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AMERICAN DEMOCRAT / Democratic Centrist
www.AmericanDemocrat.net / www.DemocraticCentrist.com
This is a text copy of the HTML website located at
http://www.AmericanDemocrat.net and http://www.DemocraticCentrist.com
Broad Policies - Strategies - Ideas
"Seeking The Greatest Good For The Greatest Number,
With Basic Rights For All."
by Rev. Bill McGinnis, Director - LoveAllPeople.org
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall
make you free." (John 8:32 KJV - Jesus speaking)
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to AMERICAN DEMOCRAT / Democratic Centrist. This is a website
of broad policies, strategies, and ideas for the Democratic Party in
the United States.
The purpose of this website is to prepare the Democratic Party to
govern the Country once again. This website presents a comprehensive,
coherent, unified set of broad policies and strategies which will
prepare us to win our elections and to govern well after we have
regained power.
"Ideas rule the world." - (attributed to Plato). There is a huge
competition of ideas going on now in this country and throughout the
world. And the stakes are very high. The ideas which prevail will
largely determine the future of the world. We hope to develop and
present some of the very best ideas here, at this website.
The present right-wing extremist government of the United States has
proven itself to be incapable of governing properly. Everything it
touched has turned to mud. It needs to be replaced. But the Democratic
party has been fumbling around aimlessly, and the people do not yet
think the Democrats are ready to govern, either.We hope that this
website will help to get the Democratic Party "ready for prime time"
once again.
This is a completely independent website, written and maintained by
Rev. Bill McGinnis, who is Director of LoveAllPeople.org. It is part of
Bill McGinnis Internet, which is a "tax-paying, profit-making,
free-speech business." Our fundamental beliefs and values are described
at our website Big World View, so you can see them clearly, without any
pretense or deception.. These beliefs and values influence everything
we do.
All people are welcome here, no matter who you are what what you are
trying to do. Even if you are our most determined foe, you are
nevertheless welcome here, in the hope that some of our ideas may rub
off on you and help you make a change for the better in your political
life.
Blessings to you. May God help us all.
Rev. Bill McGinnis, Director
LoveAllPeople.org
* * * * *
Broad Policies, Strategies, And Ideas For American Democrats
(1) Capture and hold the high moral ground.
"Always seek to know the truth, wherever it may lead."
(2) Always try to achieve "The Greatest Good For The Greatest Number,
With Basic Rights For All." APPLY THIS RULE TO ALL POLICIES.
(3) Marginalize both the Ultra-Right and the Ultra-Left. Govern from
the Center.
(4) Isolate and expose Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld and their Ultra-Right
supporters.
(5) Co-operate with moderate Republicans to get things done; but
strongly oppose the Ultra-Right.
(6) After we regain control of Congress, re-establish a bi-partisan
foreign policy, based on "The Universal Declaration Of Human
Rights"
and justice for all people.
(7) After we regain control of Congress, de-authorize the war in
Iraq, and withdraw immediately and completely, allowing the Iraqis
to run their own country.
(8) Oppose unregulated "Free Trade" and "Predatory Capitalism" at home
and abroad.
1. Capture And Hold The High Moral Ground
These are the values we should embrace and profess.
We believe in one God, Who created all things - God gives us freedom of
religion, to worship Him however we choose, or not at all, as our
conscience directs us. Religion shapes our values, and our values
determine our goals and our actions. Therefore it is both impossible
and unwise to ignore our religious beliefs in our political life.
However, if we hold an official position in Government, and our
personal religious beliefs conflict with the laws of the Government, we
will follow and enforce the laws of the Government. We recognize and
accept the the facts that most of us are Christians, but some of us are
not Christians; and that all of us need to work together for the
benefit of our Country.
We believe in a day of judgment, when we must give an account of our
life to God - This belief keeps us on the right track in life. Because
we believe this, we try to avoid all personal wrongdoing, knowing that
we will have to explain it to God on the day of judgment. However, if
we hold an official position in Government, and our personal religious
beliefs conflict with the laws of the Government, we will follow and
enforce the laws of the Government. We trust that this is what God
wants us to do in these situations.
We "Always Seek To Know The Truth, Wherever It May Lead" In the Bible,
Jesus teaches us always to seek the truth, because the truth will make
us free. (John 8:32). "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall
make you free." Most other religions and ethical systems also teach the
importance of seeking the truth. We categorically reject the idea that
we should ever lie to the People for any reason, or try to deceive them
in any way.
Even if you have no belief in God, it is still necessary to seek and
find the truth, because "Truth is to reason as magnetic North is to
navigation." If some of the compasses in the world failed to point to
magnetic North, how could navigation take place? The false readings
would cause total chaos, and ships and airplances would be crashing
into each other. Likewise for truth: if people base their rational
decisions on falsehood, they get chaotic bad results, like this idiot
war in Iraq. (pdf file located HERE!; also see =>
www.loveallpeople.org/truthandlies.html)
We try to follow The Golden Rule as our basic code of ethics. "Treat
others as you would like to be treated." The Golden Rule is a part of,
or compatible with, all major religions and ethical systems worldwide.
It is a reliable guide for all human behavior, and we try to promote it
as a basic American value. (Also see =>
www.loveallpeople.org/golden.html)
We recognize that the Golden Rule is the foundation of Democracy,
because the Golden Rule directs us to give the same power to others as
we would like to have for ourselves, namely, the power to make
decisions in matters affecting our lives. How much power? The same as
we have ourselves, and this leads immediately to the idea of "one
person, one vote," with all votes being of equal weight. So, Democracy
is the natural result of applying the Golden Rule to the question:
"What kind of government should we have?" Similarly, the Golden Rule
leads directly to the idea of equality of all people under the law.
(Also see => www.patriot.net/users/bmcgin/foundationofdemocracy.txt)
We recognize that the Golden Rule leads us to seek "The Greatest Good
For The Greatest Number, With Basic Rights For All." - "TREAT OTHERS AS
YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE TREATED." - When it is applied to Politics, the
Golden Rule leads to policies which create "The Greatest Good For The
Greatest Number, With Basic Rights For All." Thus, total good is
maximized and none are denied their basic rights in life. This is a
perfect formula for happiness and social stability anywhere! And this
should be our basic guideline for all policy: "The Greatest Good For
The Greatest Number, With Basic Rights For All."
We Oppose Torture Everywhere, For Any Reason. Torture grossly violates
the Golden Rule, "Treat others as you would like to be treated."
Moreover, torture is a bad way to get true information because people
will tell you anything you want to hear, just to stop the pain.
Furthermore, if we torture theirs, they will surely torture ours.
Finally, it is completely against hundreds of years of American policy
and tradition. We are supposed to be the good guys. We must not follow
the brutal example set by some other people. Torture must always be
unacceptable for us, in every case. (Also see =>
www.loveallpeople.org/torture.html)
Please also see John Stuart Mill's classic essay, "The Utility of
Religion."
2. Always Try To Achieve "The Greatest Good For The Greatest Number,
With Basic Rights For All." APPLY THIS RULE TO ALL POLICIES.
- Nobody left rotting in the street, like in New Orleans after Katrina.
Now we apply this rule to some major areas of policy: - TERRORISM -
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION - PROMOTING DEMOCRACY, PEACE, AND SECURITY
- OUR MILITARY FORCES - ENERGY - DISASTER PREVENTION AND RESPONSE -
JOBS AND EMPLOYMENT - DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH AND INCOME - HEALTH CARE -
EDUCATION - THE ENVIRONMENT - THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY.
TERRORISM - Always try to achieve "The Greatest Good For The Greatest
Number, With Basic Rights For All." - Our broad objective is to live at
peace with all people. We cannot stop terrorism by killing the
terrorists, because that just radicalizes the moderates and pushes
them, too, into becoming active terrorists. We cannot convert the
hard-core, because they are too far gone. What we can do, however, is
to give the moderates a stake in maintaining the status quo, so they do
not provide help to the hard core. Also, we try to reduce the level of
anger and resentment felt by the moderates. Basically there is not one
in a hundred Muslims who thinks we are right in our middle east policy,
particularly regarding Israel. Not one in a hundred. I've talked talked
to several hundred, and never found even one who thought we were right.
There is some hope for us in the Qur'an. Muslims are not supposed to
kill people who believe in Allah and the last day. That means God and
judgment day. The hard core doesn't care about that, because they think
everyone is guilty but themselves. The moderates do care, however, and
the more we demonstrate a recognition and respect for God, the less
willing they are to help the hard core kill us. There is much more to
it than this. Please see my websites at
http://www.loveallpeople.org/antiterrorist.html and
http://www.loveallpeople.org/homelanddefender.html.
More coming soon. Page will be at Policy - Terrorism
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION - Always try to achieve "The Greatest Good
For The Greatest Number, With Basic Rights For All." - Our objective
here is to keep WMD's out of the hands of people who might use them to
do something bad. The United Nations would have been the perfect
mechanism to make this happen, right after World War II. The five
permanent members of the Security Council are USA, Britain, France,
Russia, and China. These were also the first five countries to obtain
nuclear weapons. We should have frozen it at that point, not allowing
any other countries to get them, or any other WMD's. As the legitimate
winners of World War II, these five countries did have the moral right
to impose their will on the rest of the world, under the doctrine, "To
the winners go the spoils." That's why they set themselves up as the
only permanent members of the Security Council. We may still be able to
do this. It would involving disarming Israel, India, Pakistan, and
maybe some others. It might still be possible to do this. Otherwise?
Who knows . . . I would be inclined to try it.
More coming soon. Page will be at Policy - Weapons Of Mass Destruction
PROMOTING DEMOCRACY, PEACE, AND SECURITY - Always try to achieve "The
Greatest Good For The Greatest Number, With Basic Rights For All." -
Our broad objective here is to maximize the happiness and well-being of
all people. Democracy in some form is one way to do this, but not the
only way. Democracy is not an end in itself, but a means to the end of
government by consent of the people. Thomas Jefferson expressed it
perfectly in the Preamble to the Declaration Of Independence, where he
said people should establish their government by "laying its
foundations on such principles and organizing its powers in such form,
as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and
Happiness." Source: U. S. Declaration Of Independence To me, this means
"Self-Determination," not necessarily Democracy. It might possibly be
that some Muslim-majority areas would prefer to choose a Caliph and
follow the Qur'an as their Constitution. If so, it should be their
right to do so.
Please also see our Institute For Democratic Procedures
More coming soon. Page will be at Policy - Promoting Democracy, Peace,
and Security
OUR MILITARY FORCES - Always try to achieve "The Greatest Good For The
Greatest Number, With Basic Rights For All."
This whole subject needs to be completely re-examined.
More coming soon. Page will be at Policy - Our Military Forces
ENERGY - Always try to achieve "The Greatest Good For The Greatest
Number, With Basic Rights For All." - After all the rhetoric and
emotionalism has passed away, there are two clear energy forms which
allow us to be self-sufficient, efficient, and clean. And those two are
nuclear - for heavy-duty, fixed location applications; and hydrogen -
for portable applications such as automobiles. With nuclear, powered by
uranium, we make electricity, at large centralized facilities. Then,
with electricity plus water, we make hydrogen. We have abundant
supplies of water and uranium. Therefore, we can surely have an
abundant supply of electricity and hydrogen. Automobile engines can be
made to run on hydrogen and/or electricity. The only remaining problems
are power distribution problems, and these can be worked out. Minor
forms, such as solar and wind, are not really a factor in the big
picture. We should concentrate on nuclear and hydrogen.
More coming soon. Page will be at Policy - Energy
DISASTER PREVENTION AND RESPONSE - Always try to achieve "The Greatest
Good For The Greatest Number, With Basic Rights For All." - We observe
that the Bush administration ignored the many warnings and allowed the
disastrous 9/11 attacks to occur. Similarly, the Bush administration
responded weakly to the disastrous flooding in New Orleans following
Katrina. So we see that both disaster prevention and response need to
be improved. We know that the Ultra Right dislikes Public programs of
all kinds, and tries to cut their budgets. So we should not be
surprised that FEMA was not ready.
More coming soon. Page will be at Policy - Disaster Prevention And
Response
JOBS AND EMPLOYMENT - Always try to achieve "The Greatest Good For The
Greatest Number, With Basic Rights For All." - We observe that some of
our best jobs are now leaving this country and moving to less-expensive
labor markets; and we recognize that this trend will grow even greater
as long as unregulated "Free Trade" permits profit-seeking corporations
to hire and fire whomever they please, with no accountability to any
political authority.
More coming soon. Page will be at at Policy - Jobs And employment
DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH AND INCOME - Always try to achieve "The Greatest
Good For The Greatest Number, With Basic Rights For All." - We observe
that the rich are getting richer, while everyone else falls behind; and
we recognize this as the natural consequence of Predatory Capitalism at
work here. The remedy for this injustice is to establish wise and
reasonable regulations for corporations, coupled with needed changes in
the income tax structure.
More coming soon. Page will be at Policy - Distribution Of Wealth And
Income
HEALTH CARE - Always try to achieve "The Greatest Good For The Greatest
Number, With Basic Rights For All." - We observe that health care costs
continue to rise as a percentage of income, even while the percentage
of people covered by health insurance continues to drop. We find that
more and more people are getting hooked on certain medications for the
rest of their life, even while television ads for prescription
medications are everywhere. This is a natural result of privatization,
deregulation, and unrestrained profit-seeking by pharmaceutical
corporations.
Please also see our pages on Predatory Capitalism and the twin frauds
of Privatization and Deregulation
More coming soon. Page will be at Policy - Health Care
EDUCATION - Always try to achieve "The Greatest Good For The Greatest
Number, With Basic Rights For All." - We know that the Ultra Right
dislikes Public programs of all kinds, preferring to privatize
everything. And we know that the Ultra Right dislikes Public Schools in
particular. So we should not be surprised that our Public Schools are
struggling under their neglect. Please also see our pages on Predatory
Capitalism and the twin frauds of Privatization and Deregulation
More coming soon. Page will be at Policy - Education
THE ENVIRONMENT - Always try to achieve "The Greatest Good For The
Greatest Number, With Basic Rights For All." - The Ultra Right hates
Government regulations of all kinds, particularly those that cost big
money, such as environmental regulations. Therefore nobody should be
surprised to see the general trashing of our environment under the Bush
administration. Please also see our pages on Predatory Capitalism and
the twin frauds of Privatization and Deregulation
More coming soon. Page will be at Policy - The Environment
THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY - Always try to achieve "The Greatest Good For
The Greatest Number, With Basic Rights For All." - Not so many years
ago (mid 1950's), there used to be a broad set of cultural values
shared by most people in the USA, summarized by the phrase, "Truth,
justice, and the American way," and embodied in the comic-book hero,
Superman. During this same time, basic Christian religious values were
being taught in the public schools - and promoted in other public
places - legally and quite openly. There were relatively few choices in
radio and TV programming, so most people were exposed to the same
cultural content. And this content was carefully regulated, in the
Public Interest, by the Federal Communications Commission, and highly
moral by today's sewer-like standards. Abortions were illegal and hard
to get, and birth-control pills had not yet been invented. Unwanted
pregnancy was a life-breaker, so there was far, far less unmarried
sexual intercourse than there is today. Most couples stayed married,
and women with children stayed home for the day, so unsupervised houses
were mostly unavailable for teenaged lovemaking. And you had to prove
you were married to get a hotel room.
Now, this seems to be gone forever, replaced by a culture of "every man
for himself" and "every group for itself," with almost no limits on
personal behavior. Trying to teach morality without religion, or at
least a recognition of God (or some other punishment/reward mechanism,
such as Karma), is a very difficult thing to do, because the question
always arises: "If there is no God, then why shouldn't I do anything I
want, as long as I don't get caught?" And there is no convincing reason
why not, if there is no God and no feeling of accountability to God.
And we wonder why society seems to be breaking apart . . .
More coming soon. Page will be at Policy - The American Community
References:
Democratic Party Platform - 2004
Republican Party Platform - 2004
Green Party Platform - 2004
Libertarian Party Platform - 2004
Vermont Progressive Party - Statement Of Principles
Socialist Workers Party Platform - 2005
3. Marginalize Both The Untra-Right And The Ultra-Left.
Their proper role is to illuminate the outer limits of policy and
opinion, not to govern. Both extremes are useful, helpful, and
entertaining to the country. But neither extreme is capable of good
government, because they leave too many people out. We must be
Centrists. "Good government always comes from the Center."
4. Isolate And Expose Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld And Their Ultra-Right
Supporters
We Consider George W. Bush and his Ultra-Right supporters to be deeply
irresponsible in the following areas:
1. Social Security - The reckless changes he tried but failed to enact
were Deeply Irresponsible, because they would have needlessly
endangered one of the most successful government programs ever devised,
all for the sake of appeasing his anti-government friends.
2. FEMA and Katrina -A bad appointment to be head of FEMA, plus sloppy
oversight, led to a needless disaster when Katrina came along. This was
Deeply Irresponsible.
3. The 9/11 Attacks - By disregarding all the warnings, he made it
possible for the 9/11 attacks to occur. This was Deeply Irresponsible.
4. Tort Reform - He is trying to change the laws so that when someone
is badly injured because of a corporation's negligence, it will be very
difficult to sue. This is Deeply Irresponsible.
5. Tax Policy - Huge tax giveaways to the very rich, while borrowing
more money to pay the bills: this is Deeply Irresponsible.
6. Privatization of Everything - This takes ownership and economic
power away from the people and gives it to the corporations, all in the
name of supposed "efficiency." It converts Public to Private. Deeply
Irresponsible.
7. Deregulation of Everything - By throwing out necessary regulations,
he destroys all structure in competition. Thus the corporations run
free to do anything they want. And our economy turns into one big
street fight, where the most powerful corporations always win
everything, and everybody else loses. Deeply Irresponsible.
8. The War In Iraq - A big mistake. The stupidest thing this country
has ever done. Saddam was totally under control and had already
destroyed his weapons, as the Bush administration must have known but
chose to disregard. Conceived in delusion, justified by lies, begun
without planning, botched on all levels: this war may never end.
Needless, reckless, murderous, illegal, immoral, inherently wrong -
Deeply Irresponsible.
Please Also see www.DeeplyIrresponsible.com
5. Co-operate With Moderate Republicans To Get Things Done; But
Strongly Oppose The Ultra-Right.
6. After We Regain Control Of Congress, Re-Establish A Bi-partisan
Foreign Policy, Based On "The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights"
And Justice For All People.
Universal Declaration Of Human Rights - (framed below)
Source of text: http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
7. After We Regain Control Of Congress, De-Authorize The War In Iraq,
And Withdraw Immediately And Completely, Allowing The Iraquis To Run
Their Own Country.
Please see my press release, A Clear and Simple Plan For Getting Out of
This Idiot War in Iraq. (pdf file located HERE!; also see =>
www.loveallpeople.org/truthandlies.html)
To see my posted messages about the War in Iraq,
please click HERE! and HERE!
8. Oppose Unregulated "Free Trade" And "Predatory Capitalism" At Home
And Abroad
We oppose unregulated "Free Trade." - "Free Trade" is a pretty name for
the ugly economic policy of murderous, dog-eat-dog, unregulated,
cut-throat competition, in which the most powerful profit-seeking
corporations join together to crush everyone else; and eventually,
piece-by-piece, they gain ownership or control over all the economic
resources in the world. (For more, click =>
www.loveallpeople.org/tragicfreetrade.html)
We oppose "Predatory Capitalism." - "Predatory Capitalism" is what
happens when corporations go unregulated. Unregulated profit-seeking
corporations cannot be trusted to protect the Public, because their
main objective is to make profits, not to be a do-gooder for the
Public. Whenever profit-making conflicts with the Public interest,
profit-making wins! (Please also see our pages on Predatory Capitalism
and the twin frauds of Privatization and Deregulation.)
Therefore we support wise and reasonable regulation of international
trade and profit-seeking corporations.
* * * * *
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