Demands for the incoming Biden-Harris Administration from the Liberty Union Party of Vermont (issued 11.08.20)
The Liberty Union Party demands that the incoming Administration abide by the will of the People. Voters have called for progressive, forward-looking policies and a fundamental departure from the regressive policies that have already been proven to be ineffectual. We demand the Administration pass and enforce the following:
1). Systemic racism must be eradicated at all levels of government and society. Diversity is the driving force in a democratic society.
2). We demand reparations for all victims of colonialism, racism, genocide, and the theft of land and resources.
3). We demand the Defunding of Police in favor of community strengthening initiatives. Police must never be used to respond to medical or mental-health incidents. We recognize the deep harm that policing has caused in the USA, beginning with the enforcement slavery and leading to the current system of racist policing.
4). We demand that the Prison-Industrial-Military-Congressional Complex be abolished in favor of publicly funded rehabilitation and support. The exploitation of any prisoner for free or cheap labor is paramount to slavery and must be abolished. The 13th Amendment must be amended to eliminate the slavery exemption.
5). We demand that ICE be abolished with immediate closure of all detention facilities. Full attention must be paid to remedying the damage inflicted upon children kidnapped by ICE, including immediate location of parents/family and return of all children to family/parents within safe environments and providing reparations for the profound trauma brought upon them. We demand the reinstatement of Asylum provisions. No person is illegal whether refugee or immigrant. We insist that a pathway to citizenship be provided, through permanent legislation, for ALL people who seek citizenship in the U.S. regardless of birth nation.
5). Housing is a human right and must be guaranteed to all. Government policies and practices criminalizing people who are house-less must be rescinded and practices of harassment and abuse must cease. What is criminal is that housing remains empty while people literally freeze to death on the streets.
6). Food security is a human right. National and world hunger result from failure, intentional and otherwise, of food distribution systems, rather than from any perceived or reported lack of food. It is unconscionable, in fact criminal, that any person in this over-wealthy country should suffer from let alone die from hunger.
7). We demand Universal Health Care, free at point of service and free from coercion of any kind. We insist that full support of reproductive rights and freedom from medical intervention without the full understanding and consent of the patient must be guaranteed.
8). We demand the nationalization of hospitals, drug and medical supply companies.The policy of generating ‘profit from pain’ derives from the privatization of every aspect of medical and health care supply chain and delivery system. It is unconscionable, in fact criminal, that any person in this over-wealthy country should suffer from lack of health or medical care services due to inability to pay.
9). We demand full funding of education facilities, services and opportunities from cradle to grave for all. We call for full relief from and cancellation of all from student debt with immediate effect, especially during this pandemic.
10). We demand the defense and expansion of rights of the LGBTQi* community including enforced relief from all forms of discrimination and promotion of self-determination through self identification including provision of any needed medical services free of charge. All “reparative therapies” must be banned. We recognize the intimate link between white supremacy and discrimination against LGBTQi* people. Assaults against the LGBTQi* community must be prosecuted. The right of members of the LGBTQi* community to self-defense must be upheld.
11) We call for an immediate investigation into human rights violations on the part of past Administrations with a particular focus on investigation and prosecution of the horrors committed by immigration enforcement at the border and the genocidal forced sterilization of immigrants held in U.S. government sanctioned custody.
12). We call for the dismantling of the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex and the cessation of the imperialist practices that are the hallmark of U.S. foreign policy. We demand an end to military expansionism and to intervention in the affairs of other nations. We insist that troops be returned home and that all foreign military bases be shut down. We must acknowledge our past interference with democratically elected governments and provide reparation to countries that the U.S. has undermined and de-stabilized for the purpose of theft of resources and territory.
13). We call for return of the U.S. to the Paris Agreement. This represents only the first, small step in addressing the Global Climate Emergency. We call for the adoption of the Green New Deal recognizing that this is likewise only a small step in addressing the impact of the Climate Emergency upon the U.S. and the world to which the U.S. is inextricably connected. We call for aggressive steps to be taken to protect the environment including immediate reinstatement of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. The subsidization of fossil fuel industries must cease immediately. Fracking whether for gas or water must be stopped and banned. The construction of pipelines for the transport of fossil fuels must cease immediately and existing pipelines must be dismantled. Reparations must be made to those whose lands have been stolen and desecrated by the construction and existence of these pipelines. We must develop large scale carbon sequestration projects, nationally and internationally, to help reverse the impacts of global warming. This can include rehabilitation efforts for the Amazon rain forest and other more technical means of reducing greenhouse gasses.
14). Corporations are not people. Citizens United must be overturned. Corporations must not be able to use massive lobbying funds to buy their way into power. It must be recognized that a democracy is antithetical to a profit making enterprise.
15). We demand the abolishment of the Electoral College. The popular vote must decide every election. To do otherwise forfeits the status of the U.S. as a democratic nation within the world community.