What America Wants
Gimlet’s platform is:
No more loopholes for private purchases or gun shows, no more excuses from politicians dragging their feet or refusing to take action on this. This is priority one until it’s done.
The fundemental rights of all Americans must be upheld and protected by law from any discrimination based on gender expression, sexual orientation or identification.
Our democracy is under attack and the man in the White House not only refuses to acknowledge it, but actively encourages it, often praising the murderous Russian dictator and carrying out his agenda of weakening the West.
America has had enough of corrupt, morally bankrupt Republican politicians who put loyalty to wealthy NRA extremists over the safety of the American people when they vote down even the most commonsense regulation of the firearms market.
Close the legal loophole that allows foreign nationals or entities to hire lobbyists to meet with or donate directly to politicians to persuade them to vote favorably for the foreign interest.
Expand conflict of interest laws for Congress, curb the revolving door between Congress and high-paying private sector jobs, prohibit members of Congress from serving on for-profit boards, and end taxpayer-funded settlements for officeholders.
Americans have a right to know exactly who is making donations to political parties and candidates. No more “dark money” or anonymous funding of super PACs, and no loopholes allowing foreign money to infiltrate American democracy.
Limit current and future Senators to a maximum of two 6-year terms, and members of the House of Representatives to six 2-year terms in office.
Ultra-wealthy companies Intuit and H&R Block are bribing politicians to vote for a law that would actually forbid the IRS from ever providing free e-filing software. This is deeply corrupt. No one should have to pay unnecessary fees to parasitic mega-corps just so they can file their taxes online.
Have an independent, non-partisan commission periodically redraw all congressional districts to remove and prevent unjust gerrymandering which disenfranchises voters and allows unpopular candidates to steal elections they could not win fairly.
Saudi Arabia is an anti-democratic monarchy that practices sharia law, violently oppresses women and minorities, butchers journalists, and is waging a cruelly inhumane war. The US must not support such governments militarily or financially.
Make voting more convenient for working people, seniors, and members of the military who move often. Ensure that all eligible citizens have their access to the ballot box protected, including restoring voting rights for minority communities.
Using people’s medical history as an excuse to charge them exorbitant fees or deny them coverage altogether is a form of ruthless cruelty that hurts those who are already hurting the most, and runs contrary to the nature and purpose of health insurance.
25% of American women have been victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner. Women in America are 1600% more likely to be murdered with a firearm than in peer countries. Abused women are 500% more likely to be killed by their abuser if the abuser owns a firearm.
Even membership in a terrorist organization does not prohibit a person from possessing firearms or explosives. Democrats’ attempts to correct this have been shut down by unpatriotic Republicans acting against the will and safety of the American people.
Americans have been appalled since Republicans in the 1980s slashed vital social spending and emptied federal treatment centers, releasing tens of thousands of mentally ill citizens onto the streets. All so they could give more tax breaks to mega-corps and the ultra-rich.
Lack of net neutrality allows mega-corp service providers like Comcast or AT&T to greedily gouge customers by artificially slowing or blocking certain content (like Skype, Netflix, Hulu, etc) unless customers pay exorbitant extra fees.
Whistleblowers risk their jobs and family safety to report violations of law, gross waste of funds, abuse of authority, or danger to public health and safety. They must be protected from retaliation intended to keep others from coming forward.
Dangerously antiquated state laws should be overridden by a federal law ensuring that all rapists are punished regardless of their relationship to the victim.
Right-wing Supreme Court justices acted against the wishes of the American people in 2010, absurdly classifying corporations as people and money as a form of speech, thus removing any limits on political donations from billionaires and mega-corps at a time when Americans want less money influence in politics.
A survey of convicted gun offenders in 13 states found that nearly a quarter of them would have been prohibited from obtaining a firearm at the time of the crime if the minimum legal age for buying a gun was 21 years.
This is a necessary step to establish a national firearm permit system. A permit system in Connecticut dropped the firearm homicide rate by 40%, while removal of a similar system in Missouri caused a 20% increase in firearm homicides.
The FBI has recommended extending the research time to complete background checks. Also, states that implement waiting periods have seen a 17% drop in their homicide rate, which avoids about 750 gun homicides per year.
Denying a couple’s right to adopt because they are same-sex is as senseless and cruel as it would be to deny such rights to a couple because they are opposite-sex. Our priority must be to provide loving homes to children who need them.
Recent years have exposed the extent to which police officers have broken the trust we put in them to enforce the law justly and humanely. Mandatory body cams aren’t a solution, but Americans firmly believe they are a step in the right direction.
Getting the corrupting influence of money out of politics is a goal that unites nearly all Americans regardless of party affiliatinon. Even Ted Cruz and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can agree on that.
Americans are tired of inequality in all its forms, and one of the most egregious is the pay disparity between women and men for doing equal work. Federal law must ensure employers pay an equal wage for equal work regardless of sex.
Vladimir Putin is using every means at his disposal to weaken the western alliances that keep Russian aggression in check. We must firmly commit to standing with our allies against all foreign attacks, be they via tanks, hackers, or troll farms.
Americans do not want weapons designed to efficiently inflict mass numbers of casualties in the hands of ordinary citizens. No one needs an AR-15 or a bazooka to go deer hunting or to protect their family from prowlers.
An 18-year term limit could ensure each president gets 1 Supreme Court pick every 2 years. The incentive for presidents to pick young ideologues would be lessened, and fewer judges would be serving into advanced age.
Decades of Republican attacks on worker rights, unions, and corporate regulations have created an unequal America where only the rich can afford to take time away from work. Paid leave is not just better for child development, but better for the overall economy as well.
Private prisons in America originated as places where former slaves were tortured and worked to death while white businessmen and politicians got rich off their forced labor. Conditions today remain wretched. Profit is a massively corrupting influence on criminal justice.
Republicans did the bidding of mega-corp drug makers and acted directly against the wishes of the American people when they passed a 2003 law that forbids the government from negotiating for lower drug prices for Medicare, something which could save Americans an estimated $2.8 billion per year.
Americans highly value their privacy and have lost control of it. Trusting corporations or government agencies to police themselves is naive. New laws must ensure meaningful protections against the collection or monetization of private communications, information, or other personal data.
Knowing full well that the our criminal justice system unfairly targets minorities for arrest at higher rates and punishes them more harshly for the same crimes, Republicans routinely worsen the situation by preventing those who have served their time from having their voting rights restored.
Americans know that when companies compete fairly the economy grows and goods stay affordable. But for decades corrupt Republicans have been doing the bidding of mega-corps, removing rules and regulations that protect Americans from the worst excesses of unchecked capitalism.
Corrupt Republicans and their ultra-rich donors would love for Americans to forget that our top tax bracket in 1944 was 94% (on those making the equivalent of $2.5m+) and never dipped below 70% for three decades of broad economic prosperity and low levels of economic inequality.
Generations of dire warnings about the dangers of marijuana are finally being recognized as baseless conservative propaganda. Drugs that are less dangerous than alcohol should be legalized. Portugal and Switzerland are leading the way on reformed drug policies aimed at harm reduction.
Amazon rakes in billions, yet for the past two years it has paid $0 in taxes, and it’s hardly the only company to do so. Fair taxing of mega-corps could fund healthcare for all, allow investment in schools, infrastructure, and other vital services Americans want.
Parents who refuse to vaccinate their children for preventable diseases—or fail to do so in a timely manner—not only increase the risk of disease for their own children, but also increase the risk of disease for the whole community.
Our current political crisis has underscored the importance of politicians making their recent tax returns available to voters so they can verify a candidate is who they claim to be financially, does not cheat on paying their taxes, and is not indebted to powerful and hostile foreign interests.
When a CEO jacked up the price of the live-saving drug Daraprim from $13 to $750 per pill, Americans were outraged. That CEO is now in prison, but the cost of the drug hasn’t been lowered. No one should be allowed to gouge citizens on medication they need to live.
It’s not just the ultra-rich who need to step up, but all those who hire expensive lawyers and financial advisers to hide their money in off-shore accounts and exploit loopholes to avoid paying their fair share, unjustly shifting the tax burden on to the backs of those living paycheck to paycheck.
Federal firearm laws do not apply to ammunition. Sellers and sales of ammunition are almost entirely unregulated and can even be obtained online as was the case with the movie theater mass shooter in Aurora, CO, who stockpiled 6,000 thousand and 250 shotgun shells through internet purchases.
Cannabis prohibition in the US was motivated by racism, and despite equal usage among races, blacks and latinos have been arrested in far greater numbers and given far harsher punishments than whites. As this prohibition comes to an end, we must do everything we can to right these grave injustices.
A new overtime pay rule went into effect in 2016, but it has not been fully implemented or enforced by the Labor Department, in part, because of a lawsuit, and also because the Trump Labor Department is considering weakening or killing the updated rule.
Republicans politicians imperil our own and future generations by obstinately refusing to accept the reality of climate change or taking the necessary steps to mitigate its soon-to-be disastrous global effects.
Relentless attacks by ideologically-motivated extremists bent on denying women their full range of reproductive healthcare options demonstrates the need for federal law to protect women’s access to safe and legal abortion no matter where they live.
For far too long, executive pay has skyrocketed while worker pay has stood still. European countries with strong labor unions have seen far less extremes of income inequality and their workers have enjoyed greater job security, more vacation time, and greater benefits.
Adding to our already overcrowded and often violent prison population is about the worst way to deal with drug possession. If the drug is dangerous and addictive, help the user get off the drug. If it’s less dangerous than alcohol, decriminalize the drug.