The last Missing Right was meant to cover all forms of discrimination, the principle of ERA applied to minorities. I see some redundancy there, but that is not necessarily an issue. The redundancy was intentional. Is there anything you said about ERA that would not be true of the larger civil rights definition? Will the lawyers find any loopholes? Language is usually open to interpretation, which people distort to promote their own agendas. There may be no way to foresee all loopholes, but careful language could close the foreseen loopholes.

Democrats like to refer to the Bush tax cuts as tax cuts for the rich. I think the tax system could be drastically overhauled so that most tax revenue would derive from luxuries, defining luxury in the wide sense to include such things as pollution and degradation of women as well as things commonly defined as luxuries. Some luxuries are costly in terms of damage to health and the environment; they should be taxed to extinction. Some luxuries are costly in terms of damage to women; they could be taxed highly, but not so highly as to foster a black market, depending on the degree of damage women determine will incur. Measuring degradation of women is by nature subjective, but there are various levels to how low men can sink. Sexual portrayals of women getting hurt are direct incitements to violence, which are hate speech, not protected as free speech. If assaulting women is criminal, so should filming it be, unless for documentation.

Some luxuries are relatively innocuous things only relatively wealthy people can think of buying. Taxes on such items should not be as high as damaging items, the most expensive items taxed more, up to 50 percent. Taxes on the most damaging items should be confiscatory, putting the producers out of business. If a black market might be created, the tax might have to top around 500 percent.

The lowest luxury tax rates could be on speculation, perhaps a tenth of a percent. The volume of that market makes that add up in a hurry. With a peace dividend, I think income and sales taxes could be replaced by such a luxury tax scheme. A flat tax is the only kind of income tax that is not artifically arbitrary. Were you thinking 10% of all income above the poverty level? I was thinking the cutoff could be a little higher than poverty. Perhaps poverty should be defined. If people did not have to pay for minimally adequate food, shelter, health care, and education, does poverty become extinct? There could also be a tax rebate for people who require only routine medical services for the year.

I would like to make a point of calling for independent investigations into all claims about health and disease treatment, by orthodox medicine as well as alternative modalities. Once what works can be identified, health care costs would drop dramatically.

I have issues with large dams providing hydropower. Environmentalists often specify small hydropower.

“The U.S. left Afghanistan in worse shape than it was before our intrusion.” Unfortunately USA has not left yet, and is making things still worse. Perhaps that should read instead of left, has put? Perhaps uranium residues from our DU weapons should get a mention. Using these weapons could be interpreted as a war crime under international law. Birth defects are rife in Iraq. Then again if you start giving details of the horrors USA has engendered, when can you stop? I think it is important to recognize the war crimes committed by our government, if there is to be any hope of peace. To come clean about our horrid foreign policy might defuse some of the widespread hatred for that policy. Pakistan is possibly the most dangerous place on earth for USA to be meddling with at the moment. I expect Pakistan to be a hot topic in the upcoming debates, since Democrats seem to center the "real war on terror" in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“Ending drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge”. I do not think it has started yet, though I could be wrong, exploration drills perhaps. There is lots of drilling near the refuge, but Clinton opened that huge petroleum reserve after decades of keeping it off limits, most environmentalists not raising a peep.

Regarding women-only spaces, why is this a right of lesbians, as opposed to women, to define? Perhaps very few heterosexual women feel they have any stake in that, but this almost sounds like lesbians defining women to me. I know it is not meant that way, but you know what people will do with any angle they can find. It seems lesbian-only spaces would have to be defined by lesbians, women-only spaces by born females.

“Charging late fees when consumers mail payments seven days in advance of the due date.” This is part of the Credit Card Bill of Rights Act? Does that mean six days in advance would be liable for a late fee if the mail is slow? I am curious, not being familiar with that act. I know the fine print says when the payment must be received, as opposed to when it is mailed, making the billpayer responsible for failure of the postal service. In some states I think the postmark is the relevant date.

These are some general principles underlying my contribution to the platform, rewritten by Heart since the sneak preview posted on my blog to start the new year:

The system is fundamentally corrupt, rigged to perpetuate the existing hierarchical order, all the way down to its core value and belief systems.

There is no political reality, besides what men create to maintain the system. That deserves no more credence than any other illusion men have created for their benefit.

Artificial hierarchies of any kind cannot be allowed to abuse authority.

At least a truce will be negotiated with all enemies willing to negotiate in good faith.

To break down the hierarchical order, a first step will be to roll back all hostile takeovers, another abuse of this unbridled exchange economy known as modern capitalism. Businesses should grow by providing quality products or services, not by taking over rivals or otherwise exploiting political or economic clout to force competitors out of business.

The free trade agreements are the modern face of colonialism and should be dismantled.

A Pollution Abatement Corps will clean up toxic messes, equip buildings to collect solar energy, and build wind farms in suitable locations worldwide to phase out nuclear power and fossil fuels as soon as possible.

Toxic chemicals will be phased out as quickly as possible, heavily taxed as luxuries to encourage alternatives.

All sacred cows are under challenge at the Free Soil Party.

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Hey Aletha!

Wow, that's a lot, but there's a lot of good stuff there. I really like the breakdown of your ideas for luxury taxes.

Great point re huge dams as opposed to small hydros.

I thought there was already some drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but I don't know why I thought that and will have to do the research.

I considered getting into the specific harms the U.S. has caused in Afghanistan, Iraq, etc., but like you say, where does that end?
I wonder if in the "War and Peace" part of my platform I could include, under the U.S. making a commitment to peace, a listing or delineation of the harms we have caused in the interests of the kind of full disclosure and acknowledgement it sounds like you are suggesting, maybe to include plans to amend and fix the harm we have caused. I'm thinking about things l ike landmines now, as well-- is there even a way to safely remove landmines? But also clean ups of all the toxic waste we've left behind.

I know the U.S. is still in Afghanistan, but NATO is there as well, so the feeling is more of ... what, peacekeeping or something like that, even though that isn't happening. It becomes more complicated to talk about a situation and our involvement in it, once NATO/UN bodies are involved. Now things have to go through the UN as well as being up to us.

Good point re woman-only space. I think we do not have to restrict it to lesbians, although I was thinking of lesbian nation, lesbian separatists there and of protecting women's lands operated by separatists.

I think the ERA passing might strengthen Title VII civil rights protections for women. Right now there are efforts underway to protect "gender" in ways which are of dubious benefit to women. If the ERA passed these other efforts might be unnecessary. I should e-mail you about this. But I haven't really considered that the same might be true with the Missing Bill of Rights.

I think I'll start a thread to discuss our discussion here, even though responses will have to be under a word limit.

Heart/Cheryl