A Democratic Agenda

Over at TPMcafe, Curt asked for suggestions on a Democratic Contract with America:

What, exactly, does today's Democatic Party stand for? What would we do with our mandate? What kind of society would be strive toward? What are our priorities?

I don't know. Nobody does.

So I invite readers to create a Democratic "Contract With America" that will suggest the direction, priorities, and values they would like to see in a revitalized Democratic party.

Here is my 8-point contract:

1) A universal portable health care plan that covers (a) the most basic preventive treatments and (b) catastrophic illness. It would NOT be as comprehensive as the plans offered today by most employers, but it would be affordable enough to make it universal fairly quickly.

2) A universal portable retirement savings plan. 401ks, IRAs, and 529s are too damn complicated for most folks to track -- and the employer incentives vary from place to place. Every American working family should have something like the federal employee Thrift Savings Plan, which has a few basic investment options and a significant employer match to encourage savings.

3) A universal education loan system that permits everyone to finance college and/or continuing education through a loan program whose payments are a function of future income. Participation in the college program would be contingent on ...

4) ... National service. Anyone who serves one year in the military or reserves, or who participates in community service -- including volunteer work for USAID-funded NGOs abroad -- would be eligible for education support.

5) Universal access to pre-school. There's no greater bang for our education buck. Since certification and curriculum are much less standardized even than elementary schools, my preference is cash vouchers on a sliding scale up to $60-80K in income. But I'm open to other mechanisms.

6) A new commitment to veterans and military families: (A) Better health care, especially for disabled veterans (and that includes mental health care), and (B) income support for National Guard members called to active duty. Such support should focus on housing and college savings assistance for their families.

7) Expanded federal home loan caps to help middle-class families participate in an often out-of-reach housing market.

8) Exempt the first $20,000 in income from payroll taxes, with an increase in the existing $90,000 cap to make it budget neutral. Such a change would make it significantly cheaper to create new jobs for working families, and it would amount to a budget-neutral tax cut of up to 7.65% for everyone earning less than $110,000.