PLATFORM

The two most important issues are the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the collapse of the economy.

THE WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

Statistics as of August 2008*:

Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation Of Iraq "1,252,595"

Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In U.S. War And Occupation Of Iraq 4,144

Cost of U.S. War and Occupation of Iraq: $546,728,806,669 (that’s $ 546 TRILLION...)

Consider the costs...
* $4,681 per household.
* $1,721 per person.
* $341.4 million per day
*http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/

IRAQ WAR COSTS FOR 13TH DISTRICT*:

Taxpayers in Congressional District 13 will pay $799.2 million for total Iraq war spending approved to date.

For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:

300,479 People with Health Care for One Year OR
1,123,179 Homes with Renewable Electricity for One Year OR
16,584 Public Safety Officers for One year OR
14,464 Music and Arts Teachers for One Year OR
82,184 Scholarships for University Students for One Year OR
6,442 Affordable Housing Units OR
597,574 Children with Health Care for One Year OR
120,810 Head Start Places for Children for One Year OR
11,290 Elementary School Teachers for One Year OR
11,656 Port Container Inspectors for One year

*(SOURCE National Priorities Project)

In 2006 the voters elected a majority of Democrats in the House and Senate in the hope that the war in Iraq would be ended. But both parties continue to support this war despite polls showing most Americans oppose it. The Democratic party is a major disappointment; they not only continue to fund the war, but they have steadfastly refused to entertain impeachment proceedings against a president that lied to the American public and manipulated information that was the basis of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. This has resulted in the deaths of over 4,000 American troops and the expenditure of $180 billion a year, money that should be used to restore the social safety net for Americans.

This is a substantial drain on the federal budget and is destructive to the economic well being of the country. This money could have gone to productive uses that would have benefitted people and made the economy stronger. (http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/11/7603/)

• I am in favor of immediate pullout from both Iraq and Afghanistan. Funding should be appropriated only to fully fund the safe and orderly withdrawal of our troops from Iraq and to provide the care they need when they get home.

THE ECONOMY

In 1992, third party presidential candidate, Ross Perot, said that if the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were enacted we would hear a "giant sucking sound" as jobs left the United States. He lost the election to Democrat, Bill Clinton who supported NAFTA.

In the 2008 presidential race the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama said, "One million jobs have been lost because of NAFTA, including nearly 50,000 jobs here in Ohio. ....Well, I don't think NAFTA has been good for America -- and I never have." Despite this he said he would not try to repeal NAFTA. (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=4336481)

• I am in favor of immediately repealing NAFTA.
  

But the US economy is shedding jobs at a rapid pace that goes beyond NAFTA. The rising U.S. trade deficit has cost more than 3 million actual and potential U.S. jobs since 1994 according to the AFL-CIO. This deficit was caused in part by borrowing enormous amounts of money to pay for the war and at the same time, cutting taxes for the wealthy.

Trickle down economics was discredited under the Reagan administration. Giving rich people more money does not create jobs. From 1992 to 2000, when rich people paid more taxes, the private sector added 15.8 million jobs and family income rose by 15.3 percent. By contrast, in the last seven years and six months, when rich people paid less taxes, the private sector has added just 3.5 million jobs and family income fell by 1.6 percent, and we are losing jobs at the rate of almost 100,000 a month. (http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/histinc/f06ar.html; http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/19/11078/)

• I am in favor of immediate restoration of a graduated income tax – tax the rich, eliminate taxes for the poor.

HOME FORECLOSURES AND JOBS

My block club recently did a survey and found that about a third of all the houses on my street were vacant. Many of those houses are now being vandalized and burned. The remaining occupied houses are losing market value. This results in a shrinking equity for homeowners. Every day more people are finding that they owe more money on the mortgage than the house is worth. Many stop paying and just walk away from their homes leaving them to the banks and the vandals. Thus a vicious circle is created where people leave, housing values go down and more people leave.

At a minimum, we have to find a way to keep people in their homes, keep neighborhoods intact and provide housing for an increasing number of displaced people. Recently passed housing legislation appears to remedy this by allowing for renegotiated mortgages. But it is all voluntary. Some people suggest a foreclosure moratorium as was done during the Depression. But there is probably no single solution. Ultimately, people need living wage jobs and an improved economy. Michigan's jobless rate is 8.5%, nationally it is 5.7%. In southeast Michigan it probably much higher than that as many people have long since stopped looking for a job. But there are some things that can be done.

• I am in favor of amending the bankruptcy law to allow mortgage contracts to be renegotiated in already established bankruptcy courts.
• I am in favor of allowing people facing foreclosure to negotiate a rental agreement with the mortgage holder to pay a fair rental value and stay in their houses.
• I am in favor of establishing a WPA style jobs program to provide jobs to all who want to work, at union wages and benefits.
• I am in favor of subsidized college tuition for all residents who want higher education but cannot afford it.
• I am in favor of tax breaks for rehabilitation of existing houses with greater emphasis on retrofitting those house with energy saving devices like insulation and solar.
• I am in favor of vastly increased spending on infrastructure, railroads, mass transit, fixing existing roads and bridges and developing alternative energy sources.
  

HEALTH CARE

It is quite unbelievable that the United States is the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee access to health care as a right of citizenship. 28 industrialized nations have single payer universal health care systems, while we spend at least 40% more per capita on health care than any other industrialized country with universal health care. Meanwhile millions of Americans go without because they simply can’t afford it.

• I am in favor of single payer, Canadian style, health care system.
  

FOREIGN POLICY

Generally speaking the US Senate handles foreign affairs and the House deals with budget and appropriations. But since foreign policy often requires the appropriation of funds, the House plays an important role in those foreign policy decisions.

In addition, foreign policy often influences domestic economic issues. Case in point is the high cost of gasoline which is currently being blamed on “speculators.” In fact, it is the ongoing saber rattling by the US and Israel over Iran’s right to use nuclear power which is primarily responsible for the gas price explosion of the last two years.

About 40% of the planet’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Iran and that country has warned that an attack by Israel or the US would stop oil shipments. So when we or the Israelis threaten war with Iran, we threaten the future supply of oil and the price goes up. It is euphemistically called “increased global tensions,” but it is the threat of war. Indeed, the cost of oil is the best barometer of possible war with Iran. Should that happen, the cost of oil will skyrocket.

Of course it works the other way around too, and after the US sent an envoy to Iran for peace talks recently the price of oil dropped immediately. Speculators read the news too.

The decline of the dollar, the other cause of high gas prices, started right after the “cake walk” invasion of Iraq turned into a pie-in-the-face for US imperialism. And since oil is denominated in US dollars (at our insistence) every reduction in the dollar’s value increases the price of gas.

US politicians have a vested interest in keeping the American public ignorant about the real reason for high gas prices. Israel threatens war because it wants to stop Iran from developing nuclear power even though Iran has a legal right to do so and even though Israel already has nukes – the warhead kind, as well as the power plant kind. And the Democrats and Republicans, who are both beholden to the Israel Lobby, don’t want you to make the connection between the high cost of gas and their support for Israel’s war, so they blame “speculators”.

At the present, Iran is no threat to the US. Israel, however, considers Iran to be a threat. Israel also considers, Palestinian, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, etc etc etc to be it’s enemies. As a result of a very active Israeli Lobby in the executive and legislative branches of American government, Israel’s perceived enemies are deemed to be America’s enemies. Not so.

Take the Palestinians. Israel's goal is to take all of Palestine and to get rid of the Palestinians. The Israelis employed ethnic cleansing in 1948 and again in 1967 to make about 700,000 Palestinians into refugees. For 40 years, the Israelis have refused to give back the Palestinian and Syrian lands they seized in war. They have blatantly violated international law by building settlements on occupied land, and by violating the airspace of and bombing other sovereign countries.

So we have this rogue country, Israel, that is stealing land and water and constantly threatening neighboring countries. And the US House of Representatives gives them “foreign aid” to the tune of 3 to 4 billion dollars annually, and, conservatively, about $108 billion total. Israel is the largest recipient of US aid of any country in the world. (Source Washington Report on Middle EastAffairs http://www.wrmea.com/archives/July_2006/0607016.html; Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel-United_States_relations; Counterpunch http://www.counterpunch.org/weir04042008.html;Commondreams http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0108-21.htm )

If we want to move toward world peace we need to rein in Israel and persuade this rogue country to make peace with its neighbors. The only way to effectively do that is to stop funding Israel with our tax money. We should use American tax money on our real interests, taking care of America. This would also immediately reduce global tensions that lead to expensive wars and high gas prices.

• I am in favor of the immediate termination of all aid to Israel

Contact Info voteCorsetti08@gmail.com 313-885-4685