Bring the
Troops Home
We should terminate our failed policy in Iraq immediately. We should
never have invaded in the first place and we should not stay one day longer.
Our nation should be founded on the protection of liberties, not the invasion and occupation of foreign lands. The threat of a civil war breaking
out in Iraq makes no sense given that Iraq is already in civil war.
Repeal the USA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act vastly undermines
our freedoms guaranteed
by the Bill of Rights. This law grants the government
greatly expanded surveillance powers such as
monitoring which books you've checked out of the
library and what web sites you've visited. One
of my first priorities in office will be to repeal
this unnecessary and un-American law.
End Corporate Influence
on Our Political Process
As we witnessed in the Enron scandal, the democratic
system has been undermined by undue corporate
influence. I believe the best way to prevent the
inordinate amount of money spent by corporations in
the political system is to end corporate handouts by
our government. After all, the reason corporations are
paying politicians is because they expect favorable
treatment in return. I will fight to clean up the
political system by ending corporate welfare,
including subsidies and lax penalties.
End the Military Drain
on Our Economy
Our economy has been hit hard by the "dotcom" crash.
Now our federal government is spending
billions of dollars fighting a war few of us want. I
believe we should stop draining our money into the
military industrial complex and focus more on
resolving our own problems at home.
Resist Shutting Our
Borders to Immigration
Most of us are either immigrants or descendents of
immigrants. In fact, I believe the strength of our
country comes from the fact that so many of us come
from diverse backgrounds and cultures. Immigrants come
to this country to make a better life for themselves
and their families. They are the lifeblood of this
society and I would fight hard to ensure that our
borders remain open.
Protect Our Environment
Our federal government is currently
subsidizing the pollution of our environment. Not only
is the government itself the biggest polluter, but it
has not sufficiently penalized corporate polluters for
destroying our environment. In addition, our
dependence on an ever-dwindling supply of fossil fuels
is forcing us into a very precarious foreign policy in
which we are obligated to involve ourselves in foreign
disputes in order to ensure a cheap supply of oil. I
will work to create incentives to wean ourselves off
fossil fuels by encouraging research in replenishable
energy sources.
Oppose Standardized
Testing
I am a strong opponent of standardized testing and
standardized education in general. I think students'
skills and interests are so diverse that it would be
an injustice to try to categorize them based on a test
score that can only measure a certain type of
aptitude. I believe we should empower and trust the
parents as much as possible to choose the best form
and method of education for their own children rather
than treat our educational system as a factory that
manufactures clones with identical educations
