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This year has seen one of the most contentious election seasons in history; the journey to the White House has been littered with heated debates, low blows, scandals, and some epic Twitter rants. Last week's Republican National Convention brought chaos as delegates walked out to protest Donald Trump as the party's nominee. And if you thought the Democratic National Convention would be less of a circus—think again. The first night was full of Bernie-or-bust protesters shouting down every speaker except for First Lady Michelle Obama.
As divided as the Democratic Party might seem, its leaders are united with this year's official platform. In his endorsement of presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders called it "the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party."
Here are some of today's most pressing issues in the U.S., and how the Democratic Party hopes to address them:
Raising the minimum wage
One popular topic this election season is raising the minimum wage, which in July 2015 was mandated at $7.25/hr. The Democratic platform concludes that “the current minimum wage is a starvation wage and must be increased to a living wage” and praises New York and California for implementing a $15 minimum wage.
We should raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour 4 over time and index it, give all Americans the ability to join a union regardless of where they work, and create new ways for workers to have power in the economy so every worker can earn at least $15 an hour.
The Fight for $15 was a main tenet of Bernie Sanders’ campaign, and Hillary Clinton formerly advocated for raising the wage to $13/hr. Some believe that with Sanders’ concession, Clinton was pushed further left on this issue.
Creating jobs for young Americans
The platform attempts to address youth unemployment, citing that “roughly one in ten Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 is unemployed, more than twice the national average.” It also added that unemployment rates are especially high for African American, Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and American Indian teenagers, as well as youth with disabilities. The Democratic Party promises “direct federal funding for a range of local programs that will put young people to work and create new career opportunities.”
Reining in Wall Street
“To restore economic fairness, Democrats will fight against the greed and recklessness of Wall Street,” the platform promises. Echoing some of the most common arguments of the Sanders campaign, Democrats “believe that no bank can be too big to fail and no executive too powerful to jail” and seeks to commit more resources to prosecute wrongdoing. To build a financial system and economy that “works for all Americans, not just a handful of billionaires,” the Democrats promise to no longer appoint officials beholden to “institutions they regulate” and crack down on corruption. This includes limiting conflicts of interest, banning golden parachutes for government jobs, and ending the “revolving door between the private sector—particularly Wall Street—and the federal government.”
Ending systemic racism
The democratic platform stands firmly in the fight against systemic racism. The party stated that it “support[s] removing the Confederate battle flag from public properties, recognizing that it is a symbol of our nation's racist past that has no place in our present or our future,” as a concrete example of its “push for a societal transformation to make it clear that black lives matter and that there is no place for racism in our country.” The party makes an effort to address the many faces of systemic racism, releasing statements on the racial wealth gap, reforming the criminal justice system, honoring Indigenous Tribal Nations, and guaranteeing Civil Rights.
Ending police brutality
The party platform speaks strongly and plainly on the issue of police brutality, promising to “end racial profiling that targets individuals solely on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin, which is un-American and counterproductive.”The platform urges for improved police-community relations to instate the “trust and confidence” necessary between officers and the communities they serve. The platform expressed that the party will “work with police chiefs to invest in training for officers on issues such as de-escalation and the creation of national guidelines for the appropriate use of force.” Recognizing the need for increased accountability, the party urges for nationwide implementation of body cameras and the end of militarized police forces.
The party also plans to improve accountability through data collection, stating, “We should report national data on policing strategies and provide greater transparency and accountability.” It necessitates that the U.S. Department of Justice should investigate all “suspicious police-involved shootings,” while stating that it will “support states and localities who help make those investigations and prosecutions more transparent, including through reforming the grand jury process.”
Immigration system reform
The platform emphasizes that the U.S. was founded as a country of immigrants and makes a point to highlight Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric as dangerous. The Democratic Party says it “supports legal immigration, within reasonable limits,” but acknowledges that the current immigration system is broken, citing more than 11 million undocumented people in the U.S., backlogs that result in separated families, and a discriminatory quota system that especially harms immigrants of color.
Specific proposals include working with Congress to end forced expulsion for those trying to adjust their status, and incorporating undocumented immigrants already living in the U.S. completely into our society.
We believe immigration enforcement must be humane and consistent with our values. We should prioritize those who pose a threat to the safety of our communities, not hardworking families who are contributing to their communities. We will end raids and roundups of children and families, which unnecessarily sow fear in immigrant communities.
The Party also promises to work to ensure that Americans—documented or otherwise—have access to quality health care, and advocates for humane alternatives for people who pose no public threat.
We reject attempts to impose a religious test to bar immigrants or refugees from entering the United States. It is un-American and runs counter to the founding principles of this country. Finally, Democrats will not stand for the divisive and derogatory language of Donald Trump. His offensive comments about immigrants and other communities have no place in our society. This kind of rhetoric must be rejected.
Guaranteeing civil rights
“Democrats will always fight to end discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, language, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability,” states the Democratic Party platform. Through the platform, they address the need “to promote civility and speak out against bigotry and other forms of intolerance that have entered our political discourse,” in reference to the Donald Trump campaign and the right-wing’s bigoted rhetoric.
Addressing the lack of freedom of expression critiques from its opponents, the Democratic Party argues that “while freedom of expression is a fundamental constitutional principle, we must condemn hate speech that creates a fertile climate for violence.” The party attacks Republican nominee Donald Trump for his “demonization of prisoners of war, women, Muslims, Mexicans, and people with disabilities; his playing coy with white supremacists; and the climate of bigotry he is creating.”
Debt-free college and student loan debt
“Democrats are united in their strong belief that every student should be able to go to college debt-free,” the Party says, though doesn’t offer many specifics about how to attain this goal. The platform seeks to make community college free, but doesn’t mention private institutions. With no easy fix, these goals will take both state and federal investment in students and teachers.
Promising not to forget those saddled with unsustainable debt, the Democratic Party suggests that it “will allow those who currently have student debt to refinance their loans at the lowest rates possible.” The Democrats solidify that they prioritize students over profit, stating, “because we believe that making college more affordable is more important than the federal government making billions of dollars in profit off those loans.”
Supporting HBCUs and minority-serving institutions
The Party also seeks to ensure “the strength of our Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions” and promises to push more schools to “take quantifiable, affirmative steps in increasing the percentages of racial and ethnic minority, low-income, and first-generation students they enroll and graduate.”
We will create a robust and historic dedicated fund to keep costs down, provide quality education, and ensure dedicated support to improve student outcomes and completion rates. We will provide further assistance to students at these schools, as well as other students across the country, by restoring year-round Pell funding so that low- and middle-income students from all backgrounds can get the support they need to make progress toward a college degree throughout the year.
Securing universal health care
The DNC is intent on continuing the work of the Affordable Care Act, passed by the Obama administration, sticking to the belief that “health-care is a right, not a privilege.” The party plans to advance and improve upon the act by empowering states to “use innovation waivers under the ACA to develop unique locally tailored approaches to health coverage.” The platform addresses the Congressional fight against Republicans “to privatize, voucherize, or ‘phase out’ Medicare as we know it.” Acknowledging the nineteen states that have not expanded Medicaid, the party intends to “keep fighting until the ACA’s Medicaid expansion has been adopted in every state” to reach the millions of Americans who still lack health insurance.
The DNC wants to advance the work of the Obama administration by breaking down walls that still exist for low-income and immigrant families when it comes to healthcare. As with many of their platforms, the DNC’s healthcare program focuses heavily on accessibility that reaches beyond social borders.
Securing reproductive rights
The DNC states consistently that “every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion—regardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured.” The party says that reproductive health is necessary “to women’s, men’s, and young people’s health and wellbeing” and advocates for public services during and after pregnancy “including adoption and social support services, as well as protections for women against pregnancy discrimination.”
The party pledges to fight Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, and to oppose and overturn laws and policies that “impede a woman’s access to abortion.” The party also made sure to outright condemn the violence, harassment, and intimidation tactics used against reproductive health providers, patients, and staff that has occurred in the country since Roe V. Wade.
Ending violence against women
“Democrats are committed to ending the scourge of violence against women wherever it occurs —whether in our homes, streets, schools, military, or elsewhere,” states the Democratic Party platform. The party pledges to continue to support the Violence Against Women Act while expanding on “comprehensive services for survivors of violence and increase prevention efforts in our communities and on our campuses.”
In light of the national discussion about sexual assault on college campuses, the party states that it will “ensure a fair process for all on-campus disciplinary proceedings and in the criminal justice system” while increasing “sexual violence prevention education programs that cover issues like consent and bystander intervention, not only in college, but also in secondary school.” The party stands by these policies to convey “that everyone deserves a safe environment where they can learn and thrive, not live in fear.”
Preventing gun violence
The Centers for Disease Control’s sobering statistics on firearm-related deaths—33,000 Americans die yearly due to gun violence—puts America’s gun issue into perspective. The Democratic Party urges for more studies on gun violence, stating “There is insufficient research on effective gun prevention policies, which is why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must have the resources it needs to study gun violence as a public health issue.”
Taking a stance when it comes to law enforcement, the party platform expresses:
We will fight back against attempts to make it harder for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to revoke federal licenses from law breaking gun dealers, and ensure guns do not fall into the hands of terrorists, intimate partner abusers, other violent criminals, and those with severe mental health issues.
The party also voiced concerns with current laws and loopholes that allow individuals and companies to evade responsibilities when it comes to firearm misuse. The DNC also wants to build on laws such as the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which mandates federal background checks on firearm purchases in the US. “We can respect the rights of responsible gun owners while keeping our communities safe[...] to build on the success of the lifesaving Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.”