A Unified Plank

The list of demands below is not a list of all the issues that all of us progressives, democrats, liberals and labor have in common. It's also not focus group tested. And yes it's a strawman, but I think that it would make a great starting point. It's based loosely on Bernie Sander's list but it departs a bit as it takes into account a variety of our coalition needs:

All Candidates must:

support rebuilding our infrastructure.

One: Dedicate a Minimum of 50 billion per year and 250 billion over the next 5 years restoring neglected infrastructure and funding needed projects.

Two: Should create an Infrastructure Finance Authority (Bank) to Fund and regulate Infrastructure projects

Need to fund Green energy and mitigation of Climate change, including encouraging and linking solar technology infrastructure.

We must reform our tax structure to protect labor, the poor and the middle class and provide the carrot of progressive tax policy and the stick of regulations to mitigate the massive unequal unearned distribution of wealth due to privilege.

Working people must, by law, have the right to assemble, petition their employers and if necessary form a Union.

We must raise the minimum wage to above the poverty line for a family of 4 and fix that rate to the cost of living.

All Candidates must support the Lily Ledbetter fair pay act and it's enforcement, threshold=objective.

We must only support trade laws that protect workers and don't undermine environmental or Tort law.

We must return to the notion of affordable access to advanced education for our young people. Threshold to keep it out of Wall Street's hands and objective to make it free to the student.

We must reign in and reform Wall Street, make Wall Street pay premiums on it's risk engagement, support Dodd Frank as a threshold and break up Wall Street to separate money lending functions from consumer banking functions and protect the consumer.

We must strengthen Health Care reform by introducing a public option medicaid for all option and improving the ACA not repealing it.

We must end poverty and Hungry in America by restoring programs that help the poor, elderly and working people.

We must fund the government by making those who benefit from their privilege pay progressive taxation on unearned wealth and privilege.

So far this has tracked Bernies list.

Voting rights must be protected as a threshold. As an objective; We need a Constitutional Amendment making it clear that the right to vote is an inalienable right.

Under Article 1 Section 4; all voting machines must produce a durable ballot and that ballot must be preserved for a minimum of 5 years and be verifiable for purposes of recounting and verifying votes.

No state may infringe the rights of voters to vote or restrict the hours or locations of voting in such a way as to suppress the vote.

Elections shall be held on either the dates specified by the States or by the Federal Government, but the ballots shall be published a minimum of 2 weeks in advance of the election and every State must either provide polling places within every neighborhood where people live.

The states shall provide mail in ballots on demand of those registered in their state and no other. They shall accept any mail in ballot posted by the day of the election through the USA Post Office. The USA post office shall remain open on the day of elections so that voters can vote there as an option. And shall deliver such ballots expeditiously.

We should consider making primary votes and election days legal holidays and require employers to give voters time off to vote with pay.

Police shall be under civilian control.

The USA shall add a Police Reserve under direction of the FBI to it's national Guard training and provisioning and no person shall be a policeman unless he has had the training specified by a Police Oversight Training Advisory Organization which shall develop classroom materials and training guidelines to be implemented through the FBI and States.

All police forces shall have community citizen commissions to oversee their operations and investigate allegations of police corruption or abuse. These commissions may be created under any local government sponsorship or on petition of local residents of a neighborhood.

A volunteer reserve may supplement the police. These volunteers may not carry guns or make arrests.

The Federal Reserve shall be reformed to operate as an agency of the Treasury. The Treasury shall print it's own money.

The Press must be free and private. It cannot be in the hands of oligarchs. The giant monopolies must be broken up and local autonomy should be enforced in communications, internet and broadcast. Public broadcasting must once again be a Utility and the use of the radio waves and wires a privilege tied to providing public information.

This is my list so far. We can add to it. The numbered items should be demands not a mere set of words.