The Fredericksburg Democratic Committee's Resolution Committee prepared and submitted four resolutions to the State Committee:
Fredericksburg Democratic Committee Endorses Serious Policy Discourse About Health Care
Whereas, Equality, freedom and justice have been fundamental values of American democracy since the Founding of our Nation, and the federal budget is a detailed plan designed to realize those core values.
Total health care expenditures in the United States exceed 3.2 trillion dollars per year. Insurance and administrative costs represent over 0.5 trillion dollars of this total. Health care expenditures of $10,000 per person do not place American health care quality in the top 10 among developed nations, nor provide life expectancy in the top 30. Proposals to Repeal and Replace the Affordable Care Act have failed to provide workable alternatives to provide health care insurance to the poor, to cover pre-existing conditions in any affordable insurance, to assure care for elderly Americans, nor to reduce overall national costs for health care. Single Payer Systems, in use in most developed nations, provide universal health care for all citizens, for all conditions, at substantially lower costs per person and as a fraction of GDP.
Therefore, be it resolved, the Convention: Support a single-payer Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act (H.R. 676), to be funded by progressive payroll taxes that are affordable, and remove health insurance costs and excessive administrative costs from the national health care ledger.
The Fredericksburg Democratic Committee Endorses Responsible Policies to Re-Orient the Federal Budget
Whereas, Equality, freedom and justice have been fundamental values of American democracy since the Founding of our Nation, and the federal budget is a detailed plan designed to realize those core values.
The Fiscal Year 2018 budget proposal has asked for an additional 54 billion dollars for the Department of Defense without clear details of the need for and use of these funds. The DoD budget of $598 billion in accounts for 54% of all Federal discretionary spending. Some congressional plans include a request for 355 new naval vessels while the Navy department has requested 350.
Therefore, be it resolved, the Convention: Require a detailed bottom up budget plan from the Department of Defense be carefully reviewed by the Congress to assure that requested funds accurately address specific needs to provide for national security and proper support and equipment for our military forces.
The Fredericksburg Democratic Committee Endorses Policies and Regulations to Protect the American Citizens From Lax Banking and Investment Regulations
Whereas, The United States suffered the greatest recession since the Depression of 1929 during 2008 and 2009. This “Great Recession” was engendered by predatory lending practices which put millions of Americans at risk with substandard mortgages, and by extremely leveraged derivatives and irresponsible insurance, inadequate capital reserves throughout the US financial community. The resulting financial crisis destabilized global financial system and threatened the viability of some national banks. The Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 was a major factor in ending this crisis and included formation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The current administration and Congress have announced plans to dismantle the Dodd-Frank Act.
Therefore, be it resolved, the Convention: Shall support enactment of legislation to maintain needed regulations for the financial and investment communities, and ensure the continued and undiminished funding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The Fredericksburg Democratic Committee Endorses Policies to Protect the Natural Environment of The Commonwealth of Virginia
Whereas, The fundamental values of American democracy since the Founding of our Nation, include Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. These values demand that the rights of individuals must not be abridged during the development and improvement of our society.
The Commonwealth of Virginia, being blessed by abundant natural beauty and tranquility, has long been the sought after location for living in concert with nature. Careful stewardship of natural resources has mostly succeeded in balancing individual rights with economic imperatives. Maturation of scientific means of monitoring and understanding changes in environments and their potential and real effects on life as expected in Virginia make it clear that this balance cannot continue without change in approach to exploitation for commercial benefit.
Coal mining, oil and gas exploration and exploitation, agricultural side-effects, are clearly damaging ecosystems, water supplies, health and well-being of citizens. Rappahannock River is now listed as endangered by American Rivers, Chesapeake is only now showing significant recovery from near-catastrophic pollution. This Chesapeake Bay recovery is under threat due to ill founded Federal budget decisions.
Therefore, be it resolved, the Convention: The Commonwealth enact laws and support regulations to control and ultimately eliminate contamination due to coal ash management and runoff, due to chemical incursion into streams, rivers and subsurface aquifers, due to agricultural fertilizer runoff, and to prohibit dangerous techniques such as hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas bearing shale deposits.
Text of failed resolution: The 1st Congressional District of Virginia Convention Endorses Bold Policies to Re-Orient the Federal Budget Whereas, Equality, freedom and justice have been fundamental values of American democracy since the Founding of our Nation, and the federal budget is a detailed plan designed to realize those core values. The military budget is now full of waste, which includes $125 billion in bureaucratic waste according to a Pentagon report and out-of-control spending for military hardware. Military has become the top spending priority: $598 billion in 2015 which accounts for 54% of all Federal discretionary spending. President Trump has proposed increasing spending by a further $54 billion in the FY2018 budget but fails to address the real need of reducing waste, modernizing processes, and streamlining the workforce. Republicans have flattened out the progressive nature of tax collection by lowering tax rates AND raising deductions mostly benefiting the wealthy. These tax breaks are now as large as discretionary spending. Corporations rely on public resources such as educated American workers, transportation and other infrastructure and as such should pay their fair share in taxes. Despite this fact, Republicans have continuously reduced their corporate income tax payments from 21% of Federal current tax receipts in 1950 to 14% in 2015. Trump’s new tax plan would, with no changes to deductions or loopholes, balloon the public debt by a further $6.2 trillion. Wall Street has created asset bubbles that destabilized governments and institutions across the globe. Their lobbying prompted the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 that separated Main Street banks from investment banks’ risky and illegal practices, and thwarted regulation on risky derivatives. These actions caused the Great Recession of 2008-09. 8.7 million jobs were lost, and yet too-big-to-fail banks are still so large they could cause another catastrophic financial crisis and recession. Republicans and the Trump Administration have announced their intention to dismantle the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 and its Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that returned $12 billion to workers, savers, and retirees. America continues to spend more in health care costs per person than other developed nations and yet still falls in last in life expectancy. To make matters worse, Republican proposals to Repeal and Replace the Affordable Care Act have devastating impacts on the health millions of Americans, and once again allocated budgetary resources to the Wealthy Elite. Repeal would cost an additional 29,000 lives lost per year. Quality health care is a human right, and yet Republicans continue to treat it as a privilege. Therefore, be it resolved, the Convention:
Reduce wasteful military spending to re-prioritize American Federal tax dollars to focus on: universal health care, public education, environmental protection, American public infrastructure, and the equitable rule of law, as these are public rights and responsibilities.
Ensure that America’s wealthy, and corporations, pay a progressive share of taxes to lower inequality, stimulate economic growth and keep the Public Debt from exploding further. Reduction of deductions and overseas loopholes should be prioritized over spending cuts.
Pass a 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act (S.881, H.R. 790, and Virginia H.J. 642), and ensure the continuation and undiminished funding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to protect the budget and public from further Wall Street excesses.
Pass a single-payer Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act (H.R. 676), to be funded by progressive payroll taxes that are affordable, reduce health care costs per person, and close the health care funding gap.