The Reading Bug

Food Isn't Medicine

2021-05-01T12:50:00.001-07:00

Author: Dr. Joshua Wolrich

Summary: Do carbs make you fat?
Could the keto diet cure mental health disorders?
Are eggs as bad for you as smoking?

No, no and absolutely not. It's all what Dr Joshua Wolrich defines as 'nutribollocks' and he is on a mission to set the record straight.

As an NHS doctor with personal experience of how damaging diets can be, he believes every one of us deserves to have a happy, healthy relationship with food and with our bodies. His message is clear: we need to fight weight stigma, call out the lies of diet culture and give ourselves permission to eat all foods.

Food Isn't Medicine wades through nutritional science (both good and bad) to demystify the common diet myths that many of us believe without questioning. If you have ever wondered whether you should stop eating sugar, try fasting, juicing or 'alkaline water', or struggled through diet after diet (none of which seem to work), this book will be a powerful wake-up call. Drawing on the latest research and delivered with a dose of humour, it not only liberates us from the destructive belief that weight defines health but also explains how to spot the misinformation we are bombarded with every day.

Dr Joshua Wolrich will empower you to escape the diet trap and call out the bad health advice for what it really is: complete nutribollocks.

My Thoughts:

I've been following Dr. Wolrich on Instagram for a few years now, so when I saw he had written a book, I bought it immediately. This book is BRAND NEW and because he's based in the UK, it may be difficult to find in the US. I purchased my copy from The Book Depository with free shipping.

Now, what did I think of it? I thought it was excellent. Whether this book serves as a helpful companion to keep you from believing any of the claims it refutes, or if this book pulls you back out from a world of following every new diet that comes out, it's extremely helpful. My main takeaways from this book include:

1. BMI is an absolutely nonsense measure for health, and you should absolutely disregard it.

2. If you see anyone unilaterally demonizing or pedestalizing one specific ingredient or food group, run away. In truth, all foods can fit within a healthy overall diet and there is no one food or food group that is going to magically solve all your problems.

3. Eating healthy is really, honestly as simple as adding more vegetables and fiber to our diets. The end. So many of us are searching for the magic bullet, but that's really all there is to it.

4. There are so many factors that contribute to a person's overall health, we cannot just always assume it's about how they eat.

5. Your body needs carbs to function. Please stop trying to eliminate them from your diet.

6. Weight stigma is a problem.

I loved this book so much, particularly because Dr. Wolrich mentions at front the hierarchy of scientific research, with meta-analysis and systematic reviews at the top (meaning those are the most reliable types of research). And then throughout the book, he frequently references these two types of research papers as he is myth-busting diet claims. It's solid science.

Language warning - there is a bit of language in the book, but it does not occur with overwhelming frequency. So please don't let that throw you off if the book sounds interesting.

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive

2021-04-24T07:45:00.002-07:00

Author: Stephanie Land

Summary:

At 28, Stephanie Land's plans of breaking free from the roots of her hometown in the Pacific Northwest to chase her dreams of attending a university and becoming a writer, were cut short when a summer fling turned into an unexpected pregnancy. She turned to housekeeping to make ends meet, and with a tenacious grip on her dream to provide her daughter the very best life possible, Stephanie worked days and took classes online to earn a college degree, and began to write relentlessly.

She wrote the true stories that weren't being told: the stories of overworked and underpaid Americans. Of living on food stamps and WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) coupons to eat. Of the government programs that provided her housing, but that doubled as halfway houses. The aloof government employees who called her lucky for receiving assistance while she didn't feel lucky at all. She wrote to remember the fight, to eventually cut through the deep-rooted stigmas of the working poor.

Maid explores the underbelly of upper-middle class America and the reality of what it's like to be in service to them. "I'd become a nameless ghost," Stephanie writes about her relationship with her clients, many of whom do not know her from any other cleaner, but who she learns plenty about. As she begins to discover more about her clients' lives-their sadness and love, too-she begins to find hope in her own path.

Her compassionate, unflinching writing as a journalist gives voice to the "servant" worker, and those pursuing the American Dream from below the poverty line. Maid is Stephanie's story, but it's not her alone. It is an inspiring testament to the strength, determination, and ultimate triumph of the human spirit.

My Thoughts:

This book made me feel ALL the emotions. Frustration, anger, sadness, hope, faith, helplessness, and so many more. I loved the fact that this book took all the stereotypes of a "poor person on welfare" and turned them on their heads. As I read this book, I felt such deep compassion for Stephanie, and then angry that it was so difficult for her to survive. Yes, it all started with an unexpected pregnancy with a man she was not in a committed relationship with, but her struggle to survive could apply to women who end up raising a child on their own due to many different circumstances. Stephanie writes about how she ended up leaving her child's father and living in a homeless shelter with her daughter because he had become abusive. The choice between financial stability with abuse or freedom from abuse but living in poverty is one that so many other women have had to make. Women end up as single parents for a variety of reasons, and it's not easy for any of them. Stephanie even relates how difficult it was to gain custody of her child. It broke my heart to read it. "While judges were rumored to say 'I don't care if the child sleeps on a concrete floor! They will have overnight visitation with their father,' mothers fighting for sole custody had to provide a sort of life that was simply impossible to obtain...I had to fight for the ability to mother my nursing infant, the infant Jamie (her boyfriend) had screamed at me to abort. I had been ground to a pulp by that judge. Like I had been in the wrong for leaving a man who threatened me."

One of the most important themes of this book was how there is a general stigma against those on government assistance in our society. There's this feeling that these people are lazy, just looking for handouts, unwilling to work and better themselves. And there may be SOME people who are that way, but I don't think it describes the majority of those living in poverty. Stephanie describes in the book how her lack of experience made it difficult to find a good job, and many of the jobs available to her would require her to work non-standard hours, hours when day care for her child wasn't an option. She relied on government assistance because she had no other choice. She worked as many hours as she could at the backbreaking and low-paying job of house cleaning. Several times in the book she mentions the hoops she had to jump through to get government assistance. She says "I was overwhelmed by how much work it took to prove I was poor." She mentions the shame she felt as she used EBT cards and WIC to buy groceries, and others in the line would say things like "You're welcome!" or roll their eyes at her. She talks about the misconception that undocumented immigrants are using taxpayer money to qualify for free health care and free food (that's actually something that is only available to citizens).

Another quote "Anyone who used food stamps didn't work hard enough or made bad decisions to put them in that lower-class place. It was like people thought it was on purpose and that we cheated the system, stealing the money they paid toward taxes to rob the government of funds...When people think of food stamps, they don't envision someone like me...Someone like them...Maybe they saw in me the chance of their own fragile circumstances, that, with one lost job, one divorce, they'd be in the same place as I was."

Stephanie talks about how although her daughter qualified for Medicaid, she did not. So she was completely unable to afford any doctors visits at all, even though she desperately needed them. Add that to the fact that she was severely traumatized from her abusive relationship, homelessness, and the Herculean struggle to just make it to the next day and keep herself and her daughter alive and safe, and she was in desperate need of some mental health services, which she also couldn't access or afford.

When she describes the temporary shelter she lives in that doubles as a halfway house, she says "I thought of how many times the police, firemen, and paramedics had come to our building in the last couple of months; of the random checks to make sure living spaces were kept clean or to make sure broken-down cars in the parking lot had been repaired; to patrol us so that we weren't doing the awful things they expected poor people to do, like allowing the laundry or garbage to pile up, when really, we lacked physical energy and resources from working jobs no one else wanted to do. We were expected to live off minimum wage, to work several jobs at varying hours, to afford basic needs while fighting for safe places to leave our children. Somehow nobody saw the work; they saw only the results of living a life that constantly crushed you with its impossibility."

She also says "When a person is too deep in systemic poverty, there is no upward trajectory. Life is a struggle and nothing else." I will admit that I have been one who used to think that people who were poor just didn't try hard enough, that they just needed to find a better job and work on a budget. This book cleared the last of those lingering prejudices from my mind. Stephanie kept the tightest budget I've ever heard of. She lived on coffee and peanut butter sandwiches in order to make sure her growing daughter had enough to eat. She worked out a trade with the owner of a local kids consignment store - cleaning after hours in exchange for clothing for her daughter. There is this general idea in the world that government assistance keeps people poor. It provides no incentive for them to improve. And this is actually true, but not in the way you would expect. In the book, Stephanie says "The most frustrating part of being stuck in the system were the penalties it seemed I received for improving my life. On a couple of occasions, my income pushed me over the limit by a few dollars and I'd lose hundreds of dollars in benefits....There was no incentive or opportunity to save money. The system kept me locked down, scraping the bottom of the barrel, without a plan to climb out of it."

Every time I put down this book I was some combination of intensely sad and incredibly angry. It's just absolutely not RIGHT that people in this country should have to struggle so much just to survive. Survival is a bare minimum goal! We want people to thrive. We should want people to be able to enjoy their lives and their children. One quote towards the end of the books really hit me hard. "The [other mothers] at Mia's day care..limited screen time, scheduled craft projects, limited sugary snacks, and served appropriate servings of fruit and vegetables at every meal. [They were mothers] with the privilege, time, and energy to mother well and who might judge me for not doing the same."

Basically everything I do as a mother to ensure that my children grow up in a safe, supportive, emotionally and physically healthy environment is largely only possible because I don't happen to live in extreme poverty. Even the year of our life where we struggled more financially, I was still able to provide a pretty good home environment for my kids. I left this book feeling like there are most certainly some sound policy decisions that could be made that will help kids be able to grow up in better environments than their parents can provide on their own. And for me, the argument that "some people will take advantage" is not a good enough reason to allow all the rest to just keep languishing in poverty, with little to no hope of making it out.

Please read this book. It is so good. It helped me gain a better perspective on those who are living in poverty, and I will think twice before I start jumping to conclusions about the person at the store paying with food stamps.

How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them

2021-03-13T12:33:00.001-08:00

Summary: As the child of refugees of World War II Europe and a renowned philosopher and scholar of propaganda, Jason Stanley has a deep understanding of how democratic societies can be vulnerable to fascism: Nations don’t have to be fascist to suffer from fascist politics. In fact, fascism’s roots have been present in the United States for more than a century. Alarmed by the pervasive rise of fascist tactics both at home and around the globe, Stanley focuses here on the structures that unite them, laying out and analyzing the ten pillars of fascist politics—the language and beliefs that separate people into an “us” and a “them.” He knits together reflections on history, philosophy, sociology, and critical race theory with stories from contemporary Hungary, Poland, India, Myanmar, and the United States, among other nations. He makes clear the immense danger of underestimating the cumulative power of these tactics, which include exploiting a mythic version of a nation’s past; propaganda that twists the language of democratic ideals against themselves; anti-intellectualism directed against universities and experts; law and order politics predicated on the assumption that members of minority groups are criminals; and fierce attacks on labor groups and welfare. These mechanisms all build on one another, creating and reinforcing divisions and shaping a society vulnerable to the appeals of authoritarian leadership.

By uncovering disturbing patterns that are as prevalent today as ever, Stanley reveals that the stuff of politics—charged by rhetoric and myth—can quickly become policy and reality. Only by recognizing fascists politics, he argues, may we resist its most harmful effects and return to democratic ideals.

My Thoughts:

I found this book to be completely fascinating. It's not very long, and it's a pretty easy read, very accessible and not too philosophical. Simple enough for the average person to comprehend. I just checked out his earlier book "How Propogranda Works" and it is much thicker and denser, so I'm not sure I'll end up slogging through that one.

I thought this book was really important to read, especially in today's world where most of us can agree that there is a large amount of division going on in our country. The author pointed out how incredibly important it is that we not allow ourselves to get sucked into the "us vs them" rhetoric. I have been worried about that myself, as I have seen a lot of stuff on Facebook and even directly stated by political commentators about how "all" members of certain groups are "evil" "criminals" "rapists" "drug dealers" etc. It's really important to be aware of these tactics so we can prevent truly evil things from happening here in the United States. We have to leave our hearts open with compassion to those who are different from us. There are bad people EVERYWHERE, it's true, but we cannot lump all the bad people into one racial, ethnic, or political group and just be able to make blanket statements that condemn them all.

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong

2021-01-11T08:50:00.001-08:00

Summary: Americans have lost touch with their history, and in Lies My Teacher Told Me Professor James Loewen shows why. After surveying eighteen leading high school American history texts, he has concluded that not one does a decent job of making history interesting or memorable. Marred by an embarrassing combination of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, sheer misinformation, and outright lies, these books omit almost all the ambiguity, passion, conflict, and drama from our past.

In this revised edition, packed with updated material, Loewen explores how historical myths continue to be perpetuated in today's climate and adds an eye-opening chapter on the lies surrounding 9/11 and the Iraq War. From the truth about Columbus's historic voyages to an honest evaluation of our national leaders, Loewen revives our history, restoring the vitality and relevance it truly possesses.

Thought provoking, nonpartisan, and often shocking, Loewen unveils the real America in this iconoclastic classic beloved by high school teachers, history buffs, and enlightened citizens across the country.

My Thoughts:

I thought this book was fascinating and SO good. I was lucky to have a really great history teacher in high school who did his best to teach us actual history and not just white-washed, feel good history, but there was still so much I didn't know. For example, did you know that Woodrow Wilson was actually super racist, that as President he SEGREGATED areas of government that had previously been integrated? Did you know that at the beginning of post-Civil War Reconstruction, things were actually going pretty well race-relations wise, and Black people were seeing greater equality, until Southern Whites got back the reins and made things awful again? Did you know that Helen Keller as an adult was a strong supporter of socialism? Did you know that Columbus and basically everyone else at the time already knew the earth was round and the whole point of his expedition was to see if he could get rich somewhere? Did you know that the pilgrims likely would not have survived to colonize America if it hadn't been for previous explorers bringing diseases that decimated Native populations? Did you know that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were motivated not because Osama bin Ladin just hates freedom, but as retaliation for what he saw as way too much meddling in the Middle East on the part of America? Did you know that although we like to present the picture of the US being this "international good guy" we've actually stuck our noses where they don't belong many times and completely screwed things up?

I highly recommend reading this book. I thought it was incredibly informative and I think it presented a really important look at how we teach history and how we can do better. I think many of the problems of today stem from a complete lack of accurate understanding of our history. We are taught all our lives half-truths and sometimes outright lies, is it any wonder we still believe them and act as if these things are true (sometimes to our own detriment) as adults? A lot of people think they know history, and they would probably be wrong. Seriously, read this. I am begging you. It was so worth the time.

Jefferson's Sons: A Founding Father's Secret Children

2020-10-24T16:03:00.002-07:00

Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Rating: PG - I feel like this book would be really good for about 7th grade and up. There's nothing overly graphic in it, a man is publicly whipped twice but that's about the extent of the violence.

Summary:
Beverly, Harriet, Madison, and Eston are Thomas Jefferson's children by one of the people he enslaved, Sally Hemings, and while they do get special treatment - better work, better shoes, even violin lessons - they are still slaves, and are never to mention who their father is. The lighter-skinned children have been promised a chance to escape into white society, but what does this mean for the children who look more like their mother? As each child grows up, their questions about slavery and freedom become tougher, calling into question the real meaning of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Told in three parts from the points of view of three of the children enslaved by Jefferson - Beverly, Madison, and a third boy close to the Hemings family - these engaging and poignant voices shed light on what life was like as one of Jefferson's invisible offspring.

My Thoughts: I LOVED this book. I felt like it did an incredible job addressing the disconnect between Thomas Jefferson, the great patriot and American president who wrote the Declaration of Independence, and Thomas Jefferson, a man who enslaved his fellow human beings. I love how the story was told through the eyes of children, who are trying to understand what slavery means, what freedom means, and why people think it's ok to enslave their fellow human beings. For instance, at one point, the children have a conversation with their mother about whether or not Thomas Jefferson is a good person. They are conflicted, because they can see how he is kind, how much he has done for the country, but they are also living in slavery and they know that is not right. The mother says to them "all of the good things about him - patriot, president, gentleman, educated and intelligent man - those are all true too. he's done many great things. I hope you can be proud of that part of him." But she also tells them that although she has had a very good life, she has never been mistreated and her children are safe "it's not freedom. Sometimes it looks pretty close to freedom. Sometimes it feels okay. Then something happens...and I'm reminded all over again that we live in a prison on this mountain. It's a prison no matter how comfortable it may feel." I thought this was so profound because there is this idea sometimes that "At least some slave owners were nice to the people they enslaved. Some of them were kind." As one of the characters declares in the book, "There isn't such a thing as a nice slave owner. Slavery is bad. It's evil. All slave owners are bad. If a person would own another person, you can't trust a word they'll say."

In another place in the book, two of the boys are looking at the framed Declaration of Independence on the wall in the hallway of the main house, and they read the first lines "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The younger boy is confused. He asks, "If Master Jefferson wrote that, how come he doesn't believe it?" The older boy replies, "He does believe it. At least, he thinks he does." They go on to discuss that the Declaration says "All men" not "all white men" and that self-evident means everyone knows it because it's so obvious. The younger boy says "But people don't know it." The older boy says, "I didn't read it to tell you that. I read it so you'd understand what those two old men (Jefferson and Lafayette) were crying about. They believed this a long time ago, when almost nobody else did, and Master Jefferson wrote it down, and they made a whole new country around it. And now they're so old they're almost dead and they're crying for what they did a long time ago." The younger boy says "But they didn't really do it" and the older replies, "I know. But they think they did."

There were so many good moments in the book where I had to set it down to ponder for a bit. I thought the author did an excellent job writing this story and helping the reader (via the characters) come to their own conclusion about how to reconcile the amazing things the Founding Fathers did with the fact that many of them were also slave owners. I highly recommend this book.

2020 Democratic Platform Part 10: Renewing American Leadership

2020-10-21T13:55:00.002-07:00

Part 10: Renewing American Leadership

1. Revitalizing American Diplomacy

a. Rebuilding America’s Tool of First Resort

i. diplomacy

ii. make the State Department more strategic, modern, agile, and effective

b. Reinventing Alliances

i. advance mutual priorities and deal with new challenges

ii. work with allied democracies to end democracy’s global recession

iii. make developing shared responses to non-military threats like disinformation, corruption, and economic coercion, priorities in our agenda

iv. never treat alliances like protection rackets

v. work to strengthen and build new partnerships in Africa and Latin America

c. International Institutions

i. rejoin and reform the WHO, the United Nations Human Rights Council, and the United Nations Population Fund

d. Foreign Assistance and Development

i. reject Trump Administration’s punitive and transactional approach to foreign aid and its use to advance domestic political arrands at the expense of our national interests.

ii. multiply impact of foreign assistance

iii. lead international efforts to help developing countries with COVID

2. Transforming Our Armed Forces for the 21^st Century

a. Ending Forever Wars

i. Trump said he would get US out of Afghanistan but he just sent more people there and stoked regional tensions that made things worse

ii. responsibly set priorities, lead with diplomacy, protect ourselves from terrorist threats, enable local partners, bring troops home

iii. committed to a durable and inclusive political settlement in Afghanistan that ensures that al-Qaeda isn’t allowed to reconstitute, ISIS isn’t allowed to grow, and the international community can help Afghans safeguard hard-fought gains

iv. end support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, help bring the war to an end

v. use force only when necessary, with the informed consent of the American people and the approval of Congress

1. work with Congress to repeal authorizations for the use of military force and replace them with a narrow and specific framework

b. Securing our Competitive Edge

i. US military should be best-trained, best-equipped, and most effective fighting force in the world

1. So…now I’m confused as to why Republicans keep saying that Democrats want to weaken the military…..

ii. invest in technology and forces that meet the threats of the future

iii. reinforce alliances and partnerships that enhance our collective security

c. Defense Spending

i. it’s not how much we spend, but how we spend it

ii. we spend too much on military and not enough on diplomacy

1. we can maintain a strong defense and protect our safety and security for less

2. Ok, I think this is really cool. Let’s try to make nice and figure things out with words instead of fists.

iii. conduct rigorous annual audits of the Pentagon

1. This is something that the Republican platform also pledged to do

d. Keeping Faith with Our Veterans and Military Families

i. protect opportunities for anyone who can meet the standards to serve in combat roles

ii. fight the scourge of rape and sexual assault in the military

1. https://www.protectourdefenders.com/factsheet/

2. https://abcnews.go.com/US/military-sexual-assault-victims-system-broken/story?id=72499053

iii. reverse Trump’s transgender ban

1. Yes. Anyone who wants to serve our country should be able to. There’s no good reason why trans people should be banned.

iv. root out systemic racism from military justice system

1. black service members are twice as likely as white ones to face court-martial

v. service members, veterans, and their spouses should never face deportation

1. create a parole process for veterans deported by the Trump Administration to reunite them with their families

vi. Veterans deserve better health care

1. Yep. And wasn’t that something that Republicans said they were gonna fix?

vii. work to combat veteran homelessness

viii. make sure veterans have access to mental health services

ix. support military families better

1. ensure pay and compensation keep pace with the economy

2. increase time between deployments

e. Civil-Military Relations

i. end the Trump Administration’s politicization of the armed forces

ii. safeguard the independence of the military justice system

iii. hold regular press briefings to explain the legal and policy justifications for military operations

iv. never use active duty soldiers as political props

v. never send military forces to suppress Americans exercising their constitutional rights

3. Mobilizing the World to Address Transnational Challenges

a. Global Health and Pandemics

i. expand Global Health Security Agenda

ii. restore the White House National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense

iii. establish a Global Health Emergency Board to harmonize crisis response for vulnerable communities

iv. fully resource the WHO

v. help the world eradicate tuberculosis, malaria, polio, and other preventable maternal and childhood deaths

b. Climate Change

i. fully integrate climate change into foreign policy and national security strategies

ii. restore US global climate leadership

iii. recommit to the Green Climate Fund

iv. protect our oceans

v. support protection of species and wildlife habitats

c. Technology

i. recommit to net neutrality

ii. algorithms and platforms should empower people instead of the surveillance state

iii. expect tech companies and social media platforms to do more to preserve the openness of democratic societies and identify foreign disinformation

iv. prevent the use of new technologies to facilitate repression, spread hate, or incite violence

v. develop secure 5G networks

vi. remain committed to the international prohibition on the development or use of biological weapons.

d. Nonproliferation

i. prevent the spread of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, eventually secure their elimination

ii. Trump has made it so the nuclear dangers Americans face are greater than they have been in decades

iii. the sole purpose of our nuclear arsenal should be to deter a nuclear attack

1. We should reduce our overreliance and excessive expenditure on nuclear weapons

iv. push for ratification of the UN Arms Trade Treaty and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

e. Terrorism

i. sustain global effort to defeat ISIS, al-Qaeda, and their affiliates

ii. committed to dealing with the underlying conditions that allowed violent extremism to flourish in the first place

iii. always work to avoid civilian casualties

iv. not weaponize counterterrorism for anti-immigrant purposes

v. close detention center at Guantanamo Bay

f. Democracy and Human Rights

i. make gender equality a key foreign policy priority

ii. implement the Women, Peace, and Security Act

iii. incorporate more women into peace processes

iv. ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

v. pass the GLOBE Act and appoint senior leaders directly responsible for driving and coordinating LGBTQ+ issues at the Sate Department, USAID, and the National Security Council

vi. amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ persons around the world and counter violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ persons wherever it appears

vii. defend freedom of the press

viii. fight human trafficking

1. increase visas for victims of human trafficking

ix. improve labor standards around the world

x. never use protection of freedom of religion as a cover for discrimination

1. yes. We do this. And we need to stop it.

xi. we have an obligation to help alleviate suffering around the world, will contribute more aid, and better aid

xii. END TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S EFFORTS TO CLOSE DOORS TO REFUGEES!!!!

1. significantly raise the annual global refugee admissions target

2. “Admitting refugees is not only the right thing to do – it’s the smart thing to do”

3. This is extremely important to me and one of my biggest reasons for voting Democrat this election. I am thrilled to see this in the platform.

xiii. torture is immoral and ineffective

4. Advancing American Interests

a. Global Economy and Trade

i. no new trade deals before first investing in American competitiveness at home

ii. insist on strong and enforceable standards for labor, human rights, and the environment

iii. stand up to China with trade

iv. anti-corruption will be a priority in foreign policy

v. ban anonymous shell companies

vi. guard against improper application of economic and financial sanctions

b. Africa

i. recommit to National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking

ii. ban importation to the US of hunting trophies

iii. There’s lots more but this is not a huge issue for me so I’m leaving it there

c. Americas

i. work with regional and international partners to address the root causes of migration – violence and insecurity, weak rule of law, lack of educational and economic opportunity, pervasive corruption and environmental degradation

ii. protect the Amazon from deforestation

iii. help Venezuela, grant Temporary Protected Status to Venezuelans in the US

1. use smart pressure and effective diplomacy, not threats

d. Asia-Pacific

i. protect American workers from unfair trade practices by the Chines govt

ii. resist Chines military’s intimidation in the South China Sea

iii. committed to the Taiwan Relations Act

iv. fully enforce Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act

v. condemn the internment of more than one million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in concentration camps in China

vi. North Korea – build a campaign to advance the goal of denuclearization, support humanitarian aid, pressure regime to cease its gross human rights abuses

e. Europe

i. Trump has damaged our ties with Europe and we will fix them

ii. stand up to Russia

iii. reaffirm commitment to NATO

f. Middle East

i. move away from military intervention and towards pragmatic diplomacy

ii. we should not impose regime change on other countries

iii. Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is the best way to cut off Iran’s pathways to a nuclear bomb

1. Trump withdrew from this plan

iv. help find a political resolution to the war in Syria

v. concerned about Lebanon, will work with them to promote economic and political reform

vi. commit to Israel’s security, it’s military edge and it’s right to defend itself

vii. work to help end the Israel/Palestine conflict

1. two-state solution

2. Jerusalem should stay the capital of Israel

3. oppose any effort to delegitimize Israel

2020 Democratic Platform Part 9: Providing a World-Class Education in Every Zip Code

2020-10-17T16:02:00.004-07:00

Part 9: Providing a World-Class Education in Every Zip Code

1. Guaranteeing Universal Early Childhood Education

a. expand Head Start and Early Head Start

i. this is a really great summary about what we know and don’t know about the effectiveness of Head Start Programs https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2019/06/14/does-head-start-work-the-debate-over-the-head-start-impact-study-explained/

b. ensure students with disabilities and English language learnings have access to and are fully included in early childhood programs

c. increase funding to make sure low-income and middle-class families can afford child care

i. I think this is really great. There are so many moms who WANT to work, who want to stay in their careers after they have kids, but the price of child care is so high, it doesn’t make financial sense. I am all for women being able to choose to stay home if they WANT to, but I think that should be something they really feel they are consciously choosing, not something that is being forced upon them. (On the other hand, I also think it would be great for mothers to be able to choose to work, not feel as if they have to.)

d. early childhood educators should be paid a family-supporting wage, have access to benefits and paid leave

i. YES. Children are most moldable in the first 3 years of life. We NEED to be acting like their childcare providers matter because they have ENORMOUS impact on these kids lives. Higher income people can pick and choose, but low income individuals are stuck with whatever childcare they can afford, even if it’s pretty terrible.

2. Supporting High-Quality K-12 Schools Across America

a. triple Title I funding

b. expand universal free school meal programs

c. expand the community school model

d. expand access to career and technical education, magnet schools for science and arts, early college high schools

i. I really like this. I feel like in high school, kids should be able to explore more, really figure out what is interesting to them, so they’re not entering college still completely lost as to what they want to do.

e. prioritize STEAM education and funding

f. promote environmental and climate literacy

g. ban for-profit private charter businesses from receiving federal funding

h. increase accountability for charter schools

i. oppose private school vouchers

i. https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/the-ongoing-debate-over-school-choice

j. Teachers should not bring firearms into the classroom

k. protect the rights of transgender students

i. This is something as simple as requiring teachers to call a student by their preferred name and pronouns. There have been instances where teachers have refused to do so. This can actually have severe mental health consequences for transgender students.

ii. https://www.gse.upenn.edu/news/educators-playbook/erin-cross-pronouns-gender-identity

iii. https://time.com/5721482/transgender-students-pronouns-teacher-lawsuits/

l. fund federal programs to promote integration and school diversity

i. https://hechingerreport.org/a-scholar-revives-the-argument-for-racial-integration-in-schools/

ii. Also, I highly recommend listening to the podcast series titled “Nice White Parents” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/podcasts/nice-white-parents-serial.html

1. https://www.npr.org/2020/10/12/922092481/podcast-examines-how-nice-white-parents-become-obstacles-in-integrated-schools

m. increase funding for the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights

n. increased funding and support for English learners

o. equal educational opportunities for children with disabilities

i. fully fund Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

ii. provide school districts with resources to better serve students with disabilities

1. We REALLY NEED THIS.

iii. ban seclusion and decrease use of physical restraint

p. work to end the use of high-stakes testing

i. states should develop other methods of student assessment that rely on multiple and holistic measures

1. I can hear every teacher that has ever existed yelling a collective Hallelujah!!! Standardized testing is so frustrating for literally everyone except the data collectors. It would be amazing to find a different way to assess students that more accurately reflects their actual abilities instead of just telling you how well they can fill in a little bubble.

q. increase teacher pay and benefits!!

i. help teachers pay for out-of-pocket classroom expenses

1. Again….I can’t think of an educator who would NOT want this.

3. Making Higher Education Affordable and Accessible

a. Make public colleges and universities tuition-free for students whose families earn less than $125,000

i. Free college is one of those things I just don’t know if I can fully get behind. I believe it should be cheaper, sure. I also think we need to work to make community colleges seem less like the “dummy” option. But I worry that if we just make college free, we’ll end up with the apathy you see in high schools. Kids who aren’t working hard to be there will not be motivated to work hard and have a good experience. That’s just my feeling. But on the other hand, it is really dumb that I couldn’t get any federal aid when I was a young student because my dad made too much (but not enough to easily put all 6 of his children through college) but now that I’m married and on my own and our income is much lower than my Dad’s, I’m getting Pell grants that are paying for my school, which I’m incredibly grateful for. So I don’t know.

b. double maximum Pell Grant award for low-income students

i. Ok, so I looked this up and the maximum Pell Grant you can get is $6,195. For a YEAR. Which is great if you’re at a community college, but not so great if you’re done with community college and at a 4 year university where even at some of the cheapest ones, you’ll be out of money just with tuition in one semester.

c. make community colleges and trade school tuition-free for all students

i. I love the idea of making trade schools more accessible for students. We need people to go into the trades and there’s absolutely no shame in learning a trade!

d. support and expand pre-apprenticeship opportunities and registered apprenticeships

i. I think this is a great idea! Some people will do better learning in an apprenticeship setting than in a school setting, and then they can start working sooner.

e. support child care on college campuses

f. promote transparency and fairness regarding higher ed faculty working conditions, including adjuncts, graduate employees and full-time lecturers who are often underpaid

g. support and encourage professor tenure

h. safeguard academic freedom

4. Providing Borrowers Relief from Crushing Student Debt

a. work to authorize up to $10,000 in student debt relief per borrower

b. create a simplified repayment process

c. pause monthly billing and stop interest from accruing on federal student loans for people earning less than $25,000

d. after 20 years, any remaining debt should be forgiven

i. I’m assuming this is if you actually make an effort to pay some of it? Otherwise, what is stopping a person from just…not paying anything for 20 years?

e. For those earning less than $125,000, forgive all undergraduate tuition-related federal student debt from 2 and 4 year public colleges and universities

f. modernize and improve Public Service Loan Forgiveness program

2020 Democratic Platform Part 8: Creating a 21st Century Immigration System

2020-10-16T13:45:00.001-07:00

Part 8: Creating a 21^st Century Immigration System

1. Trump administration has forcibly separated families and put children in cages, deported veterans, raided workplaces, denied COVID testing and treatment based on immigration status, banned people from traveling to the US based on their faith or country of origin, and turned away refugees and asylum seekers

a. I hear a lot that the migration centers were a problem under Obama too. I found this article that goes into detail about what immigration was like under Obama. Although I don’t think he was fabulous at it, I think Trump has certainly made things worse. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/obama-record-deportations-deporter-chief-or-not

2. Immigrants ARE America (I just want to contrast this to the Republican platform, that called immigrants dangerous criminals that we have to protect our streets from…)

3. Stop construction of the border wall

a. Yup https://www.newsweek.com/trumps-border-wall-would-be-symbolic-waste-money-former-homeland-security-1311085

4. terminate the Muslim travel ban, invite those whose visas were denied because of this to re-apply

a. Absolutely. Islam is not an inherently radical and violent religion.

5. reinstate, expand, and streamline protections for Dreamers and parents of American citizen children to keep families together

6. protect and expand the asylum system

a. reverse policies that prevent victims of gang and domestic violence, as well as LGBTQ+ people who are unsafe in their home countries, from being eligible to apply for asylum.

b. end policies that deny protected entry to asylum seekers

c. end prosecution of asylum seekers at the border and policies that force them to apply from “safe third countries” which are far from safe.

i. https://www.afsc.org/blogs/news-and-commentary/dangers-trumps-safe-third-country-agreements-central-america

ii. Please please please look into the Remain in Mexico Policy. It is awful. And listen to this. Or read the transcript, but listening is more powerful. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/688/the-out-crowd

1. Link to the transcript https://www.thisamericanlife.org/688/transcript

iii. If you are interested, here is the website all about asylum and how to get it. You can explore and see what they have on there. https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-and-asylum/asylum

7. rescind immigrant wealth test

a. Ugh, I didn’t even know about this and now I’ve read about it and…just no. We need to get rid of it. https://www.nilc.org/2019/08/20/3-things-you-should-know-about-trumps-immigration-wealth-test-the-torch/

8. provide a roadmap to citizenship for the undocumented workers who are already here

9. eliminate unfair barriers to naturalization, reduce application backlogs, make immigration processes faster, more efficient, and less costly.

10. prioritize family reunification

a. support legislation to treat spouses and children of green card holders as immediate relatives and end their separation

b. eliminate family-based green card backlogs and reform the system to speed up family-based visas

c. eliminate immigration barriers like the 3 and 10 year bars, remove 10 year waiting period for waivers to the permanent bars that keep loved ones apart

i. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/three-and-ten-year-bars

11. expand annual visa cap for victims of human trafficking

12. ensure that law-abiding individuals with Temporary Protected Status or Deferred Enforced Departure are not sent back to countries where they cannot live safely.

13. support Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights and the Protect Our Workers from Exploitation and Retaliation (POWER) Act

14. end workplace and community raids

a. protect locations like schools, houses of worship, health care facilities

b. prohibit raids in which children are left behind without their caregivers

i. Listen to this segment of another This American Life episode. A workplace was raided and kids came home from school to find their parents were gone and they had no idea where they were or if they would see them again. Not ok. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/673/left-behind/act-one-4

15. detention should be a last resort, not the default

a. any facility where migrants are being detained should be held to high standards of care

b. detention centers should provide access to competent interpreters

c. detention of children should be restricted to the shortest possible time

16. immigration judges should be able to operate free of inappropriate political influence

17. improve and increase opportunities for legal, permanent immigration

a. I posted this link in an earlier section, but it bears repeating. Legal immigration is SO DIFFICULT and takes FOREVER. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/why-don%E2%80%99t-they-just-get-line

2020 Democratic Platform Part 6 & 7: Climate Change and Restoring our Democracy

2020-10-15T16:58:00.002-07:00

Part 6: Combating the Climate Crisis and Pursuing Environmental Justice

1. Climate change is a global emergency

a. we have recently seen record-breaking storms, wildfires, and floods

b. Trump is denying the science

i. https://www.npr.org/2020/09/14/912799501/i-don-t-think-science-knows-visiting-fires-trump-denies-climate-change

2. we need to build a clean energy economy that puts workers and communities first

3. reject the false choice between growing our economy and combating climate change – we can do both at the same time

a. I really love this idea! We can do both!

4. reverse Trump Administration rollbacks of climate and environmental protections

a. rejoin Paris Climate Agreement

b. restore protections for public lands and waters

c. follow science and the law by reducing harmful methane and carbon pollution

5. we must achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, no later than 2050

a. eliminate carbon pollution from power plants by 2035

b. expand solar and wind energy deployment

6. Build a modern electric grid

7. support energy efficient upgrades for homes in low-income and public housing

8. incentivize landlords to make energy efficient and clean energy upgrades

a. Seriously, this would be great. I mean how many of you have paid buckets in heating or cooling costs because the apartment or house you are renting has the cheapest and crappiest windows on the planet?

9. affirm CA’s authority under the Clean Air Act to set its own emissions standards

10. transition all American school buses to American-made, zero-emission alternatives within 5 years

11. install more public charging stations throughout the US

12. improve access to public transportation

13. Make sure FEMA has what it needs to appropriately function

14. protect America’s national parks and monuments, public lands and marine protected areas

a. codify the roadless rule

i. https://www.fs.usda.gov/roadmain/roadless/2001roadlessrule

b. reverse Trump Administrations rollbacks of protections for national monuments

c. ban new oil and gas permits on public lands and waters

15. fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund

Part 7: Restoring and Strengthening our Democracy

1. Protecting and Enforcing Voting Rights

a. against voter ID laws, purges of voter rolls, and closing polling places in low-income neighborhoods and in communities of color

i. Americans should never have to wait in hours-long lines to vote

1. Seriously. Early voting opened in Georgia the other day and people were reporting that they waited for 11 HOURS to vote!!! That is insane.

2. Voter ID laws…I can see both sides here. I think that it makes sense on some level to make sure a person is who they say they are when they vote, but on the other hand, there is an argument that it is discriminatory. This is a really interesting article with a research study done to see how badly this is really effecting people. https://www.wired.com/story/voter-id-law-algorithm/

b. restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act

i. challenge state laws that make it harder for people to vote

ii. support automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, early voting, and universal vote-from-home and vote-by-mail options

1. So Automatic voter registration just means that if a person interacts in some way with a government agency (getting a driver’s license, for example) they are automatically registered to vote. I don’t see a huge issue with this at all. And no matter how much Trump tries to claim that there is, there is simply no evidence that voting by mail is more susceptible to fraud that voting in person.

c. Make Election Day a national holiday to make it easier for people to vote

i. I think this is a fabulous idea. More holidays!!

d. implement the Help America Vote Act

i. require that polling places and elections are accessible for people with disabilities

ii. people who are released from jail or prison should be restored their voting rights without having to pay fines or fees

1. I so agree. We should not keep punishing people after they have served their time.

e. support mandatory post-election audits and full transparency of all election results and data

i. vote by mail voters must be informed of and provided an opportunity to fix any problem with their ballot

1. YES!!! Voting by mail is tricky, there are a lot of steps to get right and a lot of people mess up. I think it would be wonderful to get the chance to fix issues to make sure your vote counts.

f. end partisan gerrymandering in federal elections

i. redraw legislative districts after the 2020 Census

1. Ok this is interesting, because the Supreme Court just decided to stop the 2020 Census even though it’s not finished, which is kind of scary because the people who are most likely to be not yet counted are low-income and minority groups. We need to do our best to count EVERYONE if we want to draw these districts fairly. https://www.npr.org/2020/08/03/898548910/census-cut-short-a-month-rushes-to-finish-all-counting-efforts-by-sept-30

g. increase oversight of private election vendors to ensure voting systems are secure and worthy of voters’ trust

i. we will not tolerate election interference

1. This is because Russia interfered in the 2016 election. I highly recommend this article for more on that. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/putin-american-democracy/610570/

2. Reforming the Broken Campaign Finance System

a. Money is not speech, and corporations are not people

i. pass a Constitutional amendment that eliminates all private financing from federal elections

ii. crack down on foreign nationals who try to influence elections

iii. super PACs should be wholly independent of campaigns and political parties

iv. require full disclosure of contributors to any group that advocates for or against candidates

v. bar 501(c)(4) organizations from spending money on elections

vi. ban corporate PACs from donating to candidates and bar lobbyists from donating, fundraising, or bundling for anyone they lobby

3. Building an Effective, Transparent Federal Government

a. establish a commission on federal ethics to aggressively enforce and strengthen federal ethics laws, including rules around personal financial disclosures for Executive Branch officials

b. support requiring all candidates for federal office to publicly disclose at least 10 years of tax returns

c. re-establish merit-based federal contracting decisions

d. strengthen whistleblower protections

e. ban lobbying by foreign governments

f. “condemn President Trump’s determination to sow chaos and division by inappropriately deploying federal agents to American cities, where too many have used egregious tactics against peaceful protestors. We know federal agents can ably protect federal property while also clearly displaying badges, insignias, and identifying markings; without detaining Americans in undisclosed locations without cause; and without brutally attacking peaceful protestors. Democrats are committed to following the rule of law and will uphold the First Amendment right to peaceably assemble.”

i. I thought this quote was important to include because of what has been happening this summer in some cities where violence broke out. Here’s a good article recapping what was going on in Portland if you’re unaware. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53473732

g. need for structural court reforms to increase transparency and accountability

4. Make Washington, DC the 51^st State

a. 700,000 people live there and pay more per capita in federal income taxes than any state in the country, but has 0 voting representatives in Congress

b. Congress can override budget decisions made by elected officials in DC

c. DC does not have control over its own National Guard units

d. citizens of DC already voted in favor of statehood

i. I have not formed an opinion on this but here is an article listing pros and cons. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/politics/dc-statehood-101/index.html

5. Guaranteeing Self-Determination for Puerto Rico

a. help the island rebuild and recover from recent hurricanes and earthquakes

b. invest in the island’s future

c. Puerto Rico should be treated equally with respect to federal programs like Medicaid, SNAP and Child Tax Credit

6. Supporting the US Territories

a. recommend changes that will allow for full and equal voting rights of US citizens that are residents of the territories

b. we should help territories recover from natural disasters

7. Strengthening the US Postal Service

a. fight all efforts to privatize it

b. make sure USPS is financially sustainable

c. maintain 6 day and doorstep mail delivery

d. support new revenue streams for the USPS, including allowing secure shipping of alcoholic beverages by mail

2020 Democratic Platform Part 5: Healing the Soul of America

2020-10-12T16:57:00.005-07:00

1. Protecting Americans’ Civil Rights

a. Committed to ending discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, language, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability status

b. We will appoint Supreme Court justices and federal judges who look like America, are committed to the rule of law, will uphold individual civil rights and civil liberties as essential components of a free and democratic society

c. committed to restoring the full power of the Voting Rights Act

d. enforce and strengthen the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act

e. it’s time to root out domestic terrorism

2. Achieving Racial Justice and Equity

a. Our country’s history of racism has created lasting inequities in health, income, wealth, education, employment, etc for people of color

i. we will embed racial justice in every element of our governing agenda

ii. work to design policies that better address the needs of the most vulnerable communities

b. We can only build a more just and equitable future if we honestly reckon with our history and its legacy in the present

i. support removing the Confederate battle flag and statues of Confederate leaders from public properties

ii. invest in recovering, celebrating, and highlighting Black history as American history (Black history has often been intentionally suppressed or excluded from history books)

iii. Juneteenth (June 19^th) should be recognized as a federal holiday

1. I love and agree with all of this. If you don’t know what Juneteenth is ( I didn’t until this year), check out this link. https://www.history.com/news/what-is-juneteenth

2. I absolutely believe that we need to join Black history and American history together into one. We are not teaching the full history of our country if we ignore Black history, or squish it all into the shortest month of the year.

3. I get that the Confederate flag and statues thing is a tough subject. I was against the idea until (get this) I actually started LISTENING to the people who are bothered by it, and WHY they feel it is such a problem. And now it makes sense. And honestly…should we really make a piece of fabric more important than the general feeling of safety and acceptance of our fellow human beings? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/06/pride-and-prejudice-the-americans-who-fly-the-confederate-flag

c. We believe Black lives matter!!

i. establish a national commission to examine the lasting economic effects of slavery, Jim Crow segregation, and racially discriminatory federal policies on income, wealth, education, health, and employment outcomes

ii. there can be no realization of the American dream without grappling with the lasting effects of slavery and facing up to the centuries-long campaign of violence, fear, and trauma wrought upon Black Americans

1. Yes. Ignoring it doesn’t make it go away. We have to talk about it and face up to it.

d. It is unacceptable that schools are more segregated today than they were in the late 1960’s

i. increase investments to guarantee all students can access high-qulaity public schools, no matter where they live

ii. https://www.vox.com/2018/3/5/17080218/school-segregation-getting-worse-data

iii. https://www.epi.org/publication/schools-are-still-segregated-and-black-children-are-paying-a-price/

e. restore the full powers of the Voting Rights Act

i. roll back discriminatory policies that have been put in place to prevent people of color from voting

ii. federal agencies should produce materials in languages commonly spoken in the US, voting materials should be easily accessible for citizens with limited English proficiency

3. Protecting Women’s Rights

a. ratify the Equal Rights Amendment

b. end pay inequality

c. pass the Paycheck Fairness Act

d. end sexual assault, domestic abuse, and other violence against women

e. repeal the Hyde Amendment and codify the right to reproductive freedom

f. require employers to make reasonable accommodations for pregnant and breastfeeding workers

4. Protecting LGBTQ+ Rights

a. enact the Equality Act and at last outlaw discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in housing, public accommodations, access to credit, education, jury service, and federal programs

b. work to make sure LGBTQ+ people are not discriminated against when seeking to adopt or foster children

i. I think this is important. Studies show that kids who grow up with LGBTQ parents do JUST FINE. I would much rather put a child into a loving, caring, supportive home with LGBTQ parents than into a less caring situation with heterosexual parents.

c. guarantee transgender students’ access to facilities based on their gender identity

d. ban “conversion therapy” and expand mental health and suicide prevention services

i. This is the section where I was like…see if I were LGBTQ I would feel like the Democratic party cares about ME and the difficulties I face in life. This is a group that is used to being pushed to the side. To be so specifically discussed in a positive light in this platform is so validating, I’m sure.

5. Protecting Disability Rights

a. fully enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Fair Housing Act, the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, and the Help America Vote Act

b. Repair damage done by the Trump Administration

i. https://khn.org/news/trump-rollback-disability-rules-ada-health-care-hurdles/

ii. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/gop-s-h-r-620-will-gut-americans-disabilities-act-ncna850261

c. support screening and more assistance for those on the Autism spectrum

d. increase SSI benefits, eliminate waiting periods for SSDI and eliminate the benefit cliff for SSDI benefits

e. increase federal funding to expand accessible transportation and accessible, integrated, and affordable housing

f. expand home care workforce to end state waiting lists for long-term services and supports

6. Honoring Indigenous Tribal Nations

a. recognize and support the sovereignty of Tribal nations

b. reject Trump Administration’s efforts to remove land that was put into trust by Obama

c. fight for justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls

d. reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act

e. defend Indian Child Welfare Act

f. invest in Indian Education and increase resources for programs that promote cultural preservation and enable Native students to learn their Indigenous languages

g. support national curricula to teach Native American history and culture in schools

h. committed to combating hurtful and racist Native American stereotypes in mainstream American cultures, especially those associated with sports teams and educational institutions

i. I used to think this was stupid. Now I wholeheartedly agree.

i. better support Native American Veterans

j. hold an annual White House Tribal Nations Conference

k. support efforts for self-governance and self-determination of native Hawaiians

l. There was a whole lot more in this section so if this is of interest to you, I suggest you go read it, I was just running out of time and had to drastically summarize.

7. Ending Violence Against Women

a. reauthorize and expand the Violence Against Women act

b. expand services for survivors of violence against women

c. enforce and provide tools and resources for schools to implement Title IX

d. increase resources to eliminate the national backlog of untested rape kits

8. Ending the Epidemic of Gun Violence

a. support evidence-based programs that prevent gun deaths from occurring

i. make mental health care more accessible and support suicide reduction initiatives

1. 60% of gun deaths in America are suicides. https://gunsandamerica.org/story/19/10/01/the-majority-of-u-s-gun-deaths-are-suicides-but-a-new-poll-suggests-few-americans-know-it/

ii. fund interventions to reduce homicides and gun violence in neighborhoods

b. enact universal background checks

i. We already have background checks that everyone has to go through in order to buy a gun. The thing here is that this could mean that anyone who is going to use the gun has to also go through a background check. For example, my husband has bought his gun, and he went through a background check, but I didn’t, so in order to use his guns, I would have to go through one too. I don’t think this is necessarily a good thing, but it could go too far. Like…do you need a background check for every gun you use? Would that mean that if my husband and his cousins go shooting, they can’t use each other’s’ guns because they have only had background checks for their own guns? I’m not sure.

c. end online sales of guns and ammo

i. How does this stop anything? Again, this is a feel-good measure. If you buy a gun online, you still have to go through a Federal Firearms Licensed person to get the gun. He has to run the background check before you can get the gun. So people aren’t just buying guns on Amazon and having them shipped to their house. I’m not sure why we need to stop ammo from being purchased online either. It doesn’t really do anything. Maybe the facial recognition?

d. close loopholes that allow stalkers, abusive partners, and some individuals convicted of assault or battery to buy and possess firearms

i. This is a good thing, and hopefully this is something that happens.

e. fund the federal background check system

f. close the “Charleston loophole” and prevent those who have been convicted of hate crimes from possessing firearms.

i. Charleston loophole gives 3 days for a background check to go through. If it doesn’t come through (gets backlogged) the person can still go get their gun. So they want to extend this so there is more time.

g. ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high capacity magazines

i. “Assault weapon” does not have a very clear definition. It just refers to how the gun LOOKS, not what it can DO. There are guns that do the exact same thing, but because one looks scarier, it’s an “assault weapon” and people want to ban it. This is really stupid. https://www.nssf.org/msr/ As far as high capacity magazines go, anyone who is good with a gun can change their magazine in an incredibly short amount of time. It doesn’t make a very big difference.

h. incentivize states to enact licensing requirements for owning firearms

i. So this would make it so that you have to go through a class and get a license to own a gun. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing, because we do this for cars, why shouldn’t we do it for guns? The thing that scares people is that this would create a registry of gun owners, and people don’t want the government to know who has guns.

i. allow courts to temporarily remove guns from the possession of those who are a danger to themselves or others

i. These are what are called “red flag” laws. This sounds good in theory, but what are the criteria? Can I call the police and say “My neighbor looks scary” and his gun will be taken away? If this happens it needs to be very specific to protect those who are not actually a danger to themselves or others.

j. pass legislation requiring that guns be safely stored in homes

i. This seems like one of those feel-good measures to me, because…who is going around checking to make sure I’m keeping my guns locked up according to the law? It seems more like one of those things that won’t actually prevent anything, it will just mean that when something bad happens, the person responsible will face harsher punishment if it’s discovered they weren’t storing the gun properly. Which I don’t feel like actually fixes anything.

k. gun companies should be held responsible for their products, we should repeal the law that shields gun manufacturers from civil lability

i. I really, really dislike this one. It is not a gun manufacturer’s fault that someone used their product to kill someone. Do we hold car manufacturers responsible when someone uses their car to run someone over?

ii. I have said this before, and I’ll say it again, I really believe that if we are going to get ANYWHERE in the gun safety debate, the regulations and ideas of how to make things safer MUST come from the second amendment activists and the people who know the most about guns. Mostly what I’ve seen is a bunch of shoulder shrugging, saying “We know gun deaths are a problem, but….second amendment, so….there’s nothing we can do.” No, there’s a solution, there IS something we can do, but we can’t sit here and let people who actually don’t know anything about guns to keep making annoying laws that don’t actually prevent gun deaths. There has to be some give and take.

9. Supporting Faith and Service

a. Religious freedom is a core American value and a core value of the Democratic Party

i. Democrats will protect the rights of each American for the free exercise of his or her own religion

ii. advocate for religious freedom throughout the world

iii. celebrate America’s history of religious pluralism and tolerance

b. reject broad religious exemptions to allow businesses, medical providers, social service agencies, and others to discriminate

c. confront white nationalist terrorism and combat hate crimes perpetrated against religious minorities

d. it is time to examine, confront and dismantle the government programs, policies and practices that have unfairly targeted American Muslims as security threats

i. Please don’t tell me that Democrats don’t care about religious freedom. I heard something good in a podcast recently and that was “Which is more important? Protecting people from discrimination or protecting the right to discriminate?” And I think that’s what we have here. Democrats are more concerned with protecting people from being discriminated against than they are with protecting your right to discriminate. You don’t have to agree with it, but there it is. And for the record, I do think it’s wrong to be like “Oh, my business won’t serve you because my religious beliefs go against your lifestyle.” I also was just thinking about this the other night…there is a difference between being persecuted for your beliefs and being told that your beliefs are not the only ones that are important. Religious persecution looks like a Jewish Community Center being burned down by an arsonist. Religious persecution looks like Muslims being ostracized from their communities. We’re used to Christianity being the dominant religion. Our national holidays, school musical programs, and even lots of curriculums are based in Christianity. And I’m not saying that’s BAD, I’m just saying, it’s not persecution when someone speaks up and says “Hey, Christianity isn’t the only religion in this country, can we get some representation and diversity here?”

10. Supporting Press Freedom

a. reject Trump’s denigration of the free and independent press, which has endangered reporters’ lives, helped fuel conspiracy theories, and depended district between Americans and their government

i. https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/freedom-press/donald-trump-thinks-freedom-press-disgusting

ii. https://pen.org/press-clip/trumps-attacks-on-the-press-are-illegal-were-suing/

iii. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/09/07/trump-2020-plan-new-risks-press-freedom-trust-in-media-column/2231149001/

b. will appoint an independent media professional to head the US Agency for Global Media

11. Supporting the Arts and Culture

a. continue policies and programs that promote the creative arts

b. support public funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and for art and music education in public schools

i. I mean…I’m all on board for this. I can wax poetic on what a great injustice I feel it is that music and art programs are being removed from public schools.

2020 Democratic Platform Part 4: Protecting Communities and Building Trust by Reforming our Criminal Justice System

2020-10-09T21:02:00.002-07:00

1. We have more people behind bars, per capita, than anywhere else in the world

a. we have criminalized poverty instead of making investments in education, jobs, health care and housing that are proven to keep communities safe and prevent crime

b. prisons are overcrowded and punishments are inhumane

c. we continue to punish the formerly incarcerated

2. We need to overhaul the criminal justice system from top to bottom

a. police brutality is a stain on the soul of our nation

b. It is unacceptable that so many are afraid of the police

3. We need to root out structural and systemic racism in our criminal justice system and our society

4. break the school-to-prison pipeline

a. work to prevent the disparate disciplinary treatment of children of color and children with disabilities in school settings

i. https://www.pnas.org/content/116/17/8255

ii. https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/4/5/17199810/school-discipline-race-racism-gao

b. every school should employ guidance counselors, social workers, nurses, or school psychologists to solve issues, rather than turning to police

c. If you aren’t old enough to drink, you aren’t old enough to be sentenced to life without parole

i. federal government will incentivize states to stop incarcerating kids

ii. develop community-based alternatives to prison and detention centers for youth, invest in after-school programs, community centers, and summer jobs to provide opportunities for young people at risk

iii. children who enter the juvenile justice system should be given a true second change, including by automatically sealing and expunging juvenile records

1. I am very much on board with all of this. This is in line with a sound understanding of child development. The reasoning centers of your brain are not fully developed until you are 25, and they are particularly unstable in the teenage years. It is absolutely unfair to incarcerate a teenager for life when their misconduct can largely be blamed on their underdeveloped brain. Have mercy, give them another chance.

5. Ensure real accountability for individual and systemic misconduct in our police departments, reimagine policing

a. establish strict national standards governing the use of force, including banning the use of chokeholds and carotid holds and permitting deadly force only when necessary and a last resort

b. establish standards for “no-knock warrants”

c. require officer training in effective nonviolent tactics, appropriate use of force, implicit bias, and peer intervention

d. ban racial and religious profiling in law enforcement

e. support the use of body cameras

i. I absolutely respect the many good officers who work hard and are honorable in their jobs. That being said, I think there are some changes that should be made and they are not unreasonable. It is ok to hold to a high standard those we trust to protect our society. Here are some websites I found helpful to learn.

ii. https://nixthe6.org/

iii. https://www.joincampaignzero.org/contracts

6. improve training and education for judges, corrections officers, prosecutors, public defenders, and police officers to ensure transgender and gender non-conforming people receive fair and equitable treatment in the criminal justice system

7. End the “War on Drugs”

a. has not been effective in reducing drug use

b. support policies that change the approach to prevention instead of punishment

i. Yes, love this

c. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1870355016300039

8. incentivize police departments to build partnerships with social workers and mental health and substance abuse counselors

a. Absolutely. This is so important. There are so many times that officers are sent to deal with what is really a mental health situation and they are not properly trained or prepared to handle it. This is unfair to them as well as to the person they are sent to help.

9. limit the sale and transfer of surplus military weapons to domestic law enforcement agencies (this is something Trump reversed)

10. the law has protected police officers who violate civil and human rights and we need to make sure victims can get justice

a. rein in the doctrine of qualified immunity

i. https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-qualified-immunity-and-what-does-it-have-do-police-reform

11. establish a national registry of officers who have been found to have abused their power

a. I don’t really get why we don’t already do this. Why would we not want to know if there is someone who should not be doing their job because they did it badly before?

12. increase funding for officer health and well-being, including personal safety equipment and mental health services

a. So on board with this. Policing is a tough job, they absolutely should have access to mental health services to help them out.

13. Substance use disorders are diseases, not crimes

a. no one should be in prison solely because they use drugs

b. we should decriminalize marijuana use

c. support legalization of medical marijuana and states should be able to make their own decisions about recreational use

d. all past criminal convictions for cannabis use should be automatically expunged

e. support increased use of drug courts, harm reduction interventions, and treatment diversion programs

14. Poverty is not a crime and should not be treated as one

a. eliminate cash bail, no one should be imprisoned merely for failing to pay fines or fees

b. Drivers’ licenses should not be revoked for unpaid tickets or simple violations

c. increase funding for public defenders and Legal Services Corporation, so those who are unable to pay will still be able to obtain justice

15. create new federal district and circuit judgeships to handle the rise in cases

16. judges should be allowed to determine appropriate sentences, therefore, we oppose mandatory minimums

17. end the federal sentencing disparity between crack and powdered cocaine (led to disproportionate imprisonment of people of color.)

18. Abolish the death penalty

a. I am on board with this. Just because a person deserves to die doesn’t mean we have the right to kill them. And there are so many people who have been wrongly executed, I don’t think we should keep taking that chance.

19. support establishing an independent clemency board to ensure and appropriate, effective process for using clemency

20. end the use of private prisons and private detention centers

21. prisoners should have a meaningful opportunity to challenge wrongful convictions and unconstitutional conditions in prisons

a. end solitary confinement

i. Yes. This is absolutely awful for mental health. It’s inhumane.

b. ban the use of restraints on pregnant federal inmates

c. ban the use of chokeholds and carotid holds

d. incarcerated people must not be denied access to vital medical care or unnecessarily exposed to disease, as has happened with COVID

22. Pursue a holistic approach to rehabilitation, increasing support for programs that provide educational opportunities

a. Democrats believe in redemption (This part I had to write because it made me almost cry. Redemption is such a wonderful word. Mercy. Kindness. That’s Christlike.)

b. help those who have served their time re-enter society, earn a good living, and participate in our democracy as the full citizens they are.

c. support the automatic expungement of certain criminal records for those that have been fully acquitted, wrongfully convicted, or pardoned by the executive

d. stop the practice of reincarcerating people for technical violations of probation or parole

e. formerly incarcerated should not be blocked from exercising their voting rights or accessing public services, including Pell Grants and nutrition assistance

i. Continuing to punish a person after they have rejoined the community is both cruel and counterproductive!

2020 Democratic Platform Part 3: Achieving Universal, Affordable, Quality Health Care

2020-10-09T20:47:00.002-07:00

1. Health care is a right for all, not privilege for the few

2. build a health care system that is driven by the needs of patients and the people who care for them, instead of the profit motives of corporations

3. Securing Universal Health Care Through a Public Option

a. give all Americans the choice to select a public health care plan through the marketplace

i. at least one plan choice will have no deductibles, be administered by CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) instead of private companies, will cover all primary care and control costs for other treatments by negotiating prices with doctors and hospitals.

ii. Lowest income Americans will be automatically enrolled in this plan

b. Older workers can choose between employer plans, the public option, or Medicare (which they will be able to enroll in at age 60 instead of 65)

c. Empower states to develop local approaches to health coverage

d. invest more in community health centers and rural health clinics, increase support for mobile health clinics

4. Bringing Down Drug Prices and Taking on the Pharmaceutical Industry

a. cover all necessary medications

b. prevent the price of brand-name and outlier generic drugs from rising faster than inflation rate

c. cap out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors

d. ensure that effective treatments for chronic conditions are available at little or no cost

5. Reducing Heath Care Costs and Improving Health Care Quality

a. we can reduce out-of-pocket costs for families while improving the quality of health care for all.

b. no one will pay more than 8.5% of their income in premiums

c. outlaw surprise medical billing

i. When you’re at the hospital, you shouldn’t have to worry if every person who takes care of you is in-network or not

1. This is huge. I have seen facebook posts of people who were in emergency surgery and got an astronomical bill from the random dude who was JUST STANDING THERE and wasn’t in network. Not cool.

d. increase price transparency in the health care system

e. expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing

f. increase access to health care for low income and rural areas

6. Expanding Access to Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment

a. ensure that health insurers adequately cover mental health and substance use treatment

b. train and hire more mental health providers, substance use disorder counselors, and peer support counselors

c. stop over-prescribing while improving access to effective and needed pain management

d. support expanded access to mental health and substance use disorder care in prisons

e. ensure no one is incarcerated solely for drug use, and support increased use of drug courts, harm reduction interventions, and treatment diversion programs for those struggling with substance use disorders.

i. I like this. Sending someone to jail for being addicted to drugs is honestly just mean.

7. Expanding Long-Term Care Services and Supports

a. eliminate waiting lists for home and community-based care

b. modernize Medicaid eligibility so people with disabilities do not have to work low-wage jobs to access needed services

c. increase the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit

d. improve nursing home staffing and quality standards, strengthen accreditation processes, and combat corporate abuses in nursing home and independent living facilities.

e. protect and enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act.

8. Eliminate Racial, Gender, and Geographic Health Inequities

a. even before COVID, the uninsured rate was 3x higher for Latinos and almost 2x higher for Black Americans than it was for whites.

b. “Democrats will launch a sustained, government-wide effort, with leadership at the highest levels, to eliminate racial, ethnic, gender, and geographic gaps in insurance rates, access to quality care and health outcomes. That includes tackling the social, economic, and environmental inequities – the social determinants of health like poor housing, hunger, inadequate transportation, mass incarceration, air and water pollution, and gun violence – that contribute to worse health outcomes for low-income Americans and people of color.”

c. expand coverage, make health care more affordable, tackle implicit bias in our health care system.

i. If you don’t think there’s implicit bias in the healthcare system, think again. This goes farther than just race. There are biases against weight, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity. It’s a problem. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5333436/

d. people with disabilities should never ben denied coverage based on the use of quality-adjusted life year indexes

e. extend Affordable Care Act coverage to Dreamers

f. lift the 5 year waiting period for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program eligibility for low-income, lawfully present immigrants.

g. committed to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic

9. Protecting Native American health

a. they have insufficient access to health care, mental health services, nutrition services, and modern infrastructure

b. work toward full funding for the Indian Health Service

10. Securing Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice

a. every woman should be able to access high-quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion

b. repeal Title X domestic gag rule

i. https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2020/02/trump-administrations-domestic-gag-rule-has-slashed-title-x-networks-capacity-half

c. restore federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which provides vital preventative and reproductive health care for millions of people, particularly those in underserved areas

i. One thing Planned Parenthood does? Provide access to contraceptives, and we know that better access to contraceptives brings rates of abortion down. It’s a preventative thing.

d. repeal the Hyde Amendment, codify the right to reproductive freedom

e. oppose restrictions on medication abortion care that are inconsistent with medical and scientific evidence

f. “We recognize that quality, affordable comprehensive health care; medically accurate, LGBTQ+ inclusive, age-appropriate sex education; and the full range of family planning services are all essential to ensuring that people can decide if, when, and how to start a family.”

g. ACA prohibits discrimination in health care on the basis of sex, and requires insurers to cover prescription contraceptives at no cost. This has significantly reduced unintended pregnancies

i. I’m going to put in my 2 cents here…Abortion rates have been steadily declining over the past 30 years, and the sharpest declines happen during Democratic presidencies. Why? Because Democrats support the legislation that keeps abortions from being necessary in the first place, like the above point where the ACA required insurers to cover contraceptives at no cost. If we just make abortion illegal, people will still get them, illegally and unsafely. We can work to continue to make abortion unnecessary instead of illegal.

11. Protecting and Promoting Maternal Health

a. Black women are 3x as likely to die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth than white women

i. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1595019/

ii. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magazine_article/america-is-failing-its-black-mothers/

iii. This is a problem. We need to do something about it (see letter c)

b. expand postpartum Medicaid coverage to a full year after birth

c. implement implicit bias training for health professionals

d. support policies and approaches that will bring down our high maternal mortality rate

12. Protecting LGBTQ+ Health

a. Trump administration is allows doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies to discriminate against patients based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

i. Democrats will restore nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people

ii. federal health plans should provide coverage for HIV/AIDS testing and treatment, HIV prevention medications, gender confirmation surgery, and hormone therapy

iii. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/06/12/868073068/transgender-health-protections-reversed-by-trump-administration

1. This is not ok.

b. Obama-Biden administration lifted the lifetime ban on blood donation by healthy gay and bisexual Americans, and we will keep working to ensure that blood donation regulations are based on science.

13. Strengthening and Supporting the Health Care Workforce

a. Frontline workers have been heroes in this pandemic, and too many are underpaid and don’t have good enough benefits, we will change this.

14. Investing in Health Science and Research

a. support increased and sustainable funding for health and medical research

b. accelerate research into cancer and cancer treatments

c. increase funding for research into health disparities by race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, geographic area, and socioeconomic status

d. fully integrate people with disabilities in all states of health and medical research

e. improve quality and applicability of our medical research for women and people of color

f. protect the independence and intellectual freedom of scientists, take steps to shield scientific research agencies from political interference

2020 Democratic Platform Part 2: The Economy

2020-10-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

Part 2: Building a Stronger, Fairer Economy

1. Trump inherited the longest economic expansion in American history and he squandered it.

a. Even before COVID-19, the manufacturing sector was in recession

i. https://www.epi.org/publication/reshoring-manufacturing-jobs/

b. Trump raised taxes on working families and cut them for big business

c. trade war with China was reckless and cost 300,000 American jobs, sending farmers to bankruptcy

i. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trumps-trade-war-squashed-an-estimated-300000-jobs-so-far-moodys-estimates/

2. Working families incomes have been stagnant for decades, all while the cost of living keeps rising

a. The rich are getting richer faster

b. Intergenerational mobility has gone down, children born in US are less likely to move up the income ladder than those in European countries

c. Women are still earning less than men, with greater disparities for women of color

d. Racial wealth gap – avg white household has 6x more wealth than typical Latino family and 10x more wealth than typical Black family

3. Housing is a right not a privilege, and no one should be homeless or go hungry

4. Protecting Workers and Families and Creating Millions of Jobs Across America

a. Raising Wages and Promoting Workers’ Rights

i. raise federal minimum wage to $15/hr by 2026

ii. prioritize passing the PRO Act and restoring workers’ rights, including the right to launch secondary boycotts

iii. repeal right-to-work laws that undermine worker power and lead to lower wages and less protection

iv. recognize unions with majority sign-up

v. ban captive audience meetings

vi. protect private-sector workers’ right to strike

vii. support the right of workers to form unions

viii. increase funding and staffing at Dept of Labor to aggressively enforce wage, hour, health, and safety rules across the economy

ix. all workers should be able to hold employers accountable for unpaid or underpaid wages, regardless of corporate structure

x. pass the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act

1. provide federal guarantee for public-sector employees to bargain for better pay and benefits

xi. take on racial biases at work in employment system

1. wage gap between Black and white workers is higher today than it was 20 years ago

2. be more proactive and aggressive in rooting out discrimination in our employment system

3. increase funding to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and increase its authority to investigate violations

4. Federal contractors should be required to develop and disclose plans to recruit and promote people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and veterans

5. Enacting Robust Work-Family Policies

a. US is the only advanced economy that does not guarantee either paid sick leave or paid family leave for all workers

i. And we should. It was really frustrating for me at my last job that I didn’t get sick pay. If I didn’t work, I wasn’t paid. The end. And that just encourages people to work when they are sick, which is no good.

b. we will implement paid sick days and paid family and medical leave (guarantee at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for all workers and family units)

i. I think this is a really good thing. Devon got 8 weeks paid leave when Jenna was born and it was seriously the best thing in the entire world. I definitely did better with my mental health because of having him home.

c. increase the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit

d. provide access to affordable high-quality child care on a sliding scale by boosting funding for grants to states to help people afford child care

i. I’m all about making high-quality childcare more accessible. I think this could make a huge difference not just for kids but for parents.

e. enact universal preschool for 3 and 4 year olds

i. This is one thing I don’t agree with/that worries me a bit. I am already upset that kindergarten has gotten so rigorous, now I’m worried that preschool will be the new kindergarten. Let kids be kids! If we’re going to enact universal preschool can we PLEASE pay attention to actual child development experts and make sure we keep things like testing, specific standards, etc out of preschool. Preschool is a time to learn through play, they don’t need academics forced on them. Plus, even if we’re going at this from a Head Start perspective, that low income children need this, research has shown that any advantage gained in these programs disappears by the 3^rd grade. So…maybe it’s not the problem solver we think it is.

f. invest in expanding long-term services and supports and home and community based care for seniors and people with disabilities

g. increase wages and benefits for paid caregivers

6. Investing in the Engines of Job Creation

a. Invest in infrastructure

b. launch a clean energy revolution

c. repair, modernize, and expand our highways, roads, bridges, and airports

d. install 500,000 public charging stations for electric vehicles

e. invest in high-speed rail and passenger and freight rail systems

i. will reduce pollution, connect workers to good union jobs, slash commute times, and spur investment in rural communities

f. ensure public transit is affordable and accessible

g. upgrade ports, lock and dam systems and freight infrastructure

h. increase demand for American-made ships by ensuring US cargo is carried on ships flying our flag

i. make sure every community in America has access to clean, reliable drinking water and safe wastewater systems

i. replace lead pipes

ii. invest in innovative water technologies to reduce water waste and conserve water

j. modernize and green public schools, making sure they are accessible for those with disabilities

k. invest in broadband and 5G technology, including rural and municipal broadband

l. restore FCC authority to take action against service providers who violate net neutrality principles

m. create an infrastructure bank – a public bank that will fund infrastructure projects

n. ensure labor protections, Davis-Bacon wage standards, project labor agreements, collective bargaining neutrality, and domestic sourcing requirements

o. oppose any policy that promotes the privatization of public services or infrastructure

p. more products should be Made in America, expand support for American manufacturing

q. invest in career and technical education and high-quality job training programs, including registered apprenticeships

r. boost funding for small businesses, increase their access to credit

s. end Trump Administration effort to starve the Minority Business Development Agency

t. expand USDA loan programs, and make sure the USDA is proactive in supporting training and resources for farmers of color (bc of history of racial discrimination in USDA’s core farming programs)

i. This is big. If you don’t think there is a history of racism in the USDA, here are some resources for you. This is something I just recently learned about.

1. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-southern-black-farmers-were-forced-from-their-land-and-their-heritage

2. https://www.eater.com/2019/1/25/18197352/american-farming-racism-us-agriculture-history

3. https://www.farmerfoodshare.org/farmer-foodshare/2019/2/28/understanding-and-addressing-a-history-of-racial-discrimination-in-agriculture

4. https://www.agdaily.com/insights/food-science-babe-structural-racism-u-s-food-agricultural-system/

u. limit foreign ownership of U.S farmland

v. farmers should be able to repair their own farm equipment

w. expand domestic markets for family farmers and ranchers

x. make the US agriculture sector the first in the world to achieve net-zero emissions

y. strengthen the Renewable Fuel Standard

i. support research and development of advanced biofuels

z. support climate-resilient, sustainable, low-carbon, and organic agricultural methods

i. I do take a small issue with this because it lumps “organic” in with “climate-resilient” and “sustainable” and it is neither of those things.

1. https://www.agdaily.com/crops/is-organic-really-better-for-the-environment-than-conventional-agriculture/

aa. strengthen enforcement of Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts and the Packers and Stockyards Act

i. https://business-law.freeadvice.com/business-law/trade_regulation/anti_trust_act.htm

ii. https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/packers-and-stockyards-act

bb. improve workers safety at meat packing plants

cc. continue to support NASA and space exploration, we should go to Mars

i. Meh. I don’t really get why space exploration is important, but maybe if I knew more about it I would care. I don’t think we need to go to Mars. But, I don’t necessarily have a problem with continuing to fund NASA, since the scientists there have come up with a lot of great things that have improved the lives of average Americans. https://www.uschamber.com/co/good-company/growth-studio/8-technologies-we-can-thank-nasa-for

7. Building a Fair System of International Trade for Our Workers

a. trade policy should put workers first

b. negotiate strong and enforceable standards for labor, human rights, and the environment

c. Future trade agreements should build on the pro-labor provisions added to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement

d. take aggressive action against China, demand that they stop conducting cyberespionage against our companies

e. eliminate tax and trade policies that encourage big corporations to ship jobs overseas and evade taxes

i. if companies shut down operations here and outsource jobs, we will take back public investments or benefits they received from taxpayers

8. Putting Homeownership in Reach and Guaranteeing Safe Housing for Every American

a. no one should have to spend more than 30% of their income on housing

b. government should work to increase the supply of affordable housing

c. Rehabilitating housing and expansion of housing owned by land trusts will increase the amount of housing available for homeownership

d. equalize access to affordable credit and improve access to down payment assistance

e. increase assistance to first time buyers

i. create a new tax credit of up to $15,000 to help

ii. make this refundable and advanceable so you can use it at the time of purchase

f. invest in the Housing Trust Fund

g. expand Low-Income Housing Tax Credit

h. make energy efficient upgrades for low-income households to save people money and make homes safer

i. Provide Section 8 housing support for eligible families, enact protections to keep landlords from discriminating

j. support a housing-first approach to ending homelessness

i. strong protections for veterans, LGBTQ youth

k. enact a Homeowner and Renter Bill of Rights to protect families from abusive lenders and landlords

i. establish a national tenant right to organize

l. vigorously enforce the Fair Housing Act, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule

9. Leveling the Economic Playing Field

a. Reform the Tax Code to benefit working families

i. make sure the wealthy pay their fair share

ii. raise corporate tax rates

iii. raise estate taxes back to historical norm

iv. reform the tax code to be more equitable

b. Curb Wall Street Abuses

i. separate retail banking from more risky investment operations

ii. Wall Street investors should pay their fair share in taxes

iii. enforce Dodd-Frank financial reform law

iv. back criminal penalties for executives who illegally gamble with the savings and economic security of their clients

v. create a public credit reporting agency, will require all federal lending programs to use it.

vi. repeal sections of bankruptcy laws that lead to people losing their homes due to medical debt, divorce, or job loss

c. Ending Poverty

i. support the 10-20-30 funding approach

1. direct at least 10% of federal funding to communities where 20% or more of the population has been living below the poverty line for 30 years or longer

ii. raise minimum wage

iii. expand Medicaid, make it easier for low income people to access healthcare

iv. increase funding for SNAP, WIC and school meals

1. remove barriers that keep the formerly incarcerated from accessing food assistance

a. I think this is a good idea because once a person has served their time, we cannot continue to punish them AND their children, who had nothing to do with the parent’s choices. If a person has been released from prison and is working to put their life right, they should have access to these programs. If they don’t, it’s going to be a lot easier for them to slip back into criminal activity.

v. increase investment in the Legal Services Corporation so those who can’t afford a lawyer can access the civil justice system

vi. double funding for CDFI’s, expand Community Development Block Grant, increase # of Rural Business Investment Companies, expand the New Markets Tax Credit

d. Protecting Consumer Rights and Privacy

i. eliminate the use of forced arbitration clauses in employment and service contracts

ii. work with Congress to pass into law the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights

iii. data collected in schools should only be used for education, not commercial purposes

iv. update Electronic Communications Privacy Act

e. Tackling Runaway Corporate Concentration

i. concerned that increase in corporate concentration is stifling competition and creating monopolies

ii. direct federal regulators to review mergers and acquisitions to assess whether they have increased market concentration, raised consumer prices, harmed workers, increased racial inequality, reduced competition, or constricted innovation

10. Guaranteeing a Secure and Dignified Retirement

a. Support Social Security reform, reject efforts to cut, privatize, or weaken it

b. against raising the retirement age

c. protect public and private pensions

d. amend federal bankruptcy laws to protect workers’ earned pensions from being taken away by employers going through bankruptcy

2020 Democratic Platform Part 1: Preamble and Recovering from COVID

2020-09-19T16:20:00.001-07:00

2020 Democratic Party Platform

The platform begins with a land acknowledgement, which I thought was so respectful that I will quote the entire thing here.

“The Democratic National Committee wishes to acknowledge that we gather together to state our values on lands that have been stewarded through many centuries by the ancestors and descendants of Tribal Nations who have been here since time immemorial. We honor the communities native to this continent, and recognize that our country was built on Indigenous homelands. We pay our respects to the millions of Indigenous people throughout history who have protected our lands, waters, and animals.” They then list out a number of tribes. I thought it was so interesting to include this.

Preamble

1. America is an idea

a. diversity is our greatest strength

b. protest is among the highest forms of patriotism

c. we will always keep trying to build a more perfect union

2. Character is on the ballot in this election

a. character of our president but also the character of our democracy, our society, and our leadership in the world

3. Challenges we are facing include the pandemic, economic downturn, climate change, and racial injustice

a. COVID has shown us we have problems with a fragile economy, our social safety net, growing inequality, the impacts of racial and economic disparities on health and well-being, consequences of deepening polarization

b. Trump has sidelined experts, rejected science, underinvested in research, and abused power. He has not done his duty with this pandemic

i. One recent example of him rejecting science… https://www.npr.org/2020/09/14/912799501/i-don-t-think-science-knows-visiting-fires-trump-denies-climate-change

c. “America First” policy has turned into America standing alone – friends and foes alike are dismissive and ridicule Trump’s leadership

d. Democrats will fight to repair the soul of this nation

e. We have to stop this recession from turning into a depression

i. GOP has rigged the economy in favor of the wealthiest few and biggest corporations

1. This is actually a very interesting point to me because I’ve been seeing some very conservative people on Facebook accusing the Democrats of doing this very thing. So it seems like we’re in agreement that we shouldn’t let all the money go to the top and stay there?

4. We must guarantee health care as a right for every American

5. Restore the full power of Voting Rights act

6. We will protect the integrity of our elections from all enemies

a. This is well worth the read https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/putin-american-democracy/610570/

7. We will never accept political gridlock as our fate

8. We will root our structural and systemic racism and reform our criminal justice system because we believe Black lives matter.

9. We will create a humane immigration system

10. We will protect and promote the equal rights of all citizens

11. We will lead the world in taking on the climate crisis

12. We will provide a world-class education in every ZIP code.

a. believe in universal early childhood education and affordable, high-quality child care

i. I’ll talk about this more later when it comes up in the platform, but universal preschool is not a thing I’m a fan of.

b. shut down the school-to-prison pipeline

c. make college affordable again

Protecting Americans and Recovering from the COVID-19 Pandemic

1. Trump Administration missed multiple opportunities to protect the American people

a. Trump lied about its severity, its transmissibility, and the threat it posed to lives and livelihoods

i. This is absolutely true, and it comes straight from the horse’s mouth. There are RECORDINGS of Trump saying that he knows how serious it is while at the same time telling Americans we have nothing to worry about. https://www.npr.org/2020/09/09/911109247/trump-admitted-to-playing-down-the-coronaviruss-severity-per-new-book

b. Trump’s failure to lead makes him responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans

c. Failed to pay attention to early intelligence reports and wasted critical weeks of preparation

d. failed to lay out clear, consistent guidelines and this created widespread confusion

e. disregarded advice of public health experts and made it harder to mayors and governors to protect American people

f. held life-saving resources hostage for political obeisance

g. Instead of bringing Americans together Trump tried to divide us, using racist and xenophobic rhetoric that has contributed to an increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans

h. working to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, which would take away healthcare coverage from so many who desperately need it right now.

i. I agree with every single thing in this section. He did not do his job.

2. Also failed to drive an economic response

a. acted like the recession will correct itself

b. given too much to large corporations while small businesses fail

c. failed to adequately support school systems, colleges, and local governments

d. failed to enact workplace safety standards

3. Democrats will save lives by using every available tool to beat back this pandemic

a. will lead a global effort to prevent, detect, and respond to future pandemic threats

b. make COVID-19 testing widely available, convenient, and free to everyone

c. expand funding so local health departments can hire enough people to conduct contact tracing

d. make testing, treatment, and eventual vaccines free to everyone – we are only as safe from this disease as are the most vulnerable among us.

4. Democrats will take immediate action to preserve and expand health insurance coverage

a. expand Medicaid

b. if people lose their jobs during the pandemic, the federal government should pay for COBRA

c. reopen Affordable Care Act marketplaces

i. add to the marketplace a public option administered through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services which includes a platinum-level choice, with low fees and no deductibles. Low-income Americans will be automatically enrolled in the public option at zero cost.

5. We had equipment shortages that could have been avoided and should never happen again.

a. Democrats will dramatically scale up our domestic manufacturing capacity for PPE and essential medicines

b. medical supplies should be distributed according to need, not political favoritism

6. aggressively enforce non-discrimination protections in the Americans with Disabilities Act and other civil rights laws

a. prohibit unjustified segregation of patients with disabilities

b. prohibit rationing of health care based on a patients’ disability

c. expand protections for residents and staff at nursing homes

d. expand support for telemedicine

7. we must follow the informed advice of scientists and public health experts, and take steps to protect federal scientists from political influence

8. recruit at least 100,000 contact tracers

a. This is key. In order to contain this, we need to seriously ramp up the method of testing, tracing, and isolating.

b. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30457-6/fulltext

c. https://www.vox.com/2020/7/29/21345590/covid-19-coronavirus-us-testing-contact-tracing-jobs

9. increase funding for the CDC and for state and local public health departments

a. give them sufficient resources to address pandemic diseases and other public health crises

b. support medical and public health research grants for those looking at minority groups and those who tend to be underrepresented.

10. Solving the public health crisis caused by COVID-19 is the best way to get our economy back on track

a. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/05/theres-only-one-way-out-of-this-mess/611431/

11. reform current unemployment insurance system and expand it to include more workers, including gig, part time, and tipped workers

a. raise wage replacement rates

b. expand nutrition assistance and food security programs

c. upgrade and modernize unemployment system technology

12. extend significant aid to state and local governments, school districts, colleges and universities, to address budget shortfalls and secure jobs

13. need to make child care affordable and widely available so parents don’t have to choose between keeping their jobs or keeping their kids safe.

14. support state and local measures to freeze rent increases, evictions, utility shutoffs and late fees for rent.

15. Make grants and loans available for small businesses to help them survive the pandemic

a. prioritize help for marginalized groups

b. expand funding for Community Development Financial Institutions

16. Ensure that federal dollars are keeping workers on payroll, not enriching CEO’s or shareholders.

a. Taxpayer money should not be used to pay out dividends, fund stock buybacks, or give raises to executives

17. Paid sick leave is a necessity – immediately enact it

a. issue and enforce effective infectious disease workplace safety standards through OSHA

18. Everyone needs access to the internet

a. prevent states from blocking municipalities and rural co-ops from building publicly owned broadband networks

b. restore net neutrality

c. offer low income Americans subsidies for internet service

Out of curiosity, I looked up the White House plan for COVID. Surprisingly, it’s quite similar to what is listed above in a lot of ways, but the thing is…I don’t see this actually HAPPENING. Instead, there’s confusion, a president who doesn’t follow the guidelines as far as mask wearing and social distancing, who appointed Scott Atlas, a RADIOLOGIST, to be his new coronavirus advisor, a man who thinks we should go for the herd immunity approach, which is NOT AT ALL what the advice of public health experts say (and the white house page says their plan is based on the advice of public health experts, so now I’m confused) and there’s still no really clear approach or leadership. As I said, you can click the link and look at what it says, it’s actually pretty decent, but I don’t actually see evidence of this happening OR the president making it particularly clear that this is what the plan is or even being willing to follow the guidelines himself! https://www.whitehouse.gov/openingamerica/

I posted this article above, but here it is again, for a nice look at the disconnect between what the “plan” is and what is actually happening. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/05/theres-only-one-way-out-of-this-mess/611431/

2020 Republican Platform Part 6: America Resurgent

2020-09-14T13:33:00.002-07:00

Part 6: America Resurgent

1. A Dangerous World

a. “Our country faces a national security crisis and only electing a Republican to the White House will we restore law and order to our land and safety to our citizens.”

b. “We are the party of peace through strength”

i. We believe that American exceptionalism requires the US to retake its natural position as leader of the free world

c. “The oppressed have no greater ally than the US, backed by the strongest military on the planet”

i. But…not the oppressed people in our own country, I guess.

d. We will rebuild the military into the strongest on earth – because it’s a dangerous world

e. Obama weakened our military

f. support maintaining and possibly increasing sanctions against Russia unless they restore Ukraine’s sovereignty

2. Confronting the Dangers

a. We must move from a budget-based strategy to one that puts the security of our nation first.

b. We need a “Reagan-era force”

c. abandon arms control treaties that benefit our adversaries

d. fund, develop, and deploy a multi-layered missile defense system

e. modernize nuclear weapons, and end the policy of Mutually Assured Destruction

f. Our nation’s immigration and refugee policies are placing Americans at risk

i. Renew National Security Entry-Exit Registration System

ii. I talked about this in the immigration section before, but no…they’re not.

3. Supporting Our Troops: Resources to do Their Job

a. US defense budget has suffered and we want to lift the budget cap for defense

b. Competitive acquisition and maintenance of weapon systems will benefit the economy and taxpayers

i. Increased competition will enable new Department of Defense suppliers to participate in the defense sector and will create more jobs

4. Supporting Our Troops: Standing by Our Heroes

a. National Defense Authorization Act of 2016 corrects shortfalls in military readiness

i. Gave troops a pay raise

b. Military families should be taken care of

c. Extend more support for those who have been in combat

d. Obama administration tried to silence Christian chaplains

i. we want to increase the size of the Chaplain Corps

ii. we can’t allow Bibles or religious symbols to be barred from military facilities

e. Oppose reinstating the draft except in dire circumstances

i. also oppose compulsory national service and selective service registration of women

5. Citizen Soldiers: National Guard and Reserves

a. oppose cuts to the Guard and Reserves

b. recommend a permanent line item for National Guard affairs

6. Honoring and Supporting Our Veterans: A Sacred Obligation

a. The VA has failed and needs to be held accountable

i. we will seek changes in senior leadership of the VA

ii. Should strengthen and improve its efforts through partnerships with private enterprises, veteran service organizations, technology and innovation, and competitive bidding.

b. Veterans deserve better medical care

i. they should be allowed to choose to access care in the community and not just in VA facilities

c. VA has a shortage of physicians and that needs to be remedied

d. private sector should make hiring vets a priority

e. we will halt the Obama Administration’s unconstitutional automatic denial of gun ownership to returning members of our Armed Forces who have had representatives appointed to manage their financial affairs

i. Here’s a source looking at what Trump has done to make good on his promises to the VA. Sorry if it’s not that great, I don’t have time to really look into it deeply. https://www.propublica.org/series/inside-trump-va

f. Promote the hiring of qualified veterans as teachers in public schools

i. Their proven abilities and life experiences will make them more successful instructors and role models for students than would any teaching degree.

ii. I do not like this at all. Life experience does not make you a good teacher. Sure, there are probably some people who are natural teachers, but I think anyone who wants to become a teacher needs to go through some sort of training and certification, no exceptions.

7. America: The Indispensable Nation

a. Democrats do not stand by allies or stand strong against our foes. They “pander to world opinion and neglect the national interest” they cannot be trusted with our national security

b. America is the world leader and we should be super strong to show everyone we are in charge

8. Challenges of a Changing Middle East

a. “The Middle East is more dangerous now than at any time since the Second World War”

b. Obama Administration made a bad deal with Iran and it shouldn’t have treaty status

c. ISIS is a huge problem and we will destroy them

i. Hezbollah must be isolated and Lebanon’s independence restored

d. We will support the transition to a post-Assad Syrian government that contributes to peace and stability in the region

e. We should continue to partnership with Iraq as long as ISIS is still around.

f. Concern about Christian communities in the Middle East

g. We need to aid those who are suffering

h. continue to support Kurdish people

i. The US government should create a safe haven in northern Iraq to protect ethnic and civil minorities who are facing genocide at the hands of ISIS

9. Our Unequivocal Support for Israel

a. Israel stands out among the nations as a beacon of democracy and humanity

i. It is the only country in the Middle East where freedom of speech and freedom of religion are found

b. Support for Israel is an expression of Americanism

c. America is committed to Israel’s security

i. support Israel’s right to defend itself against terror attacks

d. Reject the notion that Israel is an occupier

e. want to assist in establishing peace in the Middle East

10. U.S. Leadership in the Asian Pacific

a. Continue to demand a dismantlement of N Korea’s nuclear weapons program

b. We are friends with Taiwan

c. China is a problem and Obama was complacent

i. They are returning to Maoism

d. We are friends with Pakistan, Burma, Vietnam, and India

11. Renewing the European Alliance

a. demand that fellow members of NATO fulfill their commitments and invest more fully in their militaries

b. Lots of support for Europe, we’re friends

c. we respect Russian people and want to maintain a friendship

i. worried about erosion of personal liberty under the Kremlin

d. help out Eurasian countries that used to be part of the Soviet Empire, bring them into the global economy

12. Family of the Americas

a. Partnership with Mexico and Canada

b. Mexican people deserve our assistance as they resist drug cartels

c. We will never embrace Marxist dictators as friends

i. Obama let Venezuela become a narco-terrorist state

d. friendship with Colombia

e. welcome Cuba back to our family

i. they were betrayed by the Obama Administration

ii. support the work of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba

13. Africa: The Promise and the Challenge

a. pledge to be the best partner of all African nations in their pursuit of economic freedom and human rights

b. extended to 2025 the African Growth and Opportunity Act

c. stand in solidarity with the countries under assault by radical Islam

14. Sovereign American Leadership in International Organizations

a. continued participation in the UN should be contingent upon the enactment of changes in the way it functions

i. Don’t like the makeup of the Human Rights Council, and how it treats Israel

ii. too complicit with China population control

b. Do not support the UN Convention on Women’s Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the UN Arms Trade Treaty

c. deep reservations about the Law of the Sea Treaty

d. Reject UN Agenda 21

e. oppose any form of Global Tax

f. do not accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court

i. service members should only be subject to American law

15. Defending International Religious Freedom

a. US Commission on International Religious Freedom was neglected by Obama

i. religious minorities in the Middle East have been victims of genocide and persecution

b. Call on leaders across the Middle East to ensure that all religious minorities are free to practice their religion without persecution.

c. China has renewed its destruction of churches and Christian home-schooling parents have been jailed in parts of Europe

i. Republican administration will return the advocacy of religious liberty to a central place in democracy

16. America’s Generosity: International Assistance that Makes a Difference

a. Foreign aid must serve America’s interests first

b. Millennium Challenge Corporation has established a new model of foreign assistance that we must embrace

c. the advance of political freedom and entrepreneurial capitalism is the only sustainable solution to poverty

d. Obama Administration excluded faith-based groups in foreign assistance because they did not conform to their social agenda

17. Advancing Human Rights

a. Radical Islamic Terrorism poses a threat to the whole world.

b. we will fight at home and abroad to destroy terrorist organizations

c. “Republicans have led the way in promoting initiatives that have protected and rescued millions of the world’s most vulnerable and persecuted”

i. For the umpteenth time…I really wish they had a source cited for some of these claims.

d. human rights are more important than the economy, the climate, and security

18. Liberty to Captives: Combatting Human Trafficking

a. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 was great, we should continue to punish traffickers

b. prevent overseas labor contractors who exploit foreign workers from exporting goods to the US

c. prevent the demand for trafficking victims, will prosecute “sex tourists”

d. Work to make sure trafficking victims among migrants are identified and cared for

i. The biggest problem here is that if we find victims of trafficking are illegal, we don’t actually take care of them, we just deport them. So they stay in trafficking situations because they don’t want to go back home either. It’s a problem.

e. the goal of our anti-trafficking programs should be the rescue and safe return of victims to their homes

i. I talked about trafficking in a previous section, but wanted to put in this little point here…the problem with the goal being to return victims to their homes is that MOST victims are being trafficked FROM their homes, or ended up in trafficking after escaping a dangerous home life. So returning them to their homes is not necessarily the safest or best end goal.

19. Facing 21^st Century Threats: Cybersecurity in an Insecure World

a. Russia and China see cyber operations as a part of warfare strategy during peacetime

i. We should act decisively and weaken control over the internet by regimes that engage in cyber crimes

ii. We need to go on offense to avoid the cyber-equivalent of Pearl Harbor

b. Our cyber workforce should be expanded to better protect the country

c. Russia meddled in the 2016 election. And they are set to do it again. This article is long but worth the read. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/putin-american-democracy/610570/

20. Protection Against an Electromagnetic Pulse

a. Nuclear weapons are a real threat

b. Electrical utilities in the US must act to protect the national grid

21. Confronting Internet Tyranny

a. internet firewall circumvention and anti-censorship technology must become a national priority

b. we must focus on internet freedom in authoritarian societies

c. Republicans will champion an open and free internet

2020 Republican Platform Part 5: Families, Education, Healthcare, and Criminal Justice

2020-09-12T16:41:00.003-07:00

Part 5: Great American Families, Education, Healthcare, and Criminal Justice

1. American Values

a. families, schools, congregations, neighborhoods, are the pillars of a free society and create spaces where the power of government should not intrude

i. They reduce the need for government intervention

2. Marriage, Family, and Society

a. family is the foundation of civil society and the cornerstone of family is natural marriage (one man, one woman)

b. Strong families advance the cause of liberty by lessening the need for government in their daily lives

c. the loss of faith and family life leads to greater dependence on government

d. Republicans formulate public policy with attention to the needs and strengths of the family

i. While I agree that families are super important to society and we should do everything we can to encourage and strengthen families, I honestly feel that we are limiting ourselves by saying “it’s only a family if you have a married mom and dad” – because there are so many different types of families that can result in good outcomes for kids. We need to strengthen family relationships because in the end, that’s what is going to produce better kids.

e. Truths about traditional marriage

i. Children raised in a two-parent household do better physically and emotionally

i. I love this point because….drumroll please….studies have shown that this is ALSO TRUE for kids raised in a household with gay or lesbian parents. https://whatweknow.inequality.cornell.edu/topics/lgbt-equality/what-does-the-scholarly-research-say-about-the-wellbeing-of-children-with-gay-or-lesbian-parents/

f. oppose policies and laws that create a financial incentive for or encourage cohabitation

i. I had a hard time finding information on these laws, what they are, if anything has been done about them. If you know anything, let me know, I decided to give up.

g. Marriage is the greatest antidote to child poverty

i. This can totally apply to gay marriages!!

h. ¾ of government welfare spending goes to single-parent households

i. This makes sense…single parents are less financially stable. It’s definitely a good thing to encourage marriage

i. “The data and the facts lead to an inescapable conclusion: Every child deserves a married mom and dad”

i. Really? See my link above…kids with gay or lesbian parents end up doing just fine.

ii. That being said…I really wish this whole platform was annotated with references and links to studies. They’re saying that data and facts lead to this, but it’s frustrating that they don’t provide you with those data and facts. I would like to see what data and facts they are referring to.

j. Government should recognize marriage as between a man and a woman and actively promote married family life as the basis of a stable and prosperous society

i. We don’t accept the Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage and urge its reversal – we should return control of marriage to the states

1. I mentioned this in a previous section that talked about this, but I feel that it would be unfair to rip away marriage from so many who have waited so long. What’s done is done, let’s stop whining about it and move on with our lives.

ii. Oppose government discrimination against businesses or entities who decline to sell items or services to individuals for activities go against their religious views

1. This is a tricky spot because I feel like in some sense, this is important, but in another sense, I don’t think we should encourage bigotry. Baking a wedding cake for a gay couple is not putting a seal of moral approval on their marriage. To me it just seems ridiculous. I mean, we’re worried about government discrimination against these businesses/people, but what about the discrimination against LGBTQ individuals from these businesses? Don’t they deserve to be protected against discrimination too?

k. Support the First Amendment Defense Act to make sure adoption agencies don’t face discrimination because of their views on marriage and family

i. I feel like this one is tough too. I think if it’s a religious based adoption agency, they should be able to decide what kinds of couples they are willing to place babies with. But at the same time, I think that decision should be left up to the birth mother. Like, what if there is a mother who only has access to a religious adoption agency but is open to the idea of giving her child to a gay couple? Shouldn’t she be allowed to choose that? (And again, I’ll reference you to the study I linked above showing that children of gay parents end up doing just fine).

l. Republican initiatives have led to an increase in adoptions

i. Again, I would have loved a resource on this…I googled it but couldn’t find anything. So…how the heck do I know this isn’t just an empty claim?

m. States and community groups should help teens who have aged out of foster care to become independent.

n. remove marriage penalties from the tax code and public assistance programs

i. Yes. I read recently about a couple who was getting divorced because their daughter had special needs and they had a lot of medical bills and they didn’t qualify for Medicaid if they were married. This is wrong.

o. all federal programs should work to preserve the family unit

i. Looks like some good has been done by the Trump Administration in this area https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/adoption/allinadoptionchallenge/blog/executive-order/

3. A Culture of Hope

a. War on Poverty – poverty is winning

b. social safety net doesn’t lift anyone out of poverty – we should instead look to increase personal independence of people

c. intergenerational poverty has worsened since 1966

i. Couldn’t find a source that confirms this

d. Landmark Republican welfare reform of 1996 resulted in welfare rolls declining by half and 3 million children moved out of poverty.

i. https://www.history.com/news/clinton-1990s-welfare-reform-facts

e. Obama administration got rid of work requirement for TANF and made sure these families stay needy

i. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/welfare-reform-tanf-medicaid-food-stamps/552299/

f. Progressives want to keep people dependent so that government can redistribute income

g. reinstate work requirements.

i. I found this article really interesting https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/02/trump-isnt-waging-a-war-on-poverty-hes-waging-a-war-on-poor-people/

h. remove structural impediments that keep poor people from progressing, like over-regulation of start-up enterprises and excessive licensing requirements

i. greater state and local responsibility for public assistance programs

i. Pre-COVID poverty info under the Trump Administration https://www.npr.org/2019/09/10/759512938/u-s-census-bureau-reports-poverty-rate-down-but-millions-still-poor

ii. https://www.factcheck.org/2019/10/trumps-numbers-october-2019-update/

4. Education: A Chance for Every Child

a. Since the Constitution does not give the federal government a role in education, they should not be part of that effort.

b. Parents should be the ones directing their child’s education

i. Yes, they should, but DO THEY? There are so many parents out there who don’t have much of a choice in the matter because they are working so hard to make ends meet that all they can do is send their kid to whatever school is closest to their house or place of employment and hope for the best. I don’t know that just leaving everything up to the parents is necessarily the best approach here.

c. reject a one-size-fits-all approach to education and support a broad range of choices for parents and children at the state a local level

i. I like this idea in theory, but I’m not sure what that looks like in practice

d. Oppose the imposition of national standards and assessments, want to repeal Common Core

i. This is also a toughie for me because I think it makes sense to have a national set of basic standards, so that if I move to another state, my kid isn’t completely lost because that state is doing something totally different. Also, it helps make sure that kids have a similar education going into college. BUT, I do think that standardized tests are not a good measure of a child’s intelligence, and I also believe that teachers ought to be given more freedom with their curriculum and what and how the teach the standards.

ii. President Trump has not gotten rid of Common Core https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/promise/1351/elimnate-common-core/

iii. Every educator I know thinks Betsy Devos (our current secretary of education) is a horrible human being who has no place being in such a position. Every. One. On both sides of the political spectrum. https://educationvotes.nea.org/2019/03/22/devos/

e. We should have local control of schools, choice based and parent driven.

i. I’m just curious how this is supposed to solve the issues we are STILL having with segregated schools and the ones in poor neighborhoods (even in areas with school choice) doing so poorly and getting so few resources. There was nothing in this section about that either.

f. reject excessive testing and teaching to the test

g. teachers should be protected against frivolous lawsuits and be able to take reasonable actions to maintain discipline and order in the classroom

i. What exactly does this mean? Teachers can discipline their students however they want? Like….what does this mean???

h. “A good understanding of the Bible being indispensable for the development of an educated citizenry, we encourage state legislatures to offer the Bible in a literature curriculum as an elective in America’s high schools.”

i. Are we really saying that if you don’t have a good understanding of the Bible, you’re not an educated citizen? I don’t know how I feel about offering the Bible as an elective literature class. I feel like it might be better to offer a world religions class or a class that looks at lots of different religious texts. I don’t know. This sentence really just struck me as not ok, although I know many people would be all for it.

i. School districts should make use of teaching talent in the business community, STEM fields, and the military

i. More about this in another section

j. replace tenure systems with merit-based approach to attract the best teaching talent

i. The thing that is most glaringly frustrating here is there is absolutely 0 mention of teacher pay. ZERO. We are facing a national teacher shortage and every educator I know says it’s because they are paid too little and too much is expected of them. We do not take care of our nation’s educators and we need to do something about that. This section made no mention of this issue.

5. Academic Excellence for All

a. More money thrown at schools doesn’t equal better performance

b. the things that make a difference are choice in education, focusing on STEM subjects and phonics, ending social promotions, merit pay for good teachers, classroom discipline, parental involvement, strong school leadership

i. Actually, they’ve found that one of the best ways to increase performance in schools is DESEGREGATING them, which we still aren’t doing very well at. https://tcf.org/content/facts/the-benefits-of-socioeconomically-and-racially-integrated-schools-and-classrooms/

ii. https://hechingerreport.org/a-scholar-revives-the-argument-for-racial-integration-in-schools/

c. strongly encourage American history and civics classes to mainly use the documents of the founding fathers

i. I don’t get this. Of course it’s important to learn about the things the founding fathers wrote. We should teach and learn about the Constitution. But how is that giving us a well-rounded view of the history of our country. There is so much of our history (good and bad) that it’s written in the founding documents. This just seems restrictive and ignores too much else that is out there. I have this sneaky feeling this is in there because Republicans would like to only talk about the rosy parts of our history, because talking about anything negative is “unpatriotic.” The fact is, we cannot build a better America if we don’t understand where our weaknesses are and where we can improve. We can’t improve if we think we already are and always have been, perfect.

6. Choice in Education

a. Support Education Savings Accounts, vouchers, and tuition tax credits

b. “Empowering families to access the learning environments that will best help their children to realize their full potential is one of the greatest civil rights challenges of our time.”

i. School choice…oh what a can of worms. A lot of what I have found is that school choice sounds great but really isn’t. Here are a bunch of resources on the topic.

ii. https://adayinourshoes.com/vouchers-school-choice-bad/

iii. https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliewexler/2018/04/29/six-reasons-why-school-choice-wont-save-us/#6b548951142e

iv. https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/05/21/522051355/why-its-so-hard-to-know-whether-school-choice-is-working

c. Federal Title 1 money should follow the child to whatever school works best for them

d. expand DC Opportunity Scholarship Program as a model for the rest of the country

i. Democrats want to get rid of it

e. Support the English First approach and oppose “divisive programs that limit students’ ability to advance in American society”

i. There are actually significant benefits that come from a bilingual education and more parents are starting to choose those approaches for their children. There is no real reason why a student cannot be successful if they know more than one language. This feels discriminatory for me. http://users.rcn.com/crawj/langpol/Krashen-McField.pdf

f. replace “family planning” programs for teens with sexual risk avoidance education that sets abstinence until marriage as the responsible and respected standard of behavior.

i. this approach will empower teens to achieve optimal health outcomes

1. How in the world are we still clinging to this absolutely false notion that abstinence only approaches are the best??? There have been SO MANY studies that have shown that giving teens information about sex and how to be safe is much more effective. It is perfectly fine to encourage students to choose abstinence if that is what they feel is the right choice for them, but we have to understand that many are not going to choose that and we need to empower them to make healthy sexual choices within whatever parameters they and their parents determine is best.

2. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/08/23/545289168/abstinence-education-is-ineffective-and-unethical-report-argues

3. https://www.aclu.org/other/what-research-shows-government-funded-abstinence-only-programs-dont-make-grade

g. Oppose school-based clinics that provide referral or counseling for abortion and contraception

i. I mean…what is the goal here? Because if we want to prevent teen pregnancy and abortion, we should be throwing our full support behind these clinics, because in places that have these clinics, there are substantially fewer teen pregnancies and abortions. https://www.contemporaryobgyn.net/view/impact-contraception-school-health-center

7. Title IX

a. This was originally meant to help women and girls have access to more opportunity. It does not include sexual orientation or other categories

i. So are we arguing that people of different sexual orientations or gender identities don’t deserve access to the same opportunities as their heterosexual, cisgendered peers?

b. Obama’s edict to the states concerning restrooms, locker room, and other facilities is “illegal, dangerous, and ignores privacy issues.”

i. So the Obama administration ruled that schools have to let students use the locker room or bathroom that matches their gender identity. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/obama-administration-to-decree-transgender-access-for-public-school-bathrooms

ii. Trump reversed it https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/22/516664633/trump-administration-rescinds-obama-rule-on-transgender-students-bathroom-use

iii. My personal feeling is….being transgender does NOT automatically make you a pervert or an inherently dangerous person. In fact, I would argue that the transgender individuals are in more danger on a daily basis than their cisgender peers. People like to fearmonger about how now creepers are just going to use whatever bathroom they want and use “gender identity” as an excuse. I think that’s ridiculous. Creepers are gonna be creepers, this is not going to change how creepy they are. And again, transgender individuals just want to live their life, they are NOT inherently more dangerous than anyone else. (Again, if you want to learn more about transgender individuals, I will direct you to the Listen, Learn and Love podcast, which has several enlightening interviews with wonderful trans folk).

c. sexual assault is a terrible crime that must be promptly investigated by civil authorities

i. guilt must be determined beyond a reasonable doubt

d. Those convicted of sexual assault should be punished to the full extent of the law.

i. This whole section literally caused me to laugh out loud because….there are literally dozens of women who have accused our current President of sexual assault. Does it mean he’s guilty for every one? Maybe not, but I feel like the fact that there are so many is telling. We need to start believing women by the way. Speaking out against sexual assault is traumatic and difficult, and we know that because of this there are many who stay silent.

e. Colleges and universities are not allowing the proper authorities to investigate assault claims

8. Improving Higher Education

a. there’s an ideological bias deeply entrenched within the current university system

i. students are being politically indoctrinated

ii. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/right-says-campus-conservatives-are-under-siege-left-dismissive-both-ncna1042051

iii. https://theweek.com/articles/860278/worked-website-that-rated-professors-political-bias-what-learned

iv. The above articles are both super interesting commentaries on this idea.

b. We should get rid of “safe zones” because college students don’t need protection from the free exchange of ideas

i. There are so many misconceptions about safe zones. Here are a few articles that help clear those up.

ii. https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/safe-spaces-college#1

iii. https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/12/12/18131186/college-campus-safe-spaces-trigger-warnings

c. condemn campus-based BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) campaign against Israel as anti-Semitic

i. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/27/world/middleeast/bds-israel-boycott-antisemitic.html

9. College Costs

a. college cost is rising faster than inflation

b. student debt exceeds credit card debt

c. we need new systems of learning to compete with traditional four-year schools

i. technical institutions

ii. online universities

iii. life-long learning

iv. work based learning in the private sector

d. a four-year degree is not the only path towards a prosperous and fulfilling career

i. I definitely agree with this very much. College is great but you can absolutely have a wonderful career going a different route.

e. Federal government should not originate student loans

f. bring down college costs by student financing through private sector participation

g. accreditation should be decoupled from federal financing and states should allow a wide array of accrediting and credentialing bodies to operate

i. It was hard to find information about what Trump has done for college tuition and student debt. But here are a few things. https://thecollegeinvestor.com/21636/trump-student-loan-forgiveness/

ii. https://www.vox.com/2019/3/28/18271083/trump-higher-education-act-student-loans

10. Restoring Patient Control and Preserving Quality in Healthcare

a. Repeal Obamacare – it has driven up prices for everyone, and raised drug prices

b. we need to replace it with an approach based on genuine competition, patient choice, excellent care, wellness, and timely access to treatment.

c. recover the traditional patient-physician relationship based on mutual trust, informed consent and confidentiality

d. reduce mandates and enable insurers and providers of care to increase healthcare options and contain costs

e. goal is to ensure that all Americans have improved access to affordable, high-quality healthcare

i. The only problem I see here is that since the Trump Administration has made efforts to roll back Obamacare, more and more Americans are living without insurance or access to high quality health care. I know that for many people (ourselves included) getting an insurance plan on the marketplace was a joke (when we tried it, we couldn’t find anyone who would take it.) But I also know that for many other people, Obamacare was a lifesaver. I don’t know the answer to the healthcare issues, but I definitely think there were good things about the Affordable Care Act.

f. states should regulate their local insurance markets

g. block grant Medicaid

i. I talked about this in a previous section – there are lots of negative opinions about block granting Medicaid

h. firmly against abortion – studies show it endangers the health and well-being of women

i. But also firmly against providing access to free contraceptives, which helps PREVENT the need for abortion.

i. promote price transparency so consumers know the cost of treatments before they agree to them

i. https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2019/11/15/trump-administration-announces-historic-price-transparency-and-lower-healthcare-costs-for-all-americans.html

j. individuals and small businesses can form purchasing pools to expand overage to the uninsured

k. those with preexisting conditions who maintain continuous coverage should be protected from discrimination

i. https://apnews.com/5707eb98847a3c69632a2eea2e03a475

l. end tax discrimination against the individual purchase of insurance and allow consumers to buy insurance across state lines

m. repeal the 1945 McCarran-Ferguson Act

i. They are working on this. https://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2019-archive/june/ada-urges-senate-committee-to-support-repealing-mccarran-ferguson-antitrust-exemption

n. make homecare for seniors a priority

11. Protecting Individual Conscience in Healthcare

a. healthcare professionals should not have to choose between following their faith and practicing their profession

b. support the ability of organizations to provide healthcare coverage that is consistent with their beliefs

c. want legislation that would require parental consent for a daughter to go across state lines for abortion

d. Providers cannot withhold services because a patient’s life is deemed not worth living

e. call for a permanent ban on federal funding and subsidies for abortion and healthcare plans that include abortion coverage

12. Better Care and Lower Costs: Tort Reform

a. cap non-economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits

13. Advancing Research and Development in Healthcare

a. “the American People have the world’s best healthcare”

i. Debatable https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/quality-u-s-healthcare-system-compare-countries/#item-age-adjusted-mortality-rates-of-respiratory-diseases-per-100000-population-1980-2017

b. encourage stem cell research but don’t use embryos

c. ban human cloning for research or reproduction

d. ban the creation of or experimentation on human embryos for research

e. Mifeprex (an abortion pill) endangers women’s health

i. Apparently it’s actually very safe.

ii. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2020/07/10/abortion-pill-restricted-fda-record-safer-than-penicillin-viagra/5412810002/

iii. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/postmarket-drug-safety-information-patients-and-providers/questions-and-answers-mifeprex

f. against over the counter sales of contraceptives

14. Putting Patients First: Reforming the FDA

a. FDA puts public health at risk because they delay, chill, and kill the development of new devices, drugs that can promote our lives and health

i. Again, I would love to see the reasoning behind this statement. I did a google search but had trouble finding anything substantial.

b. FDA should return to traditional emphasis on hard science and approving new breakthrough medicines

c. commend Right to Try legislation and want to extend that to all Americans

15. Advancing Americans with Disabilities

a. ABLE act and Steve Gleason Act were good things

b. Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act makes it easier for students with disabilities to pursue competitive employment

c. reauthorize IDEA

i. Apparently this is in the works

d. TIME Act encourages competitive employment for personal with disabilities

i. minimize separation of children with disabilities from their peers

e. oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide

16. Ensuring Safe Neighborhoods: Criminal Justice and Prison Reform

a. DOJ has urged leniency for rioters while turning a blind eye to mob attacks on peaceful citizens exercising their political rights (not sure exactly what this is referring to, something during Obama Administration since this is the 2016 platform)

b. President should restore the public’s trust in law enforcement and civil order by first adhering to the rule of law himself!!

c. President should not sow seeds of division and distrust between the police and the people they serve and protect

d. The Republican party is the party of “law and order” – and must make clear that every human life matters

i. About the phrase “law and order” https://www.npr.org/2016/07/28/487560886/is-trumps-call-for-law-and-order-a-coded-racial-message

ii. I really haven’t felt like I’m getting the “every life matters” message from our President…

e. a bipartisan presidential commission should purge the Code and the body of regulations of old “crimes”

f. Congress should codify the Common Law’s Rule of Lenity – requires courts to interpret unclear statues in favor of a defendant

g. “The essential role of federal law enforcement personal in protecting federal property and combating interstate crime should not be compromised by diversion to matters properly handled by state and local authorities.”

i. So…it shouldn’t be that big of an issue that states are wanting to handle the violence from protests on their own…

h. Mandatory minimum sentencing is an important tool to keep dangerous criminals off the streets

i. Modifications to it should be targeted at nonviolent offenders or those with mental health issues

ii. https://www.npr.org/2017/06/01/531004316/a-federal-judge-says-mandatory-minimum-sentences-often-dont-fit-the-crime

i. the death penalty is constitutional

i. murder rate is “soaring” in our cities so states should be able to decide if they want to have the death penalty or not

ii. I looked back at 2016, since this is when this was written and found a few articles about this. Murder rates HAVE gone up. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/25/16360606/murder-rate-2016-fbi

iii. https://time.com/4651122/homicides-increase-cities-2016/

iv. By the way…a Trump presidency doesn’t seem to be solving this issue.

v. I disagree with the death penalty. Even if a person “deserves” to die, I don’t think we deserve to kill them, nor should we make anyone do it. I feel like if the death penalty exists, we should make sure that a person’s case is reviewed by more than one team of lawyers to make sure there weren’t any mistakes made. Read “Just Mercy” which is the reason why I have this opinion.

j. mandatory prison time for all assaults involving serious injury to law enforcement officers

k. protect the rights of victims and their families

l. persons in jail should be protected against cruel treatment from other inmates

i. Courts should not tie the hands of prison officials in dealing with these problems

1. What does this mean? Are we advocating for cruel punishments to go down in prison??

m. Opportunities for literacy and vocational education should be available to prisoners

n. children of prisoners should be of special concern in our communities

o. Pornography is a public health crisis

p. urge energetic prosecution of child porn

17. Combatting Drug Abuse

a. Marijuana is still federally illegal even though states are legalizing it

b. heroin deaths are a problem, along with opioids

c. physicians should limit prescriptions of opioids

d. Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act

2020 Republican Platform Part 4: Government Reform (includes Budget, Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security, and Immigration)

2020-09-08T17:01:00.002-07:00

This section is very long, I spent the most time looking up resources and information on the sections that were most interesting or important to me when it comes to this election. Anything in bold inside each section is my words.

Part 4: Government Reform

1. Making Government Work for the People

a. pledge to make government work for the people

b. return more power to the states

2. Balancing the Budget

a. Democrats increased national debt, crippled economic growth and job creation, and drove up govt costs while driving down revenues

b. want a constitutional requirement for a balanced budget

i. Balanced Budget Amendment should be ratified

ii. cap that limits spending to the “appropriate historical average percentage of our nation’s GDP”

c. prioritize thrift over extravagance

i. So from what I’ve found, Trump has not be able to balance the budget or make a dent in debt, in fact, our national debt was increasing under Trump, even BEFORE COVID. This is disappointing for sure. The national debt is a huge problem that I think we need to reckon with and I’m sad that Trump hasn’t made progress there. (Even pre-COVID).

ii. https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/promise/1430/balance-federal-budget-fairly-quickly/

iii. https://www.thebalance.com/trump-plans-to-reduce-national-debt-4114401

3. Preserving Medicare and Medicaid

a. modernize Medicare, empower participants and put it on secure financial footing

b. Obamacare made things worse, cut Medicare funding

c. Proposed reforms

i. no changes for anyone 55 or older

ii. Give others option of traditional Medicare or transition to a premium-support model designed to strengthen patient choice, promote cost-saving competition among providers and better guard against fraud

iii. Guarantee to every enrollee an income-adjusted contribution toward a plan of their choice, with catastrophic protection

iv. set a more realistic age for eligibility in light of today’s longer life span

d. will not allow doctors to keep opting out of Medicare and Medicaid

e. Propose block granting Medicaid

i. this would also help states develop different systems to address mental health issues

ii. respect states decisions to exclude abortion providers from Medicaid

f. Here are some articles talking about what Trump has done with Medicare and Medicaid, and some explaining what block grant programs are and why some people don’t think they are a good idea.

g. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/things-trumps-budget-plan-medicare-medicaid/story?id=68913201

h. https://www.cbpp.org/research/health/trump-administrations-harmful-changes-to-medicaid

i. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/healthcare/reports/2019/08/07/472879/undermining-medicaid-block-grants-hurt-beneficiaries/

j. https://khn.org/news/5-things-to-know-about-trumps-medicaid-block-grant-plan/

4. Saving Social Security

a. Want to preserve this system of retirement security

b. oppose tax increases and believe in the power of markets to create wealth and help secure the future of Social Security

i. I found this interesting fact check on things Trump has said about social security and what is actually happening/ is likely to happen. It’s not looking so great, honestly. https://apnews.com/1ef23f018730d2dd82545515878bf118

ii. Here’s another one that talks a bit more about what the plans are. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/08/15/fact-check-donald-trump-hasnt-said-he-terminate-social-security/3343439001/

5. Protecting Internet Freedom

a. Obama ordered the FCC to impose bad rules – he threw the internet to the wolves

b. Fight to stop the turnover of the information Freedom Highway to regulators and tyrants.

c. government should not regulate the internet

d. the power of the internet is its independence

i. Trump Administration did repeal Obama’s net neutrality rules. I vaguely remember a bunch of stuff on Facebook about net neutrality back in 2016, but didn’t remember much. Here are a few articles talking about what has happened. Again, there is a divide in people who believe what the Trump administration has done is good vs those who disagree. That’s politics for ya.

ii. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/fcc-officially-repeals-obama-era-net-neutrality-rules/

iii. This article discusses why the repeal was a good thing and how things have improved since. https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2019/02/18/net_neutrality_is_gone_did_you_even_notice_111056.html

iv. Another one talking about how he believes there are still things we should watch out for https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/06/25/reflecting-on-one-year-without-net-neutrality/#989b28e4edc8

6. Immigration and the Rule of Law

a. “Our party is the natural home for those who come in search of freedom and justice.”

i. Is it though? I included this direct quote because it literally made me laugh out loud. Yes, the party that is actively working to make it much harder for people to obtain that freedom and justice. Immigration is a big issue for me this election cycle. Read on to learn more.

b. Immigration system must protect American working families and their wages, for citizens and legal immigrants alike.

i. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brookings-now/2017/08/24/do-immigrants-steal-jobs-from-american-workers/

c. legal immigrants who are not yet citizens who are serving in armed forces or as first responders are true patriots and we are grateful to them.

d. we should embrace all legal newcomers and help them gain full citizenship

e. encourage the preservation of heritage tongues

f. support English as the nation’s official language

g. our immigration policy must serve the national interest of the US

i. jobs of American workers must be protected over the claims of foreign nationals seeking the same jobs

h. condemn illegal immigration and oppose any form of amnesty for illegal immigrants

i. Here’s where I’m at. I wish illegal immigration wasn’t happening. But are we asking WHY it still does? Guess what? It’s CRAZY HARD to immigrate here legally. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/why-don%E2%80%99t-they-just-get-line

ii. So actually, legal immigration is not an option for the VAST majority of people who want to come here. We do have an asylum program, where people who are experiencing severe difficulty in their home country can come here, but the current administration has been methodically shrinking the number of refugees we allow in each year, and it’s just not ok with me. (Beside the fact that it’s also incredibly difficult to gain asylum too). https://www.rescue.org/article/how-trump-administration-eliminating-asylum-us

iii. The Remain in Mexico Policy that the Trump Administration enacted is truly awful, and have led some asylum officers to quit rather than carry out the policy.

1. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/opinion/trump-asylum-remain-mexico-policy.html

2. https://justiceforimmigrants.org/what-we-are-working-on/asylum/frequently-asked-questions-remain-in-mexico-policy/

3. https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2020/01/30/one-year-later-how-has-trumps-remain-mexico-policy-affected-asylum

iv. I’m not even going to get into the fiasco of separating children from their parents, keeping kids in cages, the sexual abuse that is happening in these processing centers…it’s all terrible. And before you cry that these cages were used during Obama too, you’re right, here’s a fact check on that. That doesn’t make it right and IT NEEDS TO STOP. https://apnews.com/2663c84832a13cdd7a8233becfc7a5f3

i. executive amnesties of 2012 and 2014 are a violation of federal law

i. must be rescinded

j. “In a time of terrorism, drug cartels, human trafficking, and criminal gangs, the presence of millions of unidentified individuals in this country poses grave risks to the safety and sovereignty of the United States”

i. This article asserts that the wall is not actually doing much of anything to keep drugs out of the US https://www.npr.org/2019/02/20/696192725/will-president-trumps-border-wall-keep-drugs-out-of-the-u-s

ii. This really seems like fearmongering to me. In order to drum up American support for a wall, we need to make sure everyone believes that it’s going to keep all the horrible people out. That’s not actually what is going on here. https://apnews.com/56d7094f0b554925abbd3d81f8ca74c8

iii. illegal immigrants are not, as a group, more likely to commit crime/be more dangerous than native born people. https://www.factcheck.org/2018/06/is-illegal-immigration-linked-to-more-or-less-crime/

iv. Another source that shows the research that has gone into this…illegals are not inherently more dangerous. https://www.cato.org/blog/illegal-immigrants-crime-assessing-evidence

k. securing borders is a HIGH priority

i. we need to build a wall across the entire southern border

ii. See above links for reasons why this wall is not the magical silver bullet everyone seems to think it is.

l. insist on workplace enforcement of verification systems so more jobs are available to legal workers

i. use the E-verify program, make it mandatory nationwide

ii. endorse SAVE program (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) to make sure public funds are not given to illegals

m. demand tough penalties for identity theft, document fraud, and human trafficking

i. I think this part is really interesting. The Trump administration has put a lot of focus on human trafficking, but I think a lot of people still hear those words and think of children and girls being kidnapped and dragged into other states or countries to be locked in dark basements and sold for sex. The definition of human trafficking is actually much larger than that. In fact, MOST human trafficking is actually labor trafficking. It can also look like someone paying another person to take them across the border and then that person not fulfilling their end of the bargain, leaving them somewhere dangerous, or taking their identification. Here’s a nice Q&A about trafficking. https://www.aclu.org/other/human-trafficking-modern-enslavement-immigrant-women-united-states

ii. Here’s another myth-busting post about trafficking https://justiceforimmigrants.org/what-we-are-working-on/anti-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking/

iii. If you’ve seen that post saying human trafficking arrests under Trump has skyrocketed, here’s a fact check on that. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/aug/12/viral-image/graph-showing-rising-human-trafficking-arrests-und/

iv. An article on how the Trump administration says they want to end trafficking but simultaneously has enacted policies that have made it harder for victims of trafficking to get help. https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/06/20/trumps-human-trafficking-record-is-fake-news/

n. DHS must use its authority to keep dangerous aliens off our streets and to expedite expulsion of criminal aliens

i. gang membership should be a deportable offense

ii. support a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years for any illegal alien who illegally re-enters our nation after already having been deported

iii. I felt like this whole section was a bit silly. There’s nothing inherently dangerous about being a foreigner. We can say, let’s protect our country and make sure that criminals are held accountable, without acting like all the dangerous criminals are illegal aliens.

o. sanctuary cities violate federal law and “endanger their own citizens”

i. should not be eligible for federal funding

ii. True story, I voted for Tucson to be a sanctuary city. It didn’t go through, but I feel like we should be looking out for people who are desperate.

p. reform guest worker programs to eliminate fraud, improve efficiency, and ensure they serve the national interest

i. we should not continue offering lawful permanent residence to more than one million foreign nationals each year because we have high unemployment rates

q. support the right of states to enact laws deterring illegal aliens from residing within their states

r. Asylum should be limited to cases of political, ethnic, or religious persecution

i. refugees who cannot be carefully vetted cannot be admitted to the country, especially those whose homelands have been the breeding grounds for terrorism.

ii. It’s already insanely difficult to get asylum, and we regularly deny it to people who are desperate and are terrified to return home. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/asylum-united-states

iii. Due to COVID, we’re currently denying asylum to everyone. https://immigrationforum.org/article/fact-sheet-u-s-asylum-process/

iv. I don’t feel like we should deny asylum to people just because they are from a country that “breeds terrorism.” The whole point of people trying to get out is cuz they want to get away from the terrorists too! Of course we should vet carefully, but not to the extent that we are just saying, oh sorry, we can’t help you, there are terrorists in your country, good luck! Refugees are not terrorists. https://www.unhcr.org/cy/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2015/12/JointStatementUNHCR-Ombudswoman_Dec2015.pdf

v. Info about the US and Refugee admittance https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/10/07/key-facts-about-refugees-to-the-u-s/

vi. Refugees have not been shown to be a risk https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/01/trump-immigration-ban-terrorism/514361/

7. Reforming the Treaty System

a. restore treaty system specified by the Constitution

i. President negotiates agreements, submits them to the Senate, with ratification requiring 2/3 vote

b. all international executive agreements and political arrangements entered into by Obama must be deemed null and void

c. we will withdraw from any agreements and arrangements that are not negotiated as treaties and approved by the Senate

8. Internal Revenue Service

a. the agency is toxic

i. employs known tax delinquents, rehires workers previously fired for misconduct, spends user fees without congressional oversight

ii. harasses conservative, pro-life and libertarian organizations with repeated audits and denying tax exempt status

1. They apologized for doing this. It did happen. https://www.npr.org/2017/10/27/560308997/irs-apologizes-for-aggressive-scrutiny-of-conservative-groups

iii. commissioner should be impeached because he has lied, hidden evidence, and stonewalled investigations

1. Some quick info on this. https://www.cnn.com/2014/07/18/politics/irs-scandal-fast-facts/index.html

b. the IRS is constitutionally prohibited from policing or censoring the speech of America’s religious leaders

c. support repeal of the Johnson Amendment

i. here’s what the Johnson Amendment is https://www.npr.org/2017/02/03/513187940/the-johnson-amendment-in-five-questions-and-answers

ii. Trump says he’s repealed it but he really hasn’t. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/jul/18/donald-trump/trump-claims-he-got-rid-johnson-amendment-true/

d. make the federal tax code so simple and easy to understand that the IRS can be abolished

i. Trump did reform the IRS https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/trump-signs-irs-reform-bill-into-law

9. Audit the Pentagon

a. No major part of the Dept of Defense has ever passed an audit

i. The Pentagon has now been audited twice. Here’s what they found. https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2019/11/16/the-pentagon-completed-its-second-audit-what-did-it-find/

10. Improving the Federal Workforce

a. Federal employees should not be required to join unions

b. union representatives should not be allowed to engage in union-related activities while on the public’s time

c. call for reduction of government responsibilities

i. public relations budgets are too high

ii. the federal govt spends too much of the people’s money telling the people what they should do.

11. Advancing Term Limits

a. Term limits for members of congress

12. Regulation: the Quiet Tyranny

a. regulators in the economy are exploiting everyone

b. want to make regulations minimally intrusive, confined to their legal mandate, and respectful towards the creation of new and small businesses

c. require approval by both houses of Congress for any rule or regulation that would impose significant costs on the American people

d. Congress should consider a regulatory budget that would cap the costs federal agencies could impose on the economy in a given year

13. Crony Capitalism and Corporate Welfare

a. government uses taxpayer funding and resources to give special advantages to private companies

b. Solyndra debacle

14. Honoring our Relationship with American Indians

a. social and economic problems that plague Indian country have grown worse over the last several decades

b. respect tribal governments as the voice of their communities, encourage federal, state, and local governments to heed those voices in developing programs and partnerships to improve the quality of life for American Indians.

c. economic self-sufficiency is the answer to the problems of Indians

i. tribal communities, not Washington, are best suited to figure out the solution to systemic problems that create poverty and disenfranchisement.

d. Democrats have persistently undermined tribal sovereignty in order to provide advantage to union bosses in the tribal workplace.

e. each tribe has the right of consultation before any new regulatory policy is implemented on tribal land

f. work to expand local autonomy where tribal governments seek it

g. Help American Indians to be more self-sufficient and take care of themselves without the federal government interfering

h. inadequate resources and neglect have allowed criminal activities to plague Indian country

i. legal system in tribal communities must help protect everyone.

i. Support efforts to preserve culture and language of native tribes

i. Seems there’s been some frustrations with how the Trump administration is working with Native American Tribes https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/03/trump-mount-rushmore-347982

ii. https://www.indianz.com/News/2020/05/06/a-slap-in-the-face-for-indian-country-tr.asp

iii. Some Tribal leaders do like him though. https://www.indianz.com/News/2019/11/27/tribal-leaders-share-statements-about-wh.asp

15. Americans in the Territories

a. Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, U.S Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico

i. these territories are the outermost line of defense and the gateway to America

ii. we welcome their participation in all aspects of the political process

iii. All unreasonable impediments to their prosperity should be removed, including unreasonable US customs practices.

b. We should develop a commonwealth and territories advisory committee

i. also appoint a Special Assistant to the President responsible for day-to-day interaction with the territories and commonwealths

16. The Territory of Puerto Rico

a. Support admitting them as a state

17. Preserving the District of Columbia

a. D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (opposed by Democrats)

i. https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2020/02/democrats_dc_vouchers_information_civil_rights.html

b. enforce the spirit of the Home Rule Act, assuring minority representation on the City Council

i. council is trying to take over from Congress power of funding for the district.

c. city officials have been denying applications for gun ownership and we want to enact legislation that would allow Washingtonians to own and carry firearms.

d. Statehood for the district can only come by a constitutional amendment, and we don’t support it.

2020 Republican Platform Part 3: Agriculture, Energy, and the Environment

2020-09-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

Part 3: America’s Natural Resources: Agriculture, Energy, and the Environment

1. Abundant Harvests

a. US does not depend on foreign imports for sustenance

b. Americans spend a smaller percentage of their income on food than any other nation

c. We are the largest agricultural exporter in the world

d. committed to expanding trade opportunities and opening new markets for agriculture

i. It looks like this is something Trump has made good on, and it appears that farmers as a whole are supportive of him because his policies have benefited them.

ii. https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/fact-sheets/2020/march/fact-sheet-2020-national-trade-estimate-fighting-open-foreign-markets-american-agriculture

e. global trading partners must adhere to science-based standards with regard to food and health regulations

i. “We will not tolerate the use of bogus science and scare tactics to bar our products from foreign markets, nor will we allow insufficient health and safety standards for products imported for our consumption.”

ii. This was something I struggled to find information about but I’m wondering if it has to do with the argument some people have that certain ingredients are banned in Europe, therefore, we should ban them here. (Most of these arguments don’t hold water, btw)

f. federal dairy policies are an impediment to the ability of our dairy producers to meet global demand

i. From what I found, it looks like our dairy farmers have actually been overproducing, and are having no trouble meeting demand.

g. oppose groups who want to stop or make more expensive our current system of meat production

i. Democrats (Obama administration) tried to create draconian rules concerning the marketing of poultry and livestock.

ii. I really couldn’t find what these supposed “draconian” rules are. I did find this. https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/fact-sheets/2014/March/Obama-Administration-Removes-Barriers-to-Food-and-Agriculture-Exports

iii. I also thought this was an interesting piece about Trump and the Meat industry https://newrepublic.com/article/155363/trump-meatpacking-processing-plant-rules-upton-sinclair-jungle

h. federal mandates on food options and menu labeling should be ended

i. It doesn’t look like this has stopped https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/06/13/532819225/trump-administration-gives-industry-more-time-to-adopt-new-nutrition-fact-label

ii. https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/05/08/obamacare-menu-labeling-rules-ushered-in-with-no-trump-objection/

iii. I’m kind of on the fence about this because I don’t really think that labeling the amount of calories in menu items is making that big of a dent in obesity issues. I think we could go a lot farther with destigmatizing weight and getting doctors to focus on a Health At Every Size approach instead of “losing weight will always fix everything.”

i. oppose mandatory labeling of GMOs, which are safe and healthy

i. I am very much on board with this one. The labeling of “non-GMO” on things that don’t even HAVE a GMO version has created an unnecessary fear of GMO’s. So many people now just assume that GMO’s are bad and they are NOT. https://www.agdaily.com/news/gmos-safe-science-yes-media-no/

j. Democrats want to add more regulations to agriculture and this results in higher food costs

k. agriculture suffered under Obama

i. Great Summary of farm issues under Trump and Obama

1. https://www.the-american-interest.com/2019/03/21/farming-and-agriculture-in-the-age-of-trump/

l. The states should be the ones that develop farm policies

m. WOTUS rule is a travesty

i. Federal agencies should not be allowed to seize control of state waters

ii. This seems like a pretty divisive issue, here is what is happening with it https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063446011

n. ranching on public lands must be encouraged

o. continue to provide abundant water supply to America’s farmers

p. Federal programs that assist farmers need to be cost-effective and functional

i. expansion of agricultural exports through the vigorous opening of new markets around the world is the surest path to farm security

q. Farm bill should be done on time (accuse Obama administration of taking too long on the last one)

r. Democrats expanded SNAP, and that accounts for 70% of farm bill spending

i. removed work requirements for able-bodied adults, and GOP wants to restore them as well as separate the administration of SNAP from Department of Agriculture

ii. Interesting article on this issue https://www.npr.org/2019/12/04/784732180/nearly-700-000-snap-recipients-could-lose-benefits-under-new-trump-rule

s. Wildfires are a serious problem that we can remedy by managing timber properly

i. states can best manage our forests

ii. Wildfires are something I worry about, but from what I’m finding, it looks like maybe Trump is not the most informed on them.

iii. https://www.factcheck.org/2019/11/trump-again-misunderstands-californias-wildfires/

iv. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/13/donald-trump-wildfires-science-forest-management

2. A New Era in Energy

a. promise to find new ways to store electricity

b. support opening of public lands and outer continental shelf to exploration and responsible production

i. states should be given authority to manage energy resources on federally controlled public lands within their respective borders

c. don’t like the Clean Power Plan – we will get rid of it.

i. Obama administration put forward this plan which set limits on carbon pollution from power plants – considered by many the biggest step our country has taken to address climate change

ii. Trump Administration replaced this plan with the Affordable Clean Energy Rule in 2019

1. this plan calls for efficiency improvements at generating stations but lets states decide how to regulate power plant transmissions

2. https://news.stanford.edu/press-releases/2019/06/21/goodbye-clean-power-plan-understanding-new-energy-rule/

d. Democrats don’t understand that coal is an “abundant, clean, affordable, reliable domestic energy source” – they have an anti-coal agenda.

i. The push to move away from coal is because coal burning is particularly bad for the environment.

ii. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-to-do-about-coal-2006/

iii. I don’t think the Democrats are necessarily “anti-coal”, they just would like to move away from using coal and replace it with better things.

e. Criticism for Democrats “permitting process” in which it takes an average of 30 days for states to permit an oil or gas well and takes the federal government longer than 7 months.

i. https://www.npr.org/2020/06/01/867224980/trump-administration-limits-states-power-to-stop-oil-and-gas-pipelines

f. Obama is hostile to dams

g. Keystone Pipeline is a symbol of everything wrong with Obama’s approach – GOP wants to finish that pipeline

i. I found articles on all sides of this issue, it seems like there’s kind of this give and take between protecting the environment and utilizing and creating better energy sources/accessing resources the country needs.

ii. Trump did move forward in approving the pipeline, but there are some roadblocks https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/trump-administration-approves-keystone-pipeline-on-u-s-land

h. Climate change is “far from this nation’s most pressing national security issues”

i. Obama disregarded Nuclear Waste Policy Act and we will end that disregard

i. https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/474/seek-safe-disposal-of-nuclear-waste-/

ii. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101689489

iii. https://www.eenews.net/stories/1062284239

iv. The above sources talk about what each President did or did not do with this act. Again, environmental policies are so divisive, I don’t really have super strong feelings on these (yet)

j. encourage cost-effective development of renewable energy sources by private capital

k. US depends too much on China for rare earth and other hardrock materials

i. we need to expedite permit process for mineral production on public lands

l. lift restrictions to allow responsible development of nuclear energy

m. oppose carbon tax

i. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07032019/carbon-tax-proposals-compare-baker-shultz-exxon-conocophillips-ccl-congress

n. American energy producers should be free to export their product to foreign markets

i. It seems like Trump has done good things for energy, from what I can find. However, I think it also depends on whether or not you believe climate change is a problem and whether we need to do more about that or not.

3. Environmental Progress

a. We have a moral obligation to be good stewards of our resources

i. people are the most valuable resources, human health and safety are the proper measurements of a policy’s success

1. I find this interesting, because I feel like this should go together. Like, we need to take care of people BY being good stewards of the earth’s resources. If we just put people first, earth second all the time, we’ll eventually no longer have an earth.

ii. private ownership is the best guarantee of conscientious stewardship

iii. Poverty is the greatest threat to the environment

1. correlation or causation? Is the environment getting worse causing poverty, or is poverty hurting the environment?

b. Democrats approach environmentalism with “shoddy science, scare tactics, and centralized command-and-control regulation”

i. So…they follow the global consensus that climate change is an issue?

ii. https://climate.nasa.gov/faq/17/do-scientists-agree-on-climate-change/

c. Our environment is steadily improving

i. air and waterways are much healthier than a few decades ago

1. This is true, but it doesn’t mean we’re done

ii. we have drastically reduced pollution, mainstreamed recycling, and avoided ecological degradation

iii. air pollution will continue to decline for several decades because we are updating old equipment.

1. Still doesn’t mean we can sit back and relax

d. Animas River Spill – caused by the EPA but ignored by environmentalists

i. https://www.cnn.com/2015/08/13/us/animas-river-spill-by-the-numbers/index.html

ii. Couldn’t find evidence that environmentalists “ignored” it

e. propose shifting responsibility for environmental regulation to the states

i. EPA should become an independent bipartisan commission

f. put an end to “sue and settle” – environmental groups are suing federal agencies and reaching agreement without taxpayer input

g. reform Equal Access to Justice Act to cap and disclose payments made to environmental activists

h. Enforce original intent of Clean Water Act, not it’s distortion by EPA regulations

i. https://www.npr.org/2020/01/23/798809951/trump-administration-is-rolling-back-obama-era-protections-for-smaller-waterways

i. Forbid EPA to regulate carbon dioxide

i. Looks like Trump made good on this…lots of people are unhappy, not seeing this as a good thing.

ii. https://www.bettergov.org/news/fact-check-have-carbon-emissions-increased-under-trump/

iii. https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/07/trump-epa-vastly-underestimating-the-cost-of-carbon-dioxide-pollution-to-society-new-research-finds/

iv. https://www.npr.org/2020/08/13/901863874/trumps-methane-rollback-that-big-oil-doesn-t-want

j. Restore to Congress authority to set the National Ambient Air Quality Standards

k. Federal government owns so much land and the states should be given control of some of this land so they can generate revenue from it.

i. https://e360.yale.edu/features/open-for-business-the-trump-revolution-on-public-lands

ii. Looks like this sounds good but maybe not so great in practice. Found several articles saying this is a BAD PLAN.

l. Amend Antiquities Act of 1906 to establish Congress’ right to approve designation of national monuments and require the approval of a state where a national monument is designated or a national park is proposed.

i. Seems like there’s some opposition here too. https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/the-antiquities-act-and-why-trump-wants-to-change-it/

m. Endangerd Species Act shouldn’t protect animals that exist in other states or countries in healthy numbers

i. balance protection of endangered species with costs of compliance and rights of property owners

ii. oppose listing of lesser prairie chicken and potential listing of the sage grouse

iii. This one was done. https://www.npr.org/2019/08/12/750479370/trump-administration-makes-major-changes-to-protections-for-endangered-species

n. UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a political mechanism, not an unbiased scientific institution

i. unreliability is shown because it is intolerant toward scientists and others who do not agree with them

ii. You can’t call science unreliable just because there are some scientists who don’t agree. Science is a majority rules type of thing. When a large number of scientists get together and agree on something, pay attention.

iii. https://energyinnovation.org/2013/10/03/the-ipcc-and-public-debate-on-science/

iv. Great Summary on who the IPCC is and what they do https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/ipcc-who-are-they

o. reject the agendas of the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement

i. We have actually started the process to officially withdraw from the Paris agreement, this will go into effect in November, but may not stick if Biden wins. Apparently 77% of Americans think we should stay in the Paris Agreement, so that was interesting

ii. https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/11/04/trump-begins-formal-us-withdrawal-paris-agreement/

p. demand an immediate halt to the UNFCCC

q. environmental problems are best solved by giving incentives for development of new techniques

From all my googling on this, I’m getting the vague sense that Trump has also been ignoring the climate change science. While asserting that he knows more about it than anyone else. Sigh.

2020 Republican Platform Part 2 (cont): Abortion and Voting

2020-08-29T15:59:00.002-07:00

I know this is a touchy subject. I wanted to start this off by saying that I do NOT like the idea of abortion, quite honestly I put off researching this section for several days because it's not fun reading through all of this stuff. In a perfect world, abortions wouldn't exist because every pregnancy would be wanted and every baby would be perfectly healthy and every mother would have no complications. But here's the thing...we can't legislate our way into that perfect world. Whether I like it or not, abortions happen. People get them all the time. I don't have to agree with their choice for it to be true. And if they aren't legal, that DOES NOT STOP PEOPLE from getting them, they just go about it in unsafe ways that are more likely to result in the death of the mother. It's truly a horrible thing. What I mostly found missing from this section was any sort of suggestion on how to prevent abortions from being necessary in the first place, which we've learned comes from better access to affordable contraceptives, and sex education that actually teaches kids about sex instead of abstinence only programs. Here are some helpful resources about these points. Again, I do not like abortion. I wish they never happened. But I am also realistic and realize that they will happen, whether I like it or not. I do also think that doctors who do not agree morally with the procedure should not be required to perform them. I don't know if that's a thing that happens, but hopefully not. Please read through, skim some of the articles, there are definitely some misconceptions around abortion that I have seen floating around that need to be cleared up and I tried to link relevant information.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2709326/#B4

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/reducing-abortion-rates-policy_n_589b8ea5e4b09bd304bfd920

https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2016/03/new-clarity-us-abortion-debate-steep-drop-unintended-pregnancy-driving-recent-abortion

a. The Fifth Amendment: Protecting Human Life

i. Guarantee in the Constitution for right to life extends to the unborn

ii. Clarify 14^th Amendment to protect unborn children

iii. oppose use of public funds to perform or promote abortion or to fund organizations like Planned Parenthood, so long as they provide or refer for elective abortions or sell fetal body parts rather than provide healthcare

1. I found these two websites very helpful in separating fact from fiction when it comes to Planned Parenthood

2. https://www.factcheck.org/2015/07/unspinning-the-planned-parenthood-video/

3. https://oversight.house.gov/planned-parenthood-fact-v-fiction

iv. states should make it a crime to acquire, transfer, or sell fetal tissues from elective abortions for research, Congress should ban any sale of fetal body parts

1. It looks like the current administration is already moving towards this. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/08/new-us-ethics-board-rejects-most-human-fetal-tissue-research-proposals#

2. Here’s an article that talks about the reasoning behind using fetal tissue in research https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-truth-about-fetal-tissue-research/

v. Ban practice of misleading women on fetal harvesting consent forms (2015 investigation)

1. I couldn’t find reliable evidence that this was happening

vi. we will not fund or subsidize healthcare that includes abortion coverage

1. I’m a bit worried about what this means. Does this mean that a woman who needs to get an abortion for life-saving purposes would be on the hook to pay for it? I don’t necessarily think that’s right.

vii. Oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide

viii. Assist women who face unplanned pregnancy by supporting legislation that requires financial responsibility for the child to be borne by both parents from conception to adulthood.

ix. Support funding for adoption assistance

x. support the states that have laws requiring informed consent, parental consent, waiting periods, and clinic regulation

xi. Condemn Whole Woman’s Health vs hellerstedt

1. The Court ruled 5–3 that Texas cannot place restrictions on the delivery of abortion services that create an undue burden for women seeking an abortion

xii. applaud Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act

1. Here’s some great information on the controversy surrounding this https://www.factcheck.org/2019/03/the-facts-on-the-born-alive-debate/

2. 2002 Born Alive Infant Protection Act already protects babies that are born alive

xiii. oppose infanticide

1. Moot point, it’s already illegal

xiv. Call on Congress to enact legislation prohibiting abortion after 20 weeks

1. I feel like this is a roundabout way to say we oppose late term abortion. Here’s the thing. When we say “late term abortion” I feel like there are probably a lot of people thinking that this means we are killing babies that could have survived outside the womb. This is NOT happening. Women with full term, healthy babies are not choosing abortion instead of delivery. This interview with a few doctors was really helpful in understanding (seriously do not get at me that it’s CNN and obviously leftist nonsense, just read it see what you think). https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/06/health/late-term-abortion-explainer/index.html

xv. Against dismemberment abortion procedures

1. An article explaining this https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2017/02/de-abortion-bans-implications-banning-most-common-second-trimester-procedure

xvi. call on congress to ban sex-selection abortions and abortions based on disabilities

1. Not much evidence I could find that sex-selection abortions are happening, but I found lots of support on both sides of the political spectrum for encouraging parents who find out their future child is going to be disabled so that they feel empowered to take care of that child and give it a life. Disability is not a tragedy.

xvii. oppose embryonic stem cell research and federal funding for it

xviii. Support adult stem cell research, want to restore the national placental stem cell bank

xix. call for a ban on human cloning

xx. oppose federal funding for harvesting embryos

b. The Fifth Amendment: Protecting Private Property

i. Against the Kelo decision from the Supreme Court

1. Private property should only be allowed to be taken for true public use

2. Support Private Property Rights Protection Act

c. The Fifth Amendment: Intellectual Property Rights

i. call for strong action to enforce intellectual property laws against all infringers, whether foreign or domestic

d. The Ninth Amendment: The People’s Retained Rights

i. all powers not delegated to the government are retained by the people

e. The Tenth Amendment: Federalism as the Foundation of Personal Liberty

i. Federal Government has too much power, we need to return that to the states

ii. state and local taxpayers should decide for themselves what is best for their communities, instead of having to get grants from the federal government

f. Honest Elections and the Electoral College

i. oppose National Popular Vote Interstate Compact and anything else trying to abolish or change procedures of the Electoral College

ii. National Popular Vote is unconstitutional

1. would guarantee corruption and “every ballot box in every state would offer a chance to steal the presidency”

g. Honest Elections and the Right to Vote

i. pledge to protect voting rights of every citizen

ii. support state efforts to ensure ballot access for the elderly, the handicapped, military personnel and all legitimate voters

iii. Support legislation to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote, and showing a secure photo ID when voting

1. I’m opposed to this. If you live here, you should get to vote. https://www.aclu.org/other/oppose-voter-id-legislation-fact-sheet

2. https://www.demos.org/research/how-do-proof-citizenship-laws-block-legitimate-voters

iv. electronic voting systems should have a voter-verified paper audit trail

v. every state should join the Interstate Voter Registration Cross Check Program

1. Unfortunately it looks like this program is really buggy and not very secure. Voter information is easy prey for hackers.

2. https://indivisible.org/resource/protecting-voting-rights-ending-crosscheck

vi. troops should be able to vote when stationed overseas

vii. citizenship, not residency, should be the basis for apportionment of representatives among the states

2020 Republican Platform Part 2: The Constitution, Marriage, and Guns

2020-08-28T13:28:00.002-07:00

There is a lot more in this section, but since this is where a lot of the meatier issues are, I'm going to break this up a bit. This first section talks about Religious Liberty, Marriage, and Guns. Sections in bold are my commentary.

Part 2 – A Rebirth of Constitutional Government

1. We The People

a. Reaffirm Constitution’s principles of limited government, separation of powers, individual liberty, and the rule of law

b. denounce bigotry, racism, anti-Semitism, ethnic prejudice and religious intolerance

i. This is interesting to me, because Trump has definitely shown himself to be bigoted and racist. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/06/trump-racism-comments/588067/

c. oppose discrimination based on race, sex, religion, creed, disability or national origin

d. Encourage equality and access to the American Dream for all citizen

e. Merit and hard work should determine advancement in our society

i. I think this is great, and it should be how it works, however, I’ve been learning a lot about systemic racism and how there is a common phrase that black and brown children are raised with that goes like this “You will have to work twice as hard to be thought of as half as good.” This tells me we have a long way to go until we are truly allowing merit and hard work to determine our advancement instead of wealth, skin color, or anything else.

f. all legislation, regulation, and official actions must conform to the Constitution’s original meaning as understood at the time it was written

g. A president should enforce laws, honor constitutional limits on executive authority

i. Literally just Google “Trump and the Constitution” and you will find DOZENS of articles articulating how he has ignored constitutional limits on executive authority. It’s upsetting.

2. The Judiciary

a. Only a Republican president will appoint judges who respect the rule of law

b. want to reverse activist decisions like Roe v wade, Obergefell, and Obamacare

i. These rulings usurped Congress and state’s lawmaking authority and undermined constitutional protections

c. Judiciary should be the weakest branch

d. Only Republicans will follow the original meaning of the Constitution

i. This seems vague, and rather accusatory. I’m unclear what they truly mean by this.

e. We should not use foreign laws and precedents to interpret our Constitution or laws

f. international agreements should always have 2/3 of the Senate approval

3. Administrative Law

a. Congress delegates too much legislative authority to executive departments, agencies, and commissions

4. Defending Marriage Against an Activist Judiciary

a. Traditional marriage is the foundation of a free society and is the structure that for millennia has been entrusted with rearing children and instilling cultural values

i. What evidence do we have that gay marriage is NOT instilling cultural values, aiding in the foundation of a free society, or unable to be entrusted with rearing children? Studies are showing that kids raised with same-sex parents actually…do just fine. https://www.sciencealert.com/children-welfare-gay-and-bisexual-couples-suffer-stigma

ii. https://whatweknow.inequality.cornell.edu/topics/lgbt-equality/what-does-the-scholarly-research-say-about-the-wellbeing-of-children-with-gay-or-lesbian-parents/

b. Condemn US vs Windsor – made it so Congress cannot define marriage policy in federal law

c. Condemn Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v Hodges

i. The states should have been allowed to decide this question, not the Supreme Court

1. Here’s where I’m at with this – I actually had to read through the Supreme Court decision on this (the arguments for and against and the eventual ruling) for a college class about a year ago. In case you are not familiar, this is the case that legalized same-sex marriage across the US. I came to the conclusion that this possibly was not a decision that the Supreme Court should have made. I think maybe it would have been better if American people could have voted on it. HOWEVER, I also feel like what is done is done, and it’s not cool to go back and reverse it, to take AWAY the marriages of hundreds of couples who were waiting desperately for that decision. I understand this is a touchy subject for many religious people, but here’s my take. Since same-sex marriage was officially legalized across the US, I have not felt like the legitimacy of my heterosexual marriage has gone down one iota. I do not feel like my marriage is threatened. I am not suddenly confused about what marriage means. If you want to go on believing that God defined marriage as between a man and a woman and nothing else, that’s fine. No one is going to stop you. I believe that God has sanctified that union as well. There was an argument made that we can’t change a definition that God set. Ok, how is that separating church and state? We’re going to define marriage for an entire country based on what religion says it is? That doesn’t seem right to me. Religion can continue to define marriage however they want. I personally don’t see the collapse of society that everyone said would happen if we dared to redefine marriage. And if you’re feeling super fired up about this and want to rip me to shreds, don’t. I would have been right in the ring with you just a few years ago, but then I started LISTENING to LGBT folk and their stories changed my heart. I highly recommend the Listen, Learn, and Love podcast for any of my LDS friends who want to gain more understanding around the subject.

5. The First Amendment: Religious Liberty

a. against the attempts to force individuals, business, and institutions of faith to transgress their beliefs

b. charitable religious institutions are losing their ability to receive government grants

c. churches are worried about losing tax exempt status

d. Religious colleges and universities are threatened with fines and government is trying to control their personnel decisions

e. want to repeal Johnson Amendment

i. https://independentsector.org/policy/policy-issues/johnson-amendment/

ii. “The Johnson Amendment, passed in 1954, prohibits all 501(c)(3) organizations, including houses of worship, from endorsing political candidates. It has been instrumental in establishing the nonprofit charitable sector as one of the only platforms of nonpartisan civic engagement in the United States.”

iii. I don’t see this as a bad thing…I don’t think it should be repealed.

f. pledge to defend religious beliefs and rights of ALL Americans

i. Does that include Islam? I feel like most of the Islamophobia I see online comes from die-hard Republicans.

g. Endorse First Amendment Defense Act

i. bars government discrimination against individuals and businesses for acting on the belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman

ii. protects the non-profit tax status of faith-based adoption agencies, accreditation of religious schools, grants and contracts of faith-based charities and small businesses, and licensing of religious professions

iii. government should not use subsequent amendments to limit First Amendment rights

iv. support the freedom of Americans to act in accordance with their religious beliefs in their daily lives, not just in private

v. people have the right to conduct their businesses in accordance with their religious beliefs

vi. Support the public display of the Ten Commandments

vii. religious students have the right to engage in voluntary prayer at public school events

viii. support religious, private, service and youth organizations in setting their own membership standards.

1. I feel like this section has a lot of stuff that sounds good but probably also encourages continued discrimination and bigotry. On the other hand, I do feel like a person should be allowed to run a business according to their religious beliefs (if I owned a restaurant, I wouldn’t want anyone forcing me to serve alcohol). I think this is a tricky area to navigate.

h. The First Amendment: Constitutionally Protected Speech

i. No limits on political speech

ii. should not require private organizations to publicly disclose their donors to the government

iii. support repeal of federal restrictions on political parties in McCain-Feingold

iv. call for an end to the “fairness Doctrine”

1. ensures that both sides get represented on broadcast media. I don’t really get why we would want to end this, but it’s not an issue I care to deeply investigate right now, feel free to educate me.

v. forced funding of political candidates through union dues and other mandatory contributions violates the First Amendment

i. The Second Amendment: Our Right to Keep and Bear Arms

i. a natural inalienable right

ii. self-defense is a God-given right and lawful gun ownership enables us to exercise that right

iii. support firearm reciprocity legislation to recognize the right of law-abiding Americans to carry firearms to protect themselves and their families in all 50 states

iv. support constitutional carry statues

v. oppose laws that would restrict magazine capacity or ban the sale of the most popular and common modern rifle (I’m assuming he means “aussalt weapons”)

vi. Condemn lawsuits against gun manufacturers and the harassment of firearm dealers

vii. oppose federal licensing or registration of law-abiding gun owners, registration of ammunition and restoration of any gun bans.

viii. call for an investigation of the “Fast and Furious” operation perpetrated by DOJ officials which allowed illegal sales of guns to known violent criminals.

1. Looks like this is over with https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/27/world/americas/operation-fast-and-furious-fast-facts/index.html

2. Ok, this is a big one I know for many Republicans. We are a gun-owning family as well. What I found lacking in this section of the platform was any recognition that gun violence is a problem that we should do something about. It very much seems to be – just let everyone keep their guns, don’t change a thing, this is America. And I feel like there is SOMETHING that we should be doing about gun violence. I do NOT think that our country should (or even CAN) completely ban guns, but I’m sure there’s something that can be done. The problem is, both sides need to work together. The people who are going to be best able to figure out a good solution are going to be the people who actually KNOW something about guns. I feel like the people who are most vocal about banning guns are also the ones who know the least about them. For example, do you know what the letters in “AR-15” stand for? Did you think it was “Assault Rifle?” It’s not. It stands for “ArmaLite Rifle.” It’s literally just the name of the gun. Also, fully automatic weapons (or assault rifles, where you hold your finger on the trigger and the gun keeps shooting) are already illegal, and “assault weapons” are just referring to the way a gun LOOKS, not what it can actually DO. https://www.nssf.org/msr/

j. The Fourth Amendment: Liberty and Privacy

i. call for limitations on the use of aerial surveillance, with the exception of border patrol

ii. oppose attempts by government to require surveillance devices in our daily lives, including tracking devices in motor vehicles

iii. figure out how to help Americans retain rights to communicate with each other free from government intrusion, but also allow the government to access encrypted information when it needs to.

iv. Repeal Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FACTA) and Foreign Bank and Asset Reporting Requirements

1. there is a requirement that banks have to provide detailed info to the IRS about American account holders outside the US.

2020 Republican Party Platform, Part 1

2020-08-21T13:52:00.001-07:00

Back in 2008, when I was 18 and registering to vote in my first presidential election, I remember asking my dad which party I should register for. I only vaguely remember the conversation but he said something about not ever being able to vote for a candidate who supported abortion, so I said ok and I registered as a Republican. I've pretty much just voted along party lines ever since then, never really taking the time to learn about politics or figure out what I really believe. This year, I decided it was finally time to figure it all out, especially since I feel like I have been leaning more Democrat as of late. I figured a good way to do it would be to actually READ the party platforms from each party. I know, who does that? Oddly, I'm actually enjoying it and learning tons. I decided to start with the Republican platform, since that is the party I have always thought I was a part of. Conveniently, the GOP decided not to update their 2016 platform, which has made it easy for me to look up whether or not various promises made in it have come to fruition. This first section was the economics part, which I admit is not the most interesting to me. I tried to write a basic outline and then include links to relevant articles discussing what has or hasn't been done by the current administration in those areas. Enjoy!

The Republican Party Platform (2016 – opted not to update for 2020)

1. Preamble

a. America is the best country in the world because we are the example of liberty for the world

b. The Constitution is not flexible and the system of government put in place by it should not change

c. Peace will come from making sure we are strong enough to force peace

d. Want to return decision making to the people

2. Restoring the American Dream

a. Rebuilding the Economy and Creating Jobs

i. -Government can’t create prosperity, it comes from people being self-disciplined and working hard.

ii. Accuses Obama administration of not growing the economy fast enough

1. Pre-corona assessment of how Trump is doing with the economy – not as good as he said he would, and compared to Obama, nothing special. https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2020/02/01/trumps-economic-growth-is-slower-than-obamas-last-3-years/#33186b814fed

iii. Slow and steady should not be what we are going for, we should hope for faster growth.

1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2020/02/19/no-president-trump-obamas-economic-recovery-was-not-a-con-job/#743866715e62

b. Fair and Simple Taxes for Growth

i. Getting taxes right is a big deal in how we can get the economy going well again.

ii. Tax code is too long and confusing

iii. Promise to lower rates that “penalize thrift or discourage investment” change anything that disincentivizes economic growth, eliminate loopholes.

c. Our Tax Principles

i. oppose retroactive taxation

ii. Don’t want to allow judges to order higher taxes

iii. Keep religious organizations, charities, and fraternal benevolent societies tax free

d. A Competitive America

i. High corporate tax rates make it hard to compete overseas and makes them want to take their companies abroad

ii. American companies should be headquartered in America

1. What Trump has done with taxes

a. Reduced corporate tax rates permanently and individual tax rates temporarily

b. removed indivudiaul mandate for health insurance

c. Overall lowered tax rates

d. raised standard deduction

e. expected that when these tax codes expire in 2025, lower income households will pay more in taxes, while the top earners will pay less.

f. https://www.investopedia.com/taxes/trumps-tax-reform-plan-explained/

e. A Winning Trade Policy

i. Reagan Economic Zone

ii. Trade agreements should put America first

iii. Can’t allow China to keep hurting us

iv. Broaden trade agreements with countries that share our values and commitment to fairness.

1. What did Trump Do with Trade Policies?

a. This site seems to go quite in depth, I didn’t spend lots of time on it because this issue isn’t one that matters a whole ton to me. But I have heard that people are overall pleased with the results. Something Trump did well. https://www.piie.com/blogs/trade-investment-policy-watch/trump-trade-war-china-date-guide

f. Freeing Financial Markets

i. Dodd-Frank is bad

ii. too much government control over nation’s financial markets

iii. Community banks are closing.

iv. Abolish Consumer Financial Protection bureau

1. What Trump did about Dodd-Frank https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dodd-frank-financial-regulatory-reform-bill.asp

g. Responsible Home Ownership and Rental Opportunities

i. Housing prices are too high and not enough people own their own homes

ii. Scale back federal role in the housing market

iii. promote responsibility on the part of borrowers and lenders

iv. avoid future taxpayer bailouts

v. Reform federal regulations that make it harder to rent buy or sell homes

vi. FHA should not support high income people

vii. End government mandates requiring banks to satisfy lending quotas to specific groups – no discrimination for mortgages

viii. Federal government should not take over zoning decisions in local areas, this destroys self-government of citizens

1. This was an interesting comparison of how Trump and Biden compare on housing plans https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/trump-vs-biden-housing-plans/

a. I’m not a fan of Trump ending the requirement for suburbs to diversify

h. America on the Move

i. Highway Trust fund – don’t give money to mass transit because that is a local problem.

ii. Federal Aviation Administraion reform

iii. Livability Initiative is meant to get people out of their cars

iv. Repeal davis-bacon law

1. What is it? https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/government-contracts/construction

2. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/01/04/instead_of_infrastructure_investment_how_about_killing_davis-bacon_135913.html

3. Doesn’t look like any move has been made towards repealing it

v. oppose increase in federal gas tax

vi. TSA should not be able to unionize

vii. End federal support for expensive railroad systems

1. Trump administration and transportation https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-18/the-price-of-4-years-of-infrastructure-weeks

i. Building the Future: Technology

i. Want universal broadband coverage

ii. Keep up the space program in order to protect national security interests and foster innovation and competitiveness

j. Building the Future: America’s Electric Grid

i. Make sure everyone has access to electricity

1. Looks like he’s doing that https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2020/08/13/trump-administration-invests-371-million-improve-rural-electric

k. Start-up Century: Small Business and Entrepreneurship

i. Reduce occupational licensing laws that make it hard for people to start entrepreneurial careers

ii. overturn Dodd-Frank

1. Has Trump Been Good for Small Business? https://www.app.com/story/money/business/2019/05/06/small-businesses-under-trump-better-worse-off/3643818002/

l. The Federal Reserve

i. Should be transparent

ii. Annual audit of Federal Reserve’s activities

iii. Set a fixed value for the dollar

1. Seems like the pandemic did what Trump wanted with the reserve. Hard to find info https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/business/economy/fed-powell-trump-mnuchin-response-coronavirus.html

m. Workplace Freedom for a 21^st Century Workforce

i. Don’t like most of the Project Labor Agreements

1. What is that? https://www.nrtw.org/what-is-a-project-labor-agreement-and-how-does-it-affect-workers/

ii. Workers should be able to accept raises and rewards without union officials vetoing

iii. unionized workers should know what is happening with union trust funds

iv. Support states in enacting Right-to-Work laws

1. https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/04/federal-employees-white-house-memo-028954

2. Seems like he tried but it didn’t work out?

v. call for a national law to protect economic liberty of the modern workforce

vi. Clear nondiscrimination policies make sure employees succeed based only on merit

vii. Endorse employee stock ownership plans

viii. Minimum wage should be handled at state and local level

1. From what I found, it doesn’t look like Trump has done anything about minimum wage, but apparently made a statement last month that he was thinking about potentially increasing it on the federal level.

n. A Federal Workforce Serving the People

i. Federal compensation and benefits are too much

o. Reducing the Federal Debt

i. impose firm caps on future debt

ii. accelerate repayment of debt

iii. spending restraint is necessary

1. Trump has increased the national debt, even if you don’t take the problems with COVID into account

2. https://www.newsweek.com/under-trumps-watch-americas-national-debt-has-increased-66-trillion-1521418

3. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-poised-to-add-more-debt-than-obama-in-first-term

Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America

2020-07-24T16:26:00.001-07:00

Summary: Living in a racially unjust and deeply segregated nation creates unique conundrums for white children that begin early in life and impact development in powerful ways. Dr. Jennifer Harvey offers age-appropriate insights for teaching children how to address racism when they encounter it and tackles tough questions about how to help white kids be mindful of racial relations while understanding their own identity and the role they can play for justice.

My Thoughts: I loved this book. I thought it had so many compelling points that I never would have thought of before. So many of my generation were raised to be colorblind, to not notice or point out color. And I don't blame our parents generation, they were doing what they thought was best. Unfortunately, colorblindness also leaves us blind to the fact that we're still not done fighting injustice. So, if colorblindness is out, what do we teach our children? Many may say that the right course is to teach them to value diversity, to love everyone and our differences. Which also sounds great but leaves one problem: when we celebrate diversity and difference, whiteness is not one of the things you are allowed to celebrate. There's really no such thing as "white culture" and while the messages of "black is beautiful" are encouraged, nearly everyone would recoil to hear someone chant "white is beautiful!" or "I love my gorgeous white skin!" So where does that leave us? We end up even more racially divided than ever because white kids end up feeling guilty or like something is wrong with their whiteness.

I had never really thought about any of this before. This book left me with so many great ideas about how to raise my children to be kind to others, celebrate diversity, be comfortable in their own skin, and also to actively work to fight against injustice, be aware of the systems that benefit them disproportionately because of their skin color, and cultivate meaningful relationships with people of color throughout their lives.

I highly recommend this book. You may not agree with absolutely everything that the book says, and that's ok but hopefully you can come away with some new ideas you had never considered before.

"Being white in a system of white racial hierarchy negatively impacts white people's humanity and health every day, even as it harms and negatively impacts people of color every day. We cannot fully enable children who are white to be healthy until we have created a truly just world. And so our goal as parents is not - and must not simply be - to teach our children to be more inclusive, embracing, and curious humans....Our goal must be to bring them along with us...as we work to change this world."

What Is a Girl Worth?: My Story of Breaking the Silence and Exposing the Truth about Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics

2019-12-21T07:47:00.002-08:00

Author: Rachael Denhollander

Pages: 323

Rating: Due to the subject matter and the sometimes graphic descriptions, I wouldn't allow anyone below probably 15 or 16 to read this.

Summary:
Rachael Denhollander’s voice was heard around the world when she spoke out to end the most shocking US gymnastics scandal in history. The first victim to publicly accuse Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor who sexually abused hundreds of young athletes, Rachael now reveals her full story for the first time. How did Nassar get away with it for so long? How did Rachael and the other survivors finally stop him and bring him to justice? And how can we protect the vulnerable in our own families, churches, and communities?

What Is a Girl Worth? is the inspiring true story of Rachael’s journey from an idealistic young gymnast to a strong and determined woman who found the courage to raise her voice against evil, even when she thought the world might not listen. This deeply personal and compelling narrative shines a spotlight on the physical and emotional impact of abuse, why so many survivors are reluctant to speak out, what it means to be believed, the extraordinary power of faith and forgiveness, and how we can learn to do what’s right in the moments that matter most.

My Thoughts: I haven't written a post on this page in a while, but this one is worth it. I've learned so much over the last few years about how if you want to understand someone, you need to listen to their personal story. And this book does just that. Denhollander walks all of us through the questions many people ask when accounts of sexual abuse are brought forth. Why didn't the victim report earlier? Could they have misunderstood? But the alleged abuser is so NICE! This book was seriously incredible. At the beginning the author tells us that her parents were very involved, very open about sexuality, they taught their children about safety, but that still didn't protect her. We have to be so, so, careful, and even then, it might not be enough.

One of the points she brings up that I loved the most is how people were so unwilling to believe that this man was capable of such depravity, because of how "kind" he was and how many good things he had done. He was involved with charity work, volunteered so many hours to "treat" girls at his own home. He was so personable. But, Denhollander points out that it doesn't matter how much good he did. That DOESN'T cancel out the bad! You can't just erase your crimes by doing lots of other good stuff. It doesn't work that way.

I learned so much reading this book, especially about how difficult it is for victims to be believed, gain justice, or stop their abuser. Society just brushes these things off way too easily and it's not ok. My favorite quote from the book is this, "Why don't victims report? Because most of the time, the only thing reporting accomplishes is heightening the trauma to almost unbearable levels. It invites an audience to view your sexual assault. It's choosing to have no voice in the process after having it stolen from you. That's why victims don't report." (pg 271).

This book was good. If you have ever thought, "Abuse will never happen to me/my children/the people I love because we are careful/teach them about their bodies/don't go to bad places/we're vigilant" then you need to read this book. If you're in any sort of position where you have the opportunity to listen to children or anyone who may possibly report to you about abuse, you need to read this book. The consequences of failing to take abuse allegations seriously are astronomical. By the time Larry Nasser was brought to justice, numerous girls over several decades had attempted to report him, only to be either completely ignored or find that the investigation was not taken seriously enough. I'm hoping and praying that our culture and practices will keep heading in a positive direction of change, but we all have to keep speaking up.

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

2019-09-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

Author: Donald Miller

Summary:

After writing a successful memoir, Donald Miller's life stalled. During what should have been the height of his success, he found himself unwilling to get out of bed, avoiding responsibility, even questioning the meaning of life. But when two movie producers proposed turning his memoir into a movie, he found himself launched into a new story filled with risk, possibility, beauty, and meaning.
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years chronicles Miller's rare opportunity to edit his life into a great story, to reinvent himself so nobody shrugs their shoulders when the credits roll. Through heart-wrenching honesty and hilarious self-inspection, Donald Miller takes readers through the life that emerges when it turns from boring reality into meaningful narrative.
Miller goes from sleeping all day to riding his bike across America, from living in romantic daydreams to fearful encounters with love, from wasting his money to founding a nonprofit with a passionate cause. Guided by a host of outlandish but very real characters, Miller shows us how to get a second chance at life the first time around. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years is a rare celebration of the beauty of life.

My Thoughts: I feel like that summary doesn't do a good job describing this book. It was AMAZING. I wasn't sure exactly what I was getting into but I finally decided to check it out after one of my favorite podcasters repeatedly recommended it and then did an entire podcast episode based on it. This book was worth all the hype she gave it. Seriously. If I had been reading a personal copy instead of a library one I would have been highlighting stuff all over the place. It was that good. The author starts with talking about how a couple of filmmakers want to make a movie out of a memoir he wrote. They have to write this screenplay and have to change a few things in order to make it a good story that people will enjoy watching. So Don kind of goes on this journey finding out what makes a good story, and then figuring out how to make his actual life into one. And here's the thing - we all can do it.

I think one of my biggest takeaways is that challenges and difficulties in our lives are some of the elements of good story. We won't have a good story to tell our children, grandchildren, or even God someday if nothing really ever happens to us. And we don't have to wait for things to happen. We can go make them happen. We can create amazing stories in our lives, if we want to.

This quote is one of my favorites. "Somehow we realize that great stories are told in conflict, but we are unwilling to embrace the potential greatness of the story we are actually in. We think God is unjust, rather than a master storyteller."

Whoa. That got me thinking so hard. We sometimes get so mad at God for putting us through this or that or the other thing, but...he's just helping us create an amazing story that we can be proud of one day.

Here's another good quote. "If the point of life is the same as the point of a story, the point of life is character transformation. If I got any comfort as I set out on my first story, it was that in nearly every story, the protagonist is transformed. He's a jerk at the beginning and nice at the end, or a coward at the beginning and brave at the end. If the character doesn't change, the story hasn't happened yet. And if story is derived from real life, if story is just condensed version of life then life itself may be designed to change us so that we evolve from one kind of person to another."

If I haven't convinced you to read this book yet, just google the title and "quotes" and keep reading. So many little gems, so much to think about, seriously....SO GOOD. Go read it.

Roots: The Saga of an American Family

2018-09-17T12:11:00.002-07:00

Author: Alex Haley

Pages: 729

Rating: PG-13 (Very intense scenes of violence, rape, and obviously, the N-word is scattered through practically every page of the last 2/3 of this book.)

Summary:
"Early in the spring of 1750, in the village of Juffure, four days upriver from the coast of The Gambia, West Africa, a man-child was born to Omoro and Binta Kinte."

So begins Roots, one of the most extraordinary and influential books of our time. Through the story of one family—his family—Alex Haley unforgettably brings to life the monumental two-century drama of Kunta Kinte and the six generations who came after him: slaves and freedmen, farmers and blacksmiths, lumber mill workmen and Pullman porters, lawyers and architects...and one author.

A national and international phenomenon at the time of its original publication, Roots continues to enthrall readers with its masterful narrative drive and exceptional emotional power, speaking to us all with an undiminished resonance and relevance.

"In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage.... Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning no matter what our attainments in life."—Alex Haley

My Thoughts: Wow, what a book! I've wanted to read this for a long time and finally dove in. Honestly, the slavery portion of American history is not something I've spent a lot of time reading about. I think mainly because it's so hard to read about something so horrific and immoral happening in your own country. I flew through the beginning part, where Kunta is growing up in Africa, but my reading slowed considerably once he was captured by a slave trader.

I admit, I was shocked by what Kunta had to go through. Although this book is largely a work of fiction (obviously, the author wasn't there and doesn't have any detailed records of words that were actually spoken), Haley tried to make the events as realistic and as historically accurate as possible. And I was appalled. The horrible conditions on the slave ship, the fact that so many of them died before even reaching the US, and then, that they advertised, "Healthy, prime slaves" upon arrival, when in reality, most were horribly emaciated, extremely ill, weak, and covered in sores.

Then, once a slave, treated basically as no more than an animal would be. I learned so much from reading this, and it was so exciting to follow the author's path at the end as he searches out and eventually traces his roots all the way back to the African tribe that Kunta disappeared from back in the 1700's. Due to lack of records and the fact that slaves were bought and sold so frequently (and every time that happened, their last names were changed to their new master's last name), being able to trace a family all the way back to Africa is probably a unique occurance.

I was incredibly humbled by my reading of this book. Especially to note how religious the slaves generally were. They led terrible lives, and yet they clung to God sometimes more fiercely than their "Christian" owners. I also feel deeply grateful that I grew up in a time and place where I literally don't even remember noticing that some people have a different color skin than me. Looking back on my childhood, I can't remember a single instance where I thought less of someone because they didn't look like me. Roots doesn't go into much detail into the lives of the author's ancestors after they were officially freed from slavery after the civil war. But as we all know, the fight for freedom was far from over. We are still battling racism in so many ways, but it sure is amazing to see how far we've come. I was amazed to read that even many abolitionists, who felt that the slaves should be freed, did not believe that blacks and whites could live together in harmony, and many favored shipping all the freed slaves back to Africa.

This book was definitely an epic, but so worth the read!