A Platform for All Americans by Barry Rosenbaum

These are the times that try men’s souls.  Those words from Thomas Paine helped ignite a revolution and lead to the dismantling of tyranny in this country.  We are again being severely tested as a nation.  In Metamorphosis, I argued that the Democratic Party needed to rebrand itself through a change in leadership and clearly articulated priorities. In the lead-up to the 2026 mid-term election, the New Democratic Party’s platform should include specific legislative actions and policies it would undertake during the first 100 days of the 120th Congress, much like Newt Gingrich’s very successful Contract with America of the 1990s. Here are some suggestions for the party to run on:

1. The New Democrats will model leadership that requires moral character, integrity, and respect for the rule of law, demonstrated by our commitment to upholding the Constitution.

2. The New Democrats will safeguard the right to vote and eliminate unfair obstacles to that right by enacting the John Lewis Voting Rights Act or similar legislation.

3. The New Democrats will mandate that redistricting in all fifty states be undertaken once every ten years by non-partisan commissions.

4. The New Democrats affirm that everyone has the right to be treated equally under the law and accorded due process, has a right to a say in our government, and has equal access to the resources of this country. Individuals and corporations with extreme wealth will no longer be allowed to skew the system to only benefit themselves.  Masked and unidentified men will no longer be allowed to brutally rip men, women, and children from their communities.

5. The New Democrats will ensure that we retain control over our personal life choices— who and when to marry, when and if to bear children, and how our identity is manifested. The freedom to exercise the faith of one’s choosing, if any, will be honored as the Founders intended. To suggest that the United States is a Christian nation is historically inaccurate.

6. The New Democrats will ensure that all workers have a right to a living wage by establishing a new federal minimum wage tied to the cost of living. Paying CEOs 290 times as much as a typical worker is obscene. Workers should not work at a full-time job and still be unable to afford the necessities of life.

7. The New Democrats will restore the unnecessary and cruel cuts to programs that improve the health and education of low-income children, such as Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Head Start, and housing subsidies.

8. The New Democrats will ensure that all Americans have access to affordable health care, starting with permanently protecting ACA subsidies.

9. The New Democrats will accelerate actions to address climate change and reenter the Paris Accords. Notwithstanding their extreme wealth, the descendants of the monied elite will suffer like the rest of us from an increasingly hostile planet. Some may have fantasies of escaping to other planets. But, instead, they will likely stay grounded on Earth in a modest jail cell.

10. The New Democrats will restore the funding and reconstruct the infrastructure for scientific research, particularly in the areas of disease prevention, climate change, and gun safety.  The flat-earthers will no longer be allowed to set public policy.

11. The New Democrats will mandate that the cost of higher education be tied to family income. No one will leave college with a debt that can never be repaid, and which will act as an albatross for the rest of their lives.

12. The New Democrats will mandate that all new multi-family housing include a reasonable percentage of units that are affordable to low-income residents, with the federal government filling a reasonable rental gap.

13. The New Democrats value a strong military to protect the sovereignty of the United States. However, our military budget exceeds the combined budgets of the next nine highest-spending countries. The U.S. can safely reduce its expenditures to enable it to advance domestic needs. As the most prosperous nation in the world, we should be able to meet the needs of our citizens while still achieving our legitimate defense obligations.

14. The New Democrats will no longer defer needed reforms to the Supreme Court, starting with the expansion of the Court. While term limits may be a viable choice in the long term, this would be a more immediate remedy, and one unquestionably allowed by the Constitution. This Court’s reactionary majority has lost all credibility. Issuing edicts by shadow docket is not ruling; it is simply supporting the movement to authoritarianism under the camouflage of a black robe. The KKK and ICE also understand the power of the robe—and the mask.

15. The New Democrats recognize the huge contribution immigrants have made to our country and will enact bipartisan immigration reform measures—such as the Border Act of 2024, killed by candidate Trump solely for political gain. It is important to deter illegal border crossings. At the same time, lawful immigration should be encouraged, and we need to allocate the resources to swiftly rule on asylum claims.

16. We will immediately reverse all of Trump’s unconstitutional executive orders. We will also initiate the long and arduous process of rebuilding the Justice Department to ensure its independence and pursuit of justice.

17. The New Democrats will immediately institute impeachment proceedings against President Trump and Vice President Vance for high crimes and misdemeanors. Both have actively participated in a coup and are in the process of overthrowing our form of government.  Other impeachment proceedings against Cabinet members and Supreme Court justices who have participated in this treasonous conduct will be explored.

18. The New Democrats will ensure that those who participate in the current atrocities will face the consequences of their deceit and cruelty, with the Nuremberg Trials serving as a model. 

19. The New Democrats will eliminate the Senate filibuster. At a time when the Republican Party is destroying democracy, it is foolhardy to cling to a tradition that has long since lost its utility. We must be bold if we are to rebuild anew the federal government in a way that meets the needs of all citizens.

20. The New Democrats support an independent Federal Reserve. Protecting our monetary system is essential to a prosperous society. It must not be subservient to the whims of a President.

21. The New Democrats will strengthen our traditional alliances and distance ourselves from Russia and other authoritarian regimes. We will assert no claim to anyone’s land but will act to protect our allies and friends as we reaffirm the need for the United States to play a leadership role in global affairs.

22. The New Democrats will reaffirm Israel’s right to exist within secure borders while halting any support to Israel for the illegitimate effort to remove all Palestinians from Gaza and the appropriation of land on the West Bank by Jewish settlers. Both peoples have legitimate claims to the land, but neither claim justifies the exclusion of the other.

23. The New Democrats will adjust our tax system, establishing a minimum tax that cannot be evaded to ensure that the extremely wealthy and corporations pay their fair share. The huge tax cuts for the wealthy put in place during both Trump administrations will be reversed.

These proposed enactments and measures may not be self-evident or divinely inspired, but they are common-sense proposals that are informed by the deepest values of our country.  The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights have secured the freedom of the American people for almost two and a half centuries.  Their implementation has been far from perfect, but we have continued to strive towards these ideals.  Now we face an administration and a MAGA movement that have complete disdain for this noble pursuit and are inflicting grave harm on American citizens and law-abiding immigrants.  While they seek to instill fear, we will not be cowed by their threats, deceit, hatred, and lies.

In the end, we will prevail because, as Americans who love this country and its foundational principles, that is what we do.  We are the majority, and we will show that once again when we take to the streets in the millions on October 18th for the second major No Kings Day of Action.