For our motto
click here!
University Democrats
306 Student Union
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003
(413) 545-2578
udems@stuaf.umass.edu
[ Education | Health Care | Civil Rights | Taxes | The Economy | The Environment | Foreign Policy | Defense | Immigration ]
This section is still under construction. Many of the following statements will soon be revised and expanded. Click here to read our general motto.
UDems members: Do you see something wrong or missing? Email your suggestions and ideas to the information provider.
NOTE: The following statements do not necessarily reflect the views of all members of the University Democrats.
Complete statement to be written.
Complete statement to be written.
All civil rights statements will soon be expanded.
Affirmative Action. The unfortunate yet very real socio-economic discrepancy between African and Caucasian Americans is a DIRECT RESULT of centuries of slavery, discrimination, and racism. Is it really so bad to fight the current social inequality, to acknowledge America's past mistakes, and to foster diversity in public institutions? (That was a rhetorical question.)
Reproductive Rights. Abortion is murder if the embryo or fetus aborted is indeed an alive, self-conscient human person. Currently, there is no reason to believe that it is in the early stages of pregnancy. Therefore, a woman in that position should have the right to make her own decision concerning her body according to her personal beliefs.
GLBT Rights. There are simply too many rights denied to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT) people in addition to basic social acceptance. We must end all discrimination in areas such as employment and housing, grant same-sex partners EQUAL, (not special!) partnership rights, and prosecute violence against GLBT people as what it is: a HATE crime.
USA Patriot Act. This is one of the most threatening pieces of legislation passed in the last few decades regarding civil rights. It grants government authorities (particularly our extremist, death-penalty-hungry attorney general) unprescedented and unnecessary power to intrude on OUR privacy, OUR rights to a fair trial, and countless other fundamental civil and human rights. IT IS WRONG, IT IS UNAMERICAN, AND IT NEEDS TO BE REPEALED! ACLUMass is another RSO on campus that specifically works to fight the Patriot Act. Contact Aron (aisraeli@student.umass.edu) for more information.
Freedom of Religion. It seems that under Bush, this means money for some religious charities, but not for others. It means that Christians are allowed to have chaplains in the military; others are not. In today's pluralistic society, we need religious tolerance, not hate speach and prejudice perpetuated by Bush's buddies like Franklin Graham and Gen. Boykin.
View the CDA statement on civil rights and women's issues.
Taxes pay for public goods that everybody wants and has, yet nobody directly pays for. Don't think you need public goods? Well how about roads and highways, police and fire fighters, clean air and national parks, a military and security, education and medical research, a just court and a helping hand for the elderly, disabled, and unemployed? Republicans keep telling you, "It's your money!", while giving it away to the richest of the rich. We believe that, as Robert Reich once said, "It's your country!". Remeber: tax cuts = service cuts, so there needs to be a delicate balance between the two. A fair tax system needs to be in place to pay for all those things people need and take for granted. Speaking of "fair"...
Is THIS fair??? We don't think so! Check out this flash animation for Bush's real tax scheme.
Even college freshmen who take ECON 104 know that the best way a government can stimulate the economy is by direct speding on programs like health care, public works, the military, etc. - NOT by tax cuts! This is especially true if most of the money goes to the people who least need it. If they don't need it, they're not going to spend it! This type of "economic stimulus" ends up in rich people's bank accounts, not in the economy, where it could circulate and everyone could benefit from it. Of course, Bush wouldn't understand that because he never took ECON 104. Bottom line: This president took 3 Million jobs from the American people using his trickle-down economics, and we think that's enough!
View the CDA statement on the economy.
OK, so maybe you're not a tree hugger. Neither are most of us. But let's face it - the tree huggers have a point: If we continue treating our environment the way we do, SOON we will have no water to drink and no air to breathe (due to pollution), no cars to drive and planes to fly (due to a lack of oil), and no plants or animals to eat (due to natural disasters that will occur as a result of global warming). This is one of those problems that most people will continue ignoring until too many of us die as a result of it. It doesn't have to come to that, and the environment doesn't have to be our enemy. If we only invested a little more into environmental research and gave the car and energy industries some incentives to come up with new products and ideas, we would not only protect the environment for us and our children but also create thousands of new jobs and improve the quality of life for all. Apparently, the priorities of the Bush administration lie in protecting the corporate interest of their financial contributors, not the American people.
View the CDA statement on the environment.
It is unbelievable how this government has managed to turn nearly the entire world against it within a year, after countless countries, allies or not, have expressed an unforseen amount of solidarity with the United States after September 11, 2001. The way the war in Iraq was waged epitomizes the arrogance and disrespect Bush and his administration show to the world. Yet this did not start with Iraq. The day Bush took office, he basically started telling the rest of the world "Up yours!" by
This list could go on and on. As Fred Eckhard, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, put it: The Bush administration is "practically standing alone in opposition to agreements that were broadly reached by just about everyone else."[source] Bush's arrogant foreign policy makes us despised, not admired in the world. What's more, as a result it makes us LESS SAFE, not safer, as he claims. It is in the interest of all Americans that Bush stops making us hated and vulnarable by acting so arrogantly on OUR behalf. STOP HIM. VOTE HIM OUT!
In his election campaign, Bush touted that he will improve our military and make our country safer. Clearly, we're less safe and more vulnarable today than we were in the past decade, due to his relentless foreign policy. As far as the military itself is concerned, Bush has cut veterans' health care and prescription drug benefits and education funding for military children. He also refused to extend a temporary pay increase for troops who are in "immediate danger" in Iraq. Instead, the government wants to spend billions on a "missile defense shield", which no scientist has ever proven to work, and which violates international treaties.
Rather than wasting money like this, we should invest it into the fabric our military is made of - our soldiers! As far as defense is concerned, the best way to defend America is to make friends, not enemies abroad. Obviously we can't be friends with everybody and there are threats we need to stand up to and defend America, but we are NOT doing so by imposing our will around the globe, alienating our alies, and making new enemies. In the 21st century, we simply cannot wage random wars anywhere we please.
Statement to be written.
This is an RSO
page of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Copyright © 2004 by the University Democrats.
Problems with the website: email the information
provider.
Last updated: 02/01/2004.