Los Santos Democratic Party

The Democratic Party is the oldest political party in the United States and among the oldest political parties in the world. There are several core beliefs that tie our party together: Democrats believe that we're greater together than we are on our own — that this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules. Our party is focused on building an economy that lifts up all Americans, not just those at the top. That's why Democrats are working to make progress on issues like job creation, equal pay, education, health care, and clean energy.

## Domestic platform:

### Crime

The Democratic Party calls for the softening of criminal charges and convictions, as well as a decreased focus on punishment and a widespread adoption of rehabilitation. The Party believes that it often is the harsh nature of the prison and criminal justice system that all-too-often creates a cycle of crime causing a criminal to never fully escape that way of life. As well, we call for the granting of felons their right to vote after they have served their time, as well as the complete elimination of for-profit private prisons.

### Drugs

The Democratic Party recognizes that the American War on Drugs has failed. We call for ending of the War on Drugs, and would like to instead realign our focus on rehabilitation of drug addicts. In addition, we call for the legalization and reasonable taxation of marijuana. We are in favor of decriminalizing personal possession of small amounts of other recreational drugs.

### Civil Rights

The Democratic Party believes in the equality of all human beings, regardless of gender, sex, skin color, or sexual orientation. We believe any unnecessary restriction based on these conditions to be an affront to basic decency. As such, it is the party policy that no human being be denied the right to marry whomever it is that they love, regardless of skin color or sex. Marriage is a basic human right, one that must be afforded to gay couples nation-wide through federal legislation. The Democratic Party supports additional rights for LGBT Americans, including workplace protections.

### Environment

The Democratic Party affirms the necessity of taking care of the one planet humanity has: Planet Earth. We accept climate change as a scientific fact, and that humanity is its cause. As such, we accept the responsibility of humanity to fix its mess through appropriate legislation to limit greenhouse gas emissions, expand green renewable energy while moving away from dirty fossil fuel energy, and to fight climate change to build a lasting future for all future generations. The Democratic Party favors implementing a cap and trade scheme to curb carbon emissions.

### Budget & Economy

The Democratic Party supports a decrease in the amount of money we send to the military and Pentagon and instead want to see that money forwarded to domestic programs to help the nation's less well-off. In order to balance the budget the Democratic Party supports the increasing of taxes for the top .1% earners who have benefitted from living in a free and prosperous society. We ask they do a bit more in order to help those less fortunate.

### Business & Workers' Rights

The Democratic Party is a firmly capitalist party that supports growth and aiding of small businesses in America, which we recognize as one of the driving forces behind America's success. As well, we recognize the American worker's right to unionization and collective bargaining. The American unions have been squeezed for decades now, and it is the Party's belief that workers and small businesses have been overshadowed by big business on Wall Street for too long. The Democratic Party is for a realignment towards workers' rights expansion and away from Wall Street to Main Street. The Democratic Party will fight any attempts to implement anti-worker laws such as Right to Work and collective bargaining limitations.

### Earned Benefits & Welfare

The Democratic Party believes that our social safety net should be protected at all costs. As well, we also firmly believe in the necessity of its expansion. We do not buy into the belief that social security, medicare, or medicaid must be cut for it to survive. In addition we are strongly against the privatization of programs such as Social Security.

### Technology & Infrastructure

The Democratic Party holds that for too long, our infrastructure has been neglected. We want to see the rebuilding and expansion of our infrastructure. As well, we believe that access to the Internet is a necessity to succeed in the modern world, and as such it is a human right. As well, we fully support the reclassification of the Internet as a public utility, and the preservation of net neutrality.

### Education

The Democratic Party believes that education is a fundamental right for all human beings. We believe that public education provided by the government should be universally available and equal in all aspects. Education is the gateway to the American Dream, and it must be supported everywhere. We recognize that higher education is equally important and steps should be taken to alleviate the burden of debt for many who come out of college. We support a large raise in funding towards education and in particular, higher education.

### Healthcare

The Democratic Party believes that every human being has a fundamental right to good health. Currently, we support programs such as ‘ObamaCare’ which alleviate the cost of healthcare for millions of people in America. In addition, we believe in healthcare being a free, publicly funded service for all Americans. We want to see the expansion of Medicare to cover every American instead of just retirees, with the ability to negotiate medical costs as is done in every other developed nation. As well, we fundamentally believe in the right to paid maternity for all new mothers.

### Abortion

The Democratic Party agrees with the decision in Roe v Wade and supports a woman’s right to choose.