2008 Resolutions Adopted
Resolutions that will advance to the
2nd CD Convention are in
black. Issues that will not advance and
local resolutions are in blue.
LI-08-01 Supporting Elimination of Section 9528
of the No Child Left Behind Act and Section 504
of the National Defense Authorization Act
(adopted 9 Jan 2008)
WHEREAS, Sec. 9528 of the No
Child Left Behind Act and Sec. 504 of the
National Defense Authorization Act require
certain access to students by military
recruiters; and,
WHEREAS, some school officials
interpret the laws to mean that the school's
federal funding may be withdrawn if they do not
give the military unlimited access; and,
WHEREAS, military solutions
remain contrary to the values of peace and
non-violent conflict resolution that plays such
a central role in present-day curriculum; and,
WHEREAS, the continued military
actions of the U.S. government divert
much-needed funds from public education and
from critical internal domestic needs; and,
WHEREAS, our society benefits
from a well-educated, civilian population;
and,
WHEREAS,
students are often unaware of the real nature
and purpose of war, and focus instead on the
lure of adventure, power and promise of
benefits offered by the military;
THEREFORE,RESOLVED,
that the Democratic Party of Dane County calls
upon the state and national Democratic Party to
fight for the elimination of Sec. 9528 of the
No Child Left Behind Act and Sec. 504 of the
National Defense Authorization Act that mandate
recruiter access to students as a condition of
federal funding for schools; and,
FURTHER RESOLVED, we ask that
until these mandates are eliminated, Wisconsin
schools adopt policies that limit the presence
of military recruiting materials, advertising
and personnel to that required by federal law;
and,
FURTHER RESOLVED, we ask that all
students who are provided with military
recruiting materials and meetings with
recruiters also be provided information about
military service from other sources that
promote nonviolent resolution to conflict;
and,
FURTHER RESOLVED, we ask that the
nation's public schools offer perspectives that
expose the interests of those who promote
militarism, war and aggression, to the
detriment of the majority of
society.
08-3-SI Supporting Bipartisan Reformation of the No Child Left Behind Act (adopted 2/13/08, 84 words)
WHEREAS, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA), as originally proposed by Democrats, would have increased education funding, improved student achievement and teacher quality, established rigorous academic standards, and enhanced accountability; and,
WHEREAS, the Bush Administration has severely underfunded NCLBA and perverted the program into a partisan mechanism for degrading public schools and teachers' unions, literally ensuring that every public school in America will eventually be branded a failure;
THEREFORE, RESOLVED, the DPDC supports truly bipartisan reformation of NCLBA to achieve its original purposes.
08-4-SI Supporting Death with Dignity Legislation(adopted 2/13/08, 84 words)
WHEREAS, the dying process can be long and painful for some persons with cancer and terminal illness;
WHEREAS, all mentally competent, terminally ill people should have the right to choose a quicker and painless death;
WHEREAS, physicians should have the right to prescribe medications that alleviate suffering and hasten death for their patients without fear for prosecution; and,
WHEREAS, surveys by Wisconsin legislators have found that the majority of voters support death with dignity legislation;
THEREFORE, RESOLVED, the DPDC supports death with dignity legislation.
08-5-SI Supporting "Healthy Wisconsin: Your Choice, Your Plan"(adopted 2/13/08, 98 words)
WHEREAS, half a million people in Wisconsin have no health insurance for at least part of the year;
WHEREAS, the cost of health insurance is rising two to three times as fast as working families' income and costs cannot be controlled in our current fragmented system; and,
WHEREAS, the current system is broken, cannot be sustained, and cannot be fixed through incremental reforms;
THEREFORE, RESOLVED, the DPDC enthusiastically and actively supports "Healthy Wisconsin: Your Choice, Your Plan", a universal, affordable, and progressive health care plan which provides excellent health care to all for less than we spend now.
08-6-SI Supporting Health Care Reform (adopted 2/13/08, 100 words)
WHEREAS, the DPW has gone on record as favoring many different health-care plans, all of which have their good points but differ in their details; and,
WHEREAS, the DPW should be concerned more with outcomes than methods;
THEREFORE, RESOLVED, the DPDC favors any health-care plan that:
-- provides universal coverage;
-- is no harder to sign up for than fire-department services;
-- covers all forms of care (prevention, treatment, cure, chronic, acute, emergency, physical, mental, dental, etc.);
-- adequately allows free choice of providers;
-- is as inexpensive and efficient as possible;
-- can be enacted as soon as possible.
08-7-SI Supporting Assembly Bill 544 and Senate Bill 292 that Create State Penalties for Human Trafficking and Provides Assistance for Victims(adopted 2/13/08, 92 words)
WHEREAS, human trafficking is a modern form of slavery where victims are forced to work in homes, fields, sweatshops and brothels;
WHEREAS, federal law prohibits human trafficking, but few victims have access to the services provided under the law, and federal prosecutors lack resources to prosecute traffickers;
WHEREAS, 35 states now have adopted state anti-trafficking legislation; and,
WHEREAS, there have been recent incidents of trafficking and forced labor in Wisconsin;
THEREFORE, RESOLVED, the DPDC supports AB 544 AND SB 292 that create state penalties for human trafficking and provides assistance for victims.
08-8-SI Renewing Our Call to Impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney (adopted 2/13/08, 99 words)
WHEREAS, in 2007 DPW Convention delegates adopted six resolutions calling for impeaching Bush and Cheney for concocting intelligence that led us into war, violating FISA to allow spying on Americans, denying people the right of Habeas Corpus, allowing torture of prisoners, "leaking" the identity of a covert CIA agent, circumventing the Constitution with signing statements, and, no doubt, lots of other illegal stuff; and,
WHEREAS, Bush and Cheney's approval ratings have plummeted as their lawlessness becomes increasingly exposed;
THEREFORE, RESOLVED, the DPDC emphatically renews our call for Congressional investigations into Bush Administration activities and for holding the guilty accountable.
08-9-SI Advocating Paper Ballots and Random Audits (adopted 2/13/08, 79 words)
WHEREAS, voting systems should be transparent, recountable, and auditable;
WHEREAS, voters increasingly distrust electronic voting machines with non-transparent software that may be incorrect or corrupted; and,
WHEREAS, optical scan systems, counting paper ballots marked by the voter, are recountable and auditable;
THEREFORE, RESOLVED, the DPDC actively supports legislation limiting future purchases of voting systems to optical scan systems only, mandating random manual audits in all elections to verify the machine accuracy, and requiring that recounts include some manual counts.
08-10-SI Reversing Wisconsin's Constitutional Amendment Banning Gay Marriage and Civil Unions (adopted 2/13/08, 96 words)
WHEREAS, the amendment has attracted exactly zero skilled workers to Wisconsin but has driven many away, needlessly stunting the growth of Wisconsin's economy;
WHEREAS, the amendment has strengthened or protected exactly zero marriages;
WHEREAS, it is widely acknowledged that the amendment will eventually be removed, when the younger and fairer generation is in the majority; and,
WHEREAS, the amendment serves no purpose but to deny to a minority of Wisconsinites their inherent right of the pursuit of happiness;
THEREFORE, RESOLVED, the DPDC calls upon the Wisconsin Legislature to begin the process of reversing the amendment immediately.
08-11-SI Opposing Nuclear Weapons (adopted 2/13/08, 94 words)
WHEREAS, a nuclear weapons free world is a long-overdue goal that enjoys bipartisan support among citizens of the United States;
WHEREAS, Wisconsin voters overwhelmingly supported a nuclear weapons freeze referendum;
WHEREAS, Complex Transformation will spend billions refurbishing our nuclear weapons contrary to the Non Proliferation treaty which the U.S. signed; and,
WHEREAS, the spread of nuclear weapons is a grave threat facing our nation and world;
THEREFORE, RESOLVED, the DPDC calls upon our Congressional Delegation to defeat Complex Transformation, to promote constructive policies to stop their proliferation, and work to eliminate all nuclear weapons.
08-12-SI Fair Trade Not Free Trade (adopted 2/13/08, 100 words)
WHEREAS, the Bush administration is urging new free trade agreements with Colombia, South Korea and Panama, using the failed NAFTA model;
WHEREAS, 3 million U.S. manufacturing jobs have been lost since 1994 as a direct result of that unfair model; and,
WHEREAS, these three new agreements continue the damaging pattern of threatening U.S. jobs, hurting family farmers, depressing food and product safety standards, polluting our environment, limiting access to affordable medicines, and favoring foreign over US corporations;
THEREFORE, RESOLVED, the DPDC opposes passage of any new free trade agreements based on the last 15 years of the failed NAFTA model.
08-13-SI Fully Funding Wisconsin's Public Schools (adopted 2/13/08, 100 words)
WHEREAS, Wisconsin schools have faced yearly budget deficits of 1.7%, causing cuts in school staff and services and leading to hundreds of referendums, often failures;
THEREFORE, RESOLVED, the DPDC supports enacting new school finance reforms during the 2009-2011 legislative session with the following key components: Funding levels based on the actual cost of what is needed to provide an education for all students; State resources sufficient to satisfy state and federal mandates, and to prepare all students for citizenship, post-secondary education, employment, or service to their country; The "cost of education" should be financed based on a fair tax structure.