What do the people who call themselves Progressive (Blue) want to acomplish?

[Bill]

Okay, here's the thread for the Negotiable Wants List for the other side, the Blues.

The idea is the same - a numbered list of focused, short statements of what is wanted, as if these were demands at a negotiating table in wartime.

My top 5 list might seem a little strange, but it's a good starting place.

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1- Campaign and Election Reform (public funding only for 16 years, to correct current abuses)

2- Government Self-Investigation (Increase the self-investigation bureacracy of the government by 10-50 times minimum to investigate fraud, waste, incompetence. ) (paid for instantly by recovered waste&fraud)

3- Revision Education (All of these current problems can be traced back to a failure of American Education - it's been used as a warehouse for kids and a licensing mill for professionals. Start a crash program, equivalent to the moon race but larger, to overhaul the education system. Increase the standards for the minimum public education. 12 month school years.)

4- Rebuild American Infrastructure Wisely (start with very-hi-speed & very-hi-capacity internet everywhere, electricty generation, real-cost-accounting) (paid for initially with money taken from defense, will return many times cost in taxes from increased productivity and interior business)

5- Re-Regulate Everything with 2-way Oversight (deregulation has produced the opposite result claimed - reregulate all indutries and corporations, with 2-way oversight hearings from both industry and government to correct errors held twice a year.) (Plan a universal federal ten year review, public hearings to make sure re-regulation produces good results.)
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You know, it's quite tough to write short focused negotiable wants - each one seems to require explanation of some sort.

[mwillman]

I agree basicly with everything you have there. I would add.

1. Lobby reform: Politicians need to be the voice of the people not just those that can afford to play the DC game.

2. Improved Healthcare system: It doesnt have to be a giant government system, I am open to ideas but the power needs to be taken out of the hands of insurance companies that are only worried about dollars and not human health.

3. Privacy Rights : Better Protection from government intrusion into private lives.

4. A return to a more distributed market: rather then one owned by a very small minority. Hard one to do but decent corporate and media regulations can help alot.

5. A return to a sane scientific policy: were the government listens to the scientists rather then deacons. This includes a removal of the ignorant stemcell policy.

6. No more Church sponsored government charity: the government should never give money to places of worship becuase it will always be biased towards the majority religion.

7. A thorough investigation into the War in Iraq and 911: done by non biased investigation teams.

8. A sane fiscal policy: based on a balanced budget rather then exessive spending

9. A strong defensive military: that does not invade other nations for corporate gain

10 A complete reform of corporate subsidies: I understand protecting enfant industries and our job base but millionaires in new york should not be getting money for farm land that isnt being used. Just to name one example.

11. I will restate Education becuase that is a big one. We spend 3 trillion invading Iraq but less then 50 billion on education. That is just wrong.

[Bill]

I'd like to continue collecting some blue "negotiable wants", if anybody has any to contribute.

Then, compare them to our lists of red "negotiable wants".

[disrupter]

Partial list:

Political Campaign Finance: Campaign contributions come only from the voters/legal-resident, of a given voting district or region. Others can buy advertising all they want but contribute nothing directly to a candidate's race. Public financing is probably a reasonable idea beyond that.

Deficit Spending: Only allowed for investing in or repairing infrastructure. Any exception would take some kind of major multi-branch government approval.

Education: Should emphasize critical thinking above all else. American civics class must be required. Math & Science are essential. History would be good. Some kind of creative logic class would be good.
In this day and age facts can be grabbed almost instantly, it is [critical thinking] the ability to skillfully scrutinize & manipulate those facts that is essential.

Environment: I would like to see a really deep analysis of all the global warming data. If it is anywhere near as severe & serious as is being purported it has to become a national/global priority. We should be unabashed about investing in energy science & technology. For our own purposes & as an exportable technology the globe & all advanced life may hang in the balance.
Conservation & preserving the environment is the the ONLY truly conservative policy. We try to think ahead of actions rather than to clean up reckless, thoughtless actions.

Markets: Government must not be at all shy about threatening to impose regulation on any market area that is exposed as seriously crooked. Where markets don't take that strong hint & self-clean, you must back up the threat with actual regulation. It should be as spare, elegant, but effective as possible.
A healthy honest market attracts money, crooked ones chase investors away in fear.

Criminal Justice: We should try to get as far from moralism & punitive sentencing. We have to be technocrats about crime & society safety. We are not there to be moral judges, we just need to make society safe to live in & to efficiently conduct business. You get locked up for people's protection. Not because you offend their delicate sensitivities. It is an adult society. Your life & body are your own. You can do anything with them that doesn't directly harm others.

Drugs: Do some very clinical completely unbiased analysis of narcotics. Almost without exception they should all be legal & the way you battle their abuse is with really good deep education & information about them. They add to the economy with tax revenues instead of spending to fight them. They become safer because government can regulate & standardize the known active ingredient content percentage. Alcohol prohibition coincided right with the great depression. I don't know if there is some kind of connection, but i think there are rational arguments that there is, although no study has been done to explore that thesis.

Public Service Requirement: We should require that all people do some amount of public service. And maybe that should be something that is required for a couple of years every couple of decades of a citizen's life. I suppose you could also have a part-time option too, where if you did some kind of public service on a part-time ongoing/extended basis is an option. This could be military, or other social community investment.
Perhaps people could be encouraged to use whatever gifts or skills they have. So they do what they are good or trained/educated to do.
The freedom to pursue one's private agenda must be somewhat balanced with some investment in the shared public context.

[disrupter]

Prostitution: I would treat this similarly to drugs. Legalize, regulate & tax it. Don't make a governmental moral judgment about it. People or communities must make those decisions for themselves. The government must not be involved in hypocrisy of individuals of those communities who attempt to deceive those communities. We can not deceive ourselves about who & what we are.

[disrupter]

Government Spending & Operation: This must always be subject to questioning & scrutiny, beyond just nuisance.
America is the people, period.
The constitution, our most revered document was written by the American people. Only because the people value it do we adhere to it.
We must demand of one another that we be scrupulous, critical thinkers.

Citizenship: Perhaps citizenship should not be a birthright. Maybe we all need to pass the very same citizenship tests we require of immigrants.
It is the very requirement of a hurdle/test to surpass that gives credibility & value to the very idea of citizenship. If someone doesn't give a damn, why should they be allowed to be a citizen? They can be a legal, non-citizen, resident. Voting should be a privilege of citizenship. God knows many/most Americans don't even bother to vote. By making it a bit of a privilege people might realize this is not a gratis thing, certainly it hasn't throughout most of human history. To be a responsible citizen it requires a certain investment & engagement. Maybe you would be required to vote every other election as a minimum to retain your citizenship, without having to re-do qualifying for it.