About the Justice Democrats (Just Us)
The Justice Democrats’ goal is to renew/replace our establishment democratic party with a truly progressive party. A central activity is to find and support powerful progressives that will get money out of politics and pull the country back from the brink of oligarchy. The platform includes other issues such as global warming (platform item 12), but of course, I would like to see more about nature conservation, wildlife, and environmental quality. I also think some of the language could be more direct and binding on the group’s candidates. The Justice Democrats are calling on us to nominate candidates. You can nominate standing politicians whose record you like, or you can nominate a community member you think would do a good job.
Other Political Groups
Other groups with goals similar to the Justice Democrats may form. For example, MoveOn.com is promoting a reactive agenda for fighting the Trump and Republican actions and working to take back state and national parties. The Justice Democrats want to create a functioning party that truly represents the interests and needs of the country. An organized party can be a durable solution more proactive than reactive. It seems logical that MoveOn.com would align with the Justice Democrats, support the platform, and continue to promote related political action.
Here’s a video that outlines the origin and purpose of the Justice Democrats.
I’ve numbered and included the first nine items of the 20-item platform.
In 2018, Justice Democrats will run a unified campaign to replace every corporate-backed member of Congress and rebuild the party from scratch.
- “Pass a constitutional amendment to put an end to Washington corruption and bring about election reform. Super PACs should be banned, private donations to politicians and campaigns should be banned, and a clean public financing system should be implemented to end the takeover of our government by corporations and billionaires. Americans deserve free and fair elections – free from the corruption of big money donors. The Supreme Court has effectively legalized bribery. — It’s time for an Article 5 convention to take our democracy back from the brink of oligarchy.– Prior to passing this amendment, all members of the Justice Party should reject billionaire and corporate donations when running for office to show the American people we don’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk. Ranked choice voting should also be implemented to make smaller parties a viable option. All provisions of the voting rights act should be reinstated, and gerrymandering for partisan gain should be banned.
- “Re-regulate Wall Street and hold white-collar criminals accountable. Despite engaging in systemic fraud and causing a subprime mortgage meltdown and the great recession, you can count the people from Wall Street who are in prison for their crimes on one hand. It’s time to prosecute the criminals, bring back Glass-Steagall, and re-regulate Wall Street to prevent another crash. Prison is not just for the poor and the middle class anymore. We will have cops on Wall Street, not just Main Street.
- “End billionaire and corporate tax dodging, fix the system to benefit middle-class and poor people. Corporations dodge $450 billion a year in taxes by using offshore tax havens. We should end this injustice, as well as chain the capital gains tax to the income tax, increase the estate tax, and implement the Buffet rule so that no millionaire CEO pays less in taxes than his or her secretary. It’s time for a tax system that benefits the middle-class and the poor, and makes the top 1% and multinational corporations pay their fair share.
- “Defend free speech and expression. We support the right to express unpopular opinions without fear of censorship. We support free speech on college campuses. The marketplace of ideas should be embraced. A vibrant debate is healthy for democracy, and we should cherish our first amendment. We also support net neutrality for a free and open internet.
- “Oppose bigotry. We must speak out against racism, sexism, xenophobia, and all forms of bigotry. Non-discrimination protections that currently apply to race, religion, and gender should be expanded to include the LGBTQ community and the atheist community. Making all Americans equal is not asking for special privileges, it’s asking for the rule of law – justice and equality for all as outlined in the United States Constitution.
- “Make the minimum wage a living wage and tie it to inflation. This is about justice and basic human decency. If you work hard and you work full time you shouldn’t live in poverty.Ensure universal healthcare as a right. The United States should catch up to every other modern nation and implement a single-payer, medicare-for-all system. There’s no reason we can’t be #1 in the world instead of #37. It’s time to end the destruction of American healthcare by rapacious, price gouging, for-profit, private health insurance middlemen.
- “Ensure universal education as a right. Educating the citizenry of a nation pays dividends in the long run, with the economy getting back much more than is initially put in. Crushing student debt for higher education would no longer burden young men and women trying to improve their lives through hard work. We should strive to have the best education system in the world.
- End unnecessary wars and nation building. The United States maintains 800 military bases worldwide at a cost of $100 billion a year, this is money that can be spent at home creating jobs, rebuilding infrastructure, and investing in the future of the people. The disastrous war in Iraq cost trillions, the war in Afghanistan is 15 years in with no end in sight, and we’re currently bombing 7 different countries. We spend more on our military than the next 8 countries combined. Despite countless lives lost and destroyed, terrorism has only gotten worse. It’s time to end the wars and the perverse monetary-incentive structure that makes politicians flippant about sending young men and women to die. Unilateral U.S. military force should only be used as a last resort to defend the nation. The current budget could be cut drastically if we used our department of defense for what it was intended – defending us, instead of waging interventionist wars.
- End the failed war on drugs. The goal is legalization, taxation, and regulation. Prohibition only makes drug cartels more. . . ” –Justice Democrats (Continue reading: Justice Democrats » Platform).
