On the Issues Since this campaign began I've been privileged to talk with a number of people in Sonoma and Marin Counties. The following thoughts and ideas come from those conversations. Please use these ideas as jumping off points to add your own perspectives. Feel free to email us your thoughts. Campaign Commitments Stop the intrusion of casinos in Marin and Sonoma Counties. Be a strong federal partner for funding Highway 101. Increase federal assistance for local transit. Close the dilapidated San Quentin penitentiary. Help build a new community center in Marin City. Improve federal funding for education including foreign language, drama, music, art, and athletics. Open up old rail tunnels for north to south bike trails and encourage alternative forms of commuting. Greatly increase federal buyback of development rights for our coastal and wetland areas. A New Vision For Homeland Security The Democratic Party needs to redefine homeland security from investment in fear and trepidation to one of defiance and courage. In order to do so, we must focus our collective energies on four essential areas of government: Education / Training Infrastructure Public Service Political Reform Education / Training: We will have the most educated population in the world supported by the strongest educational and workforce retraining system in the world. We will extend our hand to other nations by expanding our student and cultural exchange programs, language studies, and Foreign Service. We will jointly fund the effort with industry and government support. Infrastructure: We will launch the largest civic construction projects since the 1930's. We will rebuild America's infrastructure to create jobs, capture our imagination, and secure our homeland: power grids, roads, bridges, schools, parks, ports, airports, rail lines, hospitals, local fire and police and civic protection. Public Service: Since 9/11, Americans desperately need something real to do. We will resurrect the ghost of JFK to call on all Americans to "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can for your country." Replace the word "country" with "world." Some ideas: encourage every graduating high school/college student to spend one-two years in service in AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, or the military. Encourage retirees to volunteer, bringing their considerable experience to lead the effort. Get U.S. communities involved in establishing partnerships with war torn communities to rebuild their infrastructure. Political Reform: We will change the way we hire and fire our political leaders. We will purge money from campaigns and regain the confidence of fellow citizens. Some ideas: Ban all radio and TV advertising and replace with mandated events sponsored by broadcast outlets that expose candidates and issues during prime time. Ban all PAC money to campaigns and redirect it to Parties and issue groups. Stop all self-funding. Increase voter turnout by moving all elections to Sundays or make them holidays or create "get out of work" vote periods. And allow "none of the above" on the ballot. Addendum: In order to accomplish this, we need to address two sensitive legal issues: freedom of speech and privacy. Freedom of speech currently protects "paid-for-speech" in political campaigns and allows for mass distortions in political advertising. Current privacy protections should override the publics and/or commerce's right to know. The War in Iraq: One bridge too far. Attacking Afghanistan and ridding the world of terrorist training camps was appropriate. Attacking Iraq was a violation of our historical need for moral high ground and is proving to be a classic foreign affairs mistake. We need to focus on getting the world community involved to rebuild both Afghanistan and Iraq. The War on Terror: We need to refocus ourselves to securing our homeland rather than chasing phantom enemies in far away lands. There is validity to the argument that it's better to fight terror on our enemies turf rather than in American cities. However, blindly attacking sovereign nations with dubious facts is destroying our credibility and the good will that followed 9/11. We need to turn this around. Campaign Reform: We need to get the money out of politics and significantly change how we hire and fire our politicians. Things to look at: advertising, PAC funds, and self-funding. Eliminate advertising and replace it with mandated radio and TV sponsored events like debates and one-on-one interviews during prime time. Limit PAC funding to political parties and issue groups only. And individual candidates have to rely on individual contributions only with no self-funding allowed. Education: The foundation of our national security. Teachers are on the frontline. Make them tax-free for at least 2 years or permanently and fundamentally change how we recruit, educate, and fund the teaching profession. Business/Jobs: Jobs should be our focus for supporting business. Encourage job creation and retention through tax incentives. Limit executive compensation as a basis for encouraging business commitment to workers and the job market. Environment: Create special tax incentives for environmentally sensitive SUVs. Make business responsible for what they create, cradle to grave. Support the "Apollo Project." Basic Human Rights: Support an amendment to the constitution that says that food, clothing, housing, education, and health care are basic human rights. Period. Transportation: Create a Northern California ecological demonstration project through the DOE to develop alternatives to inefficient automobiles. Infrastructure: Rebuild America and create jobs. Launch the largest public works projects/funding since the 1930's. Homeland Security: Give the average American something real to do. Encourage and fund the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps. Develop sister city programs to build schools, hospitals, and infrastructure. Build understanding and relationships with other countries and communities. Illegal Immigrants: Create legal work permits with federally protected rights and benefits. Create enterprise zones in conjunction with our neighbors to encourage job growth along the borders. Work in partnership with other nations rather than build walls. War on Drugs: Stop the war. Focus our resources on education and treatment. Off Shore Jobs: Require foreign employee rights to compensation, health, and freedom from harassment, safe work environments and basic benefits for products created for U.S. import or distribution by U.S. owned companies. Set standards. Products and services that have been created off shore must be certified before they can be imported. Stalemate Issues: Abortion. I'm pro-choice. Gun control. I'm for getting handguns off our streets. Prayer in school. We need to be diligent about the separation of church and state. On these issues, we need to agree to disagree with our detractors and get to solving pressing issues of our time.