THE CLAREMONT MANIFESTO

Executive Summary

Credo

We Claremont Democrats see America as a COMMONWEALTH in which we and our fellow citizens work together for the COMMON GOOD and for our individual fulfillment. This core concept informs our VISION and our PROGRAM.

Vision

The Earth

Our common home, the earth, and all the peoples of the earth are in danger. It must be the first duty of the United States to protect our common home. We should make a livable world our top priority on behalf of all our descendents.

America in the World

We view our country as a cooperative and contributing member of the world-wide COMMONWEALTH embracing the family of peoples on this earth. We are willing to contribute our military power to the service of the world community to maintain peace and stability. In the common interest of the world’s peoples, we shall take the lead in the preservation of the globe’s finite resources and in the fight against global warming. In the interest of the survival of humankind, we pledge ourselves to work toward abolition of all nuclear armaments, with reduction of nuclear stocks and non-proliferation as intermediate steps.

America at Home

We shall strive to implement the concept of the COMMONWEALTH based on cooperation and mutual support rather than on dog-eat-dog competition. As a first step, we will restore to its full the vigor the Constitution which our Founding Fathers have bestowed on us. We will reinvigorate the principle of the Separation of Powers to allow the Congress to exercise vigorous oversight over the operations of the Executive. We will restore the Civil Rights guaranteed by the Constitution which have been set aside under the pretext of the so-called War on Terror. Furthermore, we shall institute a rational immigration policy which balances our need for labor from abroad against the protection of people already this in country.

In our COMMONWEALTH we will promote social equity and well-being. We will promote a more just distribution of wealth, diminishing the currently unacceptable gap between the Rich and the Poor. We will work to provide Universal Health Care on a national scale and we will protect Social Security against all attempts to destroy it through partial privatization.

This VISION is designed to set out ultimate goals for the Democratic Party to accomplish in the present century.

Selected Programs and Policies

1. Repudiation of the Bush policy of World Domination based on military might. Repudiation of Pre-emptive War and First Use of Nuclear Weapons.

2. Participation in the UNITED NATIONS as a peaceful partner.

3. Support of non-proliferation and reduction of nuclear armaments.

4. Impartial arbitration and settlement of Palestine conflict and negotiated regional settlements in the Middle East.

5. Increase in U.S. contribution to International Aid and Development.

6. Focus on roots of Islamic extremism. Search for political rather than military solutions. Our opponents are human beings too.

7. Movement toward cost-effective Universal Health Care.

8. Increased support of labor unions.

9. Focus on renewable energy to save the Environment and to decrease dependence on foreign oil.

10. The Justice system: Reduction of criminal penalties for non-violent offenses and renewed emphasis on rehabilitation.

UNITED WE STAND!

Democratic Club of Claremont - P.O. Box 1201, Claremont, CA 91711

claremontdemocrats@yahoo.com www.claremontdems.org