Chairman Hawk's Christian Democratic Party Thread

[Frodo]

A few suggestions for the location of the next party Convention would be much appreciated. Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to shortlist three locations of my own

Chairman 'Hawk'

I guess I'll start then:

1. Denver, Colorado
2. Portland, Oregon
3. Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina

[Frodo]

Introducing Part I of Phase I of the Policy Review:

From: http://uselectionatlas.org/AFEWIKI/index.php/Christian_Democratic_Party

The Christian Democratic Party seeks to unite Atlasia's real-life Reagan Democrats, as well as other populists and communitarians under one umbrella.  For the most part it has been successful, attracting members from both sides of the Red-and-Blue political divide.

The Christian Democratic Party draws its inspiration from the Grange and Progressive movements, the Populist and Socialist parties, the Democratic Party once dominated by the New Deal coalition (with the obvious exclusion of southern segregationists), as well as the existing centrist and populist congressional coalition of Blue Dog Democrats.  This party is intended to provide a glimpse of where they believe the present-day Democratic Party should be taken. It is a party with a communitarian philosophy, and it holds to the idea that citizens should be called upon to look beyond their own petty self-interest and self-indulgence and work for a greater common interest involving the betterment of society and the nation as a whole -rejecting the libertarian notion that we as individuals are each an island unto ourselves, responsible only for our own well-being.

It is the conviction of the Christian Democratic Party that the family is central to the long-term health of our republic; that it is our duty and obligation to care for the weak and the vulnerable (including the unborn) as well as to protect and to preserve the environment for future generations through conservation; and that government can be a constructive and benevolent force in achieving these ends.  The party also defines itself in that it does not see the funding of faith-based organizations by government assisting them in their mission to help the most vulnerable among us as amounting to the breaching of the wall separating church and state. Also, though this is a populist party, it is neither protectionist nor isolationist, believing in the promise of free and fair trade to spread prosperity to all, as well as taking a strong and aggressive stand on national defense generally and, specifically, the war on terrorism.

This pretty much defines our core principles, and perhaps, on the basis of the above, we could devise a Preamble to the Party Platform

Chairman 'Hawk'

As for a possible Preamble:

The Christian Democratic Party is founded upon the idea that we as citizens should serve a greater common interest that transcends our own petty, narrow desires to satisfy our wants and needs as mere consumers, which involves leaving our communities, our nation, and the world better than when we found it for the benefit of future generations.  To this end, government can play a constructive and benevolent role in partnership with businesses, private religious and secular organizations, and individual citizens.  It is based upon this principle that our platform was compiled:

Feel free to alter or to add on to what I have typed if you're dissatisfied with it. 

[WMS]

In response to Frodo/Blue Dog's question: I like the planks just fine.

[Democratic Hawk]

Given the recent economic news reported by Al on AWN, which reports that the City of Philadelphia is Atlasia's new Unemploymen Blackspot with a rate of 34.5%, I suggest she be the location of our next party Convention

So, that makes it: Denver, Colorado; Portland, Oregon and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina (Frodo); and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Hawk)

Chairman 'Hawk'

[Virginian87]

The platform sounds great.  Contrary to Mr. Washburn's article, I think with these views the CDP has bright future ahead.  More and more Atlasian voters are becoming disillusioned with the extremes of the left and right.  Into this void the CDP steps, and it will prosper. 

By the way, I nominate Richmond, Va., Cincinnati, Ohio, Nashville, Tenn. and Pittsburgh, Pa. as possible CDP convention sites.  I would also support Denver, Colo. and Philadelphia, Pa.

[Democratic Hawk]

By the way, I nominate Richmond, Va., Cincinnati, Ohio, Nashville, Tenn. and Pittsburgh, Pa. as possible CDP convention sites.  I would also support Denver, Colo. and Philadelphia, Pa.

Given that Pittsburgh, PA hosted our First Convention and Richmond, VA hosted our Second, they will not be shortlisted

Chairman 'Hawk'

[josh4bush]

A few suggestions for the location of the next party Convention would be much appreciated. Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to shortlist three locations of my own

Chairman 'Hawk'

I guess I'll start then:

1. Denver, Colorado
2. Portland, Oregon
3. Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina

Them places sound good.

[Democratic Hawk]

Right I've received suggestions that the following eligible (i.e. cities, which have not held previous CDP conventions) locations host our next Convention:

Denver, Colorado (Frodo, Josh)
Portland, Oregon (Frodo, Josh)
Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina (Frodo, Josh)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Dave 'Hawk')
Cincinnati, Ohio (Virginian87)
Nashville, Tennessee (Virginian87)

The final three shortlisted shall be:

Portland, Oregon
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Cincinnati, Ohio

I will be personally notifying all party members of the ballot, in which they shall determine which of the above three locations will host our Convention

Chairman 'Hawk'

[Democratic Hawk]

Introducing Part I of Phase II of the Policy Review:

Economic Well-being

Minimum Wage

The Christian Democratic Party believes that the least among us who are struggling to raise their families and make ends meet have the right not to be subject to the iron-fisted law of the marketplace that dictates that we are paid only according to the value of our labor -regardless of the human costs.  We do not believe, for instance, that a single mother working at Wal-Mart and have two children to take care of, should be effectively condemned to perpetual poverty while the chief executive officer of that same corporation is voting himself a pay-raise.  If we are to effectively combat poverty in Atlasia, the minimum wage must be not only raised but also indexed to inflation so that the working poor need not be poor any longer.  Through raising the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation so that there will be little need to raise it again by government action in the future, we believe that citizens in the working and middle classes will have more money in their pockets with which to spend on consumer goods, thus increasing economic growth.

We realize, however, that small businesses -in comparison with major corporations like Wal-Mart and McDonald's- can hardly be expected to bear the higher costs involved with a raise of the minimum wage, and so we will hold exempt from such a law only those businesses with 500 employees or less.

Taxes

The Christian Democratic Party believes in a progressive and fair tax system that rewards hard work.  We do not believe in a system that rewards those who inherit their wealth and don’t contribute to society, and neither a system where people manipulate short-term fluctuations of the economy to gain their future.  We will fight for the working family.  We believe in a simpler and fairer tax code than we have now, because the mess of loopholes we have aids those who cheat, and hurts those who contribute their fair share.

Economic Development

The Christian Democratic Party believes that government has a duty to help to develop and regenerate the economies of deprived or underdeveloped areas.

The Party is open to using whatever means are appropriate to each particular area and would potentially support everything from tax breaks, to state aid, to slashing red tape. We understand that government cannot do everything and therefore support working with local organizations, charities, churches, unions, and businesses.

The Party believes that the only way to get to the root of the problem is for different layers of government to co-operate; this is not something that should be the sole responsibility of the federal government, nor should it be "left to the Regions".

- Urban Regeneration

The Inner Cities of Atlasia remain in a state of crisis, and the Christian Democratic Party believes that it is time for a coordinated and determined attempt to do something about it.

We support a large range of measures, including everything from federal grants (with strings attached), to redrawing local government boundaries in an attempt to smash the power of corrupt machines (like that in Detroit).

In certain extreme cases, we support temporarily suspending self-rule and handing over much of the running of a city to either the federal or regional government. The model for this would be the sucessful temporary federal takeover of the administration of the District of Columbia.

Direct federal intervention may also be needed over housing -if local or regional governments will not provide good quality housing for the urban poor, then it is up to the federal government to do so. We also support helping to finance (and helping to encourage the private sector to finance) the sort of sucessful regeneration projects seen in Manchester, England during the 1990s.

What we do not support is pure property-led development (i.e. gentrification). While such development (the classic case being the London Docklands) undoubtably results in parts of the city looking nicer, they do not adress the problems of inner city poverty and in many cases -by pushing the poor further away from services and jobs- can make a bad situation even worse.

- Rural and Post-Industrial Development

Small town, rural, and old industrial Atlasia has been in a state of crisis for the past few decades without any serious attempts to try to ease the pain or cure the problem. Many people in these communities are frustrated and angry at this lack of action, and rightly so. Unlike the inner cities, the problems in these areas are not hard to understand and not hard to alleviate; the crisis is largely caused by a lack of jobs -especially good jobs- and a lack of a decent infrastructure. These problems cannot be solved overnight, but much can be done to improve the situation in the meantime; the Appalachian Regional Commission is a rare example of effective regional development in Atlasia and if the basic model is applied to other struggling areas (like the Great Lakes region) a lot of progress can be made towards getting these battered economies up and off the floor.

Other measures, including everything from structural funds to certain industries to localized tax breaks and enterprise zones, are certainly not out of the question, but must be considered on a case-by-case basis.

National Debt

Our country simply cannot afford to run a large budget deficit indefinitely.  Studies have shown at the rate the debt is growing, by 2050 all of our revenue will go to paying the interest on this massive debt alone.  We must halt nearly all spending increases and future tax cuts.  More importantly, though, we need to change not ''how much'', but ''how'' the government spends and raises revenue.  We lose billions of dollars each year due to corporations getting unnecessary tax breaks through an elaborate and byzantine corporate welfare system.  We will fight to repeal all tax breaks not related to the advancement of science or the environment. 

We have had special interests wielding too much influence over our government for too long, and now our budget is showing it.  We believe that we should cut out wasteful and inefficient spending, particularly pork barrel projects, and focus on re-inventing the way our government operates.

Trade

It is the view of the Christian Democratic Party that economies are established for the benefit of humanity.  Our trade policy is a reflection of this view.  The CDP believes that free trade is not only fair, but morally sound and beneficial to our foreign policy when conducted with nations that have free, democratic governments and enjoy loose economic parity with our own.  We believe that trade can be a powerful tool to enrich the lives of people at home and expand economic opportunity into developing nations.  However, we must do what we can to avoid domestic job losses and exploitation abroad.

Please feel free to propose any changes to the above planks for debate and, subsequent, vote at the Convention

Chairman 'Hawk'

[Democratic Hawk]

Introducing Part II of Phase II of the Policy Review:

International Affairs

Globalization

Globalization is a positive process that breeds peace and prosperity.  Nations that trade with one another rarely wage war against each other.  By advancing the process of globalization, we can make Atlasia and the world safer, more prosperous, and more free.

Africa

Africa is poor not because of western exploitation, but because of corrupt governance.  Only by supporting emerging democracies like those in Kenya and Botswana and opposing dictators like those in Zimbabwe and Sudan can we end this cycle of suppression of political freedom and economic opportunity.  Foreign aid to Africa needs to be increased through the USAID.  For only $15 billion a year, according to studies by the United Nations, we could provide basic nutrition and medical care to every child in the third world.  We can and should do this.

Latin America

The first priority here should be to prepare for the inevitable demise of Fidel Castro and advance the cause of the opposition to Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.  Our second goal should be to open Latin America up to globalization through our advocating the  Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

Europe

Atlasia's alliances with the nations of Europe are among our most important partnerships in the world.  We should build on our partnerships within NATO and welcome the nations of Eastern Europe into the Atlantic Alliance.  However, a European Superstate dominated by France and Germany is not in Atlasia's interests.  Nor is it in Europe's interests.  An economically integrated Europe that favors no one nation, but rather opens European markets to international commerce should be the goal.  European protectionism hurts Atlasian businesses and the third world, and it should be ended.  If Europe continues its unfair trade practices, we will work through the World Trade Organization to bring about an end to these practices.  The peace process in the Balkans has been effective, but we need a more vigorous effort to locate and bring to justice war criminals like Radko Mladic and Radovan Karazdic.

India

India, the world’s largest democracy, is a potential long term Atlasian ally. We ought to pursue expanded trade relations and military cooperation.  They understand the threat of radical Islam and the power of democracy.  They are a natural friend to Atlasia, and we should stop treating them like a second-tier nation in terms of their importance to us.

Russia

Russia has become the arms dealer to the world.  We need to oppose Russian attempts to exert its influence over Eastern Europe, including their audacious moves in Ukraine and Georgia.  We should continue the Nunn-Lugar program to safeguard Russian nuclear materials.  We need to prepare our own military to deal with hostile nations that will arm themselves with top-end Russian weapons and treat Vladimir Putin as someone not to be trusted.

China

China has become the single most hostile nation on Earth outside the Middle East.  We ought to begin holding them accountable for their illegal occupation of Tibet, their belligerence towards Taiwan, and their support for fascist governments in North Korea and Burma.  They are not a free nation -we are.  We must oppose their anti-freedom agenda as we contained a similar agenda when it was espoused by the Soviet Union.

Please feel free to propose any changes to the above planks for debate and, subsequent, vote at the Convention

Chairman ‘Hawk’

[Democratic Hawk]

Cincinnati, Ohio has been chosen to host the Fourth Christian Democratic Party Convention

http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=42391.0

Chairman 'Hawk'

[Democratic Hawk]

I propose this section be revised as follows, [all revisonsin red ]:

Trade

It is the view of the Christian Democratic Party that economies are established for the benefit of humanity.  Our trade policy is a reflection of this view.  The CDP believes that free trade is not only fair, but morally sound and beneficial to our foreign policy when conducted with nations that have free, democratic governments and enjoy loose economic parity with our own. Nevertheless, we do believe that nations, who don't have fully free, democratic governments but are allies in a precarious world should be considered for free trade but only if they commit themselves to towards becoming a fully functioning liberal democracy, with respect for political freedoms and civil rights. Therefore not only do we believe that trade can be a powerful tool to enrich the lives of people at home and expand economic opportunity into developing nations but it can also be a powerful tool in spreading democracy and freedom . However, we must do what we can to avoid domestic job losses and exploitation abroad, for example, as with the tariffs on manufactured imports stipulated in the Atlasia-India Free Trade Act

Chairman 'Hawk'

[Democratic Hawk]

I propose the following amendments to the Africa and China sections of our International Affairs policy [all revisions in red ]:

Africa

Africa is poor not because of western exploitation, but because of corrupt governance.  Only by supporting emerging democracies like those in Kenya and Botswana and opposing dictators like those in Zimbabwe and Sudan can we end this cycle of suppression of political freedom and economic opportunity.  Foreign aid to Africa needs to be increased through the USAID.  For only $15 billion a year, according to studies by the United Nations, we could provide basic nutrition and medical care to every child in the third world.  We can and should do this. We support the federal GiftAid initiative and the Atlasi-Aid program .

China

China has become the single most hostile nation on Earth outside the Middle East.  We ought to begin holding them accountable for their illegal occupation of Tibet, their belligerence towards Taiwan, and their support for fascist governments in North Korea and Burma.  They are not a free nation -we are.  We must oppose their anti-freedom agenda as we contained a similar agenda when it was espoused by the Soviet Union. Furthermore, China’s economic muscle threatens our own economic interests and we shall oppose any efforts to extend free trade to her; indeed, we support raising tariffs on Chinese imports .

Chairman ‘Hawk’

[Democratic Hawk]

I propose the following amendments to the Africa and China sections of our International Affairs policy [all revisions in red ]:

Africa

Africa is poor not because of western exploitation, but because of corrupt governance.  Only by supporting emerging democracies like those in Kenya and Botswana and opposing dictators like those in Zimbabwe and Sudan can we end this cycle of suppression of political freedom and economic opportunity.  Foreign aid to Africa needs to be increased through the USAID.  For only $15 billion a year, according to studies by the United Nations, we could provide basic nutrition and medical care to every child in the third world.  We can and should do this. We support the federal GiftAid initiative and the plans for an Atlasi-Aid program .

China

China has become the single most hostile nation on Earth outside the Middle East.  We ought to begin holding them accountable for their illegal occupation of Tibet, their belligerence towards Taiwan, and their support for fascist governments in North Korea and Burma.  They are not a free nation -we are.  We must oppose their anti-freedom agenda as we contained a similar agenda when it was espoused by the Soviet Union. Furthermore, China’s economic muscle threatens our own economic interests and we shall oppose any efforts to extend free trade to her; indeed, we support raising tariffs on Chinese imports .

Chairman ‘Hawk’

[Democratic Hawk]

Introducing Part I of Phase II of the Policy Review:

National Security and Energy Independence'

War on Terrorism

- The Enemy

The enemy is not the tactic of terrorism, but its practitioners and their ideology.  The name "War on Terrorism" is a misnomer.  We are fighting the ideology of Jihadism.  Our enemy is groups that kill in the name of Islam and their state sponsors in Iran, Syria, Sudan, and elsewhere.  Both the terrorist groups and their state sponsors must be confronted if we are to prevail.  Our enemy is not the one-billion-plus Muslims around the world, and the millions right here in Atlasia, who want the same thing we do: Peace and Freedom.

- Our Allies

Our allies are many.  We are joined in this fight by the brave nations of Europe who have chosen to stand up for free men and women, and those who desire to be.  They have made a difficult choice, and they should be rewarded for their bravery with an Atlasia that stands by them as they stand by us.  We are joined by nations like Israel, India, Australia, and Japan who have suffered terrorist attacks in recent years and understand our struggle.  Our most important allies, however, are the moderates in the Islamic world.  They understand that life for Muslims will be better if we succeed, and they risk their lives everyday to stand up to the fanatics.

- The Strategy

We will use military action to topple terrorist-sponsoring states, denying terrorist groups their ability to operate from those states with impunity, and cutting them off from their major sources of funding.  We will seize their financial assets wherever possible, further cutting them off from their money.  We will use covert action to seek out and destroy terrorists around the world before they can strike us.  We will support reformers in their efforts to transform their own societies with whatever means they need to prevail.  We will minimize relations with nations that pretend to be our friends, but aid our enemies while our back is turned.  We will end foreign aid to nations that do not democratize, even if that is inconvenient for us.  We will urge friendly Arab nations to reform themselves.  We will open our trade policies to reward nations that reform on their own.  We will increase foreign aid to nations that democratize, and we will spend more to build prosperous societies in Iraq and Afghanistan.  We will win this war not only by destroying the Jihadists, but also by transcending them.  We will be their moral superiors, giving our nation's all to spread freedom over fascism in Arabia and creating civil societies that have representative governments, tolerant cultures, and open economies.

Homeland Security

The Christian Democratic Party believes that a strong and well-managed program of homeland security is important for the safety and defense of Atlasia. As part of this effort it is vital that certain things be accomplished:

- Coordination. There must be greater coordination between federal, state, and local authorities, especially at the level of first responders. These brave men and women are all that stands between an effective response to terrorist attacks and total howling chaos which costs innocent lives. More funds and much more training are needed to prepare first responders and to organize joint inter-agency and inter-institutional exercises to increase the overall level of readiness.

- Information Sharing. There must be increased sharing of information between the different intelligence and defense agencies tasked with protecting Atlasia. Far too much information sits unused or unavailable to the right people because of needless bureaucratic disputes. Full authority must be given to someone to encourage solutions to and, if need be, force a resolution in said disputes. It matters little what title such an individual has - Secretary of Homeland Security, Security Czar, Overlord of Intelligence, etc., - as long as they have the authority to address these matters.

- Resource Distribution. There must be a logical and rational distribution of resources for Homeland Security. Resources should flow to the areas most endangered to protect the most critical targets most at risk from terrorist attack. Resources should neither be distributed according to the political influence of members of the Senate nor overstretched in a well-intentioned but ultimately futile effort to defend everything, as there are simply too many targets in Atlasia for terrorists to strike at. Rather, resources must be concentrated where they will do the most good.

- Threat Assessment Determination of where to deploy Homeland Security resources must be made based on a cool and calculated analytical threat assessment, and not based on any political or interest group influence. If port security needs improvement, then it shall get improvement regardless of the fact that it is usually the left that suggests it. If domestic counterintelligence needs to be strengthened, then it shall be strengthened regardless of the fact that it is usually the right that suggests it.

- Citizen Participation. There must be encouragement of citizen participation in Homeland Security efforts. It is a fact of life that an informed and alert citizenry is the first line of defense against terrorism, as citizens will often see things that are missed by often-stressed authorities. They must feel free to report their suspicions to the proper authorities and feel confident that their report will be treated with respect and not with condescension. At the same time, authorities must be equipped to handle such reports in a manner that will separate the chaff from the grain, and that will enable them to not be buried under a mountain of reports. Proper training and resources are clearly needed for this effort.

Energy Independence

We cannot successfully prosecute a war on terrorism with no clear end if we are to be held hostage to the very chain that binds us to the very forces that have created the monster that we have had to contend with since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.  This chain is the 'black gold' that so alarmingly dominates our society and world economy, that if there are any serious disruptions in its flow to our shores be it through natural disaster or a terrorist attack, it could force us to our knees.  This state of affairs is intolerable, and one that cannot be solved simply by expanding domestic production of fossil fuels.

As such, the Christian Democratic Party advocates an Apollo program of increasing investments through public-private partnerships by government and corporations into renewable energy sources like wind, solar, hydroelectricity, geothermal, and biomass among others, as well as funding research into nuclear fusion and hydrogen fuel-cell technologies.  Since it may take decades before renewable energy sources dominate our energy consumption to the same degree as oil does now even with government investment, we strongly advocate the expansion of nuclear fission power plants in the interim to meet our energy demands, and offer tax incentives for automakers to develop hybrid vehicles, and to increase fuel efficiency in newer models

Please feel free to propose any changes to the above planks for debate and, subsequent vote at the Convention

Chairman 'Hawk'