here at home, and ensure that the intelligence community and law enforcement is prepared to deal effectively with the threats we face. We will harden our defenses as well as those of our partners against external and homegrown threats. We will secure the homeland, investing more resources to improve mass transit, aviation, infrastructure, and port security. And we will remain a resilient nation, always coming together to stand up to terror.

Democrats will sustain the global effort to defeat ISIS, al-Qaeda, and their affiliates. We will ensure that the world is equally committed to the difficult task that follows military success: dealing with the underlying conditions that allowed violent extremism to flourish in the first place. We will work with our partners to prioritize diplomatic, law enforcement, and intelligence tools, to reinforce our objectives instead of distorting them.

The United States has the finest fighting force in the history of the world. And while our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and guardians remain the envy of the globe, President Biden understands that maintaining our military advantages in the future means making strategic investments now. That is why the Administration has invested in cutting-edge capabilities across all services and domains and maintained a commitment to modernize and recapitalize the nuclear triad as the bedrock of deterrence. That is also why President Biden has made historic investments in America's military industrial base, putting billions of dollars to work in America to increase production capacity of critical munitions and other capabilities to support U.S. and allied forces in combat zones such as Ukraine. And as the Administration does the work to plan against dramatic changes in geopolitics, technology, economics, and the environment, our military has maintained its ability to address terrorist threats, evidenced by successful strikes against leaders of al-Qa'ida and ISIS.

America faces a new and rapidly evolving threat from terrorism and international crime. Meeting this threat requires not just new measures, but also consistent policies and determination from America's leaders.

Terrorists long ago declared war on America, and now America has declared war against terrorists. We are defending the peace by taking the fight to the enemy. We are confronting terrorists overseas so we do not have to confront them here at home. We are destroying the leadership of terrorist networks in sudden raids, disrupting their planning and financing, and keeping them on the run. Month by month, we are shrinking the space in which they can freely operate, by denying them territory and the support of governments.

Americans and the Russian people have common imperatives: ending terrorism, combating nuclear proliferation, promoting bilateral trade, and more. But matters of serious concern remain, particularly the Russian government's treatment of the press, opposition parties, and institutions of civil society. It continues its aggressive confrontations with its neighbors, from economic intimidation to outright warfare, and has aligned with dangerous anti-democratic forces in the Middle East. As a condition for its continued acceptance in world organizations, Russia must respect the independence and territorial integrity of all the nations of the former Soviet Union, beginning with the republic of Georgia, and move toward a free and democratic society.

We must deter any adversary who would attack us or use terror as a tool of government. Every potential enemy must have no doubt that our capabilities, our commitment, and our will to defeat them are clear, unwavering, and unequivocal. We must immediately employ a new blueprint for a National Military Strategy that is based on an informed and validated assessment of the potential threats we face, one that restores as a principal objective the deterrence using the full spectrum of our military capabilities. As Ronald Reagan proved by the victorious conclusion of the Cold War, only our capability to wield overwhelming military power can truly deter the enemies of the United States from threatening our people and our national interests.

A Republican administration will restore our nation's credibility. We must stand up for our friends, challenge our foes, and destroy ISIS. Hezbollah, controlling over 100,000 missiles in Lebanon, must be isolated and Lebanon's independence restored. We will support the transition to a post-Assad Syrian government that is representative of its people, protects the rights of all minorities and religions, respects the territorial integrity of its neighbors, and contributes to peace and stability in the region. The Iraqi people have been on the front lines in the fight against terror. Hundreds of thousands have been killed, and the attacks against them continue, even in Baghdad. Our partnership with them should continue as long as ISIS and others like it survive in the region. We are deeply concerned that, in the face of genocide against them, Christian communities in cities like Erbil are receiving no financial support from either the U.S. government or the UN to help with displaced persons and urban refugees. Their survival is sustained only by private charities. This must change immediately. Defeating ISIS means more than pushing back its fighters while abandoning its victims. It must mean aiding those who have suffered the most — and doing so before they starve. It means supporting the long-term survival of indigenous religious and ethnic communities, punishing the perpetrators of crimes against humanity, and conditioning humanitarian and military assistance to governments on their observable commitment to human rights.

Common Sense tells us clearly that if we don't have a Strong Military, we won't be able to defend our interests and we will be at the mercy of Hostile Nations. The Policy of the Republican Party must be to ensure that America's Military is the strongest and best-equipped in the World—and that our Government uses that great strength sparingly, and only in clear instances where our National Interests are threatened.

National Priori.ties Resolution Introduction We meer in Philadelphia at a rime of national crisis. The great economic expansion of the lase decade, an expan- sion that primarily benefired the well off. is over. The economic recession will incrc::ase already morally unacceptable levels of inequality by worsening the conditions of low-wage workers and threatening the living standards of the middle class. Americans have been subject co ter- rorist arcacl<s and are deeply concerned about the security of their fumilies and

government willing to take a forthright stand against Israel’s occupation policies by threatening to cut off military aid can move Israeli policy in a pro-peace direction.At the same time, the U.S. and the European Union (the main provider of aid to the Palestinian Authority) should pressure the Palestinian Authority to do all in its power to cease attacks on Israeli civilians. In addition, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations must station a permanent international armed peace-keeping force to separate the parties now. Such a force must be maintained during what will be, by its nature, an initially fragile peace. Only years of peaceful coexistence between a viable Palestinian state and a secure, but non-expansionist Israel can bring a durable, self-sustaining peace to the Middle East. The outline of a just peace settlement has been visible since the nearly suc- cessful secret talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in 1995. In return for a just peace, there must be an abandonment of all Israeli settlements on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, except those that a peace treaty might exempt through a mutual exchange of territory. In addition, the capital of the Palestinian state must be sited in the Palestinian parts of Jerusalem, as the Palestine National Council argues.

• DSA will join the peace movement in demanding an end to war in Afghanistan as well as Iraq and in calling for massive cuts in wasteful and misguided defense spending and for conversion from imperial war policies and arms manufacturing to those meeting domestic needs and stressing humanitarian foreign aid. • DSA will begin a public dialogue among progressives about how to restructure the United States and global econo- my so that it creates productive jobs that provide living wages for all. The United States economy can be restructured in an ecologically sustainable direction (and one that provides good jobs at good wages) only if the federal government invests significantly in infrastructure development, alternative energy, and mass-transit technologies. Only if the federal government restores an effective right to organize can a stengthened union movement force employers to pay wages and benefits that justly reward workers who labor under safe and humane working conditions. By itself, private capital has shown no willingness to take on the massive investments needed to create such new technologies nor has it been willing to recognize the rights of working people to form democratic unions. • Finally, DSA will work in 2010 to insure that progressive Democrats who support many of the above items are re- elected to Congress or replace right-wing Democratic or Republican incumbents.

Reversing the Bush tax cuts would yield $125 billion in additional federal revenue per year. Restoring corporate and income tax rates to those of the Eisenhower era would yield another $300 billion in revenue. Eliminating weapons programs we no longer need and reducing our more than 200 foreign military bases would yield another $200-300 billion in yearly revenues. Additional revenues needed to achieve the promise of the social and economic bill of rights should be raised by a modest transaction tax of 0.25 percent on all financial trading. This tax alone could raise over $600 billion in annual revenue, while tamping down destabilizing financial speculation. What Willy Sutton once said about why he robbed banks, because “ That’s where the money is,” remains true today.

Leftists and progressives also face a staggeringarrayofadditionalchallenges: we mustdefendawoman’srighttoabortionand confront a wide range of gender inequities that persist in our male dominant society, even as neoliberalism increasingly divides working and professional women through therhetoricofmeritocracyand“leaning-in.” We must curtail the United States’ often illegal and generally counterproductive military adventures and “democracy promotion” efforts around the world. We mustfighttowincitizenshipforthemillions of immigrants who contribute massively to our national prosperity but who are forced to live in constant fear ofdeportation, and whodonotenjoythepoliticalandeconomic benefits ofcitizenship. We must find a way to forge deeper cross-national ties among an increasingly global working class with diverse and often conflicting material interests and, perhaps most critically ofall given the grave implications of inaction, we must build a progressive coalition capable of forcing the U.S. government to take dramatic action around theeffectsofhuman-causedclimatechange. Despite these challenges, once in a generation opportunities currently exist for taking the offensive and launching an assertiveanti-capitalistpoliticsintheUnited States. The most difficult — and most important — question that remains, is how, specifically, to make democratic socialist politics a force to be reckoned with in rural communities, towns, citiesandstatesacross the country in the coming years. Before addressing this question, however, we turn first to a no less fundamental issue: what is democratic socialism, and why do we place

Close all US foreign military bases.

[PDF page 8] FREE PALESTINE An immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an end to military and economic aid, and weapons sales to Israel, respect of the authority of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, and national sovereignty for the Palestinian people. END THE U.S. WAR MACHINE Greatly reduce the U.S. military budget, close overseas bases, and bring troops home. WE FIGHT FOR... WORKING-CLASS FOREIGN POLICY NO MORE ECONOMIC WARFARE End economic sanctions that impact the sovereignty of countries whose governments act independently of the United States, such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran. FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT Allow workers to freely migrate between countries to seek employment without restrictive immigration controls. Demilitarize the border, end all immigrant detention and deportations, immediate amnesty for all immigrants regardless of current immigration status, and provide access to jobs, labor rights, and social services to all immigrants. 14 WORKERS DESERVE MORE! WORKERS DESERVE MORE! 15

We are also equipping our military and continuously preparing our defenses for an unconventional attack. We have been an active player in international efforts to strengthen compliance with the Biological Weapons Convention. We renewed and made permanent the Non-Proliferation Treaty and ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, but our effort to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was derailed by Senate Republicans. As President, Al Gore will promptly resubmit this treaty to the Senate with a demand from the American people for its ratification.

They rush to force before exhausting diplomacy. They bully rather than persuade. They act alone when they could assemble a team. They hope for the best when they should prepare for the worst. Time and again, this Administration confuses leadership with going it alone and engagement with compromise of principle. They do not understand that real leadership means standing by your principles and rallying others to join you.

In the name of our children, we reject the proposals of those who want to continue George Bush's disastrous economic policies.

When President Obama first took office, four in five cities had already cut services at a time when American people needed them most, while 48 states faced the prospect of budget deficits in the next fiscal year. We took swift and aggressive action in the first months of this administration to pull cities back from the brink, preventing our local communities from sinking into deeper holes and being forced to lay off tens of thousands of police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and teachers. This administration is implementing the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative to combat poverty in American cities and the Sustainable Communities Initiative, supports the proposed Growth Zone Initiatives, and has invested in green jobs training programs, community development, public and affordable housing, and homelessness prevention to cut red tape and help revitalize American cities. The administration knows one size does not fit all, which is why it has listened to city leaders about what they need most and is fostering ground-up, instead of top-down, solutions by assigning federal workers to work side-by-side with local leaders in struggling cities.

America has made critical investments in global health, including in the areas of maternal and child health, HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. It is vital that we continue this work— which has saved millions of lives around the world and is essential to our nation's health security. While the Republican Party refuses to fund important measures that could contain and address the Zika pandemic, Democrats are ready to limit the reach of Zika—just as we did with Ebola—and support funding for diagnostic tests for the virus, vaccine, and treatment. We will also prepare for potential pandemics, like avian influenza and H1N1, by working with first responders and health officials to reduce the risks associated with unintentional or deliberate outbreaks of infectious diseases.

Democrats believe we can build the clean energy infrastructure of the future using American-made materials. We will support measures to build a clean, equitable, and globally competitive manufacturing sector, including national Buy Clean and Buy America standards to incentivize production of low-carbon building and construction materials, like steel, cement, and timber, here in the United States. We will apply a carbon adjustment fee at the border to products from countries that fail to live up to their commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement, because we won't let polluters undermine American competitiveness.

We also recognize that the U.S. Postal Service is the world's most efficient, and Democrats are wholly committed to supporting a public U.S.P.S. We will fight all efforts to privatize it and will work to ensure that it's financially sustainable. We will protect its universal service obligation and on-time delivery. And we will support a Board of Governors and a Postal Regulatory Commission that champion a strong public Postal Service.

The current administration at first denied the need for a national missile defense system. Then it endlessly delayed, despite constant concern expressed by the Republican Congress. Now the administration has become hopelessly entangled in its commitment to an obsolete treaty signed in 1972 with a Soviet Union that no longer exists while it is constrained by its failure to explore vigorously the technological possibilities. In order to avoid the need for any significant revisions to the ABM Treaty, the administration supports an inadequate national missile defense design based on a single site, instead of a system based on the most effective means available. Their approach does not defend America's allies, who must be consulted as U.S. plans are developed. Their concept is a symbolic political solution designed on a cynical political timetable. It will not protect America.

Working with other nations, and under the leadership of President Bush and the Republican Congress, the United States has confronted this failure. President Bush helped to forge a new consensus at the United Nations Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey that the objectives of assistance – and the strategies to achieve those objectives – must change.

Because the UN has no mandate to promote radical social engineering, any effort to address global social problems must respect the fundamental institutions of marriage and family. We assert the rights of families in all international programs and will not fund organizations involved in abortion. We strongly support the long-held policy of the Republican Party known as the "Mexico City policy," which prohibits federal monies from being given to non-governmental organizations that provide abortions or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other countries. We reject any treaty or agreement that would violate those values. That includes the UN convention on women's rights, signed in the last months of the Carter Administration, and the UN convention on the rights of the child. For several reasons, particularly our concern for US sovereignty and America's long-term energy needs, we have deep reservations about the regulatory, legal, and tax regimes inherent in the Law of the Sea Treaty.

The United States is the only nuclear power not modernizing its nuclear stockpile. It took the current Administration just one year to renege on the President's commitment to modernize the neglected infrastructure of the nuclear weapons complex—a commitment made in exchange for approval of the New START treaty. In tandem with this, the current Administration has systematically undermined America's missile defense, abandoning the missile defense bases in Poland and the Czech Republic, reducing the number of planned interceptors in Alaska, and cutting the budget for missile defense. In an embarrassing open microphone discussion with former Russian President Medvedev, the current President made clear that, if he wins a second term, he intends to exercise "more flexibility" to appease Russia, which means further undermining our missile defense capabilities. A Republican President will be honest and forthright with the American people about his policies and plans and not whisper promises to authoritarian leaders.

Precisely because we take our country's treaty obligations seriously, we oppose ratification of international agreements whose long-range implications are ominous or unclear. We do not support the U.N. Convention on Women's Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, as well as various declarations from the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development. Because of our concern for American sovereignty, domestic management of our fisheries, and our country's long-term energy needs, we have deep reservations about the regulatory, legal, and tax regimes inherent in the Law of the Sea Treaty. We emphatically reject U.N. Agenda 21 as erosive of U.S. sovereignty, and we oppose any form of Global Tax.

Keeping the American People safe requires a strong America. The Biden administration's weak Foreign Policy has made us less safe and a laughingstock all over the World. The Republican Plan is to return Peace through Strength, rebuilding our Military and Alliances, countering China, defeating terrorism, building an Iron Dome Missile Defense Shield, promoting American Values, securing our Homeland and Borders, and reviving our Defense Industrial Base. We will build a Military bigger, better, and stronger than ever before. Our full commitment is to protecting America and ensuring a safe and prosperous future for all.

talking to young people on campuses, and talking co people in other public situations. The forces opposed rn che manner in which the Bush Administration has carried out "rhe war on terrorism" arc weak, confined ro the campus- es and exisring lefr organizadons, and isolarcd from even rhc mainstream lef't in rhe trade unions, communities of color, and the progressive wing of Congress. DSA hopes co build a peace movement Lhat stands for jusuce for tht victims of Seprember I I th and recognizc11 the importance of com- bating terrorism of all stripes, including chat supported by or organized by

DSA has forthrightly condemned suicide bombings and calls on the Palestinian Authority to do all within its power to stop them.But as long as Palestinian desires for self-deter- mination are violently denied by the Israeli occupation, ter- rorist acts of desperation will continue.This analysis is in no way a justification for attacks on Israeli civilians or a vindi- cation of the wisdom of Palestinian leadership, including its often-invoked rejectionism.That leadership has been negli- gent – if not criminally implicated – in the failure to bring peace and justice to the region. It is to say that the Israeli government, an American ally that talks in the name of the Enlightenment and of democratic values,has pursued for 37 years a ruinous policy of occupation, and one that must end. Peace will also not be possible until the United States government stops framing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as part of the “war on terrorism,” as its roots lie not in some nihilistic global conspiracy but in denying self-determina- tion to the Palestinians. Nor should the legitimate cause of Palestinian self-rule be left in the hands of Islamist religious extremists who use the cause to whip up anti-Jewish hatred or allowed to be exploited by authoritarian Arab regimes to deflect their own people’s attention away from their unde- mocratic domestic practices. The Sharon government can pursue its destructive poli- cies only because the Bush administration (and both parties in the U.S.

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Winning Peace with Justice in the Middle East A statement from the DSA National Poltical Committee, June 2009 Peace in the Middle East and justice for both the Palestinian and Israeli people can only be achieved through mutual recogni- tion by each side of the right of each people to viable and secure states of their own, in which the rights of minorities are also guaranteed. Thus, the rejectionist politics of both the Netanyahu administration and of Hamas are a barrier to peace. United States foreign policy should be mobilized in favor of peace forces in both camps and, in particular, against rejectionist Israeli government policies, which historically were and remain buttressed by unconditional U.S. economic and military aid. Democratic Socialists of America deplores the continuing Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza strip, its multi-party refusal to uproot settlements in the West Bank that block a peaceful resolution of the conflict, and its wall that brings neither long-term security to Israelis nor solidarity with its neighbors. Further, DSA believes that the recent Israeli bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza did not advance the peace process. In seven years of intermittent rocket launchings from Gaza, 22 Israelis have been killed and scores wounded.

United States budget deficits are the result of public-policy decisions. They were created by three decades of tax cuts for the rich and corporations, an inefficient and expensive health care system and out- of-control military spending. If we restored taxes on corporations and the rich to 1960s levels, eliminated waste, fraud and boondoggle weapons contracts in defense spending and eliminated private profit in health care, we could recreate the economy and society that existed between 1947 and 1973 when marginal tax rates on the wealthy and excess profits taxes on corporations ranged between 50 percent and 90 percent. During this period workers benefited from union density of 35 percent at its peak, an opportunity to enjoy middle-class standards of consumption, and income in- equality reached its lowest point in U.S. history. Progressive personal and corporate income tax rates would fund a robust public education system, childcare, pa- rental leave and universal health care. Moreover, a simple and just reform in the financing of Social Security — removing the cap on income subject to the Social Security tax — would secure benefits for projected recipients into the foreseeable future.

While a new wave of social movement organizing appears to be underway, and while younger people especially are increasingly open to radicalalternatives, theLeftandprogressive movements remain weak. Today we celebrate more the possibility of political openingsthantheachievementofsignificant concrete gains. Beyond our relative lack of resources, the structural barriers placed in our path by the nature ofthe U.S. political "Todaywecelebratemorethepossibilityof politicalopeningsthantheachievementof significantconcretegains." system and the extraordinary power of individualist ideology to undermine collective action, Leftists and progressives face a groundswell of racist and anti- immigrant political organization — represented most dramatically by Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. As the life prospects ofmany white people in the 99% continue to decline, and as demographic tidesshiftsteadilytowardaUnitedStatesin which people ofcolor constitute a majority, this reactionary organizing is likely to grow evermoreserious. Racist and anti-immigrant politics not only represent adirectassaultonthe civilrights of millions (in the form of voter disenfranchisement, harassment and deportation ofundocumented workers, and hate crimes, to name a few), but also serve as an effective tool that economic elites can employ to divide sections of the working class (who, byfocusingon racial/ethnic fear and hatred, are unable to forge ties of solidarityaroundsharedeconomicstruggles againstthecapitalistclass).Intheabsenceof powerful multiracial coalitions capable of connecting the struggles ofworking people across race and ethnicity, appeals to racism

The American political system was not made to serve the working class. Undemocratic institutions like the Senate and the Electoral College combine with the force of money in politics to make it impossible for the will of the majority to be expressed. The minoritarian right wing Republican Party uses Jim Crow-style racist restrictions on voting to desperately cling to power through reactionary white populism and their political domination of the South and the rural high plains, while mainstream Democrats are hopelessly compromised by their donor class of capitalists. The little democracy we have is currently under siege by the Republican assault on voting rights in the states and the apparent willingness of Republican officials to wholesale overturn results of elections. True change — abolishing the Senate and Electoral College, overturning the Supreme Court cases that hold that money is speech — would require constitutional amendment, made nearly impossible by our ossified Constitution. The nation that holds itself out as the world’s premier democracy is no democracy at all.

[PDF page 4] 6 PROGRAM FOR 2024 The US political and economic system is failing the working class. Millions struggle with low wages, dangerous working conditions, and limited control over our own lives, all while the top one percent has gotten richer and richer. Billionaires control access to basic human needs like housing, healthcare, and education and make a profit off of them...This capitalist economic system is the cause of violence, unemployment, and a climate crisis that poses an existential threat to life on earth. Black and brown workers in racially segregated communities bear the brunt of capitalism’s cruelties, suffering especially from poverty wages, discrimination, deportation, and unemployment, often pushing workers into illegal activity to survive. Instead of investing in working-class communities, capitalists prefer to police and incarcerate workers they consider expendable to protect their wealth. Accelerating declines in living standards are exploited by the Christian nationalist right and figures like Donald Trump. Americans rejected the far- right agenda in the 2020 elections and watched a failed coup attempt to overturn the election results.... The far-right threatens Americans’ civil liberties. They attack the right of people to decide whether to have a kid by overturning Roe v. Wade and continue to restrict abortion access. Now they attack the rights of queer and transgender people by banning gender-affirming care. These culture wars are intended to pit workers against each other to empower a right- wing government.

With Al Gore as President, America won't go back. We will move forward. We will fight to increase the number of community police on our streets. We will fight to give police the high-tech tools and the training they need to keep our streets safe and our families secure. We will toughen the laws against serious and violent crime to restore the sense of order that says to children as well as to criminals: don't even think about committing a crime here. We will reform a justice system that spills half a million prisoners back onto our streets each year - many of them addicted to drugs, unrehabilitated, and just waiting to commit another crime. We will make schools safe havens for students to learn and teachers to teach. We believe that in death penalty cases, DNA testing should be used in all appropriate circumstances, and defendants should have effective assistance of counsel. In all death row cases, we encourage thorough post-conviction reviews. We will put the rights of victims and families first again. And we will push for more crime prevention, to stop the next generation of crime before it's too late.

In President George Bush's America, unfortunately, too often you need special privileges if you want opportunity. This White House values wealth over hard work, lavishes special treatment upon a fortunate few at the expense of most businesses and working people, and defends policies that weaken America's competitive position and destroy American jobs. Instead of meeting the challenge of globalization by strengthening our workers' ability to compete and win, this Administration uses globalization as an excuse not to fight for American jobs.

Too often, in recent years, we have sent the opposite signal to our international partners. In the case of Europe, we dismissed European reservations about the wisdom and necessity of the Iraq war and their concerns about climate change. In Asia, we belittled South Korean efforts to improve relations with the North. In Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina, we failed to address concerns about immigration and equity and economic growth. In Africa, we have allowed genocide to persist for over five years in Darfur and have not done nearly enough to answer the United Nation's call for more support to stop the killing. Under Barack Obama, we will rebuild our ties to our allies in Europe and Asia and strengthen our partnerships throughout the Americas and Africa.

To help keep college within reach for every student, Democrats took on banks to reform our student loan program, saving more than $60 billion by removing the banks acting as middlemen so we can better and more directly invest in students. To make college affordable for students of all backgrounds and confront the loan burden our students shoulder, we doubled our investment in Pell Grant scholarships and created the American Opportunity Tax Credit worth up to $10,000 over four years of college, and we're creating avenues for students to manage their federal student loans so that their payments can be only 10 percent of what they make each month. President Obama has pledged to encourage colleges to keep their costs down by reducing federal aid for those that do not, investing in colleges that keep tuition affordable and provide good value, doubling the number of work-study jobs available to students, and continuing to ensure that students have access to federal loans with reasonable interest rates. We invested more than $2.5 billion in savings from reforming our student loan system to strengthen our nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Alaska, Hawaiian Native Institutions, Asian American and Pacific Islander Institutions, and other Minority Serving Institutions. These schools play an important role in creating a diverse workforce, educating new teachers, and producing the next generation of STEM workers.

Under President Obama's leadership, and thanks to the hard work and determination of the American people, we have come a long way from the Great Recession and the Republican policies that triggered it. American businesses have now added 14.8 million jobs since private-sector job growth turned positive in early 2010. Twenty million people have gained health insurance coverage. The American auto industry just had its best year ever. And we are getting more of our energy from the sun and wind, and importing less oil from overseas.

When the American people go to the polls this fall, we will be choosing more than a candidate. Character is on the ballot in this election. The character of our President, yes, but more than that: the character of our democracy, our society, and our leadership in the world.

We can't have the best economy in the world if we don't have the best infrastructure. And for generations, American infrastructure was the envy of the world. But over the years, we stopped investing in it, and we fell to thirteenth in infrastructure rankings. The Trump Administration declared it "Infrastructure Week" every week for four years, and never built a thing. But under President Biden, we're finally rebuilding our roads, bridges, ports, airports, water systems, electric grids, broadband, and more, paving the way for a great American "Infrastructure Decade" that will create hundreds of thousands of good-paying union jobs.

Standing alongside our allies, we seek a NATO that is strong, cohesive, and active. The next Republican president will give consistent direction on the alliance's purpose, on Europe's need to invest more in defense capabilities, and, when necessary, on acting jointly with the United States in military conflict. The United States needs its European allies to help with key regional security problems as they arise, since America also has global responsibilities. Our goal for NATO is a strong political and security fellowship of independent nations in which consultations are mutually respected and defense burdens mutually shared.

President Bush also fulfilled his promise to begin transforming how our nation organizes and equips itself to fight 21st Century adversaries. Leveraging rapidly changing technology with flexible organizations and adaptable doctrine, the President and the Republican Congress have led the transformation of the U.S. military to become lighter, faster, and more lethal. To support the President's transformational goals, the Administration has worked with the Republican Congress to:

The waging of war — and the achieving of peace — should never be micromanaged in a party platform, or on the floor of the Senate and House of Representatives for that matter. In dealing with present conflicts and future crises, our next president must preserve all options. It would be presumptuous to specify them in advance and foolhardy to rule out any action deemed necessary for our security.

We face a similar challenge today. The current Administration has responded with weakness to some of the gravest threats to our national security this country has faced, including the proliferation of transnational terrorism, continued belligerence by a nuclear-armed North Korea, an Iran in pursuit of nuclear weapons, rising Chinese hegemony in the Asia Pacific region, Russian activism, and threats from cyber espionage and terrorism. In response to these growing threats, President Obama has reduced the defense budget by over $487 billion over the next decade and fought Republican efforts to avoid another $500 billion in automatic budget cuts through a sequestration in early 2013 that will take a meat ax to all major defense programs.

We recognize Africa's extraordinary potential. Both the United States and our many African allies will become stronger through investment, trade, and promotion of the democratic and free market principles that have brought prosperity around the world. We pledge to be the best partner of all African nations in their pursuit of economic freedom and human rights. The Republican Congress has extended to 2025 the African Growth and Opportunity Act, and President George W. Bush's health initiatives — AIDS relief under PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria — continue to save millions of lives. Peace Corps volunteers and U.S. Seabees teach and build in villages that know firsthand our country's idealism.

Yet after nearly four years of the Biden administration, America is now rocked by Raging Inflation, Open Borders, Rampant Crime, Attacks on our Children, and Global Conflict, Chaos, and Instability.

Finally, Democratic Party leaders were so traumatized by charges of being “weak on defense,” “tax-and-spend profligates” and of “coddling the undeserving” that they long ago abandoned any critique of irrational and wasteful military spending. Nor do they clearly defend the centrality of social rights to a democratic society out of fear that standing up for public goods will be attacked by the Right. Some neoliberal pundits applauded former President Clinton’s tough-on-crime policies and “welfare reform” for taking the race card away from the Republicans. But they fail to note that race wasn’t the only card Republicans had to play and, more importantly, that race remains central to most political debates. The price of Clinton’s tough-love politics meant the abandonment by the entire political establishment of any responsibility for redressing the plight of our inner cities as well as that of our rural poor. Nor could this allegedly smart politics win back Congress or cinch victory for Al Gore in 2000.

Bush administration when the government further cut taxes on the rich, engineered unnecessary foreign war while ignoring domestic need, and bailed out the very banks that caused the financial crisis with trillions of dollars of taxpayers' money. It was class war under the Obama administration when the government extended the Bush tax cuts, bailed out the banks without any strings attached, failed to end foreclosures, and drastically slashed funding for essential federal programs. It was class warfare when the Supreme Court decided to lift all restrictions on corporate involvement in political campaigns. We must draw on the great traditions of resistance in our history - the Patriots, the Abolitionists, the Suffragists, Industrial Unionism, the Civil Rights Movement, and the feminist and LGBTQ movements - and engage our creative imagination in forming a movement for the 2010s. We must bear witness, but we must moreover build power that can challenge the commanding heights of capitalism and can succeed in changing laws in the people's favor. We must make demands on the state, and we must win.

While we note the tactical brilliance of the Democratic campaign in holding the line in crucial swing states, President Obama avoided any commitments to substantive change in the realm of economic policy or worker rights. The myriad and growing problems facing the working poor and the most vulnerable segments of the population were studiously ignored. The labor unions, feminist groups, communities of color and progressive organizations that provided the ground forces will have to mobilize strongly now to reap any real benefit for the people they represent.

This, combined with the fall of Soviet and East European Communism and the marketization of the Chinese economy by the early 1990s, led mostpunditsandpoliticianstoproclaimthe ultimate triumph ofneoliberalism: “there is no alternative” to the free market became the mantra of policy makers around the world. InsurgentResponsestoNeoliberalism Given the profound and sustained defeats suffered by the Left and progressive movements during this period, by the mid- 2000s socialists and progressives in the United States and Europe could boast of virtually no examples of successful resistance to neoliberalism. Many turned their eyes to South America, which during thistimewaspracticallytheonlydemocratic leftistpoliticalstrongholdintheworld.Only a few short years later, however, the situation in Europe and the United States looked completely different: the Left had finally galvanized significant support in the electoral arena, and had pulled the terms of political debate significantly leftward through creative social movement organizing. To name but a few electoral examples, in Greece the left-wing Syriza party came to power in 2014, in Spain the left-wingPodemospartyemergedfromanti- austerityprotestsin2014andonlytwoyears later it was the third largest party in the country. Even more surprisingwere the rise of Jeremy Corbyn to the leadership of the British Labor Party in 2015 and the phenomenal success of Bernie Sanders’ “politicalrevolution”duringthe2016United States’presidentialelection.

Bukele delivered the order via Twitter alongside threats that legislators who did not attend would “face consequences” for “breaking constitutional order” and incited the public to exercise their constitutional right to popular insurrection if the legislators did not comply. Meanwhile, the Salvadoran Armed Forces tweeted official statements reminding the population that “all our troops have sworn loyalty to the President.”

These attacks are all the more disturbing because we’re missing a real and powerful opposition to it in the U.S. The center-right Democratic Party is controlled by its elite donor class, and cannot act as an effective political counter to the nationalist far right. Only a party that fights for working people can win the battle against fascism. Under Joe Biden, the United States has prioritized funding a massive military budget and expanding oil drilling. Democratic elites are embracing Trump’s racist immigration policies and — most abhorrently — are supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza, all while brutally cracking down on student protests. This undermines the trust that many placed in Biden and the Democrats. Without a working-class alternative to the Democratic Party, capitalists, Democrats, and the far right will continue to perpetuate violence and injustice at home and abroad. Workers are realizing WORKERS DESERVE MORE! WORKERS DESERVE MORE! 7

The Republican Party has a different vision—instead of asking everyone to do their fair share and making investments we need for an economy built to last, they would slash taxes for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, let Wall Street once again write its own rules, and balance the budget on the backs of the middle class. Romney and Congressional Republicans share the same, distorted view of the economy and support the same, lopsided budget. Romney would roll back the tax relief Democrats provided to working families and college students, and would require massive new taxes on the middle class to pay for his $5 trillion tax plan that primarily benefits the wealthy.

We believe in American exceptionalism.

We are proud of the record we offer to the American people. We have helped America overcome extraordinary challenges. We are re-shaping our government to meet the demands of the modern world and better serve our citizens.

Living standards have eroded, and union density is at its thinnest in more than 100 years. Public services are underfunded, and government agencies whose job it is to temper or limit the inequalities of a capitalist society have been hamstrung. This corporate offensive has as its ideological counterpart a “free-market” orthodoxy preached and shared not only by the Republican Party but also by neoliberal Democrats—those “centrists” who favor cuts in social spending, advocate deregulation and privatization, and reject accommodations with the unions.

Medical decisions should be made by patients and their doctors and nurses, not accountants and bureaucrats at the end of a phone line a thousand miles away. It is time we meaningfully addressed concerns about the quality of care and about the decline of patient, access, trust, and satisfaction. People need to get the health care they need, when they need it, without having to leap endless hurdles. Americans need a real, enforceable Patients' Bill of Rights with the right to see a specialist, the right to appeal decisions to an outside board, guaranteed coverage of emergency room care, and the right to sue when they are unfairly denied coverage.

We believe in an America where health care is available and affordable. Where every family looks to the future with hope and excitement, without worry that the cost of health care is becoming too great to bear. Where strong, healthy families build a stronger America.

Just as important, we will invest in a world-class infrastructure, skilled workforce, and cutting-edge technology so that we can compete successfully on high-value-added products, not sweatshop wages and conditions. We will end tax breaks for companies that ship American jobs overseas, and provide incentives for companies that keep and maintain good jobs here in the United States. We will also provide access to affordable health insurance and enhance retirement security, and we will update and expand Trade Adjustment Assistance to help workers in industries vulnerable to international competition, as well as service sector and public sector workers impacted by trade, and we will improve TAA's health care benefits. The United States should renew its own commitment to respect for workers' fundamental human rights, and at the same time strengthen the ILO's ability to promote workers' rights abroad through technical assistance and capacity building.

Health Care. We believe accessible, affordable, high quality health care is part of the American promise, that Americans should have the security that comes with good health care, and that no one should go broke because they get sick. Over the determined opposition of Republicans, we enacted landmark reforms that are already helping millions of Americans, and more benefits will come soon.

We must renew and expand our commitment to Community Health Centers, as well as community mental health centers and family planning centers. These health centers provide critically important, community-based prevention and treatment in underserved communities, prevent unnecessary and expensive trips to emergency rooms, and are essential to the successful implementation of the ACA. We will fight for a comprehensive system of primary health care, including dental, mental health care, and low-cost prescription drugs by doubling of funding for federally qualified community health centers over the next decade, which currently serve 25 million people.

We are going to at last build the health care system the American people have always deserved: one that finally provides universal health care coverage; reduces prescription drug prices, premiums, and out-of-pocket costs; reins in overall health care expenses; and tackles the deep-seated inequities in our health care system. We will build a health care system that is driven by the needs of patients and the people who care for them, instead of the profit motives of corporations. We will tackle entrenched racial disparities in health care, reduce prescription drug prices by standing up to big pharmaceutical companies, and make it easier to access mental health and substance use disorder treatment and long-term services and supports in metropolitan and rural areas alike.

At the same time, we must make it easier for all Americans to access high-quality mental health and substance use treatment by recruiting and training more professionals to deliver culturally and linguistically competent, high-quality behavioral health care; and by strengthening coverage across all health plans. And we must extend workforce development and incentive programs. The Administration is delivering $1 billion to hire or train 14,000 school-based mental health counselors – the largest investment in school-based mental health in history – thanks to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. And, it is delivering additional resources to support students who need mental health care.

We intend to save this beleaguered system with a vision of health care adapted to the changing demands of a new century. It is as simple, and yet as profound, as this: All Americans should have access to high-quality and affordable health care. They should have a range of options and be able to select what is the best care for their individual and family needs. The integration of access, affordability, quality, and choice into the nation's health care system is the goal that brings together all of the following proposals. In achieving that goal, we will promote a health care system that supports, not supplants, the private sector; that promotes personal responsibility in health care decision-making; and that ensures the least intrusive role for the federal government.

Republicans recognize that health care is intrinsic to every family's economic comfort. Americans must have the security to know that the next illness will not wipe out their savings or drive them into debt. We appreciate the fact that market-based health care has given America the most advanced medical system in the world. Proposals discussed earlier, such as Health Savings Accounts and Association Health Plans, provide economic benefits while also making health care more consumer-driven and increasing access to high-quality, affordable health care. We reject any notion of government-run universal health care because we have seen evidence from around the world that government-run health care leads to inefficiencies, long waiting periods, and often substandard health care. And we applaud efforts by President Bush and the Republican Congress to reform the broken medical liability system that is raising health care costs and limiting patients' access to doctors – doctors who are being driven out of their practices by excessive medical liability costs. We support continued efforts to make health care more affordable, more accessible, and more consumer-driven.

• We will not put government between patients and their health care providers.

Our goal is to encourage the development of a healthcare system that provides higher quality care at a lower cost to all Americans while protecting the patientphysician relationship based on mutual trust, informed consent, and privileged patient confidentiality. We seek to increase healthcare choice and options, contain costs and reduce mandates, simplify the system for patients and providers, restore cuts made to Medicare, and equalize the tax treatment of group and individual health insurance plans. For most Americans, those who are insured now or who seek insurance in the future, our practical, non-intrusive reforms will promote flexibility in State leadership in healthcare reform, promote a free-market based system, and empower consumer choice. All of which will return direction of the nation's healthcare to the people and away from the federal government.

More than 100 million Americans depend on Medicare or Medicaid for their healthcare; with our population aging, that number will increase. To preserve Medicare and Medicaid, the financing of these important programs must be brought under control before they consume most of the federal budget, including national defense. The good news is that it can be done, and it can be done without endangering the elderly and the needy who depend on those programs. We intend to save Medicare by modernizing it, empowering its participants, and putting it on a secure financial footing. We will preserve the promise of Medicaid as well by making that program, designed for 1965 medicine, a vehicle for good health in an entirely new era.

Healthcare and prescription drug costs are out of control. Republicans will increase Transparency, promote Choice and Competition, and expand access to new Affordable Healthcare and prescription drug options. We will protect Medicare, and ensure Seniors receive the care they need without being burdened by excessive costs.

expenditure. With “single payer,” we could maintain private and non-profit provision of health care and consumer choice of primary-care physicians. The government would not take over the administration and provision of health care, but it would eliminate the wasteful and redundant private insurance industry and replace it with one insurer—a system equivalent to “Medicare for all,” and not just for the poor or the currently uninsured. The cost savings in such a program could extend coverage to all citizens; it would also make our labor markets more efficient, as workers would no longer worry that a change in employment might adversely affect their medical coverage. In addition, the huge savings in administrative costs (and elimination of wasteful insurance advertising) could be used to improve the quality of health care.

Joining progressive forces fighting for a new round of massive federal financial aid to state, county, and municipal governments. Only by such measures can essential public services be maintained and massive deflationary layoffs be avoided. 3. Holding public hearings on an Economic Bill of Rights, to be developed in conjunction with our allies, and using the Economic Justice Agenda as a starting point. 4. Continuing to work with labor and its allies to pass meaningful labor law reform that would restore a real right to organize and strike and ensure that the NLRB enforces these laws. In particular, we will work to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, with an emphasis on encouraging our coalition partners in the non-labor left to understand the impor- tance of rebuilding the labor movement as a vital element in progressing on all our issues. Furthermore: (A section on Immigration Reform will be added later by the NPC) • DSA reasserts its commitment to passing single-payer health care legislation at either the federal or state level. page 4 • Democratic Left • Winter 2003 page 4 • Democratic Left • Winter 2009

In 1948, the United States ratified the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Among the rights explicitly mentioned in this document is the right to health care. However, prior to the passage of health reform in 2010, 47 million of our citizens had no health insurance. Another 50 to 70 million had inadequate insurance — insurance that would leave them bankrupt in the event of a major illness. It is not yet clear the extent to which the health care legislation passed in 2010 will address these problems because the problems with the United States health care system are deep rooted and long lasting.

[PDF page 7] universal daycare, eldercare and paid family leave. In the legal sphere, all citizens would have equal rights, in contrast to the current reality in which millions of citizens (in the District ofColumbia, Puerto Rico, overseas territories and Native American tribes) do not have the ability to elect their own congressional representatives. In the legal system, the racialized system of unequal justice that currently exists would be replaced by a system that featured citizen reviewboards(vestedwithrealauthority) of both the police and court systems. The disgraceful use of prisons to regulate behavior (which disproportionately affects communities of color and the poor) would be replaced with a system that decriminalized a wide range of offenses (particularly nonviolent drug-related offenses) and combined full services to victims with restorative justice, mental health care and various forms ofcounseling tohelppeoplefindproductivewaystomove forward after committing serious crimes. Finally, racial/ethnic and sex/gender-based oppressions maywell continue in a socialist society. Hence a wide range ofprograms to dismantle the privileges associated with whiteness, maleness and heteronormativity would have to be developed, and anti- discriminationpoliciesintheworkplaceand in social organizations would have to be intensified. Beyondaddressingthelegaciesofgender, racial, sexualandotherformsofoppression, democratic socialism would bring about a cultural renaissance in which a vastarrayof new artistic practices and lifestyles would flourish.

Guarantee home health care for all who need it to decrease institutionalization

[PDF page 6] MEDICARE FOR ALL Universal healthcare with no premiums, co-pays, or deductibles. Guarantees for reproductive and gender-affirming care. END THE WAR ON DRUGS Treat drug addiction as a health issue, not a criminal one. FIGHT MASS INCARCERATION AND POLICE BRUTALITY Abolish mandatory minimums and cash bail, and demilitarize police departments. COLLEGE FOR ALL Make all public higher education tuition-free with no out-of-pocket cost for room and board and cancel all student loan debt. WE FIGHT FOR... THRIVING WORKING CLASS COMMUNITIES HOUSING FOR ALL Establish universal rent-control and the guaranteed right to counsel for all tenants. Public investment in building quality multi-income social housing. SUPPORT WORKING FAMILIES Expansive paid family leave for all workers, and free public universal childcare and pre-K. 10 WORKERS DESERVE MORE! WORKERS DESERVE MORE! 11

Mired in the past, the Republican Party fails to realize that ensuring peace and security for Americans today does not just mean guarding against armies on the march. It means investing in building the global peace. It means addressing the fact that more than 1 billion of the Earth's inhabitants live on less than $1 a day - inviting social dislocation, violence, and war. It means meeting new challenges such as international crime and terrorism, environmental degradation, and pandemic diseases head-on. And it means that Forward Engagement must be the new pole-star of our global strategy.

Our great middle class is hard-pressed. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, and millions more are struggling under the mounting burden of life's everyday costs.

But today, we are at a crossroads. As we meet, we are in the sixth year of a two-front war. Our economy is struggling. Our planet is in peril.

Poverty. Too many Americans live without hope for a better future or access to good, family-supporting jobs. Fifteen percent of our fellow citizens live in poverty, and one in five families struggles with food insecurity. Many of these families work but are unable to pay the bills. The economic crisis has hit low-income American families particularly hard, but merely restoring our country to where it was before the economic crisis is not enough. We must make ending poverty a national priority.

The racial wealth and income gaps are the result of policies that discriminate against people of color and constrain their ability to earn income and build assets to the same extent as other Americans. It has accumulated over time and is made worse by ongoing policies and practices. For example, African Americans and Latinos lost more than half of their net worth as a result of the housing crisis and the Great Recession, because they lost jobs at a much faster rate than white workers and because they were disproportionately targeted for subprime, predatory, and fraudulent mortgages during the run-up to the housing crisis.

To prevent President Trump's recession from becoming a depression, Democrats believe we must act immediately to make ambitious investments that will support and create jobs. We urgently need to support state and local governments, which are suffering severe budget shortfalls due to declines in tax revenues while being asked to shoulder the burden of COVID-related services and rising unemployment. State and local budget cuts translate quickly into lost jobs in education, health care, and social services—all fields where we need to be adding jobs to meet the needs of the American people. Democrats will extend significant aid to state and local governments, school districts, and public and nonprofit colleges and universities, including HBCUs and MSIs, to address these budget shortfalls and secure jobs. We will condition state and federal aid on maintaining and expanding public-sector employment, including provisions to protect workers' rights.

Democrats are dedicated to increasing the supply of an array of housing options like duplexes, triplexes, and townhomes that bridge the gap between single-family homes and large apartment buildings. By reducing barriers to building housing and providing federal tax incentives for the development of housing for people of all incomes, we can foster vibrant, inclusive communities where people from all walks of life can find affordable, diverse living options. Workforce housing must also be prioritized to ensure that our nation's teachers, nurses, firefighters, and other essential workers can afford to live in the communities they serve. We recognize that these workers are the backbone of our society, but they are left to struggle with housing costs that outpace their incomes, leaving them unable to live near their workplaces. Democrats will meet this challenge head-on by increasing funding for programs that support the creation and preservation of affordable housing options for essential workers, as well as collaborating with state and local governments to accelerate the development of workforce housing, ensuring that our communities remain accessible and affordable for all.

But free trade must be fair trade, within an open, rules-based international trading system. That will depend on American leadership, which has been lacking for the last eight years. The administration's failure to renew fast track (expedited legislative procedures to approve free trade legislation) has undermined its ability to open new markets abroad for American goods and services. As a result, America's trade deficit with the rest of the world has surged to record highs. We must be at the table when trade agreements are negotiated, make the interests of American workers and farmers paramount, and ensure that the drive to open new markets is successful.

The cost of providing health care for employees is a major burden for American businesses. Health insurance costs for employers have been rising every year since 1996, causing businesses to hire fewer new employees and too many families to go without insurance. Studies show that 60 percent of uninsured Americans either work for a small business or are dependent upon someone who does. The way to alleviate that burden is to bring down the cost of health care in America. Shifting the cost-burden onto the federal or state governments – costs that will ultimately be borne by the taxpayers – is not an effective solution to the problem. We must attack the root causes of high health care costs by: aiding small businesses in offering health care to their employees; empowering the self-employed through access to affordable coverage; putting patients and doctors in charge of medical decisions; reducing junk lawsuits and limiting punitive damage awards that raise the cost of health care; and seizing the cost-saving and quality-enhancing potential of emerging health technologies. It is also important that we reaffirm our Party's firm rejection of any measure aimed at making health care a government-run enterprise.

Americans are the most generous people in the world. No nation spends more in combined public and private efforts to combat disease and poverty around the world, and no nation works harder to ensure the continued vitality of the global economy. Our reasons for doing so are both moral and practical, for a world where half of the human race lives on a few dollars a day is neither just nor stable.

U.S. territories face serious economic challenges as they struggle to retain existing industries and develop new ones. Development of local energy options is crucial to reduce their dependence on imported fuel and promote economic stability. The Pacific territories should have flexibility to determine the minimum wage, which has seriously restricted progress in the private sector. A stronger private sector can raise wages, reduce dependence on public sector employment, and lead toward local self-sufficiency. All unreasonable economic impediments must be removed, including unreasonable U.S. customs practices.

Pundits and Democrats tell us that we should accept the new normal of a slow-growing economy. The consequences are too dire to ever accept that: President Obama and his party will set a record of being the first modern president ever to leave office without a single calendar year of three percent economic growth. As a result, the number of Americans living in poverty has increased by 7 million, our nation's economy has lost nearly $8 trillion of cumulative output compared with an average recovery, and the economic growth shortfall has left a cumulative real after-tax per person personal income shortfall of nearly $17,000 compared with an average recovery.

Healthcare and prescription drug costs are out of control. Republicans will increase Transparency, promote Choice and Competition, and expand access to new Affordable Healthcare and prescription drug options. We will protect Medicare, and ensure Seniors receive the care they need without being burdened by excessive costs.

National Priori.ties Resolution Introduction We meer in Philadelphia at a rime of national crisis. The great economic expansion of the lase decade, an expan- sion that primarily benefired the well off. is over. The economic recession will incrc::ase already morally unacceptable levels of inequality by worsening the conditions of low-wage workers and threatening the living standards of the middle class. Americans have been subject co ter- rorist arcacl<s and are deeply concerned about the security of their fumilies and

Thus we have consistently supported the Palestinian right to a sovereign state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip,as well as Israel’s right to retain its character as a majority Jewish state, with full political and civil rights accorded to Palestinians and Jews, whether secular or religious, as well as to other national and religious minorities, without quali- fication.We reaffirm that commitment today. DSA believes that the greatest barrier to peace is the Sharon government’s efforts to de facto annex most of the occupied territo- ries.The “wall” being built by the Israeli gov- ernment is said to be a defense against terror attacks and protection for isolated, illegal and – in DSA’s view – undesirable Israeli set- tlements, but its creation – whether pur- poseful or not – will divide Palestinian com- munities in a manner that precludes the cre- ation of an independent Palestinian state. The occupation also contributes to a pro- found sense of humiliation and resentment as Palestinians continue to live under the most dire conditions. The Israeli govern- ment’s policy of administering collective punishment, including road blocks, military incursions, the demolition of homes and the wholesale closure of the territories, is self–defeating. By contributing to mass unemployment, economic destitution and homelessness, the policy only increases the pool of extremist recruits and threatens the viability of Palestinian communities.

Joining progressive forces fighting for a new round of massive federal financial aid to state, county, and municipal governments. Only by such measures can essential public services be maintained and massive deflationary layoffs be avoided. 3. Holding public hearings on an Economic Bill of Rights, to be developed in conjunction with our allies, and using the Economic Justice Agenda as a starting point. 4. Continuing to work with labor and its allies to pass meaningful labor law reform that would restore a real right to organize and strike and ensure that the NLRB enforces these laws. In particular, we will work to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, with an emphasis on encouraging our coalition partners in the non-labor left to understand the impor- tance of rebuilding the labor movement as a vital element in progressing on all our issues. Furthermore: (A section on Immigration Reform will be added later by the NPC) • DSA reasserts its commitment to passing single-payer health care legislation at either the federal or state level. page 4 • Democratic Left • Winter 2003 page 4 • Democratic Left • Winter 2009

The failure of FLSA to establish limits on the working day or week has left Americans working more hours than in other advanced industrialized countries. Productivity increases while pay stagnates, forcing people to work additional hours, take second jobs or max-out their credit cards in order to keep up with the rising cost of living. This erosion of leisure time undermines the founding principles of democracy and exposes the contradictions of a capitalist system that exploits workers instead of benefiting them.

[PDF page 2] UnitedStatesbytheracializedandgendered manner inwhichtheyweredistributed,this period represents the high-water mark of working-class strength and security in the 20thcentury. TheRiseofNeoliberalism Starting in the 1970s, however, in a movement that would become known as neoliberalism, economic elites in these countries began mobilizing politically to lowertaxesfor therichandcorporations,to eviscerate democratic decision-makingboth intheworkplaceaswellasattheballotbox, toslashspendingonessentialsocialservices such as education and social security, to deregulate industries across the economy and to open up flows of capital across national borders. These “reforms” enabled corporations to evade virtually all forms of accountability either to the workers they employed or to the communities in which they operated. In the United States neoliberalism was aided by racialized attacks on social service provision in which African American and Latino recipients of welfare and other anti-poverty programs were portrayed as an “undeserving poor” whose lifestyle was being subsidized by (white) taxpayers (even though whites constituted the largest group of welfare beneficiaries). The success of neoliberalism across the United States and Europe differed based upon the relative strength or weakness of left-wingpoliticalpartiesandtradeunions– leaving working people in traditional bastions of social democracy such as Sweden relatively better off than working people in countries such the United States where trade unions and the Left have been weakhistorically. Butbythe early2000s the historicgainsmadeacrossthesecountriesin the post-World War Two period had been rolled back dramatically.

Over the past half century, wealth, and therefore economic and political power, have consolidated in fewer and fewer hands even as the conditions of most people’s lives deteriorate. These changes resulted from governments’ and corporations’ response to a crisis of profitability that culminated in attacks on labor and social and economic protections. Private debt is growing; wages have declined in real terms or failed to increase with productivity; and public austerity and incarceration endanger communities and make it difficult for many of us to pay for rent, food, childcare, or housing. As class and regional disparities in health, education, and infrastructure have widened, the fundamental divides of racial capitalism have also deepened.

[PDF page 4] 6 PROGRAM FOR 2024 The US political and economic system is failing the working class. Millions struggle with low wages, dangerous working conditions, and limited control over our own lives, all while the top one percent has gotten richer and richer. Billionaires control access to basic human needs like housing, healthcare, and education and make a profit off of them...This capitalist economic system is the cause of violence, unemployment, and a climate crisis that poses an existential threat to life on earth. Black and brown workers in racially segregated communities bear the brunt of capitalism’s cruelties, suffering especially from poverty wages, discrimination, deportation, and unemployment, often pushing workers into illegal activity to survive. Instead of investing in working-class communities, capitalists prefer to police and incarcerate workers they consider expendable to protect their wealth. Accelerating declines in living standards are exploited by the Christian nationalist right and figures like Donald Trump. Americans rejected the far- right agenda in the 2020 elections and watched a failed coup attempt to overturn the election results.... The far-right threatens Americans’ civil liberties. They attack the right of people to decide whether to have a kid by overturning Roe v. Wade and continue to restrict abortion access. Now they attack the rights of queer and transgender people by banning gender-affirming care. These culture wars are intended to pit workers against each other to empower a right- wing government.

Drug producing nations like Colombia have seen their societies torn apart by the intersection of criminal activity, political discord, and terrorism. And our nation is also afflicted with the violence and hopelessness of drugs. We must continue to combat narco-traffickers, increasing our budget to do so. We must continue to have a strong Drug Czar who can bring together the considerable resources of the U.S. Government in this effort. We must continue to fight those who make the financing of this effort possible such as the money launderers who facilitate the drug trade. We must continue to work with our friends and allies and international organizations to fight the blood money of the drug trade by getting a handle on those nations who turn a blind eye to the financial end of this problem.

Cutting taxes for middle class Americans. First, we must restore our values to our tax code. We want a tax code that rewards work and creates wealth for more people, not a tax code that hoards wealth for those who already have it. With the middle class under assault like never before, we simply cannot afford the massive Bush tax cuts for the very wealthiest. We should set taxes for families making more than $200,000 a year at the same level as in the late 1990s, a period of great prosperity when the wealthiest Americans thrived without special treatment. We will cut taxes for 98 percent of Americans and help families meet the economic challenges of their everyday lives. And we will oppose tax increases on middle class families, including those living abroad.

The American Dream is at risk. Incomes are down and foreclosures are up. Millions of our fellow citizens have no health insurance while families working longer hours are pressed for time to care for their children and aging parents. Gas and home heating costs are squeezing seniors and working families alike. We are less secure and less respected in the world. After September 11, we could have built the foundation for a new American century, but instead we instigated an unnecessary war in Iraq before finishing a necessary war in Afghanistan. Careless policies, inept stewardship and the broken politics of this Administration have taken their toll on our economy, our security and our reputation.

Our political system is under assault by those who believe that special interests should be able to buy whatever they want in our society, including our government. Our opponents have applauded the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United and welcomed the new flow of special interest money with open arms. In stark contrast, we believe we must take immediate action to curb the influence of lobbyists and special interests on our political institutions.

Democrats believe we must break down all the barriers holding Americans back and restore the basic bargain that built America's mighty middle class: If you work hard and play by the rules, you can get ahead and stay ahead. The system is not working when we have a rigged economy in which ordinary Americans work longer hours for lower wages, while most new income and wealth goes to the top one percent. Republican governors, legislatures, and their corporate allies have launched attack after attack on workers' fundamental rights to organize and bargain collectively. Too many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and hallmarks of a middle class life—owning a home, having access to affordable and quality childcare, retiring with dignity—feel out of reach. It is no wonder so many Americans feel like the deck is stacked against them. The Democratic Party believes that supporting workers through higher wages, workplace protections, policies to balance work and family, and other investments will help rebuild the middle class for the 21st century.

Around the world, democracy and human rights are under greater assault than they have been in a generation. Under President Trump, the United States has too often been part of the assault and too rarely engaged in the defense and promotion of universal values. Democrats believe that the fight for universal values should start at home, but it can't end there. Global democratic backsliding and the erosion of human rights put our interests and values at risk. That's why the reinvention of American leadership demands we put democratic values at the core of our foreign policy, with renewed strategies and tools for a new era.

Tech platforms and companies help keep us connected, inspire ideas and innovation, and create a global marketplace. At the same time, they collect, share, and exploit data; risk our children's mental health; and deepen extremism and polarization. There is growing scientific evidence for what so many Americans already know: Social media and other online platforms can affect our mental health and well-being – particularly for our kids. In addition, a handful of dominant tech platforms and companies increasingly control much of the market, allowing them to exercise enormous power over Americans' daily lives – and, too often, use that power to exclude competitors and undermine consumers and innovation.

Secure in its strength and its principles, the United States wants strong, healthy neighbors. The next American century should include all of the Americas. Democracy and free markets are again under siege from narcotics traffickers, guerrillas, economic uncertainty, and demographic upheaval. Poverty, inadequate education, rampant crime and corruption all tear at the fabric of several of these societies. In Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and other countries, democracy is faltering or under serious attack.

Many of Africa's leaders are committed to the spread of democratic institutions and democratic values throughout their continent. Yet those institutions and values are threatened in some parts of Africa by terrorism, chaos, and civil war. To extend liberty in Africa, we must help African leaders who seek to achieve security and peace on the continent.

Republicans will uphold and defend our party's core principles: Constrain the federal government to its legitimate constitutional functions. Let it empower people, while limiting its reach into their lives. Spend only what is necessary, and tax only to raise revenue for essential government functions. Unleash the power of enterprise, innovation, civic energy, and the American spirit — and never pretend that government is a substitute for family or community.

For much of the last century, an opposing view has dominated public policy where we have witnessed the expansion, centralization, and bureaucracy in an entitlement society. Government has lumbered on, stifling innovation, with no incentive for fundamental change, through antiquated programs begun generations ago and now ill-suited to present needs and future requirements. As a result, today's taxpayers—and future generations—face massive indebtedness, while Congressional Democrats and the current Administration block every attempt to turn things around. This man-made log-jam—the so-called stalemate in Washington—particularly affects the government's three largest programs, which have become central to the lives of untold millions of Americans: Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

Tyranny and injustice thrive when America is weakened. The oppressed have no greater ally than a confident and determined United States, backed by the strongest military on the planet.

Republicans will slash Regulations that stifle Jobs, Freedom, Innovation and make everything more expensive. We will implement Transparency and Common Sense in rulemaking.

[PDF page 3] Convention Directs Focus on Low-'Wage Economy loved ones. A war on rerrorism has been launched with the promise of effective acrion co currail international terrorism. An aerial campaign against the Taliban ha~ been iniciaccd and ground troops have been imro- duccd in Afghanistan. The administration has promised a Jong campaign with many cheaters of operation. We must acknowledge char our capacity ro respond co chis crisis is lim- ited by the organi1.ational conscraincs within which we operate. AJI our actions must be taken with the aim of ending the marginal position of the lefr in American political life and co rescoring a socialist presence wirhin mainstream policies. Acknowledging the circumstances we face is the fim seep to\'tards changing them. This process began ar our last convcnrion and was con- cinucd ar the Future Search Retreat held chis summer that fairly scared an organization consensus on building DSA and irs capacity. The crisis that began with the September 11 ch atcacks changes the political ground, but not our goals. Whac all DSAers agree upon is that military action char leaves in place an international economy that promotes poverry and inequality through our rhe world cannot prevent chc growth of excremisr groups.

[PDF page 3] “blank check.” Despite the horrific Israeli occupation, no mainstream politi- cians have the courage or foresight to call for the end of U.S. military aid to Israel, a cessation that should last until Israel ends all illegal settlement activity and demonstrates a renewed willingness to trade land for peace. The militarization of Israeli society is complemented by right-wing-backed free market “reforms,”austerity measures and other blatant attacks on workers’ living standards.These have made Israel less secure, vulnerable not just from physical assault by external enemies but from a self-induced crisis economy. The recent massive public workers strike, led by the Histadrut Labour Federation – the third nationwide strike in 18 months – is a direct outcome of the government’s iron-wall intransigence, the accumulated financial burden of maintaining Israel as a garrison state, and efforts by the Likud-led government to ruthlessly privatize Israel’s public sector. Similarly, the continued violence buttresses the role of the most regressive elements in Palestinian society, at the expense of the emergence of a secular, progressive leadership. As socialists, DSA supports workers on both sides of the Green Line, and not their reac- tionary political leaderships. The pro-peace and labor forces in both Palestine and Israel are the seg- ments of the region’s societies with which we politically identify and from which we draw strength.They cannot succeed absent the aid of the interna- tional community. Only a U.S.

The Israeli state has a right to defend its people, but after more than 60 years of self-defense and 40 years of an unjust occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, it should be self-evident that peace and security for Israel cannot be achieved by injustice towards another people. The common Israeli/U.S. effort to isolate, both diplomatically and economically, the Hamas regime in Gaza only served to increase Gazan support for Hamas. There can be no military solution, imposed by either side, to what is a political problem. The withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Forces from the West Bank and the creation of an economically viable and politically independent Palestinian state would provide the Palestinian people a reason to push aside rejectionist forces within their community. DSA also recognizes that leaving it at telling combatants to lay down their arms and embrace a two-state solution is like asking the sea to part itself. With hostilities enduring since before the time of Israel’s founding and with its holding and colonizing East Jerusalem and the occupied territories for longer than the 30 years war lasted, a political solution is both necessary and elusive. In many ways, the worst elements of both Israeli and Palestinian society are now the political leaderships of their respective nations. On the Israeli side, opportunism mixes with chauvinism as Netanyahu’s Likud-coalition government pan- ders to the settler vote.

The failure of FLSA to establish limits on the working day or week has left Americans working more hours than in other advanced industrialized countries. Productivity increases while pay stagnates, forcing people to work additional hours, take second jobs or max-out their credit cards in order to keep up with the rising cost of living. This erosion of leisure time undermines the founding principles of democracy and exposes the contradictions of a capitalist system that exploits workers instead of benefiting them.

[PDF page 2] UnitedStatesbytheracializedandgendered manner inwhichtheyweredistributed,this period represents the high-water mark of working-class strength and security in the 20thcentury. TheRiseofNeoliberalism Starting in the 1970s, however, in a movement that would become known as neoliberalism, economic elites in these countries began mobilizing politically to lowertaxesfor therichandcorporations,to eviscerate democratic decision-makingboth intheworkplaceaswellasattheballotbox, toslashspendingonessentialsocialservices such as education and social security, to deregulate industries across the economy and to open up flows of capital across national borders. These “reforms” enabled corporations to evade virtually all forms of accountability either to the workers they employed or to the communities in which they operated. In the United States neoliberalism was aided by racialized attacks on social service provision in which African American and Latino recipients of welfare and other anti-poverty programs were portrayed as an “undeserving poor” whose lifestyle was being subsidized by (white) taxpayers (even though whites constituted the largest group of welfare beneficiaries). The success of neoliberalism across the United States and Europe differed based upon the relative strength or weakness of left-wingpoliticalpartiesandtradeunions– leaving working people in traditional bastions of social democracy such as Sweden relatively better off than working people in countries such the United States where trade unions and the Left have been weakhistorically. Butbythe early2000s the historicgainsmadeacrossthesecountriesin the post-World War Two period had been rolled back dramatically.

As democratic socialists, we recognize that migrants experience the most damning and direct crimes of the neoliberal capitalist system. Militarized borders, xenophobic/racist immigration laws, and an abusive prison industrial complex aim to dehumanize and marginalize immigrants, functioning to both suppress wages and divide the working class. We seek to abolish these and any barrier to the social, labor, and political power of migrants through an organized decolonial movement. Our response to this aggression is not reform, but full abolition of anti-immigrant policies, structures, and laws. Immigrants in the United States are living under apartheid conditions. Under the current legal framework, migrants in the US are disenfranchised from basic legal protections.

[PDF page 4] 6 PROGRAM FOR 2024 The US political and economic system is failing the working class. Millions struggle with low wages, dangerous working conditions, and limited control over our own lives, all while the top one percent has gotten richer and richer. Billionaires control access to basic human needs like housing, healthcare, and education and make a profit off of them...This capitalist economic system is the cause of violence, unemployment, and a climate crisis that poses an existential threat to life on earth. Black and brown workers in racially segregated communities bear the brunt of capitalism’s cruelties, suffering especially from poverty wages, discrimination, deportation, and unemployment, often pushing workers into illegal activity to survive. Instead of investing in working-class communities, capitalists prefer to police and incarcerate workers they consider expendable to protect their wealth. Accelerating declines in living standards are exploited by the Christian nationalist right and figures like Donald Trump. Americans rejected the far- right agenda in the 2020 elections and watched a failed coup attempt to overturn the election results.... The far-right threatens Americans’ civil liberties. They attack the right of people to decide whether to have a kid by overturning Roe v. Wade and continue to restrict abortion access. Now they attack the rights of queer and transgender people by banning gender-affirming care. These culture wars are intended to pit workers against each other to empower a right- wing government.

We must punish employers who engage in a pattern and practice of recruiting undocumented workers in order to intimidate and exploit them, and provide strengthened protections for immigrant workers, including whistleblower protections. Doing so enhances conditions for everyone in the workplace. We believe that any increases in H1-B visas must be temporary, must address only genuine shortages of highly skilled workers, and mist include worker protections. They must also be accompanied by other immigration fairness measures and by increased fees to train American workers for high skill jobs. The Democratic Party is committed to assuring an adequate, predictable supply of agricultural labor while protecting American farm workers who are among the poorest and more vulnerable in our society. We reject calls for guest worker programs that lead to exploitation, and instead call for adjusting the status of immigrants with deep roots in the country. We should have equitable asylum policies that treat people the same whether they have fled violence from the Right and Left. And we support restoration of basic due process protections and essential benefits for legal immigrants, so that immigrants are no longer subject to deportation for minor offenses, often committed decades ago without opportunity for any judicial review, and are eligible to receive safety net services supported by their tax dollars.

We will extend the promise of citizenship to those still struggling for freedom. Today's immigration laws do not reflect our values or serve our security, and we will work for real reform. The solution is not to establish a massive new status of second-class workers; that betrays our values and hurts all working people. Undocumented immigrants within our borders who clear a background check, work hard and pay taxes should have a path to earn full participation in America. We will hasten family reunification for parents and children, husbands and wives, and offer more English-language and civic education classes so immigrants can assume all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. As we undertake these steps, we will work with our neighbors to strengthen our security so we are safer from those who would come here to harm us. We are a nation of immigrants, and from Arab-Americans in California to Latinos in Florida, we share the dream of a better life in the country we love.

Nonetheless, our current immigration system has been broken for far too long. We need comprehensive immigration reform, not just piecemeal efforts. We must work together to pass immigration reform in a way that unites this country, not in a way that divides us by playing on our worst instincts and fears. We are committed to pursuing tough, practical, and humane immigration reform in the first year of the next administration.

These are not permanent fixes. Only Congress can provide a permanent, comprehensive solution. But these are steps in the right direction. President Obama and the Democratic Party stand for comprehensive immigration reform that intelligently prioritizes our country's security and economic needs, while Mitt Romney and the Republicans have opposed commonsense reforms and pandered to the far right.

We will promote best practices among local law enforcement, in terms of how they collaborate with federal authorities, to ensure that they maintain and build trust between local law enforcement and the communities they serve. We will also vigorously oversee any programs put in place, to make sure that there are no abuses and no arbitrary deportation programs. We will establish an affirmative process for workers to report labor violations and to request deferred action. We will work to ensure that all Americans—regardless of immigration status—have access to quality health care. That means expanding community health centers, allowing all families to buy into the Affordable Care Act exchanges, supporting states that open up their public health insurance programs to all persons, and finally enacting comprehensive immigration reform. And we will expand opportunities for DREAMers to serve in the military and to then receive expedited pathways to citizenship.

We must heal our nation's deepest wounds, not fan the flames of hate. Democrats will root out structural and systemic racism in our economy and our society, and reform our criminal justice system from top to bottom, because we believe Black lives matter. We will ensure that our nation continues to prize diversity and compassion, and welcomes those who yearn to participate in our great democratic experiment by creating a humane, 21st century immigration system that benefits all Americans.

Congress must pass legislation to provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, farmworkers, careworkers, and other long-term undocumented individuals who contribute to this country, by paying taxes and contributing to their local economies, and in his second term, President Biden will continue pressing them to do so.

Because free trade is the most powerful force for the kind of development that creates a middle class and offers opportunity at home, the long-term solution for illegal immigration is economic growth in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. In the short run, however, decisive action is needed. We therefore endorse the recommendations of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform:

To better ensure that immigrants enter the United States only through legal means that allow for verification of their identity, reconnaissance cameras, border patrol agents, and unmanned aerial flights have all been increased at the border. In addition, Border Patrol agents now have sweeping new powers to deport illegal aliens without having first to go through the cumbersome process of allowing the illegal alien to have a hearing before an immigration judge. We support these efforts to enforce the law while welcoming immigrants who enter America through legal avenues.

Gang violence is a growing problem, not only in urban areas but in many suburbs and rural communities. It has escalated with the rise of gangs composed largely of illegal aliens, most of whose victims are law-abiding members of immigrant communities. We call for stronger enforcement and determined prosecution of gang conspiracies. Illegal alien gang members must be removed from the United States immediately upon arrest or after the completion of any sentence imposed. Aliens convicted of crimes that render them removable from the United States must be removed as soon as possible after the completion of their sentences through the immediate transfer of their custody to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

We are grateful to the thousands of new immigrants, many of them not yet citizens, who are serving in the Armed Forces. Their patriotism should encourage us all to embrace the newcomers legally among us, assist their journey to full citizenship, and help their communities avoid isolation from the mainstream of society. To that end, while we encourage the retention and transmission of heritage tongues, we support English as the nation's official language, a unifying force essential for the educational and economic advancement of—not only immigrant communities—but also our nation as a whole.

While immigration is addressed in more detail elsewhere, we cannot ignore the reality that border security is a national security issue, and that our nation's immigration and refugee policies are placing Americans at risk. To keep our people safe, we must secure our borders, enforce our immigration laws, and properly screen refugees and other immigrants entering from any country. In particular we must apply special scrutiny to those foreign nationals seeking to enter the United States from terror-sponsoring countries or from regions associated with Islamic terrorism. This was done successfully after September 11, 2001, under the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, which should be renewed now.

Republicans will strengthen ICE, increase penalties for illegal entry and overstaying Visas, and reinstate "Remain in Mexico" and other Policies that helped reduce Illegal Immigration by historic lows in President Trump's first term. We will also invoke the Alien Enemies Act to remove all known or suspected gang members, drug dealers, or cartel members from the United States, ending the scourge of Illegal Alien gang violence once and for all. We will bring back the Travel Ban, and use Title 42 to end the child trafficking crisis by returning all trafficked children to their families in their Home Countries immediately.

Resoltttion on 'W/{r and Terrorism Democratic Socialists of America unequivocally opposes Lhe mass murders of September 11, and supporrs bringing those responsible for chose crimes co justice. DSA recognizes the right and responsibility of the U.S. government, in defense of it:. people, co take appropriate steps ro ensun.· char future September 11 chs do noc occur. Those seeps would include: • Diplomatic initiatives; • Technical improvemenrs in domestic security; • Measures designed ro eliminate the international arms trade. • The regulation of international and domesric financial transacuons. • The limited and directed use of multilateral armed force. DSA calls for a hale m the bombing and immediate delivery of sufficiem food and ocher supplies to prevenr a famine in Afghanisran. DSA opposes restrictions on civil liberties and immigration in the name of fighting rerrorism and opposes racist scapegoating of Arab-Americans and American Muslims and all ocher racist scapegoating. DSA opposes "war profireering" in which working pt:ople bear the brum of the sacrifices in the campaign against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, while cor- porations make super-profits and receive governmcnl subsi<lie~. Adopted by DSA National Convention No11ember 11, 2001

But reducing or even eliminating the economic forces driving mass immigration is not enough. In the meantime, we must develop humane policies to respond to the migration of more than 12 million people already living in the United States. The presence of a vast number of highly exploitable workers—workers without legal status in this country—leads to the proliferation of low-wage, unsafe, and insecure jobs for all. Employers can more easily discriminate against young African Americans, particularly unskilled young men without high school diplomas, when there is vulnerable immigrant labor to exploit, and the availability of a reserve army of the barely employed endangers union wages and union contracts in many areas— notably among lower-skilled construction and factory workers. We need an immediate end to the deportations that keep immigrant workers living in fear and prevent them from exercising the few rights they do possess. We need to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation that grants immediate permanent resident status to undocumented workers currently in the United States and establishes an expeditious and non- punitive road to citizenship for these workers and their families. Such an immigration bill must not include guest worker programs that further exploit these workers and undercut all workers’ rights to organize and to secure humane wages and working conditions.

6. DSA advocates for changes in the immigration system to recognize same-sex relationships including marriages, domestic partnerships and long-standing relationships on the same basis as heterosexual relationships in approving visas, residency and citizenship.

The Senate bill provides an arduous 13-year path to citizenship for the large majority — but not all — of the approximately 11 million undocumented workers. It would grant legal status to millions of immigrants and their dependents, and allow them to work and travel without fear of deportation. But as those embarking on the lengthy road to citizenship cannot go more than 60 days without employment, the Senate bill would severely hamper immigrants from defending their rights in the workplace. In addition, the minimum of $3,750 in fees during the path to citizenship will put full citizenship out of the reach of many.

Leftists and progressives also face a staggeringarrayofadditionalchallenges: we mustdefendawoman’srighttoabortionand confront a wide range of gender inequities that persist in our male dominant society, even as neoliberalism increasingly divides working and professional women through therhetoricofmeritocracyand“leaning-in.” We must curtail the United States’ often illegal and generally counterproductive military adventures and “democracy promotion” efforts around the world. We mustfighttowincitizenshipforthemillions of immigrants who contribute massively to our national prosperity but who are forced to live in constant fear ofdeportation, and whodonotenjoythepoliticalandeconomic benefits ofcitizenship. We must find a way to forge deeper cross-national ties among an increasingly global working class with diverse and often conflicting material interests and, perhaps most critically ofall given the grave implications of inaction, we must build a progressive coalition capable of forcing the U.S. government to take dramatic action around theeffectsofhuman-causedclimatechange. Despite these challenges, once in a generation opportunities currently exist for taking the offensive and launching an assertiveanti-capitalistpoliticsintheUnited States. The most difficult — and most important — question that remains, is how, specifically, to make democratic socialist politics a force to be reckoned with in rural communities, towns, citiesandstatesacross the country in the coming years. Before addressing this question, however, we turn first to a no less fundamental issue: what is democratic socialism, and why do we place

End all data and resource sharing with ICE, end immigration detention, end family separation, and let our undocumented community members come home

[PDF page 8] FREE PALESTINE An immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an end to military and economic aid, and weapons sales to Israel, respect of the authority of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, and national sovereignty for the Palestinian people. END THE U.S. WAR MACHINE Greatly reduce the U.S. military budget, close overseas bases, and bring troops home. WE FIGHT FOR... WORKING-CLASS FOREIGN POLICY NO MORE ECONOMIC WARFARE End economic sanctions that impact the sovereignty of countries whose governments act independently of the United States, such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran. FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT Allow workers to freely migrate between countries to seek employment without restrictive immigration controls. Demilitarize the border, end all immigrant detention and deportations, immediate amnesty for all immigrants regardless of current immigration status, and provide access to jobs, labor rights, and social services to all immigrants. 14 WORKERS DESERVE MORE! WORKERS DESERVE MORE! 15

In areas where conflict has raged, comprehensive peace agreements are the foundation for lasting security. Bill Clinton and Al Gore have actively pursued peaceful resolutions to conflicts across the world and have been prepared to go the extra mile on behalf of negotiators seeking peace. Al Gore and the Democratic Party are fundamentally committed to the security of our ally, Israel, and the creation of a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors. We helped broker the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty, the Wye River accords, and the Sharm el-Sheik Memorandum, and will continue to work with all parties to make progress towards peace. Our special relationship with Israel is based on the unshakable foundation of shared values and a mutual commitment to democracy, and we will ensure that under all circumstances, Israel retains the qualitative military edge for its national security. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths. In view of the government of Israel's courageous decision to withdraw from Lebanon, we believe special responsibility now resides with Syria to make a contribution toward peace. The recently-held Camp David summit, while failing to bridge all the gaps between Israel and the Palestinians, demonstrated President Clinton's resolve to do all the United States could do to bring an end to that long conflict. Al Gore, as president, will demonstrate the same resolve.

The Middle East. The Democratic Party is fundamentally committed to the security of our ally Israel and the creation of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace between Israel and her neighbors. Our special relationship with Israel is based on the unshakable foundation of shared values and a mutual commitment to democracy, and we will ensure that under all circumstances, Israel retains the qualitative edge for its national security and its right to self-defense. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.

It is in the best interests of all parties, including the United States, that we take an active role to help secure a lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a democratic, viable Palestinian state dedicated to living in peace and security side by side with the Jewish State of Israel. To do so, we must help Israel identify and strengthen those partners who are truly committed to peace, while isolating those who seek conflict and instability, and stand with Israel against those who seek its destruction. The United States and its Quartet partners should continue to isolate Hamas until it renounces terrorism, recognizes Israel's right to exist, and abides by past agreements. Sustained American leadership for peace and security will require patient efforts and the personal commitment of the President of the United States. The creation of a Palestinian state through final status negotiations, together with an international compensation mechanism, should resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees by allowing them to settle there, rather than in Israel. All understand that it is unrealistic to expect the outcome of final status negotiations to be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949. Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel. The parties have agreed that Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations. It should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.

It is precisely because of this commitment that President Obama and the Democratic Party seek peace between Israelis and Palestinians. A just and lasting Israeli-Palestinian accord, producing two states for two peoples, would contribute to regional stability and help sustain Israel's identity as a Jewish and democratic state. At the same time, the President has made clear that there will be no lasting peace unless Israel's security concerns are met. President Obama will continue to press Arab states to reach out to Israel. We will continue to support Israel's peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, which have been pillars of peace and stability in the region for many years. And even as the President and the Democratic Party continue to encourage all parties to be resolute in the pursuit of peace, we will insist that any Palestinian partner must recognize Israel's right to exist, reject violence, and adhere to existing agreements.

Democrats will also address the detrimental role Iran plays in the region and will robustly enforce and, if necessary, strengthen non-nuclear sanctions. Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism. It violates the human rights of its population, denies the Holocaust, vows to eliminate Israel, and has its fingerprints on almost every conflict in the Middle East. Democrats will push back against Iran's destabilizing activities including its support for terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, counter Iran's ballistic missile program, bolster the capabilities of our Gulf partners, and ensure that Israel always has the ability to defend itself. Finally, Democrats recognize that the Iranian people seek a brighter future for their country and greater engagement with the international community. We will embrace opportunities for cultural, academic and other exchanges with the Iranian people.

Democrats oppose any unilateral steps by either side—including annexation—that undermine prospects for two states. Democrats will continue to stand against incitement and terror. We oppose settlement expansion. We believe that while Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations, it should remain the capital of Israel, an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths. Democrats will restore U.S.-Palestinian diplomatic ties and critical assistance to the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza, consistent with U.S. law. We oppose any effort to unfairly single out and delegitimize Israel, including at the United Nations or through the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement, while protecting the Constitutional right of our citizens to free speech.

President Biden is working to build a durable peace in the Middle East bolstered by regional integration, a strong coalition to counter and deter Iran and prevent it and its terrorist proxies from threatening the security of the region, and a negotiated two-state solution that ensures Israel's future as a Jewish and democratic state with recognized borders and upholds the right of Palestinians to live in freedom and security in a viable state of their own. The terrorist group Hamas sought to destroy the promise of that vision on October 7, 2023, but they will not succeed. The United States strongly supports Israel in the fight against Hamas. And the hard work of diplomacy under the President's leadership has made real progress on a way forward that will free the hostages, establish a durable ceasefire, ease humanitarian suffering in Gaza, and make possible normalization between Israel and key Arab states, together with meaningful progress and a political horizon for the Palestinian people.

It is important for the United States to support and honor Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East. We will ensure that Israel maintains a qualitative edge in defensive technology over any potential adversaries. We will not pick sides in Israeli elections. The United States has a moral and legal obligation to maintain its Embassy and Ambassador in Jerusalem. Immediately upon taking office, the next Republican president will begin the process of moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel's capital, Jerusalem.

We support President Bush's vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security. However, as he observed in his remarks of June 24, 2002, for such a vision to become a reality, Palestinians need a new leadership, not compromised by terror. Like all other people, Palestinians deserve a government that serves their interests and listens to their voices. If Palestinians embrace democracy and the rule of law, confront corruption, and firmly reject terror, they can count on American support for the creation of a Palestinian state. The Bush Administration has been clear about the obligations of Arab nations in achieving peace in the Middle East.

Israel is a vigorous democracy, unique in the Middle East. We reaffirm America's commitment to Israel's security and will ensure that Israel maintains a qualitative edge in military technology over any potential adversaries. Israel must have secure, defensible borders and we support its right to exist as a Jewish state able to defend itself against homicide bombings, rocket and mortar fire, and other attacks against its people. We support the vision of two democratic states living in peace and security: Israel, with Jerusalem as its capital, and Palestine. For that to become a reality, the Palestinian people must support leaders who reject terror, embrace the institutions and ethos of democracy, and respect the rule of law. We call on Arab governments throughout the region to help advance that goal. We support Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel and moving the American embassy to that undivided capital of Israel.

Our Unequivocal Support of Israel

Like the United States of America, the modern state of Israel is a country born from the aspiration for freedom and stands out among the nations as a beacon of democracy and humanity. Beyond our mutual strategic interests, Israel is likewise an exceptional country that shares our most essential values. It is the only country in the Middle East where freedom of speech and freedom of religion are found. Therefore, support for Israel is an expression of Americanism, and it is the responsibility of our government to advance policies that reflect Americans' strong desire for a relationship with no daylight between America and Israel. We recognize Jerusalem as the eternal and indivisible capital of the Jewish state and call for the American embassy to be moved there in fulfillment of U.S. law.

PREVENT WORLD WAR THREE, RESTORE PEACE IN EUROPE AND IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND BUILD A GREAT IRON DOME MISSILE DEFENSE SHIELD OVER OUR ENTIRE COUNTRY -- ALL MADE IN AMERICA

Resoltttion on 'W/{r and Terrorism Democratic Socialists of America unequivocally opposes Lhe mass murders of September 11, and supporrs bringing those responsible for chose crimes co justice. DSA recognizes the right and responsibility of the U.S. government, in defense of it:. people, co take appropriate steps ro ensun.· char future September 11 chs do noc occur. Those seeps would include: • Diplomatic initiatives; • Technical improvemenrs in domestic security; • Measures designed ro eliminate the international arms trade. • The regulation of international and domesric financial transacuons. • The limited and directed use of multilateral armed force. DSA calls for a hale m the bombing and immediate delivery of sufficiem food and ocher supplies to prevenr a famine in Afghanisran. DSA opposes restrictions on civil liberties and immigration in the name of fighting rerrorism and opposes racist scapegoating of Arab-Americans and American Muslims and all ocher racist scapegoating. DSA opposes "war profireering" in which working pt:ople bear the brum of the sacrifices in the campaign against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, while cor- porations make super-profits and receive governmcnl subsi<lie~. Adopted by DSA National Convention No11ember 11, 2001

government willing to take a forthright stand against Israel’s occupation policies by threatening to cut off military aid can move Israeli policy in a pro-peace direction.At the same time, the U.S. and the European Union (the main provider of aid to the Palestinian Authority) should pressure the Palestinian Authority to do all in its power to cease attacks on Israeli civilians. In addition, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations must station a permanent international armed peace-keeping force to separate the parties now. Such a force must be maintained during what will be, by its nature, an initially fragile peace. Only years of peaceful coexistence between a viable Palestinian state and a secure, but non-expansionist Israel can bring a durable, self-sustaining peace to the Middle East. The outline of a just peace settlement has been visible since the nearly suc- cessful secret talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in 1995. In return for a just peace, there must be an abandonment of all Israeli settlements on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, except those that a peace treaty might exempt through a mutual exchange of territory. In addition, the capital of the Palestinian state must be sited in the Palestinian parts of Jerusalem, as the Palestine National Council argues.

The Israeli state has a right to defend its people, but after more than 60 years of self-defense and 40 years of an unjust occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, it should be self-evident that peace and security for Israel cannot be achieved by injustice towards another people. The common Israeli/U.S. effort to isolate, both diplomatically and economically, the Hamas regime in Gaza only served to increase Gazan support for Hamas. There can be no military solution, imposed by either side, to what is a political problem. The withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Forces from the West Bank and the creation of an economically viable and politically independent Palestinian state would provide the Palestinian people a reason to push aside rejectionist forces within their community. DSA also recognizes that leaving it at telling combatants to lay down their arms and embrace a two-state solution is like asking the sea to part itself. With hostilities enduring since before the time of Israel’s founding and with its holding and colonizing East Jerusalem and the occupied territories for longer than the 30 years war lasted, a political solution is both necessary and elusive. In many ways, the worst elements of both Israeli and Palestinian society are now the political leaderships of their respective nations. On the Israeli side, opportunism mixes with chauvinism as Netanyahu’s Likud-coalition government pan- ders to the settler vote.

This nativist, racist and misogynist terrorism and the tragedies it creates can only be ended by a mass coalition of progressive social movements fighting together to put an end to this frontal assault on Muslims, immigrants, people of color and women. Such a coalition must also advance a coherent political analysis and program that directs white working-class anger at the billionaire class and their politics of austerity and violent repression.

The mass shooting in Pittsburgh was carried out by a white nationalist motivated by both anti-Semitism and anti-immigrant ideology. We respond in solidarity and support for those targeted by anti-Semitism, all religious intolerance, and anti-immigrant hatred. We recognize that this is one fight, whether it takes place in a synagogue in Pittsburgh, at a march in Charlottesville, or at the border in Texas.

Stand in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle against apartheid, colonialism, and military occupation, and for equality, human rights, and self-determination, including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

[PDF page 8] FREE PALESTINE An immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an end to military and economic aid, and weapons sales to Israel, respect of the authority of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, and national sovereignty for the Palestinian people. END THE U.S. WAR MACHINE Greatly reduce the U.S. military budget, close overseas bases, and bring troops home. WE FIGHT FOR... WORKING-CLASS FOREIGN POLICY NO MORE ECONOMIC WARFARE End economic sanctions that impact the sovereignty of countries whose governments act independently of the United States, such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran. FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT Allow workers to freely migrate between countries to seek employment without restrictive immigration controls. Demilitarize the border, end all immigrant detention and deportations, immediate amnesty for all immigrants regardless of current immigration status, and provide access to jobs, labor rights, and social services to all immigrants. 14 WORKERS DESERVE MORE! WORKERS DESERVE MORE! 15

Democrats will reject every effort to cut, privatize, or weaken Social Security, including attempts to raise the retirement age, diminish benefits by cutting cost-of-living adjustments, or reduce earned benefits. We will ensure Social Security will be there forever.

We express our solidarity with all the peoples of the Western Hemisphere. Their aspirations for economic betterment and political liberty have deserved better from our government than its policies of the last eight years. The current Administration has abandoned America's friends and rewarded its enemies. A Republican president will never embrace a Marxist dictator, in Venezuela or anywhere else. The current chief executive has allowed that country to become a narco-terrorist state, an Iranian outpost threatening Central America, and a safe haven for the agents of Hezbollah. Now, with their country ruined by socialism and on the verge of chaos, the Venezuelan people are fighting to restore their democracy and regain their rights. When they triumph, as they surely will, the United States will stand ready to help them restore their country to the family of the Americas.

Instead, we recommend comrades support Georgia based reproductive justice organizations and abortion funds. And we’re building an independent movement of poor and working class people with one foot in the formal political realm and the other foot outside, rooted in chapters such as ours in Atlanta. We fight capitalism with solidarity!

[PDF page 8] DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS KNOW THAT NO ONE HAS TO LIVE LIKE THIS. If we lived in a classless society and governed ourselves, we could freely build a world without war or poverty. We could build a world where no one suffers for their race, gender, or religion, and everyone is free, equal, and cared for. Building this world is the guiding star of our movement. When we labor for our common good instead of private profit, we can all have a secure and dignified life, and use our time and talents how we wish. To achieve this future, our class must organize. The Democratic Socialists of America is building a party whose goal is a democratic society of the working class. Our enemies are not just individual bosses, but the entire global system of capital; not just this or that cop, judge, or president, but the entire anti-democratic structure of our society. We are workers fighting to transform society: to win the battle for democracy, draft a new constitution, and create a democratic socialist republic. DSA has written this program for ending capitalist oligarchy and creating a real democracy. Some of these demands may be won under our current system, but we know complete victory will require building a new society from the ground up. We push these demands to their furthest extent today, so we can fight for their fullest realization in a socialist future. Join us.