MAINE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
2000 PLATFORM
AS ACCEPTED AT THE
MAINE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
MAY 5-7, 2000
PREAMBLE
Each of us has a personal and moral responsibility for the future of our democracy. Ours is the oldest political party. At times we have triumphed, at times we have not, and at times we have merely endured. Often, however, we have prevailed because we have embodied the noble principles of democratic government that serve the best interests of the American people.
We, the Democratic Party of the State of Maine, hereby affirm our support for the following basic principles that guide our platform.
1. Ours is a government elected by the people to be an instrument of common purpose, to secure the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all citizens. To secure these rights means to create and enforce laws that guarantee equal protection to all Americans.
2. Equal rights include the rights to equal treatment by the judicial system and equal access to housing, health care, education, and jobs that provide a livable wage.
3. We remain committed to the enactment of legislation that will assure access to affordable, quality health care for all Americans.
4. Each citizen has the obligation to abide by just laws, to contribute to the common good, to respect the human rights of all citizens, and to participate actively in government.
5. We acknowledge the obligation of Americans to protect the global environment and to preserve our natural resources.
6. We must remain committed to the freedom of individuals and groups to hold diverse spiritual and cultural beliefs.
7. We encourage economic development and planning that results in the creation of jobs that offer fair compensation and safe work environments, and that contribute to a productive and profitable economy.
8. We believe that government should support a system of education that provides excellent opportunities for study to all Maine citizens, from the very young to the very old. Such opportunities enrich both our citizens and our society.
9. We affirm that a fair system of taxation should be created and maintained to provide the government with funds commensurate to its democratic obligations.
10. We support a foreign policy that provides for our common defense while promoting the ideals of human rights, cooperation, and fair trade throughout the world.
I. WORKING PEOPLE
The Maine Democratic Party is the party of working people. We believe in the right of all people to receive fair compensation for their labor so that they are able to feed, house, clothe, and nurture themselves and their families adequately; we also believe in the right of all citizens to universal health care. Currently our labor laws, in contrast to those of every other industrial democracy, fail to protect the workers’ right to organize, to protect gains made in the past, and to improve their status in the future. This must change. Our workers’ compensation laws now provide inadequate benefits to injured workers and deny them access even to the limited benefits available. This, too, must change.
The minimum wage should be a living wage. We support increasing and maintaining the federal and state minimum wage above the poverty level. This minimum living wage should be indexed to the CPI.
We support strengthening both the federal and state plant closure, downsizing, and severance pay laws to make parent companies and their successor companies clearly liable for the severance pay of permanently laid off employees, regardless of the size of the work force. In addition, adequate funding should be provided for federal and state job retraining programs so that permanently laid-off workers can acquire marketable job skills.
We support providing Maine workers with paid training to develop skills that will enable them to grow with their jobs; they should be educated to qualify for the high-wage, high-skilled positions that replace lost jobs through export.
We continue to support the Descoteaux Bill of 1911 which mandated weekly payment of wages in the building trades, hotels, restaurants, merchandising, etc.
We support efforts to make the private and public pension systems more responsive to the needs of workers through expanded pension coverage and portable benefits. We advocate restrictions on the use of pension funds for purposes other than those for which they are intended. We believe that state taxation of public employee benefits should match the federal taxation of Social Security benefits.
We support all efforts in the public and private sectors to end employment and pay discrimination based on gender, age, minority group membership, national origin, disability, work injury, religious preference, or sexual orientation. We also support efforts to strengthen Maine’s comparable worth law, to enact such legislation on the federal level, and to redress inequities through affirmative action programs.
We advocate increased penalties for unlawful harassment in the workplace and making employers responsible for educating employees about harassment.
We support the concept of a shortened workweek without cuts in workers’ pay as a means of creating more jobs. These measures would help to reverse the current trend of distributing wealth and income unfairly to an ever smaller and richer sector of the population. Maine Democrats will initiate legislation to change the wage and hour laws in order to put a greater share of income into the pockets of working people.
WORKERS’ RIGHTS
Maine Democrats seek to eliminate inequalities between the rights of workers and the power of employers. Employers must not be allowed to set up parallel companies to avoid their obligations under union contracts. Employees must be allowed to express their will through successful organizing and bargaining. Employers must be prevented from interfering with employees’ rights by unjustly firing, unfairly targeting, or illegally discriminating against their workers. We must strengthen the laws that prohibit professional strike breaking and strike-breaking companies; provide unemployment insurance to locked out workers; prevent employers from engaging in tactics intended to incite violence; and pass legislation outlawing the permanent replacement of striking workers.
We support the President’s Executive Order that disqualifies companies that employ permanent strikebreakers from competing for Federal contracts, and we oppose all efforts to defund enforcement of that Order.
We support the fundamental right of workers to organize into effective unions and oppose so-called “right to work” legislation.
We oppose the proposed federal “TEAM Act” and other attempts to legalize company-dominated unions.
We support legislation to guarantee that workers enjoy the same rights in the workplace as they do in society at large. The private property rights of employers should not continue to take precedence over workers’ freedom of expression and association.
We support labor standards legislation, and enforcement of such legislation at the State and Federal levels, to assure decent wages and fringe benefits for workers in publicly funded projects. We strongly oppose all efforts to eliminate, dilute, or defund the federal Davis-Bacon Act, the Service Contract Act, or to interfere with any similar state legislation.
We support improvements in labor law to permit certification of a union upon the agreement of a majority of bargaining unit employees to join. We also favor expediting the negotiation of first contracts.
We oppose the growth of prison labor, which threatens jobs in both the public and private sectors. We oppose legislation, allowing prisoners to perform construction and maintenance work on military bases. We support banning the import and sale of products made by prison labor. Slavery anywhere is a threat to free labor everywhere.
We oppose efforts to defund or eliminate the National Labor Relations Board and the Department of Labor.
We oppose allowing legal fees spent to resist organizing to be deducted from taxes as a business expense.
We support the right of part-time and temporary employees to receive the same benefits on a pro-rata basis as are offered to full-time employees.
WORKPLACE SAFETY
We support laws and adequate funding that allow workplace heath and safety programs to be established; such laws should sanction inspections of both public and private work sites. We support the right of employees to refuse to perform duties judged by reasonable people to be a threat to health or safety. We also support restoration of the right to sue in the case of employer negligence.
We support the restoration and expansion of OSHA’s enforcement capabilities and funding. We support increased worker and union involvement in designing and implementing workplace safety programs and in monitoring employer compliance.
We advocate state and federal penalties for employers in cases of aggravated assault in the work-place, when injuries result from employers’ intentional or willful disregard of OSHA standards.
We urge the passage and implementation of legislation that guarantees workers’ participation in the development of programs to control and minimize the use of toxins in the workplace.
WORKERS’ HEALTH AND WELFARE
We call for reform of the current state laws on workplace drug testing to provide more adequate protection of employee rights while ensuring public safety and employer interests. Workplace education and employee assistance programs which protect worker’s confidentiality must be implemented. Treatment and rehabilitation, rather than discipline, must be the primary means of addressing substance abuse.
We call for the development of affordable and accessible, high quality day care to meet the needs of working families, and federal legislation to provide standards for and assistance with the establishment of day care centers.
We support a public labor/management directed workers’ compensation insurance system that links workers’ compensation rates for employers to the safety records of those employers, and offers employers financial incentives for meeting safety standards. This system must include the rights of injured workers to be reinstated in a former job or its equivalent, to be retrained for a job with pay equivalent to that of a previous job, or to rehabilitation after injury and restoration of all rights lost as a result of injury. We support the reinstatement of the workers compensation appeals process. Any proposals to reduce heath and disability benefits available to injured workers on the basis of physical disability, preexisting condition, age, or gender should be vigorously opposed as a violation of the principles of the Democratic Party. The level and duration of disability benefits should reflect the losses sustained by the individual worker.
We advocate equal access for injured workers to legal representation when it is necessary to assure that all benefits promised by law are received in a timely manner. When an insurer denies benefits to an employee and those benefits are subsequently obtained through litigation, the costs of legal representation should be borne by the insurer.
We believe that all occupational diseases must be compensated under the Maine Workers Compensation Act.
The Family Leave Act should require continuation of health insurance benefits during leave.
PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
We must modify current laws to provide federal and state workers with expanded organizing and bargaining rights, to provide for the right to binding arbitration on all issues in contract negotiations, and to create meaningful penalties against federal or state managers who engage in unfair labor practices. We must clarify the federal and state right to agency shop/fair share. We must take the necessary steps to assure that state collective bargaining agreements cannot be infringed by either the Governor or the Legislature. Therefore the State of Maine must agree to be bound by decisions of the National Labor Relations Board.
We oppose the contracting out or the privatization of the jobs of public employees, unless contractors performing privatized government services meet or exceed the wage, benefit, and service delivery standards of the public jobs they replace, offer first choice of employment to the public employees so replaced, and accept the obligations of any union contract in effect with the government agency being privatized.
We oppose downsizing schemes that eliminate the jobs of public employees rather than improve the quality and efficiency of government services. Early retirement should not be required.
We support full funding of health insurance for retired school employees and retired state employees. We are opposed to raids on the funds of the Maine State Retirement System. The state must provide full funding and scheduled repayments to the System.
II. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The Maine State Democratic Party defines economic development as the creation of a strong, diverse, elastic economy that responds to changes in demand, resulting in the creation of full-time, high quality jobs with benefits such as health care and childcare.
We will work to build one Maine, from north to south, that excludes neither the rural nor the urban citizen. We will seek to link Maine, east to west, to promote economic growth. From the theater to trade and tourism, the tenets of our policies must be to provide the resources and the people that can promote Maine and market Maine products while protecting the environment in the new millennium. Technology, telecommunications, and transportation must conform to the highest standards and they must rely on a trained work force.
We can have both our culture and strong commerce to make “Maine, the way life should be.” Costs of starting and running businesses are high. We understand. We therefore support banking policies that increase the capitol for small business, the backbone of Maine’s economy; and we support fiscal plans that keep their tax burden as light as possible.
We must invest in the research and development of technology that will allow us to compete in the global marketplace.
We are concerned that the pace of utility deregulation will lead to higher utility costs for most Maine working people, and a rollback in jobs, wages, and benefits for Maine’s utility workers.
We encourage corporations to lead the way in supporting and providing worker education and training. We also support increases in state and federal funding for education and job training.
We urge the continued development and expansion of a state-of-the-art telecommunications and information-processing infrastructure for Maine. Such an infrastructure should provide for public access and protection of the public interest.
We support the construction of a physical infrastructure that includes a sensible widening of the Maine Turnpike and a highway link between northern Aroostook County and Interstate 95. We favor the concept of an East-West highway to promote economic growth. We support legal requirements that provide for the transportation needs of special populations (elderly, disabled, urban, and others), and we support restrictions designed to preserve the natural environment. We endorse the appropriate use of rail, accessible buses, vans, and other multi-modal transportation.
The development and planning of ports should reflect projected commercial needs and should encourage the export of value-added manufactured products as well as potential imports.
We advocate the creation statewide of “growth parks” to channel regional growth into areas of high unemployment and to encourage better land-use planning (integration of growth with education, infrastructure, day care, etc.) and to discourage “sprawl.” We support appropriate tax incentives based on the quality of benefits returned to communities.
We support economic development efforts that preserve and protect the natural resources of Maine, including sustainable industries such as agriculture and aquiculture.
We favor funding increased access to the arts. We believe that art and culture enhance economic development and that we should invest in Maine’s rich artistic resources. We urge continuation of strong public support for public radio and television, libraries, museums, historic preservation organizations, and other civic enterprises. We favor full funding for the “Maine Communities In The New Century” program.
Tourism, because it plays a central economic role in all regions of the state, should be energetically promoted. All major state policy initiatives should require a Tourism Impact Statement (“TIS”).
We encourage economic development that creates good jobs, with fair wages in places that are safe, with employers whose policies guarantee workers’ rights and promote equal opportunity and economic justice.
III. HUMAN POTENTIAL
Maine Democrats believe in the potential of all persons to contribute to society. We believe that all Maine people have the right to basic necessities, including food, shelter, medical care, and a good education. Public services must focus on securing these rights through eliminating poverty and helping people to realize their own potential. Such services must be provided in the least restrictive and most cost-effective manner. Providers should emphasize the abilities as well as the needs of individuals and families.
HEALTH
The Maine Democratic Party believes that good health care is a basic right that must be available to all people.
We favor passage of a “Patients’ Bill of Rights” that includes the rights to choose one’s own doctor, to receive effective coverage by insurance plans, and to seek legal recourse.
We support the reduction of unnecessary health care costs through prevention of service provider fraud as well as service recipient fraud.
We promote making prescription drugs affordable for all Americans.
We support funding research efforts devoted to discovering cures for debilitating diseases and disabilities.
We recognize that mental illness is a treatable medical condition that must be covered by health insurance. Mental health care, both community-based and institutional, is an obligation of our society.
Maine Democrats support initiatives to make a continuum of home and community-based health care options, including high quality hospice care. We do not support any cuts in funding that will severely limit access to home-based care.
We support continued funding for Togus, as evidence of our permanent commitment to our nation’s veterans. This commitment should include outreach programs to assure that veterans are aware of all services available to them, regardless of their current financial status or geographical location.
EDUCATION
Maine Democrats believe that free and life-long access to education is a right. Education is a critical component of democracy and the mainstay of a healthy economy. We will work to secure excellent and equal educational opportunities for all residents, and to maintain full funding of public education. We support the full funding of federal and state mandates, including special education, English as a Second Language (ESL), and gifted and talented programs.
We believe that the civil liberties of students, educators, and school employees must be protected. We oppose the routine fingerprinting of school employees.
We believe that early childhood education is a long-term investment in the future of Maine. We reaffirm our support for a range of programs such as Head Start and Child Development Services that prepare children to learn and to take full advantage of their educational opportunities by providing the essential support services they need.
Maine education policy should promote increased cooperation among local school boards, teachers, parents, students, and state government in their united effort to help children realize their intellectual, emotional, physical, creative, and social potential.
We support state and local efforts to establish academic standards for Maine students, that provide for testing, and that ensure school and teacher accountability.
We believe the state should increase funding for school reconstruction and remodeling, as well as for the construction of new schools. We also support increased funding to bring existing schools into compliance with federal and state accessibility mandates.
We will work to ensure equal educational opportunity through a system of state and local funding according to which the state will fully and fairly fund essential public education services and pay at least 51% of the total cost of public education statewide. We expect full federal funding of federal mandates, including special education and gifted and talented programs. We believe that these programs should assume the role of support services within the context of regular education. Therefore, we encourage the development and use of strategies that allocate special education and gifted and talented funds in such a way that the funding follows the individual student rather than having the student follow the funding.
Maine Democrats are committed to establishing a multi-cultural learning system in the public schools: a system that meets the needs and addresses the educational concerns of all children, that awakens all children to the value of their particular culture to the larger society, and that helps them to adjust to their academic environment with a strong sense of self-esteem.
We support initiatives to encourage Maine students to pursue higher education and then to stay in Maine. We support increased funding for guidance counselors in high schools, and we support state funding for the first year of post-high school education.
We support the State University and Technical College Systems and the accessibility and affordability of a full range of programs. We urge university and technical college administrators to develop a clear policy of admissions to and transferability of credits among various colleges and institutions within the system. We also support increased funding for grants, scholarships, and student loans available to students of all ages.
We will support work to coordinate and link information systems, educational programs, and businesses; efforts to promote effective and ongoing employee education and retraining; initiatives that bolster research and development and that identify appropriate uses of available technologies and of developing technologies for the delivery of education.
We enthusiastically support Maine’s wealth or artistic and cultural treasures and the institutions that preserve them.
We support continued efforts to put the “public” in public television and radio because we believe that democratically controlled media help us see America in all its diversity, serve as forums for public debate, and provide places where voices otherwise unheard in a community may be raised.
THE PURSUIT of HAPPINESS
Maine Democrats reaffirm our belief that government has the responsibility to protect the most vulnerable in our society and to assure that comprehensive and consistent social support services are effectively delivered to both urban and rural areas of our state, independent of changes in political administrations.
We advocate reforms of the welfare system that provide support, including education and training/retraining, affordable child care, child support, family crisis counseling, health care, and transportation access for persons moving toward self-sufficiency.
Families are an economic entity. We believe that gay and lesbian citizens, although prevented by law from marrying their partners, should be entitled to the same rights and benefits as are extended to married people.
Maine Democrats support a strong Social Security system. We oppose any proposals that would weaken the long-term commitments of the system. We support a similar commitment to other Federal retirement systems, and to the Maine Retirement System.
Maine Democrats will work to ensure that all persons have access to safe and affordable housing. We will press for coordination of those agencies responsible for housing, health, education, and human services in Maine to confront homelessness, with special emphasis on the needs of children.
Maine Democrats will advocate for policies that acknowledge the dignity and value of all persons. We support the concepts of equal access and reasonable accommodation, which allow the full participation of people, regardless of age or presence of a disability, in all facets of community life.
We will support efforts to assure safe and violence-free environments for all people, both within the home and outside of the home, and we strongly support the rights of victims. We encourage the continuation and expansion of programs that reduce domestic violence, including child abuse and neglect, with careful monitoring to assure that instances of reported abuse and neglect have been substantiated prior to action. We also encourage the development of programs, including peer mediation, that decrease violence within the schools.
Maine Democrats believe that the test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have too much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. Therefore, we remain committed to a war on poverty.
IV. HUMAN RIGHTS, JUSTICE, GOVERNMENT AND TAXES
The Maine Democratic Party declares and affirms its responsibility to promote the full participation of all persons in the full range of the human endeavor. We respect the privacy of all people, and oppose any discrimination against any individual. We encourage the promotion of economic and educational opportunities for all people, and we are particularly concerned by the degree of discrimination that still exists in both the public and private sectors.
HUMAN RIGHTS
We have traditionally stood for the rights of individuals, according equal respect and rights for all. Towards that end we hold that government must guarantee basic human rights to all people.
Maine Democrats support the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision and freedom of choice. We support a woman’s right to choice in matters of reproduction and advocate the provision of information and health care services so that responsible choices can be made, regardless of ability to pay.
We have long supported legislation to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in the areas of employment, housing, credit, and public accommodation. We will continue to strongly advocate passage of this essential legislation and we remain committed to equal rights, without restriction, exclusion or limitation, regardless of sexual orientation.
We support full accessibility of employment, education, and health care for people with disabilities. People with disabilities represent a largely untapped potential for positive impact on society.
We are concerned with the protection of individuals’ privacy, including misuse of their Social Security Numbers as identification, and urge governmental protection of that right to privacy.
Maine Democrats believe in the promotion of human rights throughout the world and denounce criminal acts committed by governments, including those committed against citizens of their own countries.
JUSTICE
Maine Democrats support vigorous efforts to reduce crime in Maine and to maintain our sense of dignity, safety, and community. It is through laws that people of a society regulate their relations with one another. What laws are legislated and enforced give clues to the actual priorities of that society. Adherence to these laws is sought in the name of justice and the public good.
We commend our courts and our law officers in their efforts to secure enforcement of the law. A commitment to the enforcement of law implies also a commitment to review and revise the law continually, to the end that the enforcement of the law and the provision of justice shall be synonymous.
We believe that a special emphasis must be placed on community policing. In policing our communities, law enforcement agencies must respect the individual privacy and safety of all citizens.
We recognize that guns play an important role in Maine’s hunting culture. Therefore, we favor responsible gun ownership, gun safety and education programs, and handgun registration, with an emphasis on enforcement of existing laws.
We favor establishment of a commission to study Maine gun laws.
We propose a preventive strategy that attacks the underlying causes of crime; a strategy that includes education, job training, gun safety and law enforcement. We support well-planned, well-organized, well-supervised youth programs to provide young people with a safe and healthy alternative to crime. We support rehabilitation services, including substance abuse treatment, job training and education, in prisons, correctional centers, and youth centers. We also support follow-up services. We support research and implementation of alternative sentencing for non-violent offenders.
Maine Democrats support expanded law enforcement efforts and speedy trials for all crimes of domestic abuse.
We support the creation of a Maine Public Defender’s Office for criminal trials, and increased funding of legal services for civil actions involving those in financial need.
Maine Democrats believe in personal and corporate responsibility. We applaud our citizen jury system that has led to safer products, safer working conditions, and justice for injured consumers. We support legislation that increases corporate liability for threats to the public welfare.
We oppose the death penalty.
GOVERNMENT
Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change in circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require the man wear the coat still which fitted him when he was a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.
— Thomas Jefferson, 1816
Since Jefferson and Jackson, the Democratic Party has led the struggle to increase the democratic elements of our system of government. This struggle is not over; what we have gained we must both protect and expand in the belief that the best repository of wisdom lies in the hands of an informed and educated electorate.
We support campaign finance reform to limit the influence of special interests and to equalize the influence of all people. We propose promoting the democratic process through such means as: spending limits for candidates; public funding of campaigns; limitations on the funds received by individual politicians from political action committees; and reducing the costs of television, radio, and postage for campaigns. Specifically we support efforts by Maine’s two Democratic Congressmen in favor of campaign finance reform. “The influence of money is corroding our political process. Political money dominates campaigns. It dictates strategy. And, in the end, it distorts public policy.” — US Rep. Tom Allen.
We support full disclosure of activity by lobbyists and consultants, both on the state and federal levels.
We oppose legislative term limits.
We support an increased role for political parties in the nomination process by allowing party caucuses, conventions and assemblies to place candidates on the primary ballot.
We support changes in the election laws that will remove the potential problem of candidates being elected to office with less than a majority of the votes cast. As a first step in this direction we advocate run-off elections for the Gubernatorial race.
We support the creation of a State Ombudsman’s Office, created with an appropriate level of funding and full investigatory powers to ensure effectiveness, that would take citizen complaints, investigate them and recommend appropriate action.
We support the creation of community centers and encourage the use of planning concepts that enhance community.
We support statehood for the District of Columbia.
We support self-determination for Puerto Rico.
TAXES
Taxes are the fuel that runs government. In a democratic government, however, it is important not just that taxes be collected, but that they be collected fairly and spent wisely.
We support any reform of the State or Federal tax system that increases their progressive elements. In simple terms, taxes should be based on a person’s income and ability to pay.
We support a full review of all tax exemptions.
We support an increase in the Real Estate Tax Homestead exemption to $10,000.
V. THE ENVIRONMENT
Democrats believe that good jobs and a healthy economy require clean air and water and the wise use of land. If we misuse our waters, pollute our air, and foul our land, we destroy our future. One of Maine’s greatest assets is the quality of our environment. Clean waters, healthy air, sustainable forests and sound patterns of growth are critical to the economic well being of Maine.
Democrats know that tourism, recreation, agriculture, commercial fishing, and forestry require renewable resources. Wise promotion of Maine’s quality of life offers the greatest opportunity for attracting the quality businesses and industries needed to assure economic prosperity for Maine people.
Democrats recognize that preventing pollution is far cheaper than cleaning it up. We, therefore, will insist that all potential sources of pollution install adequate safeguard facilities and current polluters must install adequate treatment facilities.
WATER RESOURCES
Democrats believe the people of the State of Maine have the right to clean and safe drinking water. The people of Maine and visitors to our State have the right to enjoy the beauty and recreational opportunities clean waters provide. The health of the tourism industry and the jobs it provides are directly linked to clean waters.
Democrats support efforts, both State and Federal, to reduce airborne mercury pollution, which has caused a fish consumption advisory for all of Maine’s fresh waters. Point sources of pollution should be vigorously remedied. Cleaning up non-point sources such as run-off from streets, parking lots, logging and farms will need to take place over many years and rely on continuous State support. Democrats pledge support efforts to clean up endangered and polluted lakes.
Democrats support monitoring of coastal waters to identify levels of dioxin, mercury and PCBs as the basis for plans to eliminate them. Aquiculture, which is consistent with the requirement for clean waters, should be supported for the jobs it provides.
AIR RESOURCES
Democrats support efforts to make and keep our air clean. We believe Maine should reduce Maine-generated emissions that contribute to ozone pollution as a first step in having Maine meet the current Federal ozone standards. We urge strict and impartial enforcement of State and federal air quality laws to ensure that all regions of the country and all producers of air pollution are treated equally.
Democrats urge stronger actions by the Federal Government to prevent air pollution from traveling to Maine. We encourage State Government to explore opportunities to reduce our reliance on automobiles, and to stem the increase in vehicular miles traveled, because we realize that automobiles are a significant source of air pollution. We encourage the development and testing of alternative fuel vehicles in Maine. We encourage our legislature and governor to implement legislation requiring manufacturers of pickup trucks and vans to not only meet the same emission standards as passenger cars, but to also meet maximum fuel per mile standards. We encourage our legislature to aggressively pursue pollution standards for heavy-duty highway trucks that are currently set forth by the EPA and the California Resources Board.
LAND RESOURCES
Democrats believe that wise land use laws help avoid expensive, urban sprawl, which wastes land and destroys the economic base of our communities. We know that good land planning is a process not an event. Municipal and regional planning must be a continuing process that allows cities and towns to meet ever changing needs and conditions. We support incentives for cities and towns to adopt and update comprehensive plans continually.
Democrats support ongoing efforts to end the monopoly of Maine electric utilities but we believe the legislature must safeguard the rights of consumers in the wake of deregulation efforts and the closing of Maine Yankee. Therefore we call for public education to address the possible or probable consequences inherent in the deregulation of electric power.
Democrats recognize that the world contains a finite amount of fossil fuels. Eventually, the world must rely on sustainable energy sources. We urge public education programs that explain the importance of conservation and the value of solar energy. Energy use can be reduced by installing efficient heaters and boilers and through proper insulation and air infiltration control.
Democrats support research efforts into safe recycling or disposing of all wastes. We also support enforcement of environmental regulations and stiff penalties for those who illegally dump waste.
Democrats urge a national returnable container law. We support educational efforts and seek incentives for towns and cities to increase recycling. We urge greater efforts to develop markets for recycled products, especially those manufactured by Maine businesses. We support increased research into substitutes for materials that cannot be recycled.
Maine Democrats oppose any policies which tend to depress agricultural commodities prices to levels below the cost of production. We support policies that aid farmers in managing production to maintain fair prices. We support the labeling of genetically modified foodstuffs. Successful farming and its working landscape are fundamental to Maine’s notion of itself. We regard Maine’s productive topsoil and the people who work it as invaluable; we resolutely oppose either’s reduction.
Potatoes grown outside the State of Maine must not be mislabeled “Grown in Maine.”
Forests must be managed and harvested in ways that protect jobs, wildlife, wetlands and biodiversity.
Democrats will work to ensure that Maine’s public lands are managed to high multiple use standards. Exemplary management is needed to maximize the production of quality wood products for Maine industry, to optimize public outdoor recreation opportunities, and to provide a bench-mark to judge private forest management. Funds generated by harvesting on public lands should be dedicated to the management of the forest and to the development of trails, campsites, and other recreational uses of public lands.
Healthy forests create jobs in the tourism industry. Democrats applaud progress, and urge continuous effort, to maintain the forest’s viability to support logging, paper and saw mills and other wood-based industries. The forests should be managed for the long-term, economic health of the forest products industry.
Jobs for Maine’s people in Maine’s forest should be a primary goal of state policy. The jobs of Maine workers cannot be based on the interests of remote, international companies. Maine must protect jobs in the forest.
Democrats applaud the Maine forest industry for continuing its traditional policies of allowing broad public use of its lands for hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, sightseeing and other recreational uses.
Democrats also believe that Maine’s public land holdings need to be expanded to ensure and protect unique parcels for future generations. We endorse proposals to add at least ten percent more land to the State’s holdings within the next five years. We urge that public land holdings be doubled in the first two decades of the new millennium.
VI. WORLD RELATIONS
The Maine Democratic Party believes that the primary objective of United States foreign policy must always be the security of our people. Our security depends on a strong national defense establishment, on dependable alliances, and increasingly on a stable world community that is working toward freedom, justice, human rights, democracy, and the preservation of our mutual environment.
Our armed forces must have up-to-date equipment, training, and support, and they must be able to counter any direct threat to the United States. At the same time, we must eliminate profligate spending on weapons systems.
Maine Democrats believe that the best hope of avoiding war is through cooperation among nations. To this end we and our NATO and other partners must work through the United Nations to end aggression and genocide, using diplomatic and economic means whenever possible.
The United Nations is the essential vehicle for achieving a stable world system. Maine Democrats will urge the United States to support reforming the UN to reflect the changes in the world since the Charter was written in 1945 and to improve the UN’s ability to actively carry out the collective will of the community of nations. Steps must be taken to increase the UN’s ability to act more quickly when crises occur, so as to prevent massive loss of life or displacement of vulnerable populations.
The United States, as the world’s most powerful nation, must not shrink from participating in legitimate peace-keeping missions, recognizing that, while some casualties may result, failure to assume our share of the international burden could produce far more casualties – military and civilian – later on.
We will insist that the United States pay its agreed-upon share of the operating expenses of those international organizations to which it belongs.
We will actively press for the US to ratify and conscientiously abide by the United Nations conventions on human rights to which our government is a signatory.
For Americans to be truly safe today, we must deal forthrightly with non-military threats, such as poverty on a global scale, an ever expanding world population, recurrent famine in various countries, and the rapidly deteriorating ecology of our planet.
We will advocate that the US work with other nations to halt massive deforestation, extinction of endangered species, depletion of natural resources and food supplies, and practices that tend to thin the ozone layer, contribute to global warming, or cause acid rain. We must not allow the export or import of environmentally damaging products or dangerous consumer items. We will actively oppose the import of goods produced by processes more damaging to the environment or human health than domestic standards would allow.
We urge cooperation with other nations toward stabilization of the world’s population, consistent with human rights standards.
We will continue to support the work of international organizations which address the spread of AIDS and other devastating diseases.
We will continue to support efforts to achieve a worldwide ban on nuclear weapons testing.
We will support a worldwide ban with zero tolerance on all nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and land mines and on facilities for their production.
We will oppose US sales of arms which are likely to be used in aggression or for the repression of defenseless citizens.
We regard the spread of democracy and commitment to human rights as essential ingredients of a stable world. As leaders in this movement, we must scrupulously oppose any attempts to undermine or overthrow the legitimate governments of other countries. The human rights records of countries which receive American aid should be considered an important factor in determining the continuation or level of that aid.
We believe the use of embargoes is rarely effective as a foreign policy tool and is one that runs the risk of causing more harm to the ordinary citizens who are the victims of dictators than to the dictatorial governments themselves. The withholding of medicine and food should never be used as a weapon. Where sanctions have proven ineffective or destructive, we call for them to be lifted.
We believe the following principles must apply worldwide: 1. To support and assist nations and peoples who are striving to establish democratic futures for themselves; 2. To support and assist nations and peoples who are striving to negotiate solutions to long-standing regional disputes or to overcome internal divisions among their various ethnic or other groups; 3. To seek improvement in human rights and to ensure that no goods produced by political prison inmates or other forced labor reach US markets; 4. To support the rights and well being of minorities and indigenous peoples everywhere and to cooperate with the appropriate international agencies to oppose ethnic persecution and genocide; 5. To accept legitimate political refugees without regard to race, nationality, disability, or ideology, and never to force such refugees to return to areas where they could be in danger.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
In negotiating international trade agreements, the United States government must always work for the protection of human rights, the rights and economic well being of workers and consumers, and the global environment.
Maine Democrats support the concept of a world trade organization to ensure fair commercial dealings among nations and the opportunity for all to participate. The United States must insist, however, that the World Trade Organization (WTO), in its regulations and decision-making, focus primarily on the rights and welfare of working people and consumers, rather than on profits for multi-national corporations, their officers, or their stockholders, and that human rights and the environment always be protected. In particular, the WTO must ban child labor, slave labor, and discrimination and must protect the rights of workers to form or join unions.
In carrying out its work, the World Trade Organization must be open to the public and the press. Advocates for human rights, labor, consumers, and the environment must be party to the proceedings.
The WTO must not be given the power to override provisions of international treaties that deal with human rights, labor rights, or the environment. The parties must agree that they will submit all WTO challenges to the provisions of such treaties to the World Court, and that they will accept the Court’s findings in such cases. Similarly, the WTO must not have the authority to override national, state, or local laws or regulations that are designed to protect the public health or environment within their territory. Any jurisdictional dispute must be decided by the World Court. Penalties for failure to abide by fair trade principles should be commensurate with the magnitude of the offense, with special consideration given to the effect of unfair trading practices upon United States and other workers.
Nations which enjoy free access to the US market must give the US equal access to their markets.
All international trade agreements must be regularly reviewed and renegotiated to assure that they include the highest standards of human rights, labor rights, environmental protection, and democratic participation.
CONCLUSION
We expect Democratic candidates and officials to support and work to implement our platform so it may become the law of the land. We favor strengthening the role of the state party convention.
As Americans we have the responsibility to participate in the life of our state, our nation, our world. We can vote, we can volunteer, we can give something back. We can serve with a variety of state and local public or private groups. We can join the Peace Corps or we can opt for National Service. We can choose pragmatism over cynicism. We can even choose idealism, and we can practice openness, integrity and independence. We can make a difference!
As Robert F. Kennedy said, “Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and to make gentle the life of this world.”
Source: Copy provided by Carl E. Pease, Windsor, 2008.