Keith Ellison calls Dem platform “strongest progressive statement to come from Dem party in years"

[bigtree]

MINNEAPOLIS – Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) released the following statement after the Democratic Platform Drafting Committee completed its work in St. Louis, Missouri, forwarding a draft platform to the full Platform Committee which will meet in Orlando on July 8:

“It was an honor to participate in the Platform Drafting Committee with my fellow appointees. The platform draft is the strongest progressive statement to come from the Democratic Party in years. I hope it can be made even stronger in Orlando. The party is responding to the energy and values expressed clearly in this primary election.

“I am disappointed that my amendment to take a strong stand against the Trans-Pacific Partnership – a position shared by both Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders – was not included. I hope this amendment will be adopted in Orlando.

“The platform does, though, contain many meaningful and historic positions including: calling for urgently needed voting reforms, rejecting the vilification of Muslim-Americans, ending the death penalty, enacting a financial transactions tax to curb excessive speculation, expanding Social Security, banning golden parachutes for taking government jobs, establishing a new surtax on multimillionaires, allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, using government contracts to support good jobs, honoring and strengthening our relationships with Tribal Sovereign Nations, passing a modernized Glass-Steagall law, and moving our economy to 100% clean energy by 2050. These are significant accomplishments that move our party firmly toward justice, fairness, and inclusion.”

[still_one]

1. That is counter to the narrative from some who implied a lot of disharmony that occurred

among those on the platform committee

[bigtree]

5. from this establishment progressive Muslim

....Bernie handpicked for the committee.

[still_one]

9. Yes, and it also imples that ALL parties on that committee worked together

[bigtree]

12. of course they did

...no sense in them pretending they don't know this is the way our democratic system of government works.

No sense in folks continuing to posture like the Clinton camp is some sort of obstacle to progressive change.

[still_one]

15. People have to work together to get things done

[bigtree]

19. yes

Last edited Sun Jun 26, 2016, 12:53 AM - Edit history (1)

...we bring our firm ideals to the political arena and are challenged to reconcile those with the myriad disparate interests and concerns from the many diverse regions of the nation.

[still_one]

21. wow, I don't believe I have heard it expressed so well

[Hortensis]

42. Lol. The TPP statement is actually very encouraging!

It doesn't turn the alliance over to China and does call for substantial improvements of this and past trade agreements, of course reflecting our presumptive nominee's intentions. From Roll Call:

Clinton also opposes the TPP as drafted, despite her previous role as Secretary of State in the Obama administration. The drafting committee agreed that U.S. trade deals should be more protective of workers’ rights, labor rights, the environment and public health.

"The draft reviewed by committee members yesterday included a call to review past trade agreements and update them to reflect these principles," Harris said. "An amendment adopted yesterday further emphasized the fact that many Democrats oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership because 'the agreement does not meet the standards set out in this platform.'"

Neera Tanden, the president of the liberal Center for American Progress and a Clinton supporter on the platform drafting panel, was active Saturday on Twitter calling for Democrats to read the platform before spreading misinformation about details.

- See more at: http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/clinton-campaign-touts-ambitious-progressive-agenda-party-platform#sthash.7DIb4F35.dpuf

[Surya Gayatri]

27. No sense, indeed.

No sense in folks continuing to posture like the Clinton camp is some sort of obstacle to progressive change.

[morningfog]

17. Again, thank you Sen. Sanders

[sheshe2]

7. I read that too.

Hmmmmm~

[elleng]

8. Disharmony may have been resolved to enable Ellison to make this statement,

and it may be the 'most' progressive while surely not being perfect.

[still_one]

10. I think it speaks to the fact the the committee worked together. Bernie made a similar

statement as did John Zogby

[elleng]

16. Yes.

Good news. Not perfect, as we'd expect.

[Surya Gayatri]

28. Some people revel in every rumor of disagreement and dissension under the big Democratic tent.

[morningfog]

2. Thank you Senator Sanders.

[Cooley Hurd]

6. It wouldn't have happened without him

[merrily]

33. +1

[oasis]

3. Great. Full throated Hillary endorsements should be forthcoming soon

from the holdout sector.

[JonLeibowitz]

20. Not from me. Not ever. Endorsements mean I support her political program, which I do not.

One can vote for the nominee without endorsing her or agreeing with her. This is my present plan.

[BootinUp]

4. This just can't be. What alternate universe are we in???!!

Wooohooo.

Thank you Rep. Ellison for your hard work.

[George Eliot]

11. Excellent but Kennedy gave us 10 yrs to get to moon so why 35 to clean energy?

We can do better and getting to clean energy faster would create jobs just like our challenge of getting to the moon created jobs. We could have a mass extinction by that time . . . no, I'm not kidding.

[Socal31]

18. The global oil glut and crash, due to fracking, was the worst thing possible for that cause.

Fossil fuels are plentiful and cheap, which stifles investment in alternative energy sources.

[George Eliot]

26. Thirty years? How serious is that? We could stop fracking next week.

If we were serious. I'm so sorry for us. Look how quickly Merkel told Cameron to clear out. Now that's serious.

[sheshe2]

13. Good to hear.

[Hiraeth]

14. oh my god. aren't we all just the grooviest.

[cosmicone]

22. Even Raul Grijalva and Keith Ellison get "it"

I wonder what is stopping others from getting it .....

[Triana]

23. Bernie Sanders deserves MAJOR credit for this.

His constant fight for major changes on these issues is what garnered him so much support and Democrats - if they are at all wise - will take his proposals - at least some or most of them and adopt them into their platform. I think (hope) they know that at this point they really have to or suffer the loss of more members and the future likelihood of a third-party candidate stealing a whole lot of support from them.

[bigtree]

24. ffs, most of that has been championed by Hillary for years

...and by previous Democratic platforms.

Sanders didn't invent progressiveness in the Democratic party or in this campaign. This platform was a joint effort with the Hillary campaign (and her majority of supporters in this primary) leading the way.

[Surya Gayatri]

29. Thank you for the dose of reality.

[Her Sister]

35. FFS you are so right!

Exactly!

[BlueMTexpat]

36. Absolutely right!

[Triana]

39. If that's true then why is Ellison saying:

“strongest progressive statement to come from Dem party in years"

?

Just hoopla, I'm sure.

I KNOW you hate giving Sanders any credit for anything in this, but it's a FACT that Clinton herself supported and championed TPP and was AGAINST $15/hr min wage. The Dems adopting the $15/hr is largely owing to Sanders, along with a few other items listed.

Choke down the bile against Sanders and deal with it.

[bigtree]

41. Clinton was not 'against' $15 min. wage

...even as she expressed support in the campaign for a bill which had a lower number.

She's also come out strong in this campaign AGAINST the only TPP legislation that exists, so...

[merrily]

34. +1

[DesertRat]

25. k&r

[Surya Gayatri]

30. Excellent and encouraging developments:

These are significant accomplishments that move our party firmly toward justice, fairness, and inclusion.”

Thank you platform committee, every one of you--Clinton appointees, DWS appointees, and Sanders appointees.

[joshcryer]

31. What's sad is that a lot of that was in the platform already.

Things like allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices has been a Democratic Party proposal for well over a decade.

[Eric J in MN]

32. What 'voting reforms'? NT

NT

[workinclasszero]

37. “strongest progressive statement to come from Dem party in years"

So why all the disinformation about all this on DU today?

I think some people were hoping for a different outcome that fits their narrative and didn't get it.

[SidDithers]

38. DU rec...

Sid

[JTFrog]

40. Hillary and Dems are killing it!! K&R!