Recently, I began this series on: If I were to run in the Republican Primaries for President, these items would be on my platform .
In part 1, I focused on what the more Progressive Republican Presidential candidates in the past have advocated, like,
(1) Reduction of dependence on the military-congressional-industrial complex,
(2) Increase environmental protection and spending on environmental initiatives and enforcement,
(3) Return to fairer progressive tax systems to fund projects and reduce some of the national debt, &
(4} Implement infrastructural projects immediately that improve social, economic and environmental situations in America.
I noted how some of the more progressive presidents in the past, starting with Theodore Roosevelt stood for many of these goals, initiatives, projects and related laws. I also noted how some of these presidents-including D.D. Eisenhower-took progressive initiatives from Democrats and ran with them.
With this perspective of the Eisenhower era, I have decided to share in this part two of If I were to run in the Republican Primaries for President, these items would be on my platform article, what a GOP progressive presidential candidate can glean immediately from the 24+ Democrats who are currently running for the presidency.
Here are some positions, I would take if running for the presidency [1]:
(1) Private Prisons -Eliminate them and come up with a better system through humaner implementation of law and order across the USA. (2) Affordable Housing-Enable construction funding, in some cases rent control and certainly use taxes to curb speculation. (3) Big Banks-Bring back Glass-Steagall"did you know this was introduced in 1932, i.e. when Republicans still held the presidency? ( If Hoover had been a progressive, he would have signed it.) (4)Cash Bail Reform End it-hire more judges and get court cases through the courts as demanded in the USA constitution since the 1780s. (5) Cocaine Sentencing Disparities-Scrap the disparity. (6) Election Security-Mandate paper ballots"even if a computer is also used. (7) Income Inequality-Raise taxes on the wealthy, create new social programs. (8) Paid Leave-Support several months of broad paid leave. (9) Reparations- First, study reparations and then implement structural and individual reforms-consider a sort of guaranteed income plan tied with educational or trades attainment along with some entitlements or funding for community and small business development. (10) Student Debt Cancel all student debt and do what we can as a nation-at local, federal, state and business level to decrease costs for those desiring higher education and training at the tertiary levels. (11) Teacher Pay-Boost teacher pay by promoting state and local progressivism to implement a shift away from charter and private schools. (12) Campaign Finance-Unlimited spending should not be allowed in politics so I would work with states and federal level to change the constitution to make it clear that corporations are not people and should not have more power than people before the government. (13) Electoral College-The Electoral College should be eliminated & immediately institute a ranked-choice voting system for the presidency-setting an example for change at the local levels. (14) Energy Policy: Nuclear Power-Support closing down existing nuclear power reactors. Oil and gas drilling-Ban fracking everywhere. Reducing carbon emissions-Impose government regulations . (15) Agricultural Security and Progressive Development: Farm Economy-Break up agribusiness. Farming and Climate Change-Pay farmers to adopt climate-friendly practices. (16) GUNS: Assault Weapons-Support a voluntary buyback program & Reduce All Sales in USA and abroad through strict regulation. Background Checks- universal background checks are a good thing. (17) INSURANCE & MEDICAL COSTS: ACA / Coverage Expansion-All in on Medicare for All . Drug Costs-Support negotiating for Medicare, international reference pricing and promoting generics . (18) IMMIGRATION: DACA-Citizenship for Dreamers. Illegal Entry-Repeal the statute. The Wall-Don't support additional wall funding. (19) Transportation-Boost infrastructure spending, but through corporate and progressive taxes, reduction of spending on NSA, DOD etc. in order to increase our future security. Defense Spending-Slash the defense budget but get the stakeholders to be involved in this and how moneys are used for security and sustainable developments. Overseas Deployments- Greatly reduce troop footprint abroad and reducing excessive security overreaches that create unwanted blowback. (20) TAXES: Capital Gains Taxes-Increase the capital gains tax rate. Corporate Income Taxes-Eliminate tax breaks for "offshoring." Wall Street Taxes-Create taxes on financial trades . Wealth Taxes-Boost taxes on wealthy Americans . (21) TECHNOLOGY: Rural Broadband-Create a public option for broadband. Tech Competition & Antitrust-Break them up . Spend on Green Infrastructure and reducing climate footprints! NAFTA / USMCA-Demand changes to USMCA.I will share more specific foreign policy initiatives in next article in this series.
NOTE
[1] YES, 75%-plus of this platform parallels or copies Bernie Sanders, but that is to be expected. All candidates look at what it takes to do well in prior elections and Sanders did well in many Heartland states in 2016.
So, why not appropriate that which the GOP party can digest?
