What Does It Mean to be a Missoula County Democrat?
Missoula County Democrats believe stewardship-acting now for the well-being of future generations-is the primary responsibility of government and the lens through which policymaking in areas as diverse as energy, transportation, education, health care, human rights and taxation should be focused.
The mandate for stewardship is foremost a mandate for conservation; government should work to make it possible to use less, give back more and meet our needs with fewer impacts.
At the local level, policies that meet these objectives include providing incentives for conservation-guided adaptive reuse of existing buildings and mandating stricter energy-efficiency standards for new construction; protecting air and water quality and wildlife habitat through land-use planning, subdivision review and the preservation and maintenance of open space; and implementing policies to allow low-impact and distributed power generation. Conservation requires mindfulness of how the built environment impacts people's ability to choose to use less. This plays out most plainly in local transportation and land-use policies, which should support active and public transportation options by investing in necessary infrastructure and operations as well as by promoting development that's accessible to all transportation modes and for people with disabilities or the elderly. In Missoula, this means local governments should complete sidewalk, bike lane and trail systems; increase the frequency and geographic reach of public transportation (whether bus, van pool or light rail) to ensure transportation options for urban and rural areas alike; better maintain the existing multi-modal transportation network; and consider alternatives to simply widening roads for reducing traffic congestion. Further, local governments should manage growth to limit development-driven extensions of urban infrastructure and suburban housing into rural places while limiting the need to travel to far-flung retail centers by active, creative promotion of neighborhood commercial uses in exclusively residential areas.
The state and federal governments must commit to conservation as well-first, by empowering local policymakers to meet the goals above, but also by managing a transition from fossil fuels to clean and renewable energy that is an example to the world. Subsidies promoting status quo energy consumption and production should be eliminated, with tax policy shifted toward making investments in conservation more economically viable and development of renewable energy more competitive. Funding for infrastructure should align with these goals, integrating investments such as interstate rail and an improved electric transmission grid with a comprehensive, long-term vision for land use that considers ecosystem protection for land and water habitat as well as food security.
As stewards, we must attend to not just natural resources but human development-education, most pressingly, because expending resources to benefit our children is a duty it is both imprudent and immoral to shirk. America is a country created to be run by its people; however, a majority of Americans don't understand their government and don't participate in it; one goal of education should be to remedy that. Adequate funding for public education from pre-kindergarten to university is the first element; supplementing schooling with after-school and prevention programs needed to offer fair equality of opportunity to achieve are a logical extension. To give students the attention needed, schools should be neighborhood-based and feature small class sizes. School buildings should be healthy learning environments from the classroom to the cafeteria and in between. Curricula need to diminish reliance on standardized testing and emphasize the self-direction and critical thinking required of citizens, be they business owners or workers. The working world should be connected to the classroom, both to lend meaning to student work and value to their work product. Service as an educator should be rewarded with the protection and promotion of excellent instruction and wages commensurate with the service rendered.
Just as Americans should be stewards of their household finances, the United States government should be a steward of the nation's economy. The financial system should be regulated so greed does not create systemic risk; the tax system should be structured so luxury for a few does not outweigh livable wages and an adequate safety net for the many; excessive concentrations of economic power should be confronted by zealous anti-trust enforcement; and the basic conditions of economic life should be such that entrepreneurial risk-takers can expect merit to determine their success in the marketplace.
The United States is an inadequate steward of its present and future without attending to the fact that Americans spend more on health care than any other nation and yet receive an insufficient return. Not only is the risk of medical bankruptcy an impediment to independence and achievement for many families, security of access to health care is a human right. Comprehensive national reform is required to realize the mandate imposed by acknowledging this; any comprehensive approach should include dental and vision care while considering nutrition, fitness, prevention and the healthy living and safe environments that facilitate these before relying on universal access to acute care-shifting health care's focus to keeping people well rather than fixing the sick ones. The Indian Health System, in particular, should focus on delivering quality care to Native people in rural places. The best science should guide the practice of medicine and research priorities; comprehensive sex education, birth control and medical marijuana should be available, and stem cell research should be encouraged.
As stewards of our national honor, the United States government should acknowledge that the national interest of the United States is best served by principled conduct in international relations. The aspirations of people in developing nations should be our own, and the conduct of the government of the United States should be an example of power whose exercise inspires admiration rather than animosity. This work begins with restoring our nation's standing in the world by dealing humbly with our allies, diplomatically with our enemies and morally with the people of all nations. The government of the United States should broadly construe basic human rights to include both political liberties and rudimentary material well-being, supporting international institutions that work to secure human rights globally. Aid to other nations should be predicated on their respect of these rights and used for the mutual benefit of all nations-toward ends such as curtailing nuclear arms proliferation, reducing toxic pollution, promoting women's rights, guaranteeing access to clean water and providing startup capital through microlending.
Missoula County Democrats acknowledge that fulfilling our duty to be stewards of the natural world, the human family and our national honor must be the work of many hands, that it will require service and even sacrifice. We will find dignity in our service and valor in our sacrifice for our project is nothing less than redeeming the promise of government of, by and for the people in our time while preserving the capacity for its redemption by future generations.
-- This statement of principles draws inspiration from the input of nearly 100 Missoula County Democrats who attended an issues caucus on April 26, 2009, and was formally adopted by the Central Committee of Missoula County Democrats on June 9, 2009.