Communist Party USA 2004 presidential platform

[leftyandproud]

holy shit...am I turning into a commie? ;)
maybe the freeper bastards were right about me...but I honestly can't find anything to disagree with in this..

http://www.cpusa.org/article/static/511/#question29

Platform of the Communist Party USA



Communist Party Immediate Program for the Crisis

It is shameful and unacceptable that any child should live in poverty, and that anyone should go hungry, homeless, without medicine, or without a living wage in our nation of such great wealth.

Meet the Needs of Working, Unemployed and Farm Families
- Raise the minimum wage to $12 an hour.
-Unemployment insurance for all workers.
- Moratorium on farm foreclosures
- Labor law reform to remove barriers to workers who want to join a union.
- No privatization of Social Security. Increase benefits.
- Universal prescription drug coverage administered by Medicare. Universal health care system.
- Restore social safety net. Welfare reform that includes job training, supports and living wages.
- Full funding for equal, quality, bi-lingual public education. No vouchers.

Make Corporate Giants Pay
- Repeal tax cuts to the rich and corporations.
- Close corporate tax loopholes.
- Restitution to workers' pensions.
- Strong regulation of financial industry.
- Regulation and public ownership of utilities
- Prosecute corporate polluters. Public works program to clean our air, water and land
- Aid to cities and states. Federally funded infrastructure repair and social service programs

Foreign Policy for Peace and Justice
- No to war with Iraq - End military interventions
- Repeal Fast Track and NAFTA, stop Free Trade Area of the Americas(FTAA). No secrecy.
- Save Salt II Agreements, reject Star Wars and Nuclear Posture Review
-Abolish nuclear weapons
- End military interventions.
- Cut military budget and fund human needs.

Defend Democracy and Civil Rights
- End racial profiling.
- Repeal the death penalty.
- Enforce civil rights laws and affirmative action.
- Repeal USA Patriot Act.
- Legalization and protection of immigrant>rights.
- Public financing of elections. Overall election law reform including Instant Runoff Voting.
- Youth and student bill of rights. Guarantee youth's right to earn,learn and live.

[JVS]

1. Careful Comrade

When I told the board that I voted for Gore, following the endorsement of the Communist Party, people wigged out and assumed I was a freeper trying to tarnish Gore.

I agree with all the points except:
-Abolish nuclear weapons

I think MAD has been a very successful policy and should not be discarded.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

3. But will MAD work in a unilateral fashion with a lunatic

at the head of National Command Authority?

[JVS]

6. Well I think that that is more of an indictment of our electorate than ...

of MAD. Stalin, Mao, and and a handful of tinpot regimes have had nuclear weapons and not used them. In fact the only use of nukes in warfare was by Truman, whom I haven't seen called a lunatic. Unless I am seriously underestimating the lunacy of the Bush administration we should be OK. After all, there is no profit to be had by blowing up the world. Nuclear weapons have heralded nearly 60 years of peace in Europe (Discounting civil unrests, in which nukes are non-applicable), to eliminate them would bring us back to the days where fully industrialized countries get involved in full blown wars that kill millions.

[LosinIt]

2. Commie Bastards!

Caring about the people? We'll have none of that in this country.

[leftyandproud]

4. so are we all in agreement?

commies ROCK!
:)

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

5. Always have. The fear we had was paranoia fed to us to

keep the economy of destruction running.

[leftyandproud]

7. then why the hell..

are all of the greens/socialists + the cpusa NOT uniting behind us?? If we stand together, the pukes will have no chance.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

8. Because anyone over the age of , oh 30, still has that

inbred fear of "commies" that 50 years of Hooverism instilled in us

[JVS]

9. Hey wait. The CPUSA has been backing up the Democratic party since 1988

As I said in reply #1 they told me to vote for Gore, not Nader.

typo

[BayCityProgressive]

10. Well....

Although I do tend to agree with many many socialist issues the CPUSA is kind of a joke...as far as I know they have no officials in elected office and very few members which means almost no political power or relevence. They also took money from the Soviet Union and if you didn't know..they weren't exactly a workers paradise with liberty and justice for all lol.

[JVS]

11. The Communists put their money where their mouths are

Unlike a lot of so-called socialists who support socialism until someone dies. Then suddenly they cry out "Those evil people are corrupting Socialism" or some argument that the fact that Communists will bust some skulls if needed proves that they are "not really leftist". If the USSR had not been there the Nazis would still rule Europe, and the People of Russia have never had it as good as they did under the Communists. I like the Communists because they aren't addicted to losing.

[private_ryan]

17. "I like the Communists because they aren't addicted to losing"

can't tell if this is sarcasm or not since I don't see them running the world...

[JVS]

19. The Communists had a good run

as better a run than European Democracy from the Bastille to Waterloo. By not addicted to losing I mean that they are willing to do what is necessary to enforce their will, namely kill their enemies. And until the 80's they hadn't gone soft. Meanwhile Democratic attempts to adopt socialism were crushed (Allende) If Gorbachev had gone Tiannemen on the Berliners in 1989 he might still be in power today.

[private_ryan]

23. are you serious?

You like them because they kill their enemies?
Liberia might be looking for a new President soon, go and run over there communist style.

also, what a shame that Gorbachev didn't go Tiannemen...

[JVS]

26. They did what they had to.

It might be fun to sit around at coffee shops or here at DU talking about what you want the country to become, but talking isn't doing. If the founders of this country hadn't become violent, we probably would have become independent at the same time as Canada. In 2000 an election was stolen and we protested peacefully, since then the constitution has been shreaded and we stay peaceful, there is a good chance that the 2004 elections will be either rigged or postponed/cancelled, will we sit idly by again? So, why do I respect the Communists? Because they were not afraid to create the changes that they wanted to see.

[newyawker99]

28. Congrats LosinIt!! 500 posts

:toast:

[private_ryan]

12. great ideas, huh?

why don't you ask some people who have lived in so called communist countries and see what they say?

[BayCityProgressive]

13. Yes

the gulags were great. The Soviets were not real communists. They were authoritarian dictatorships. Real socialism would be great, but don't defend monsters like the USSR and China. Stalin was just as much a monster as Hitler.

[private_ryan]

15. real socialism?

I always get this argument that the transition wasn't complete, the proletariat and all that stuff.

The truth and the matter is that socialism doesn't work, no matter how great it looks on paper.

[BayCityProgressive]

16. Actually,

Real socialism has never been tried because it has always been crushed at its very beginnings. We have seen REAL unrestricted capitalism and that unfortunately is a nightmare. There needs to be some sort of middle ground we can work towards.

[private_ryan]

18. so you think we should abolish capitalism and enter

this socialism experiment?

And capitalism is controlled here, it's not unrestricted. EPA, OSHA, SEC, DOJ, FTC etc come to mind. How regulated and how the rules are enforced is another story but you can't say it's unrestricted

[BayCityProgressive]

20. I didn't say it wasn't

but I don't think it is restricted enough. I also don't think that resources such as healthcare and water that are essential to all people should be sold for profit. Sorry if you don't agree, we all have different opinions. However, I would say that if you are one of the poor people over in Africa who can't even afford the privatized water they sell there you might be singing a different tune. Maybe being a child laborer in China or a woman forced into factories and forced to take pregnancy tests in Latin America would be fun. Maybe it would be nice to be one of the 1/4 of the homeless in America who do work and still can't afford a home. It is pretty easy to have a positive view of all things capitalist when you aren't at the bottom of the ladder. I don't believe in equal pay for all..I believe in a living wage so that all have food and shelter. I do believe harder work deserves higher pay. I also believe that corporations should be held respoonsible for their actions and be held accountable for their negative effects on a society. What we have now is socialism for the rich and capitalism for the rest of us, corporations always want to be granted personhood but they soon shun that personhood when it means taking legal responsiblity for their actions.

[private_ryan]

21. I can tell at least 50 more horrible stories

that I suffered under someone who said was taking us to socialism. The world is screwed up and I agree that no one should go to sleep hungry (it really sucks) and should have basic living stuff...I guess we disgaree on how to reach that.

[BayCityProgressive]

22. Like I said before

the CPUSA is a joke and China, USSR ect were just as bad as Hitler and are undemocratic. I support democratic societies where all can participate and can live without fear of homelessness and have an equal shot at greatness. I think that is what America is all about and we all have our own views on how to get there. Not all Democrats agree with eachother and not all Republicans agree with eachother. If you feel passionately enougha bout what you believe you have to work to get your views out and heard. This is a democracy and I think everyones voice is equally important.

[JVS]

14. My East German Uncle was just devastated that they wouldn't forclose ..

on his farm. It was an outrage! Fortunately reunification came and he's had the good fortune to be forclosed on. Danke Helmut!

[Kellanved]

25. Don't thank Kohl

He did everything to stop the Reunification. A large part of the current economic problems are due to his incompetence.
Telling the press that "Gorbatchew reminds me of Goebbels" and other Bushlike highlights during the negotiations show this, as well as mounting proof, that he was corrupt and has abused his office.

[TreasonousBastard]

24. Great platform,

And they can afford a great platform since there's, what, a dozen or so of them left. But, they left out a few things, like some Marxist basics-- communal ownership of the means of production would be one.

Last Joisey governor's race we had a socialist, but no communist, running. I liked the Socialist, and I would have voted for him, but I really hated the Republican asshole at the time. I'm not all that sure I actually would have wanted him top win, though.

(But, maybe he wouls've been better than the Democratic asshole we ended up with...)

[YellowRubberDuckie]

27. I agree with a lot of it...but a lot of it is silly, in my opinion.

I'm one of the few dems who enjoys the death penalty and likes guns. I actually think that child molestors need to be killed. They are not capable of rehabilitation and death is the only way to ensure they never harm another child. Rapists deserve the same thing.
I think that doing away with Nuclear weapons is a good thing. Destroy them all.
Universal health care doesn't work. Look at how fucked up Canada's system is. And England's isn't wonderful either. Unless someone comes up with a system that will work, then don't even talk to me about this issue, because it sucks. I think we need AFFORDABLE HEALTH INSURANCE...I think that's something we need to look into...not to mention we need a cap on how much juries can award patients in malpractice suits. Then doctor's malpractice insurance will go down, making health care way more affordable than ever before.
Also, this whole thing about a moratorium on farm forclosures...that's silly too...these farmers are getting way too much in subsidies(welfare),and if they don't pay for their farms, sorry. That's not the Bank's fault.
And I'm sorry, this is probably going to make me sound intolerant, but if you're coming to this country, what is so wrong with learning English? If you move to Germany or Spain, they expect you to learn the language. A lot of people won't give you the time of day there unless you speak their language, and no one thinks they're bigots because they expect you to have the common courtesy to learn the language everyone in that country speaks. If you can't communicate with a large part of the population, it's going to be damn hard to get anything accomplished. Bi lingual schools, in my opinion, just doesn't make sense. Those children need to learn English, who can in turn go home and teach their parents English.
I also don't think affirmative action has a place in our society anymore. I think if you can't get a job on your merits, then you probably don't deserve it. I'm a white middle class college girl, and if I'm not qualified for a job, then I'm not going to get it. That's how it's supposed to be. I also have relatives that aren't so much white as they are a nice dark brown (Indians and blacks), and they will tell you that if they aren't qualified for a job, they shouldn't get it.
In closing there is never going to be a communist in the white house mainly because of all the commie fear from back in the day. It's a nice pipe dream, but please don't hold your breath. You have some nice ideas, but I don't think realistically in this country are you going to be able to realize them. I do love the idea of getting rid of all the corporate welfare bullshit, but until the republicans are canned, that's just something we're going to have to dream about.
Duckie

[leftyandproud]

29. bump