I just love this sign. <3
The Democratic Party Platform of 1976
I encourage everyone to read this document in full. It is not only a great historical document, it serves as a testament of the failure to address any of the many issues outlined here in the last 40 years.
For those who don’t have the time to read it (or tl:dr at the very thought) I’ll do a cliff notes version with some thoughts of my own.
Preamble:
We do pledge a government that has as its guiding concern, the needs and aspirations of all the people, rather than the perquisites and special privilege of the few.
We do pledge a government that listens, that is truthful, and that is not afraid to admit its mistakes.
We do pledge a government that will be committed to a fairer distribution of wealth, income and power.
Looks pretty similar to what Sen Sanders has been saying, I don’t remember anyone red baiting Jimmy Carter over these ideas.
I. Full Employment, Price Stability and Balanced Growth:
Today, millions of people are unemployed. Unemployment represents mental anxiety, fear of harassment over unpaid bills, idle hours, loss of self-esteem, strained family relationships, deprivation of children and youth, alcoholism, drug abuse and crime. A job is a key measure of a person's place in society—whether as a full-fledged participant or on the outside. Jobs are the solution to poverty, hunger and other basic needs of workers and their families. Jobs enable a person to translate legal rights of equality into reality.
Our industrial capacity is also wastefully under-utilized. There are houses to build, urban centers to rebuild, roads and railroads to construct and repair, rivers to clean, and new sources of energy to develop. Something is wrong when there is work to be done, and the people who are willing to do it are without jobs. What we have lacked is leadership.
Emboldening by me, nothing to add.
Republican Mismanagement:
The rising cost of food, clothing, housing, energy and health care has eroded the income of the average American family, and has pushed persons on fixed incomes to the brink of economic disaster.
Those who should be working and paying taxes are collecting unemployment compensation or other welfare payments in order to survive. For every one per cent increase in the unemployment rate—for every one million Americans out of work —we all pay $3 billion more in unemployment compensation and $2 billion in welfare and related costs, and lose $14 billion in taxes.
Note: these numbers were… fairly accurate in 1976. The associated costs have gone up, yet less is taken in. Worse, though the costs have risen; benefits largely have not. It’s much harder to get on welfare now, harder to get on food stamps, harder to collect unemployment. Since the dollar doesn’t stretch as much now as it did then more people are living in abject poverty now.
Modernizing Economic Policy:
Of special importance is the need for national economic planning capability. This planning capability should provide roles for Congress and the Executive as equal partners in the process and provide for full participation by the private sector, and state and local government. Government must plan ahead just like any business, and this type of planning can be implemented without the creation of a new bureaucracy but rather through the well-defined use of existing bodies and techniques. If we do not plan, but continue to react to crisis after crisis, our economic performance will be further eroded.
Economic planning?! Dem Commies! Emboldening by me.
Full Employment Policies:
Special problems faced by young people, especially minorities, entering the labor force persist regardless of the state of the economy. To meet the needs of youth, we should consolidate existing youth employment programs; improve training, apprenticeship, internship and job-counseling programs at the high school and college levels; and permit youth participation in public employment projects.
Hmm, public works projects. More commie stuff.
Economic Justice:
The Democratic Party has a long history of opposition to the undue concentration of wealth and economic power. It is estimated that about three-quarters of the country's total wealth is owned by one-fifth of the people. The rest of our population struggles to make ends meet in the face of rising prices and taxes.
Anti-trust enforcement. The next Democratic administration will commit itself to move vigorously against anti-competitive concentration of power within the business sector. This can be accomplished in part by strengthening the anti-trust laws and insuring adequate commitment and resources for the enforcement of these laws.
Tax reform. Economic justice will also require a firm commitment to tax reform at all levels. In recent years there has been a shift in the tax burden from the rich to the working people of this country. The Internal Revenue Code offers massive tax welfare to the wealthiest income groups in the population and only higher taxes for the average citizen.
We will reduce the use of unjustified tax shelters in such areas as oil and gas, tax-loss farming, real estate, and movies.
We will end abuses in the tax treatment of income from foreign sources; such as special tax treatment and incentives for multinational corporations that drain jobs and capital from the American economy.
And we will protect the rights of all taxpayers against oppressive procedures, harassment and invasions of privacy by the Internal Revenue Service.
Emboldening by me. This is really getting depressing. The exact same problems identified 40 years ago, now much worse; due to inaction and pandering.
I’ll stop here before I stray into tl:dr territory. More to come, possibly later today. Depends on how motivated/bored I get. ;D
