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A Statement of Basic Principles

Chippewa Dems Answer Dean’s Call

Chippewa County Democrats recently joined a national effort to help Governor Howard Dean identify core Democratic values and platform issues for the 2006 and 2008 election years and beyond. At each of two gatherings in mid-May, a group of 12 to 17 Democrats met to hammer out statements of their basic principles and how they want to see these principles expressed in action. Following are the position statements that resulted from their work:

·        We believe in fair and responsible government that serves the common good.
·        We believe that human beings should be measured by their actions and deeds, not be sound bytes.
·        We believe government is for all people, not for only a select few…”of the people, by the people, for the people”.
·        We believe we must have economic stability and that the following factors are imperative for us to sustain economic stability:

Universal health care
A fair wage
A strong national public education system

Policies that sustain small businesses and farms.

· We believe in investment in the public good through:

Maintaining infrastructure
Protecting our natural resources
Strengthening the middle class
A continuation of social security and Medicare/Medicaid at the present level.

· We believe in approaches to national security that protects our 1st Amendment rights.
· We believe the current war is unfounded, needless, pre-emptive in nature, and impossible to win. There is no evidence that Saddam had anything to do with the World Trade Center disaster. No weapons of mass destruction have been uncovered. Therefore we call upon our leaders to immediately formulate a comprehensive exit strategy that must include military withdrawal, disengagement and humanitarian assistance. Our nation should be an active partner in an international solution to the current situation.