by Learner Limbach
Washington State Representative on the Democratic National Platform Committee
Whew! What a week!
I got back to Orcas from Orlando early Monday morning (on July 11) feeling exhausted from lack of sleep, several days of bad food and the strain of extreme focus and long days in the Orlando Platform Meetings.
I want to update you on what we accomplished over the weekend with the Platform, but first, I know a lot of people want to hear my perspective on the endorsement of Hillary Clinton by Bernie Sanders on July 12.
If the endorsement surprised you, let me assure you I completely understand where you are coming from. Many of us who have fought so hard over the past year never imagined Bernie would endorse Hillary at all, let alone two weeks before the convention. Well, he did endorse her and I believe he sincerely wants his supporters to vote for Hillary if she ends up winning the nomination and opposing Trump in the general election. He endorsed her because many of his key priorities have now been adopted into the Democratic Party Platform and will be carried forward by having a Democrat in the White House no matter who it is. Interestingly, Bernie did not suspend his campaign and says that he does not plan to, meaning he still plans to take all 1900 of his delegates to Philadelphia to cast their votes for him during the initial roll call vote. That does not mean he has much of a chance to win the nomination. He doesn’t. The point is that technically the convention can still be contested because neither candidate has enough “Pledged Delegates” to reach the required number for nomination without the vote of “Unpledged (Super) Delegates.”
What does all this mean for the convention? It’s difficult to say. In any case, it is bound to be a convention to remember.
As for the platform, here is a summary of Sanders amendments that passed and failed:
Key Failed Amendments
• Opposition to the TPP
• Ban on Fracking
• Medicare for All
• Scrapping the Cap on Social Security Tax for income over $250K
• Recognizing Israel’s Occupation of Palestine and supporting an end to new Israeli settlements in Gaza or the West Bank.
Key Victories
It is now the policy of the Democratic Party that we will fight to:
• Increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
• Make in-state public colleges and universities tuition-free for families earning under $125K.
• Support the most progressive Native American policies in modern history.
• Remove marijuana as a Class 1 drug under the Federal Controlled Substances Act and provide a reasonable path to legalization.
• Create millions of jobs rebuilding America, paid for by ending loopholes that allow corporations to avoid paying $100 billion a year in taxes by shifting their profits to offshore tax havens.
• Establish a price on carbon, methane, and other greenhouse gas emissions to aggressively combat climate change.
• Crack down on the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington
• Break-up too-big-to-fail banks and enact a 21st Century Glass- Steagall Act
• Eliminate super Pacs
• Pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.
• Move to the public financing of elections through small donor contributions.
• Enact automatic voter registration.
• Make election day a federal holiday
Videos of the entire Orlando Platform Meetings can be found on www.c-span.org
If you’d like to make a financial contribution to my trip to the National Convention in Philadelphia (July 22 -July 29) visit www.gofundme.com/learner_to_dnc or send a check to Learner Limbach PO Box 1996, Eastsound, WA 98245.
