The Liberal Manifesto Part 3

The Liberal Manifesto Part 3. We are not Democrats

We are not Democrats because:

1. We reject the identity politics of the Democratic party which divides us by race, gender, sexual orientation or other identity issues. We are better people as Americans than as hyphenated Americans, and we reject the quotas and pandering which have become the daily fare of the Democrats.

2. We reject the moral relativism of Democrats who proclaim that all values are of equal value and who therefore stand for nothing.

3. We take pride in our successes and do not gloat at our failures. While Democrats seek to fix the blame, Liberals seek to fix the problem.

4. We oppose judicial rejection of legislative prerogative. We understand the difference between constitutional rights and judicial preferences, and fear the day when radically conservative justices may take the same liberties as radical Democratic judges have in the most recent past.

5. We reject "political correctness", speech codes, thought control and censorship.

6. We believe that rights cannot be separated from responsibilities. The proliferation of rights separated from responsibilities of citizenship is not to the benefit of our country.

The Liberal Manifesto - Part 2

The Liberal Manifesto Part 2 : We are not Republicans

We are not Republicans because:

1. We believe that the government has an important and positive role to play in improving the lives of its citizens. The government needs to have pro-active concern for the poor, the disabled, the elderly and allocate the resources to address those concerns.

2. We believe that the market economy will not adequately deal with long term concerns such as health care, the environment or energy supplies.

3. We support a right of women to choose to terminate many unwanted pregnancies. We do not support efforts to artificially define a moment of the start of life or to interfere with medical research. In 2006 the President is wrong to oppose stem cell research. We believe that whatever wrong he may believe is occasioned by such research, the wrong of opposing the research is greater.

4. We believe that, except in extraordinary circumstances the federal budget should be balanced. Wars should be paid for from current taxes to the extent possible. We do not agree with current Republican aversion to paying for the Iraq war or the consequences of blind reduction in taxes.

5. We believe in a strong national defense for protecting our nation and our allies. We oppose the hubris of making the world conform to our standards.

6. We do not imagine the world to be in social stasis, but we welcome evolution of society and the creation of new values. We are willing to change our minds.

The Liberal Manifesto- Part 1

There is a specter haunting America. The specter of diffidence.

I observe the political spectrum and have a choice between two parties, one of which has bad principles and one of which has no principles at all. I observe that across time several political parties in America have outlived their usefulness and withered away. The Federalists, the first Democrats, the Whigs. In Israel the two parties which founded the country, Labor and Likud have played to their narrower and narrower party bases leaving the majority with no home, and a most unlikely protagonist, Ariel Sharon, broke the molds, and prior to his stroke formed a new party of the Center. At this writing it appears that the party will survive Sharon’s departure from the scene.

Do we not have the same splintering in America? Certainly writers have noted that the party rules of both parties have tilted the nomination processes to the radical right for the Republicans and the radical left for the Democrats. There are no more "Rockefeller Republicans", and Joe Lieberman is out as a Democrat in favor of Ned Lamont who stands on primary night with Al Sharpton. Is there nothing between Dennis Hastert and Al Sharpton? How about a party for the 80% of Americans who are neither Hastert nor Sharpton?

What would such a party look like in America? First, we will be called the Liberals. Some people think that’s a bad thing, but it is a badge which summons our best spirit. We will probably sound a little like "neo-liberals", but that is mud-slinging. We are not Democrats and we are not Republicans. Some may be "Reagan Democrats" and some may have held their noses and voted for Kerry.

We have certain principles which we deem to be important.

1. We are Americans. We are proud of our past and optimistic about our future.

2. We have faith in our political system of democratically elected representatives. We have tolerance for decisions freely made, and will work to change decisions with which we disagree.

3. We believe in a social compact in which Americans have shared rights, but also shared responsibilities.

4. We believe that political freedom is intrinsically tied to economic freedom and cultural freedom.

5. We believe peace is our first and best foreign policy. We are a nation which can lead the world best by example. We will maintain the world’s most powerful military as an instrument of peace. We have defeated fascism and communism, and the energy and freedom of our people will defeat any future threat.

6. We believe in a positive domestic policy of compassion, planning, management and tax equity, balancing the budget and providing sufficient revenue to provide for national needs.