Issues For Progressive Democrats Of America Endorsement

Scott Ploof [email protected] 985-981-4895 I. Iraq War Hurricanes Katrina and Rita proved that by deploying our national guard to foreign lands leaves us vulnerable here at home, by both attacks and natural disasters. The overabundance of funds that is being spent in Iraq needs to be redirected to the Gulf Coast Region to fund the ongoing recovery from our devastating storms and floods. The equipment that is necessary for our military to rescue or defend our citizens has been damaged or destroyed in war and needs to be replaced so that we are prepared for future disasters. II. Single-payer Health Care It is my belief that the United States should look to Canada for a model for our health care system. By establishing a Single-Payer Health Care System, we would be able to drastically reduce the cost of health care by allowing the government to negotiate with providers. Consumers would enjoy equal or better care than they currently receive because hospitals and private practices could remain privately owned. This system is the logical balance between the universal coverage provided by socialized health care and the diversity of consumer preferences that is provided under a free-market system. III. Fair Trade The WTO, NAFTA and DR-CAFTA are based on the flawed philosophy of globalization and favor the desires of multinational corporations over the needs of workers. Under these agreements, small farmers are overtaken by agribusinesses (which are subsidized by the government) and local industries are edged out of the marketplace due to their inability to compete on economies of scale. By moving their operations to smaller countries with weaker economies and a less established government infrastructure, corporations are able to bypass environmental and workers’ safety regulations. To counteract this, we must provide tax incentives for companies that produce domestic jobs and impose tax penalties for those who outsource their operations. IV. Voting Integrity and Full Public Funding To solve the crisis facing our electoral system, we need to eliminate private contributions to candidates and institute a publicly funded system. Currently, our elected officials spend much of their time courting lobbyists, prostituting the powers their positions in order to obtain funding for their elections, rather than working for the good of their constituencies. Having our candidates rely on public funding for their campaigns would eliminate their dependency on lobbyists and transition us to a “government for the people”. Gerrymandering is not ethical and should be recognized as a criminal offence with harsh penalties. The Legislature should not be the only entity responsible for drawing our districts. Our State Supreme Court should have to approve any changes made to the boundaries of voting districts. To ensure the integrity of election results, our voting laws should require voter-verified paper audit trails for electronic voting machines, open source code and mandatory random recounts. V. Poverty As the wealthiest nation in the world, it is shameful that our poverty rate is increasing rather than decreasing. I want to ensure that our social safety net does not become unraveled but rather strengthened. To do this, we need to establish a fair minimum wage so that our working class can support their families. We need to reduce the tax burden on our middle and working classes, which would help raise their standards of living and decrease the gap between rich and poor. By providing efficient public transportation in our cities and towns, we will relieve our elderly and working class citizens of another unnecessary and suppressive burden.