Wellstone Progressive Democrats of Sacramento and the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party believe in
- the promotion of principle before politics and
- policy before unquestioning fealty to any individual or organization.
We seek
- to build a movement within the Democratic Party
- so that we may one day see a government controlled by citizens, not oligarchic interests.
By belonging to the Caucus,
- we affirm our dedication to work for a world where the rights of all people are recognized as equal and inalienable, and
- where social justice paves the way for true peace.
Towards that end, we believe:
- in the Constitution of the United States of America and the right of the People to self-government,
- in the restoration of an equal balance of powers between the branches of our Federal government,
- in lifting all people above the poverty line, including the sick, the disabled, the homeless, the hungry, the elderly, and the unemployed, and as a part of resetting our local, state and national priorities, to make available affordable housing and a living wage for all,
- in the right of workers everywhere to form and join unions for the protection of their interests, and that labor, commerce and profits gained without respect for fair wages, decent working conditions, dignity or self determination by workers are both unjust and immoral,
- in a commitment to redirecting resources from wasteful and unnecessary military spending to programs for human needs. As Dr. Martin Luther King observed over 40 years ago “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death”,
- in the complete separation of Church and State,
- that pre-emptive war is wrong and that all countries must seek solutions to international threats through equitable diplomacy, the United Nations, and other organizations which respect international law and the principle of self determination,that as the most basic measure of democracy, citizens of voting age have the right to vote and have their vote counted and tangibly proved as cast,
- that everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law and are therefore entitled to equal rights and treatment and that no one should be denied these rights because of economic status, class, race, color, creed, age, ethnic identity, ethnicity, national origin, language, culture, gender, gender identification, sexual orientation, religion, or disabilities as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,
- that persons of the same sex should have the right of marriage on the same basis as all other adults, the right to found a family being a basic human right,
- that no one should be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention without charge, and that all people are entitled to due process by an independent, impartial and civilian court of law,
- that no one should be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,
- that since all people are born equal in dignity and rights and are endowed with reason and conscience, they should be free from the oppression of orchestrated fear, targeted persecution, wrongful dispossession, displacement and exile. Aggression at the hands of organized forces directed at a specific group of people because of economic status, class, race, color, creed, age, ethnic identity, ethnicity, national origin, language, culture, gender, gender identification, sexual orientation, religion, or disability whether they exist internally in a state or are the result of a foreign presence, should not be tolerated,
- that as a civilized society, the death penalty must be abolished and replaced with a system which views justice as containing principles of both redemption and rehabilitation as well as restitution,
- that all people are entitled to quality health care and that single payer universal health insurance is a right, not a privilege,
- that public services must not only be available, but equally accessible to all,
- that the environment is a public trust and responsibility for its preservation and sustainability must rest publicly, with the People and not with private enterprise,
- that education is a right, not a privilege and that every child must have the guarantee of a free, high quality public education in a safe environment,
- that since freedom of expression, civil liberties, democracy and constitutional rights are the hallmarks of an equitable society, that the right to a free and independent media must be guaranteed for all, free from domination or monopolization from either state or corporate influence,
- that private corporations are not individuals and since they are legal entities materially different from human beings, are not entitled to the same constitutional rights as individuals under Article 14 of the United States Constitution. To the extent that corporate interests wield overwhelming control when it comes to matters of governance for the common good, we believe that as a matter of democracy and social justice, a subordination of commerce to state must be established by overturning the United States Supreme Court decision in the case of Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad Co., 118 U.S. 394 (1886), and
- that above all, we believe in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the principle of a universal community where democracy, respect for the humanity of others and responsibility for the common good prevails.