A third choice in the democratic presidential primary

Former Alaska senator Mike Gravel (www.gravel2008.us) is the most progressive choice in the Democratic presidential primary.  He is now also running for the Libertarian nomination, and I think he was in the State over the weekend to speak to the NC Libertarians, but the NC Democratic Party cannot remove Gravel from their ballot, so he is still a choice on May 6^th.

 

According to his website, Gravel was a major Vietnam War opponent and is a veteran.  The website also mentions that he was an opponent of the Iraq War in 2002, affirming that the intelligence showed that Iraq did not have banned weapons and was not a threat to the USA, and that an invasion would be against US interests and "a disaster of epic proportions" for the American and Iraqi peoples.  Now that Iraq has been occupied, Gravel is for "an immediate and orderly withdrawal of all U.S. troops," within 120 days, along with "aggressive diplomacy" and a "U.S. corporate withdrawal," in favor of Iraqi business.  He is also in favor of diplomacy with Iran and Syria instead of aggression. 

 

He would fully fund veteran programs, and funding for veteran healthcare would be rise with medical costs.  All veterans would be given a full exam to determine their needs. 

 

Unlike our current leaders, Gravel is against the Military Commissions Act, violation of the Geneva conventions, such as torture, Bush-Chaney's use of Guantanamo, indefinite detention, and depriving people of lawyers or timely trials.  

 

Gravel is for controlling our border and immigration, but as part of the solution he supports a guest worker program and a naturalization process, and he recognizes that "Any discussion of immigration must include NAFTA and the concept of "free trade," which is hurting the working class here and in Mexico. 

 

He considers climate change "a matter of national security and the survivability of the planet" and is for taxing and capping carbon emissions (though a carbon tax would seem to contradict his proposed tax policy).  He recognizes that fighting climate change will require an international effort, and the US can be a leader in this.  His website says deforestation is the second major source of greenhouse gases after energy production, and he would focus on this also. 

 

The campaign website says the "War on Drugs" is "a failure," and that drug use is a public health problem, and should be addressed by increasing rehabilitation and prevention programs.  Gravel is for decriminalizing "minor drug offenses" and he notes the huge prison population in the US, at least partly due to our drug laws 

 

His solution to the health care crisis is universal free healthcare, unlike the other Democrats still in the race.  Gravel is pro-choice and against government interference in that decision, and is for sex education and family planning and health programs to decrease the need for abortions.   

 

Gravel is supports the rights of GLBT people, being for their right to marry and "expanding hate crime legislation." He "strongly opposes" the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy of the military, considering it unconstitutional. 

 

On social security, Gravel wants it to be funded, and not with "borrowed money."  He is for letting people know how much they will be entitled to when they retire, though he also talks about inheritance of social security surpluses. 

 

Gravel seems to support the No Child Left Behind Act, but says that "it needs to be reformed and adequately funded" and "needs to acknowledge the need for a fuller curriculum that encourages critical thinking."  Gravel calls a high school diploma the "minimum goal for all students."  He is for expanding "parent education and access to preschool programs such as Head Start" and "universal pre-kindergarten." He calls for adding "flexibility" in education, which could include extended school days or years, summer programs, online or televised courses, vocational classes, smaller class sizes, enrichment for at-risk students, or charter schools. 

 

Net neutrality is another issue Gravel mentions, and he is for "a free and open Internet with unlimited access to all sites."  This is necessary because there has been a capitalist push in recent years to treat different users and sites unequally.

 

Two more controversial issues I left for last. 

 

First there is the National Initiative for Democracy (www.nationalinitiative.us), which would allow citizens to make national ballot initiatives and change the Constitution.  It is good that Gravel is for giving the people power and recognizing that the Constitution is not perfect, but I have doubts about the process and it is unlikely that it would be allowed by the government, if I understand the proposals.  Implementing this proposal is seen as a possible a step to the next, on taxes.   

 

Gravel also focuses on taxes, proposing a so-called "Progressive Fair Tax."  This would replace all taxes, creating a national sales tax that would be set at a rate high enough to bring in the same amount of money as current taxes (thus the confusion on creating a carbon tax).  A monthly "prebate" would pay everyone back for essential purchases.  Supposedly a tax system has to be transparent, universal, and simple to be fair, because otherwise the rich and special interests will fix it for themselves.  This is really a reactionary tax code for numerous reasons.  An income tax that is higher for those with more money is progressive because capitalists get their profits from exploitation of their workers, regardless of whether they treat them well otherwise or are charitable, and large differences in wealth subvert democratic government.  If this is ignored, it does look fair to tax people on what they spend.  Because purchases will be taxed instead of income, those with more money will pay proportionally less than the less well off and dividends would not be taxed, so it is easy to see why capitalists would like this idea.  Gravel argues that the sales tax will help our foreign trade, but it seems to me that it could discourage the purchase of US products.  There are some detailed arguments against the national sales tax in the comments on Gravel's site, though most that I have read are in support.  Gravel also supports abolishing the IRS. 

 

If Gravel were able to win the presidency, that does not mean he would be able to implement a "fair tax," while voting for him is a vote for more progressive policies than those proposed by Clinton and Obama on other issues, or at least it is a vote for none of the above.  This is not to say that economic libertarianism is progressive or that Gravel serves working class interests, but he is a populist and generally progressive.