TrueMajority's
10 Principles Explained
1. Attack World Hunger and Poverty as if Our Life Depends on It: It Does.
Anchor our foreign policy in the compassion for the poor that
unites all the world's religions. Reduce the debts of impoverished countries.
Shift foreign aid from buying weapons to feeding people.
2. Champion the Rights of Every Child, Woman and Man.
Make America stand for justice, not expediency. Stop turning a blind eye
to governments that abuse their own people. Ratify the Convention on the
Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women. If punishing a foreign tyrant means, in actual practice, punishing
the women and children who are his victims, desist, and find another path.
4. Reduce our Dependence on Oil & Lead the World to an Age of Renewable Energy.
Oil holds us hostage to regimes hated by their own people; their
hatred transfers to us. America is 5% of the world's people but we generate
25% of the pollution that causes global warming. It's our duty to lead. We
will reduce our energy consumption 25% by 2010. Make a Moon Mission scale
commitment to develop solar and wind power technologies. Set and meet a goal
of generating 20% of our energy from renewable sources by 2010.
5. Close the Book on the Cold War and Ease the Nuclear Nightmare.
Cast a cold eye on giant weapons designed to destroy giant enemies
that no longer exist. Cancel obsolete Cold War weapons. We applaud the nuclear
force cuts announced by President Bush, but even 2,000 warheads poised and
aimed at Russia are unwise. We squander $35 billion a year on this obsolete
arsenal. Save half of that money, take our missiles off "launch on warning"
and invite all nuclear nations to negotiate a nuclear weapons ban.
6. Renounce Star Wars and the Militarization of Space.
After spending $134 billion dollars (twice our lifetime commitment
to cancer research!) our military has nothing to show for its obsession with
a dubious Missile Defense but the deep suspicions of our new allies. Enough
is enough.
7. Make Globalization Work for, not against, Working People.
Open the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to the public. Let
sunshine into the councils of the World Trade Organization and the North
American Free Trade Agreement. Affirm that the welfare of the planet's people
supersedes corporate patents and profits.
8. Ensure Equal Treatment Under Law for All.
Vigorously enforce and strengthen the nation's civil rights laws
that guarantee freedom from discrimination based on gender, race, sexual
orientation or physical ability. Reform America's criminal justice system
laws so that justice is no longer systematically dispensed in a way that
disadvantages minorities.
9. Get Money out of Politics.
Curtail
the vast corrupting influence of corporate campaign contributions, which
make Congress beholden to private interests. Enact public campaign financing - - we
can fund it entirely by closing a single offshore corporate tax loophole!
10. Close the Gap between Rich and Poor Kids at Home.
All these words will ring hollow to the world if America does not close the
chasm between rich and poor in our own society. We will fully fund Head Start
and health insurance for the millions of American children who can't get
either. We will invest the money needed to build and nourish schools worthy
of this great nation.
TrueMajority's principles are endorsed by Greenpeace, Rock the Vote, Physicians
for Social Responsibility, Peace Action, the National Head Start Association,
Global Exchange, The Interfaith Alliance, The Nation magazine, Sojourners,
Rainforest Action Network, Women's Action for New Directions (WAND),
Service Employees International Union (SEIU), National Council of La
Raza, and a long and growing list of Americans.