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Albany
County 2012 Platformtext of
platform:
2012
Albany County Democratic Platform
April 14,
2012
"We
the people of the United States, in order to
form a more perfect Union, establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general Welfare,
and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and
establish this CONSTITUTION for the United
States of America."
- Preamble to the U.S.
Constitution
This platform has been
developed around three principles that Albany
County Democrats believe offer the most
important guidance for public policy and
legislation in 2012:
Opportunity
Sustainability
Integrity
Recognizing the ease
with which lofty concepts can be agreed upon,
but set aside when it comes time to translate
the abstract into the practical, we provide
limited elaboration of each of these concepts
as guidance to ourselves and our candidates,
officers, and elected officials.
OpportunityAlbany County
Democrats are committed to equal opportunity
across our society. While government
cannot guarantee outcomes, we believe public
policy should foster an economic, social, and
institutional environment in which all
individuals have the opportunity to pursue
life, liberty, and happiness. We welcome ethnic
and cultural diversity in our community, its
governance, and the electorate.
Employment.
Opportunities for satisfying and
justly-rewarded employment are basic to a
stable and successful society.
We
recognize that cooperation between business and
government is essential for developing and
maintaining employment opportunity in our
increasingly complex economy. Private-sector
employment is the primary source of prosperity
in our society, but business will not thrive
without strong communities marked by a stable
public infrastructure, effective educational
services, an honored legal system, and a
healthy workforce, all of which are supported
by our local, state and federal governments. A
healthy economy should reward all of our
citizens with an acceptable standard of living
that will encourage them to stay and contribute
to the future prosperity of Wyoming.
We
respect and support the right of workers to
organize and collectively bargain for fair
wages, job security, and safe working
conditions. We oppose efforts to compromise or
deny those rights. We applaud members of
the 61st Wyoming Legislature for enacting HB
0089, Workplace safety-employer assistance. For
too long, Wyoming’s safety record has been the
worst in the Nation. The State still lacks
authority to penalize employers for avoidable
unsafe conditions or to require training for
employees who work on dangerous work sites.
Enforcement and liability are essential to
create a culture of safety. With enacted
support for the enhancement of workplace safety
practices, employer incentives, and additional
employees for the occupational health and
safety division, a turn-around may begin.
Educational, training and employment
barriers to women wishing to enter labor
sectors predominantly occupied by men
contribute to an on-going wage gap. We support
open recognition of these conditions, as well
as legal and societal efforts to address them.
These efforts must go beyond merely requiring
equal pay for equal work and include
diversifying the economy, educating and
training women and increasing the availability
of childcare so that women will be better able
to secure meaningful work in high-paying
fields.
We support just distributions of
the fruits of our labors and the responsibility
of taxation through maintenance of a living
wage and progressive tax policies, encompassing
all forms of income.
Health
Care. Universal basic health care
is a necessity for the well being of individual
citizens and the general, social, and economic
welfare of the nation. Our current
insurance-industry-based health care system
costs more per capita and produces less than
that of any other industrialized country. We
support the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act program to bring basic health care to
all Americans, and decry the waste of money and
resources by state Attorneys General in their
attempt to overturn it. We encourage state
government to focus on the problems of access
to health care rather than political sparring.
Ultimately, we favor implementation of a single
payer system modeled on Medicare/Medicaid, paid
for by the conversion from premiums-based
funding and tortuous cost-shifting, to
straightforward payroll taxes and the general
fund.
We object to the politicization of
women’s health care. While we respect the
religious faith of all people, anti-family
planning beliefs should not be forced on
society as a whole, nor should they restrict
access to comprehensive sex education,
pregnancy prevention services, or the full
range of reproductive health care options. We
believe women should be able to choose
their reproductive options.
Education. We support
investment in a strong and diverse educational
system, including statewide funding and a
commitment to the development of the knowledge
required for individual success, full
participation in the responsibilities of
citizenship, and productive human
affairs. In view of the high dropout rate
and the inadequate educational preparation of
many of our graduating seniors, we encourage
the state to redouble its efforts to ensure
that all our students earn a high school
diploma and graduate prepared to continue their
education in college or technical school. It is
counter-productive to vilify school teachers
and administrators, and to hold them solely
responsible for educational outcomes; it is
imperative for parents, the community, and the
state to fully support our K-12 educational
institutions. Equal access to higher education
must be maintained and supported. Our
institutions of higher education should be
granted the freedom and resources necessary to
hire and retain valuable faculty and staff. As
Wyoming’s only four-year higher-education
institution, the University of Wyoming is
critical to the economic and cultural vitality
of our State. We support greater public funding
for career and technical education at the
secondary and post-secondary
levels.
Immigration. We
support enforcement of federal laws on
immigration, including the responsibility of
employers to determine whether prospective
employees are in the country legally. We oppose
enactment of inhumane anti-immigration laws and
practices targeting specific ethnic communities
and we oppose denying their rights through
discrimination, harassment, exploitation and
unlawful detention. We support improved, more
efficient and expeditious federal laws and
practices for those entitled to legal or full
citizenship. We also recognize the
important connections between illegal
immigration and global economic conditions and
therefore support US policies for trade,
foreign aid, and international affairs that
serve to broaden opportunities and stabilize
economies abroad.
SustainabilityAlbany
County Democrats encourage a multi-generation
vision for Wyoming, for America, and for the
world. Our goal is the development and
maintenance of social, cultural, economic, and
physical environments in which we and our
descendants can enjoy the peace, freedom, and
community that will nurture and sustain our
quality of life.
Economy. The long-term
employment opportunities upon which the health
of Wyoming communities depend are a function of
a stable and sustainable state economy.
Energy-resource development will continue to be
a critical source of employment and tax
revenue, but should be guided by policies which
modulate the pace of mineral development to
reduce the attendant stress on public
infrastructure, social services, schools,
housing, workforce training, and the natural
environment, and to optimize employment and tax
revenues over the lifetime of the resources. At
the same time, we must identify and nurture
opportunities for economic diversification into
manufacturing, service-sector,
alternative-energy, and energy-efficiency
industries, looking to a future in which
mineral resources are but one of many anchors
for our economy.
Energy
Policy and Climate Change. Our
collective failure to recognize the danger of
climate change and to take the steps necessary
to reduce its impacts is bringing the world
ever closer to disaster. There is
extremely strong consensus among scientists
that climate change is real, and is caused by
humans burning fossil fuels. Our nation must
take the lead in switching from reliance on
non-renewable resources to maximizing energy
efficiency and developing sources of power that
are both renewable and non-polluting.
More spending on research and development to
meet these goals will not only lessen the
threat of climate change – it will have the
added benefits of providing sustainable jobs,
improving our balance of trade, and reshaping
our global military priorities. While
continuing to responsibly develop traditional
energy resources upon which Wyoming’s economy
is currently based, our State should provide
leadership in the development of renewable
energy resources while keeping in mind the
protection of Wyoming’s wildlife and open
vistas, two of our most precious non-renewable
resources. A future built on conservation and
sustainable use of resources will ensure the
prosperity and well-being of our state, our
country and our planet.
Natural
Resources. At the state and local
level, we celebrate the clean air, land, and
water, open spaces, abundant wildlife, and
world-class wilderness upon which the superior
quality of life in Wyoming depends. We
recognize the long-term importance of these
resources to the sustainability of our
agriculture, tourism, and recreation economies,
and to the desirability of our communities for
raising families, growing compatible business
opportunities, and attracting investment. As
assets held in common, Wyoming’s natural
resources require public policies aimed at
long-term protection and the use of best
available technologies to minimize the
environmental impact of industrial activity. We
recognize that certain areas should simply be
preserved in their natural state.
War and
Diplomacy. We strongly support
efforts to improve the global economic,
political, and military environment in which US
foreign policy is exercised by shifting our
emphasis from projection of military power and
authority to efforts to engage problems through
diplomatic and humanitarian initiatives.
We must continue working to recognize and
understand the legitimate interests of other
nations -- their histories and cultures -- so
as to face problems in the spirit of
cooperation and collectively resolve them. We,
as a nation, must recognize, and address with
compassion, the impact of US military actions
on the mental health and well-being of our
troops and their families.
IntegrityAlbany County
Democrats recognize the basic integrity of
constitutional government and public policy at
all levels as the foundation upon which our
society is built. All participants should be
confident that the fundamental processes of
election, appointment, legislation,
administration, and enforcement are sound and
faithfully adhered to.
Government. We
recognize government – federal, state, and
local -- as the collective agent of “we the
people,” held to the same high standards of
morality, equality, and honesty as we aspire to
individually.
Rule of
Law. We promote an unflinching
dedication to the rule of law -- the same law
for everyone -- including the founding
principles of checks and balances and the
separation of powers between the legislative,
executive, and judicial branches, as mandated
by the U.S. and Wyoming Constitutions, and
including the faithful execution of the laws,
as written, by competent and objective
executive-branch agencies.
Public
Discourse. We appeal to all elected
representatives to embrace the long-term public
welfare as their guiding vision rather than
seeking short-term political victories. We
decry the abysmal state of public policy
discourse in the U.S., in which participants
resort to distortions of the truth,
vilification of those promoting alternate
points of view, and contempt for critical
thinking in a no-holds-barred struggle for
political advantage.
We object to the
negative rhetoric directed toward civil
servants at all levels of government and
applaud the hard work and dedication of the
public-sector employees who teach our children,
safeguard our communities, protect our
environment, and provide other services that
allow us to function as a society.
In
our increasingly complex society there is an
inherent tension between personal liberty and a
government tasked with serving the common good.
We encourage our Government and its Citizens to
show restraint and patience when that tension
arises. Open and respectful discourse provides
an arena in which good ideas and credible
analyses may come from many sources and
perspectives. We appeal to all participants to
reject the endless chaff of political theater
and turn their attention to a sober and
considerate evaluation of critical public
policy issues.
Elections. We
recognize open and fair elections as the
cornerstone of a democratic society and embrace
the Declaration of Independence proclamation
that governments "derive their just powers from
the consent of the governed". To preserve the
integrity of that consent, we endorse the
objectives of the Voting Rights Act, oppose
efforts to restrict voting access, and support
full transparency and accountability in the
funding and conduct of campaigns for public
office. We decry the Supreme Court ruling that
corporations are to be treated as "persons"
with respect to First Amendment rights and urge
Congress to promulgate constitutional limits on
corporate financing of campaigns.
Civil
Rights. We endorse the freedoms
embodied in The Bill of Rights, while
recognizing that our desires for personal,
financial, and national security do not trump
our commitment to respect and protect the
lives, individual rights, and privacy of our
fellow citizens. We respect every
person's right to enjoy the full benefits of
marriage, regardless of gender or sexual
orientation. We believe that the ideal of equal
protection under the law for every citizen has
not been met and that our representatives at
all levels of government must be diligent in
their efforts to guarantee that protection for
every citizen. We support the concepts of
rehabilitation, treatment, and reformation,
including the restoration of civil rights for
those who wish to engage in democracy as
responsible and productive
citizens.
Juvenile Justice. We
support a comprehensive system of juvenile
justice that focuses on rehabilitation and the
unique aspects of juvenile
psychology.
Foreign
Affairs. While we recognize that
different societies and cultures appropriately
choose various configurations of government, we
embrace the universal goals of democracy,
self-determination, open government, civil and
human rights, and the rule of law (national and
international) in our conduct of foreign
affairs.
CommendationsAlbany
County Democrats recognize our military
personnel, their families and all those whose
sacrifices help secure the integrity,
opportunity, and sustainability of these United
States. We are grateful for their
dedication and pledge ourselves to vigilance
that their lives not be jeopardized needlessly.