Marc Brodine delivers Marxist report on global warming, March 29th, 2008 

First, thanks to the committee which helped put this report together: Sam W. from the national, John B. from Illinois, Dave Z. from Washington State, Len from Connecticut, and myself. Second, thanks to those who took the time to read through the compete report—but if you have that report in front of you, don’t try to follow along, since it is cut it almost in half to allow more time for discussion.

Global warming is not just an inconvenient truth. The result of ignoring the root causes will be much more than inconvenient. Or else understanding the root causes and other major environmental problems can lead to revolutionary truth.

We make a mistake if we look at global warming by itself, separate from other crucial environmental problems, separate from issues of economics, social justice, and capitalism.

We depend on the natural world for food, water, oxygen, raw materials, energy, beauty, many medicines, diversity of animal and plant life, and for a climate that stays within boundaries compatible with human life. Our survival as a species depends a balanced relationship with all natural systems, including climatic ones. We can’t have a healthy humanity without a healthy natural world.

Nature is not a bottomless mine from which we can endlessly extract whatever we want or need. Nature is also not a bottomless pit into which we can endlessly dump any and all waste.

Increases in scientific and technological knowledge have enabled people to utilize more natural resources, but we have acted as if our increased ability to take from nature could continue without limit. But there are real limits to human control over nature.

Marx and Engels understood that increased capitalist exploitation of nature would deplete the resources humanity needs for survival. However, later Marxists often thought that endless increases in production were possible, were the next step in “man’s triumph over nature.”

But we can’t triumph over nature. We can only understand natural systems better and work within their limits. Once we overwhelm crucial natural limits, we harm the nature on which our survival depends. We can either work with nature or nature will work against us.

As dialectical materialists, we understand that everything is connected, that everything is going through a process of constant change, and that quantitative changes lead to qualitative ones. Just as political and economic systems accumulate small quantitative changes over long periods but eventually reach a tipping point, the same is true of natural systems.

Climate change is not the only threatening environmental problem: others include the collapse of important fisheries due to over-harvesting, degradation of the soil, increased water stresses, depletion of non-renewable resources, extinction threats to many species, worldwide spread of persistent organic pollutants which harm the human reproductive and immune systems, rapidly accelerating desertification, increasing air and water pollution. To focus on global warming to the exclusion of these other problems is self-defeating. We don’t want any natural system to transform to a new state that is inhospitable to humanity. We can’t separate ourselves from nature; we are part of nature and dependent on it. We have to learn nature’s tipping points and avoid them.

Even the best-case global warming scenario requires immediate action and difficult changes, requires major efforts to adapt to the impacts, requires the transformation of how we grow, produce, and distribute food, consumer goods, energy, and housing. We must take immediate action, or else change will become increasingly difficult and expensive. We have to sound the alarm without being alarmists.

Nature is giving us urgent warnings: rapid melting and thinning ice in the Arctic, accelerating desertification, increasingly destructive storms like Hurricane Katrina, deadly heat waves like Summer 2003 in Europe, wildfires including some in the western U.S. so intensely destructive that centuries will be required to restore these forests, widespread droughts such as the current one in the Southeast U.S., and many others. The problems are speeding up, are exceeding the “consensus” predictions of a few years ago.

Prudently reducing climate-change risks requires that carbon dioxide emissions be declining globally by 2025, and be declining rapidly by 2050.

The last twenty-five years in the U.S., however, have seen changes in the wrong direction. Denying the existence of the problem, speeded up burning of fossil fuels, increasing globalized transport of goods, more highways and less mass transit, defeating all attempts to increase fuel efficiency by law, deregulating industry and finance, decreasing the role of government programs that benefit people, spreading McMansion developments and urban and suburban sprawl, accelerated cutting and burning of forests, have all resulted in speeding up our rush to destruction of environmental resources we depend on.

Key to worldwide effective action is fundamental change in policies and priorities in the U.S. The U.S. is directly responsible for about 25% of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions, and indirectly responsible for more from industry and transport geared to the U.S. market. The U.S. has been the main force blocking mandatory international action. The Bush administration, rather than increasing funds for research, has cut those funds, as if by not knowing how bad the problem is we can wish it away. The world requires that the 2008 elections result in political change in both the presidency and Congress so that the U.S. becomes fully part of the worldwide efforts to slow global warming and to adapt to the consequences.

It is not the “U.S.” in general that is causing the problems, it is the policies of the Bush administration, of the U.S. energy monopolies and their record-breaking super-profits, and the policies and practices of many other transnational corporations.

Capitalism is using the natural world as an experimental hot house, playing with the future of humanity for short-term profit. We can’t risk finding out the absolute limits of environmental support systems by passing those limits and creating a world profoundly more inhospitable to human life, and it is foolish to do so for the profit of a few.

Global Warming
Almost every day, there is more news about the current impact of global warming—from thinning ice sheets in the Artic, from the huge sections an Antarctic ice shelf that is collapsing, from more signs that spring is coming earlier on average in many places (and some places are simultaneously experiencing more intense winters), from studies that show the “dead zones” in the oceans of the world expanding, to the latest from Jim Hanson, NASA scientist and prominent climate researcher, who now thinks the world has already passed significant tipping points and we must cut carbon dioxide emissions much faster as a result.

Global warming threatens to transform the earth’s climatic systems, and transform them in ways that threaten humanity. By its very nature, global warming affects most systems on which humans depend, and threatens to create worldwide change that is profoundly hostile to human society.

The world, on average, is getting hotter—25 of the hottest 26 years on record have happened since 1980.

Global warming is caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, from burning fossil fuels, emissions from industrial processes, and burning trees and other plant material that stores carbon. These gases concentrate in the upper atmosphere and trap more of the sun’s heat, resulting in a general trend of warming the atmosphere, the land, and the oceans.

Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions come from many kinds of transportation, from coal-burning electricity-generating plants, from burning wood, from lights, from heat escaping our buildings, and from many other human activities. Currently, the world depends on fossil fuels for over 80% of all energy. Human activity also contributes when we decrease the ability of the trees, plant life, and soil to absorb carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases. The main causes of the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the last 250 years have been emissions from fossil fuels and from deforestation.

Even though global warming underlies climate change, many changes are happening in addition to warming. More intense weather events, more rainfall in some places and less in others, more snow in some places alongside glacial melting, and changes in ocean currents, are a few examples of the complex changes taking place in the world’s climatic systems.

Industrial, agricultural, and transportation systems created and used by humans are pushing nature’s systems out of their normal ranges. This is not some unstoppable natural process beyond human control—it has been caused by human activity, can be slowed by changes in human activity, or can be made worse if we continue to accelerate the rate at which carbon dioxide is spewed into the atmosphere.

Global warming causes change in many linked natural systems. Glaciers and ice sheets melt faster, seasons change with warmer temperatures happening sooner and lasting longer, snow packs melt early, and sea levels rise due to warmer water expanding.

There are already increases in the amount and intensity of extreme weather events like hurricanes, additional stresses on water systems, and stresses on agricultural systems from changes in weather patterns, in rainfall, and in seasons. There is a consistent 50-year upward trend of major flooding on all inhabited continents, sharp increases in major wildfires, and increasing premature deaths from heat, disease, and drought. Crop yields are dropping in both the tropics and in more temperate zones—for example, the current rice crisis is affected by this.

Ice and snow reflect much of the sun’s heat back into space, and when massive amounts of ice melt, the exposed water and land absorbs more heat, intensifying the effects of global warming. Melting in the Antarctic and of the Greenland glaciers threatens sea level rises of not a few inches but of many feet. This likely isn’t going to happen this year or even next decade, but unless we take action now, we guarantee that it will happen, destroying the homes and cities of billions of people.

Sea level increases already threaten the water supplies of millions, even from less than one inch of increase. Since higher ocean water leaks into aquifers, salt water infiltrates the fresh water supplies that people use for drinking. This is already happening in Florida, in the Caribbean, and in some Pacific island nations.

Deforestation in the Amazon, in Indonesia, in Northern Canada, and in Siberia, is accelerating right at the time we should increase the amount of land devoted to forests. This isn’t an accident; it is a result of rampant capitalism.

Greater accumulations of greenhouse gases will lead, in incremental, linear fashion to higher sea levels, greater changes in rainfall, larger areas experiencing drought.

But impacts also come from the way some systems transform to qualitatively different states. For example, permafrost across much of the far north is starting to melt, and locked in that permafrost are massive amounts of methane, which are released once the permafrost melts. This means that the natural world could release more greenhouse gases on top of what human activity does directly, intensifying and speeding up the results.

Another example: most of the rivers in Asia are fed by glacial melt from the Himalayas. As those glaciers melt faster, this will first result in more water and increased flooding. But as the glaciers disappear, most of the water that over 1.2 billion people depend on will disappear. This directly threatens human life as well as crucial agricultural systems, and these glaciers may disappear as soon as the middle of this century.

We can expect other indirect results from global warming. Many scientists warn of the threat of escalating extinction of many animal species, alongside the potential for explosive growth of some destructive insect species. In Alaska, since the weight of melting glaciers is so much less, there is increased earthquake activity. Increasing water stresses have the potential even in the short-term to foster war—the UN says that this is a major contributing factor to conflict in Darfur.

Global warming makes other environmental problems worse. As increasing heat expands the Tropics, tropical diseases spread, such as malaria. Desertification is rapidly increasing, taking land out of production which is needed to grow food.

The climate change challenge leaves only three options:
Mitigation (to reduce the causes)
Adaptation (to adjust to the adverse affects), and
Human suffering.
The less mitigation and adaptation we do and the longer we delay, the more human suffering will occur.

We Can’t Profit Our Way to a Solution
Much discussion of global warming blames individual consumption, and most of the solutions proposed are market “solutions” like the various cap-and-trade schemes, or technological fixes that will supposedly magically save us.

We can’t wait for socialism before we take action on global warming. We need a mix of governmental laws, steps that involve the market, and steps that take us past a strictly market approach. We may find some temporary allies among capitalists who expect to make money from producing solar panels, for example, even as we recognize that fundamental solutions require socialism. This doesn’t mean that Communists become advocates of profit. However, we have to be realistic about how immediate action can happen in the U.S.

Technological innovation and change are necessary elements of what we need, even though there is no single “technological fix”. We need new technological tools and ways to capture useable energy, but we also need social, political, and economic change to go along with new technology.

There are direct human costs of capitalism, rooted in the exploitation of human labor for profit, but there are also serious environmental costs. Capitalist production, agriculture, and distribution exploit the natural resources we depend on, in an ever-speedier race to catastrophe.

Capitalism is based on creating increased profits and intensified exploitation, on restlessly and relentlessly seeking ever-expanding markets and production, on turning more of human activity into commodities, on calculations of short-term profit, on the anarchy of production, and on growing capitalist globalization.

Capitalism privileges profits over people, short-term speculation over long-term sustainability; it privileges exploiting nature, workers, and consumers over mutually sustaining relationships; it privileges rapid depletion of raw materials and resources over investing in changing industrial processes; and it prioritizes paying the least amount possible for labor, raw materials, energy inputs, and waste disposal outputs.

Humanity can no longer afford the current energy systems, the current industrial system, the current agricultural system. We especially can’t afford the rich and their transnational corporations. We can’t afford their short-sighted focus on short-term profit, and we can’t afford their attempts to dominate the political process.

Transnational corporations and their owners did the most to create the problem, benefit the most from the way things are, and are among the main obstacles to the changes humanity needs.

Global climate change throws the short-comings of capitalism into sharp relief. We can’t ultimately profit our way out of the crisis, we can’t “market solution” our way out of the crisis, and we can’t leave solutions up to those who profited most from creating the problems and who benefit most from business as usual. We can’t trust “green marketing” or “greenwashing” such as ads for clean coal, or the ad I saw last night that proclaimed “think green, think Waste Management.”

Taking action will create millions of new jobs, will create new economic activity. In the long term, economic development that doesn’t destroy the environment is essential for our continued survival. Economic development that prioritizes the quality of human life over the amount of goods or the amount of profit requires socialism.

We need more than minor adjustments. We need fundamental reconstruction of industry, to utilize energy more efficiently, to capture waste energy, to prevent the creation of pollution, and to use renewable energy to the maximum extent possible. We need major reorganization of our transportation systems, so that trains are used for transporting goods rather than trucks, so that affordable hybrid and electric cars are manufactured, so that mass transit is funded over more highway construction, and so that fewer goods are transported around the world in service of the cheapest wages and highest short-term profits.

We need fundamental changes in agriculture, so more food is grown closer to where it is sold and consumed, so there is more organic agriculture, so there is less reliance on fertilizers and pesticides. We need less mechanized industrial-scale farming. Instead, we need more labor-intensive, smaller scale farming to replace agribusiness monoculture. This too will create more jobs.

Such major changes in how we live, move, produce, grow, and market can’t be made based primarily on profit considerations. They require long-term planning, massive investment in redesigning and re-engineering, collective input, husbanding resources, social investment in research for long-term sustainability, and major conservation efforts. Capitalism is incapable of such transformation, and market-driven changes are incapable of setting correct priorities for people. We need democratic decision-making based on the latest scientific knowledge of integrated ecological systems, and on the known long-term dangers of continuing humanity’s destructive imbalance with nature.

Various approaches blame the victims. Supposedly the only solution is to change individual consumer choices, since people in general are claimed to cause the problem. But consumers, workers, and poor people don’t have any say in energy plant construction, in decisions about trade or plant relocation or job export, in deciding on tax subsidies to polluting industries like the oil industry. The biggest problems are not caused by individuals but by the way the system privileges short-term profits over human need and over nature’s sustainability.

Others blame population increases as the root of the problem. While restraining population increases is part of a comprehensive program, if we cut the population but continue the same economic and production systems, the crises will still happen.

Sometimes environmental problems are explained using gross averages, which conceal as much as they reveal. Comparing the “carbon footprint” of people in different countries conceals huge class differentials in both energy use and decision-making power. Averaging my personal energy footprint with that of Bill Gates or Donald Trump doesn’t provide much useful information, but can be used to blame everyone for causing problems that only capitalists are responsible for.

In any class-divided society, the rich and powerful use their wealth and power to escape the consequences of any crisis. They place the blame and burden on workers and poor people. They profit from human suffering. They have vested interests in continuing to profit from business-as-usual.

With the current recession, we hear again that “we” have to get the economy moving before thinking about action on global warming. It is too expensive to do anything; “we” can’t afford it. But putting profit and the market first is a major part of what got us into this fine mess. More of the same is a recipe for greater disaster, as is delay.

Partial Solutions
Biofuels are often touted as a solution. However, biofuels from corn, which Bush promotes, drive food costs higher. Already there has been a “tortilla crisis” in Mexico as a result. Burning biofuel adds to greenhouse gases, though not as much as fossil fuels. A massive increase in biofuels from food crops means solving an energy problem by creating a food problem, which is short-sighted and counterproductive, and will contribute little to solving global warming.

“Cap and Trade” market programs will at best only slow the rate of increase of greenhouse gas emissions.

The cheapest, fastest, cleanest source of fast emission reduction is to increase the efficiency of energy use in buildings, industry, and transportation—higher fuel efficiency standards, capturing wasted energy, insulating new buildings to use less energy in the first place and retrofitting existing buildings. Many of these will not only save energy and cut emissions, they will save money and reduce other kinds of pollution. However, the longer these steps are delayed, the higher the cost.

More nuclear power plants and supposedly “clean” coal are not the solution either, though those industries are promoting government subsidies and tax incentives, using global warming as an excuse for more profits.

“Solutions” which ignore the class divisions in society can at best only postpone the worst impacts of global warming and of an unsustainable economic system.

The Environmental Movement
Solving the environmental problems confronting humanity requires broad-based, majority movements. Environmental issues connect to issues of class and race, poverty, working class power, democracy, public policy, taxation, private property rights, and many others. Part of our job is to learn and teach these connections, and to organize multi-issue coalitions which can tackle them.

Like other major problems, environmental challenges cannot be met without ending the Iraq War, because otherwise the necessary funds will not be available.

Unions are beginning to address global warming, beginning to resist attempts to place the burden of the crisis on the backs of their members and other working people, holding conferences and participating in coalitions. There is more cooperation between unions and environmental groups, including projects such as the Apollo Alliance. The “Blue-Green Alliance” between the Sierra Club and the Steelworkers Union, has an advanced program to create “green jobs” that has already influenced the election debate. They just sponsored a National Green Jobs Conference in Pittsburgh, with the aim of “moving our country rapidly toward leadership in promoting a new green economy.” Conference conveners included the AFL-CIO, Change to Win, many environmental groups and coalitions, some major businesses, and some governmental bodies.

Some environmentalists condemn the labor movement and workers in general for being “backward” at tackling climate change. They see workers as part of the problem, rather than seeing that workers are essential to the solutions we need. They see changes in the climate but not political changes in mass consciousness. The working class, in the U.S. and also internationally, is the only force with the potential power to create the fundamental changes we need, the only force capable of wresting power from the corporations and wealthy.

International Injustice, International Action
The effects of global climate change are international but uneven. Many of the earliest effects sharply impact developing countries, and hit poor and working people hardest. Less industrialized counties have fewer resources to ameliorate the human suffering from these impacts.

However, the industrialized countries are responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. The industrialized countries did the most in the past to create the problem, and are still doing the most in the present to make it worse. Yet the ones paying the highest costs are the masses in Africa and Asia, Central America and the Caribbean and Pacific island nations, many of whom have contributed the least to creating our climate change problems, who already live closest to the edge, oppressed and exploited by capitalist globalization.

This imbalance is made even worse by international debt, by the “structural adjustment” programs imposed on many of these countries by the IMF and World Bank.

We should support the transfer from developed countries to developing countries of sustainable technology, and funds for capital investment in sustainable agriculture, energy, and industry. We should support efforts to get the developed nations to make major contributions to a fund to protect the rainforests from devastation.

Cuba is a beacon of environmental change. With changes already underway in agriculture, transportation, recycling, oil use, etc., Cuba provides ample proof of the potential of socialism to transform the human relationship with the natural environment. Cuba also provides evidence that the necessary changes are possible, because they have already made many of those changes. Their efforts range from changing all light bulbs in the country to compact florescent bulbs (saving 75% of the electricity and decreasing carbon dioxide emissions significantly) to urban agriculture that absorbs more carbon dioxide, lessens the “heat island” affect of urbanization, decreases the amount of oil used to transport food, involves large sections of the population in carrying out such transformation, and saves the country much-needed money. Shifting much local transportation from cars to bikes and public transportation, shifting much agriculture to organic methods, and instituting massive recycling efforts provide world leadership. Cuba’s internationally recognized hurricane response efforts show that adaptation efforts can succeed in saving money, lives, animals, and other resources. Cuba has increased the amount of land which is forested from 15% to 25% over the last several decades. The cooperation between Cuba and Venezuela, and between Cuba and China, are examples of ways around the world market by barter and exchange that provide real solutions rather than maximum private profit.

China provides more problematic examples. China is continuing to experience unrestrained development and massive projects that are harmful to the environment, but also is increasing serious efforts to address environmental degradation.

On the positive side, China has recently turned down over $90 billion in proposed development projects for environmental reasons. They just upgraded their environmental agency to a full Ministry with enhanced monitoring and enforcement authority. China has higher standards for automobile efficiency than the U.S. They have massive reforestation projects underway. China is beginning to play a more positive role in international negotiations about climate change. They have committed to getting 20% of their energy from renewable resources within a few decades, and already much of the energy to heat water for homes comes from renewable sources. They are engaged in experiments with environmentally sound new cities, with rooftop gardens, with mass transit, with calculations of “Green GDP.”

On the negative side, rapidly increasing automobile use increases demand for highways, for oil, for parking lots. There are large-scale projects being contemplated to change rivers, build dams, build many more coal-fired electric plants, and increase monoculture industrialized farming. China soon will pass the U.S. as the single largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions (though still far less on a per capita basis). China still opposes mandatory restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions, providing cover for the Bush administration’s position. And while China has fairly good environmental laws on the books, they are widely ignored due to insufficient funding for enforcement. Some Chinese economists calculate that the benefits of increased economic activity are canceled by the costs of air and water pollution, of desertification and soil degradation, of increased water stress, and by the increased health problems resulting from air and water pollution.

There is an internal debate and struggle going on within China over environmental and development issues. We need to recognize and acknowledge the complexity and real problems the Chinese face, rather than condemning them or ignoring the real difficulties they face.

Developing countries including China correctly point to the legacy of imperialism, and to the emissions now and in the past of the industrialized countries.

But, however just these complaints are, nature is letting us know in no uncertain terms that the development path which the U.S. and Western Europe took is not a sustainable option. We need both to change production in developed countries, and to create a new path for sustainable development for developing ones.

To achieve global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, a binding, enforceable global agreement is essential. China and the U.S. have to sign on—and our main responsibility is to fundamentally change priorities here in the U.S.

Our Party can help win our international movement to understand this issue. While some parties are developing a global climate change program, many do not yet even acknowledge the existence of this issue as one they need to address. Our example, by focusing on environmental crises and movements, by engaging in ideological, programmatic, and practical efforts, can be an important part of winning the international Communist movement to a better understanding of and involvement in this struggle.

What this means for the work of Communists
It is a mistake to think that understanding and acting on environmental problems can be left to someone else.

Too often we have seen environmental issues as one more addition to the long list of things we ought to be doing something about but can’t. We’ve approached environmental issues as if that meant dropping what we are currently doing to switch to a different movement. But the reality is that whatever struggles we are already involved in have an environmental side, and these aspects are increasing in importance.

Environmental issues are part of most major electoral battles, and will play bigger roles in the future.

Many unions must deal with environmental issues on the job, where workers are subjected to the introduction of new and untested chemical compounds, about 4,000 per year, many of which affect the reproductive and endocrine systems in the human body.

War is extremely destructive of human and natural environments. Ending arms sales, ending invasion and occupation, ending the militarization of space, ending the production of nuclear weapons and eliminating the ones already deployed, ending wasteful military production, ending wasteful transport of military personnel to military bases around the world, all are environmental angles to the struggles for peace, justice, and equality worldwide.

Creating a sustainable economy that doesn’t degrade our environment is an important aspect of the youth movement—protecting the earth for the young and for future generations.

Environmental racism means that people of color are much more likely to live and work in the most polluted places, face the heaviest health impacts of pollution, and have the least access to methods and resources that ameliorate those impacts. Environmental struggles must address the real-world impacts where people work and live, how this adds additional stresses on top of exploitation and oppression, and results in degraded health and destroyed potential.

While it is a mistake to blame all environmental problems on individual choices, we need to encourage changes in personal habits and practices, and make those changes ourselves. Changes in individual shopping, consumption, car use, and recycling are all necessary, though they are not sufficient and though this is not our major contribution.

Other aspects of our role include getting our organizations to include tackling global warming and other environmental demands in their programs, explaining the links between environmental issues and other issues to the people we work with, explaining the ways in which the capitalist system is ultimately unable to solve global warming, and building coalitions that include environmental organizations and demands.

Proposals
We recognize and applaud the efforts that both the PWW and PA have made to increase coverage of environmental issues.

We need to revitalize our Environmental Commission, continue to increase our coverage of environmental issues in the PWW and PA, include environmental demands in our electoral programs, and revise and reissue a third edition of our Environmental Program “People and Nature Before Profits.”

We want to place the following motion before the NC:
1. Encourage clubs to have educationals based on this report over the next year.
2. Instruct the National Board to reconstitute an Environmental Commission.

How would a communist USA pay for "free" health care and education?
Author: Marc Brodine
First published 04/23/2008 16:39

In a time when all politicians are crying about too little money to pay for programs, and with an administration racking up the biggest deficits in history (even bigger than the Reagan deficits!), the problem of how to pay for social programs seems insurmountable.

However, there are large amounts of money available. One source would be to cut the military budget by half—still leaving us with the largest military budget of any country in the world (instead of as large as all other countries combined, as at present), and transferring the funds to social programs. That would amount to several hundred billion dollars per year. We could provide for all real defense needs if we weren’t maintaining hundreds of overseas bases, if we weren’t engaging in military adventurism to the tune of billions per year, if we didn’t run military construction on a “cost plus” basis to give super-profits to the military industrial complex.

If we returned the tax rates to the levels in the 1960s, with higher tax rates for the wealthy and corporations, that would raise additional hundreds of billions of dollars per year.

Such steps would be enough to pay for free health care and education for all, and for stepping up many other social programs, and for avoiding the manufactured “Social Security crisis” they keep trying to frighten us with.

None of these steps is revolutionary, just radical reformism—for example, returning to the tax rates of the 1960s wouldn’t cripple the capitalist system, capitalists made plenty of money in the 1960s, it was a boom period, so such tax rates aren’t “confiscatory.” But returning to those rates would solve the current massive budget deficits of the federal, state, and municipal governments.

If we go farther and take revolutionary steps, nationalizing the major industries and finance capital (banks, etc.), the profits, instead of enriching the wealthy, could be used to provide greatly increased benefits for the working class, the large majority of the population, those who in fact create all that wealth.

In other words, we favor progressive tax structures, favor increasing taxes on the wealthy, favor removing the cap on Social Security taxes (bringing in billions more every year and keeping that system financially solvent way past the baby boom retirement years by making the rich pay the same percentages as the rest of us). We oppose both flat rate taxes and sales taxes (except those on luxury goods), as falling heaviest on working families and the poor.

How would free education and free medical care be paid for? Right now, each year billions of dollars go into the pockets of already wealthy capitalists. That’s one source of money to pay for these changes. Right now much of our tax dollars go to making repayments on the national debt, billions of dollars a year, and this is another source of money—if the banks and other financial institutions are nationalized, then the democratic political structure can rationally decide on realistic repayment options and interest rates, freeing up much of this money for public benefits. Another source is that, contrary to the common claim that private business can do everything cheaper, many things can be done more cheaply by government, by pooling resources, by maximizing economies of scale, by eliminating unnecessary paperwork. Before you guffaw, since government right now causes much unnecessary paperwork, let me point to a program that works well. In Washington State, the state provides worker’s compensation benefits—prvides the insurance for workplace injuries. Private insurance companies, on top of their profits, run about 20% administrative costs. Since they are banned from operating in the state (except for large employers who can set up their own programs under certain conditions), and the state thus covers everyone, they keep the administrative costs to about 2%! In years when the state’s investments are paying well, the program has actually returned money to the state treasury, since there are no profits and since administrative/paperwork costs are so low. No doubt many government programs don’t work this way, but it is possible, especially when they are not set up to provide profits to the private sector. This is another source of billions.

For another example, if we as a society continued to spend the same amount of money on health care each year, but had a single-payer nationalized health care system, we could cover everyone for the same amount we spend now. That’s right, for the same amount, everyone could be covered if we eliminated the profits and excessive administrative costs of the insurance companies, the for-profit health care chains, the pharmaceutical companies, and similar needless expenses.

Author: Joelle Fishman, Chair, Political Action Committee, CPUSA
First published 04/10/2008 16:31
 
INTRODUCTION

Sam’s report lays out the extraordinary democratic struggle engulfing our country, and challenges us as Communists to make our contribution to the forward motion of our class and people.

The unprecedented voter turnout in the Democratic primaries reflects excitement at the possibility of the first African American or the first women President. Even more, participation in the primaries is being driven by the desire to pull the country out of Iraq, out of the economic crisis, out of the health care crisis, out of concern for immigrant rights, and out of the nightmare conditions in the country after three decades of ultra-right corporate power.

Millions of voters are making the connections between spending on the war and their own economic well-being. This election presents an historic opportunity to breakthrough and change the political landscape.

The grand coalition of the AFL-CIO and Change to Win along with National Council of La Raza, Women’s Vote, ACORN, MoveOn and Rock the Vote has launched the biggest ever independent voter mobilization, which is at the heart of winning a massive turnout on election day and after.

The purpose of this report is to discuss how we contribute to the remarkable movement growing in our country, how we can help build the unity needed to defeat the ultra-right with a landslide vote, and how we can build the movement and the Communist Party and YCL to achieve bold and sweeping gains in the post-election period.

LANDSLIDE

Mobilizing a landslide win against the ultra right, necessary to turn the country around, is at the center of our tactics.

The severe damage from three decades of policy rooted in super exploitation and world domination will not be easy to reverse. A token recovery package will not lift working people out of the economic crisis that is crashing down around us. A massive voter turnout in November is needed to provide a strong enough mandate for a completely new set of policies..

A landslide vote that changes control of the White House and improves the balance of forces in the House and Senate and in the states will create a new political dynamic in our country and the possibility to win gains far beyond the current platform of either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton.

We do not yet know who will emerge, but with each new phase of the campaign Obama is proving to have the greatest potential to bring out a landslide vote to defeat John McCain, and the greater openness to working with mass movements. His recognition of the role of the people in moving history forward, and his message of “inclusion not division” inspires youth and all generations to get involved It reflects his own life experience.

In response to right-wing media attacks and the Clintons’ dangerous and opportunist negative campaigning, Obama’s profound speech tackling race and racism in America opens a new door to uproot the legacy of slavery and the devastation of the era of ultra-right domination. He makes a deep contribution to unity in the way he addresses white people and shows that racism holds everyone back and the progress made in overcoming racism benefits everyone. Bill Richardson’s response, embracing Obama’s vision and addressing racism against immigrants and Latinos further uplifts the level of unity.

But whether the nominee is Obama or Clinton the landslide vote must be fought for as a necessary first step to winning a different direction for our country. Neither candidate is of the left. But history teaches us that when mobilized, labor and people’s forces can push through and win progressive gains in a climate like today. Franklin Delano Roosevelt did not run on a New Deal program, but was propelled to create it by the unity in action of millions of unemployed and their allies. A landslide vote gives leverage to organize with the new President and Congress.

Peace and labor candidates for the House and Senate will benefit from a landslide vote. With enough progressives in Congress it will be possible to outweigh the Republican-Conservative Democratic alliance that has stalled progress. This alliance made it impossible to override presidential vetoes including a timetable to exit Iraq, expansion of SCHIP, and is now pushing the anti-immigrant, anti-labor SAVE Act HR 4088 which must be defeated.

It will take registering and mobilizing millions of new voters plus the votes of independents and some Republicans on top of a huge Democratic turnout to add up to the landslide that can break the chains of ultra-right corporate dominance.

MC CAIN

At the center of our election policy is keeping the fire on the ultra-right, John McCain and the Republicans in order to defeat them overwhelmingly.

The latest polls show that in a generic match-up, Democrats have a 13 point lead in the Presidential election. But in a specific McCain - Obama or McCain - Clinton match-up it is neck-in-neck, with a slight Democrat advantage. Once the Democratic nominee is known, and the campaign zeroes in on challenging McCain, these figures can be expected to improve.

John McCain is a representative of the military industrial complex and a favorite of Wall St. He intends to carry on the Bush agenda, and worse. His folksy image is a cover. The true John McCain must be made known. The stark contrast of McCain with either Obama or Clinton on a few top issues makes the case for an all-out campaign to defeat the ultra-right in this election.

McCain says he is for working people. But McCain, like Bush, opposes the Employee Free Choice Act which makes it easier to form a union.. At the AFL-CIO debate attended by 17,000 in Soldiers Field last year a commitment was secured from every Democratic candidate to sign the Employee Free Choice Act if elected President. Removing the barriers to join a union will vastly increase the size of the labor movement and its ability to mobilize for better conditions on the job and in the electoral arena. An enlarged labor movement is key to winning greater democratic victories post-election.

McCain supports Bush’s proposed permanent tax cuts for the super rich. The Democratic candidates oppose these obscene tax cuts, which is a good starting point We say that the taxes on the rich should be rolled back at least to 1970's levels to restore the ability of the government to meet social needs. This fight can be won with a new President, a stronger Congress and a new political climate..

McCain supports Bush’s pre-emptive war policy. He plans to stay in Iraq and expand the war to Iran and beyond.. Strong anti-war sentiment pushed the Democratic candidates to commit to end the war, although not as comprehensively or rapidly as can be. Obama has a stronger position, but both Clinton and Obama are for bringing the troops home. We disagree with their willingness to utilize troops in Afghanistan. But the first step to a new policy in the Middle East is to bring the troops home and provide for their needs when they return.. The biggest step to resolving the economic crisis is stop spending $500 million a day for the war and occupation. A landslide Democratic vote in November is the best way to begin troop withdrawal. In a new climate, a new foreign and military policy based on diplomacy and nuclear non-proliferation can be fought for more effectively.

McCain, like Bush has no solution to the health care crisis. His plan would not cover any additional people, would not cut costs and relies entirely on big insurance companies. The healthcare plans of both Clinton and Obama are limited, with a combination of public and private coverage. But both look to covering everyone. We support a universal not-for-profit single payer system. HR 676, introduced by Rep. John Conyers. It is based on expanding and improving Medicare and has the endorsement of 389 labor organizations. Conyers, speaking at the Take Back America conference, stressed that number one to winning his bill is getting the presidency out of Republican control, which will give leverage to the growing movement for single-payer .

If John McCain is to be defeated overwhelmingly, his positions and voting records and his ties to the policies of George W. Bush and the ultra-right on these issues and others must be made widely known.

There are many creative materials. The AFL-CIO’s John McCain Revealed program is up and running for labor councils and union locals. Brave New Films’ The Real McCain videos are available on YouTube, the McBush Campaign of Americans United for Change, the Bush Legacy Project which will be touring the country, the Alliance of Retired Americans truth squad to expose McCain’s support for privatizing social security

The People’s Weekly World - Nuestro Mundo has been doing an excellent job exposing John McCain. There is a proposal for a pamphlet to be issued by the paper on McCain and the need for the landslide vote to defeat him.

HOUSE AND SENATE TARGETS

There must be both a change in control of the White House and a bigger shift in Congress to begin to chart a new policy course.

Many progressives and others are discouraged that despite the 2006 election in which voters changed congress to end the war, 4,000 US soldiers and many times more Iraqi soldiers and civilians have been killed and the war and occupation continue. Yes, the Democratic leadership could have returned the same bill the President vetoed again and again, and perhaps that should have been done.

But there is no escaping the reality that it would take a hundred percent of the Democratic caucus plus some Republican votes to override a presidential veto. But, a grouping of conservative Democrats has been voting with Republicans around the war and security issues

Of 232 Democrats in the House, 48 belong to the conservative Blue Dog Caucus and 60 are in the centrist New Democrat Coalition. In contrast, 73 are members of the Progressive Caucus, 43 are in the Black Caucus and 20 are in the Hispanic caucus. (Overlapping memberships have to be taken into account.)

In addition to increasing the number of Democrats in general there is a necessity to increase the number of pro-labor and peace Representatives in Congress.

The ultra-right is forging ahead with a $2 million “swift boat” style smear campaign funded by “Defense of Democracy.” Attack ads against 15 Democrats who won in traditionally Republican districts in 2006 claim they pose a security danger to the country for voting against domestic spying.

The “Defense of Democracy” Board includes neo-cons Newt Gingrich, Bill Kristol and Richard Perle and also Senator Joe Lieberman, who is meeting stiff opposition in Connecticut.

The answer to this type of strong arm tactic is not to give in. The voice of peace and labor constituents must be heard in these districts both to re-elect, but also to establish a progressive mandate that reflects the shift in thinking taking place throughout the country.

Dennis Kucinich, won a vicious primary challenge with strong labor support. His main opponent spent $500,000 largely from AIPAC supporters. This victory shows challenges from the right wing can be overcome with a strong connection to the grass roots and a principled fight.

28 Republican incumbents in the House and 6 in the Senate are not running for re-election. The chance of these seats flipping to Democrat increases if the Presidential candidate wins with long coat tails..In the Senate, there is a chance to gain a 60-seat Democratic majority which could override filibusters

Democrat Bill Foster set off a political earthquake when he won the seat vacated by former Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert showing that red districts can flip to blue. Foster was not the most progressive Democrat in the race, but the day he was sworn in his vote defeated a Republican procedural measure [207-206] and the independent ethics panel passed.

Donna Edwards stunned the political world with her 25 point primary victory over conservative Democratic incumbent Al Wynn in Prince Georges County, Maryland, which is encouraging to other pro-labor, peace and progressive candidates.. She is one of ten peace candidates for Congress running on “A Responsible Plan to Withdraw from Iraq.” which is a detailed, comprehensive plan to end the Iraq War and bring our troops home. Darcy Burner, candidate in Washington’s 8th CD initiated the report because voters kept asking how the war will end. All Congressional candidates are welcomed to sign on.

CORE FORCES AND BUILDING THE TURNOUT

The shifts we noted at our last National Committee meeting continue to materialize, with Latinos, youth and women increasing their Democratic vote, African American voters increasing their turnout in the South, and the religious right continuing to lose ground among rural voters.

We have a special responsibility to build the strength of labor, African American, Latino, women and youth voters – the core forces within the broad people’s alliance to defeat the right wing. Their leadership will be critical to win the election and then post-election to shape the demands for new policy and build the mass pressure to enact them.

Labor

The AFL-CIO and Change to Win unions are collaborating on the largest voter mobilization in history. “An army of shop stewards” is being trained for rapid response mobilization in the workplace and neighborhoods. Postcard campaigns with the goal of one million signers each have been launched in support of the Employee Free Choice Act and for universal healthcare. Everyone can be involved and reach out.

The community affiliate Working America is active in 14 states with 2 million members. Ohio and Pennsylvania are among the battlegrounds.

The primaries have been challenging because of the different union endorsements and the need to keep unity for November while at the same time building support for Obama. Change to Win has activated their member-to-member operation for Obama. Twelve AFL-CIO unions have endorsed Clinton with different amounts of activation, six have endorsed Obama and the rest are waiting until the nominee is decided.

A remarkable 30% to 40% of voters who turned out so far in the Democratic primaries are union members. The media plays a negative role in promoting the idea that wage workers are Clinton voters and professionals are Obama voters. A deeper look is required. For example, in Rhode Island Change to Win union members voted 56% for Obama, but the union vote reported was 59% Clinton and 40% Obama. Clearly wage workers were among those voting for Obama, as in other states.

Union leaders are concerned that some members are drifting to McCain. A special effort has been launched to show McCain is not on the side of workers. Our labor department’s electronic newsletter Labor Up Front discusses the tough questions and gives a lead for unity on NAFTA, health care, racism and the war.

Working in the elections through a union, whether or not you are a member, is the most meaningful participation. It builds up the labor component which is key to progress. Around the country community volunteers have been welcomed at phone banks and door knocks It is also a great way to meet other union members and build relations and possibly new readers of the paper or new club members.

African American

The Obama campaign has moved the African American community in a special way, expressed in the turnout and vote. The African American vote has been the most consistent progressive voting bloc over decades, 90% Democratic. We have noted if African Americans vote the proportion of their population in South Carolina, Mississippi and Georgia those states will flip from red to blue. That process is underway, starting with the large primary turnout. Massive voter registration drives are taking place . Participating in community mobilizations will deepen our ties and contribution on an ongoing basis.

The media and the right-wing have been working overtime to diminish the African American vote. Constant distortions by FOX News and others combined with the Clinton’s slash-and-burn negative campaign has been damaging for future unity and must be challenged.

However, the media’s attempt to split the African American and Latino people is backfiring. Hype that Latinos will not vote for an African American is clearly untrue. Special outreaches are taking place locally and nationally to further cement that unity. Our election work should be carried out in such a way that fosters this unity.

Attempts by anti-immigrant groups to split the African American and Latino people are being rejected in many instances at the local level. If such fissures are left untouched it will endanger the potential of a landslide vote and movement that can chart a new course. Obama’s speech on race made a great contribution in this regard and can be drawn upon..

Latino

There has been a big increase in Latino voters in the primaries, with the largest number of young voters. Latinos represented 10 percent of the voters (up from 6.7 percent in the 2004 general election). They voted 79% Democratic (up from 60-63 percent in the 2004 general election).. The vote was in majority for Clinton, but it is fluid as Obama becomes better known. Outreach to all Latinos on all of the issues is crucial for unity in November.

Coordinated by South West Voter Project 30,000 Latino voters are expected to register in schools and churches in 13 cities by July, with another 60,000 before November, involving hundreds of youth in 15 states coordinating with 800 local organizations. The goal is 12 million registered - up from 9.5 in 2006 – and 10 million turnout.

In South Florida three Republican Cuban American Congressmen face serious Democratic challenges in a volatile election. This could reconfigure the Latino vote and flip the whole state from red to blue. Democratic Congresspersons in the adjacent districts failed to endorse the challengers, but grass roots pressure brought national Democratic Party commitments to these races.

Cecilia Munoz, president of National Council of La Raza warned at the Take Back American Conference that there is a danger the Latino voter turnout will not reach its full potential, if Democrats do not differentiate themselves from the immigrant hate legislation associated with Republicans. The discharge petition to force the anti-immigrant Save Act HR 4088 to the floor is especially dangerous. The fight to get the 49 Democratic co-sponsors, who joined with almost all the Republicans, to withdraw their support is part of the fight for a landslide vote in November.

Women

Women voters have been turning out in large numbers for the Democratic primaries. Clinton has the overall advantage, reflecting the possibility of the first woman president, and the endorsement of NOW. But women are voting for both Clinton and Obama. African American women are voting overwhelmingly for Obama. Single women have voted overwhelmingly for Obama in Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri and Utah, while Clinton carried single women in .the remaining ten super Tuesday states.

Women’s Voices Women’s Vote is concentrating on unmarried women because they vote more progressive but have not turned out. In 2006 twenty million single women did not vote. Unmarried women were 26% of all voters in the Tuesday super primaries.

Planned Parenthood has aimed its fire at John McCain, airing radio ads in February after he called for Roe v. Wade to be overturned – a good rallying cry for unity after the primaries.

Youth

When young people began flocking to vote in the Democratic primaries it galvanized the overall turnout. Young people want to impact these elections, and they want change. They want jobs, affordable education and an end to the war in Iraq. They are concerned about health care and the environment. (Rock The Vote 2/08) The number of under 30 voters in the democratic primaries tripled (3 million) from 4 years ago. My space and face book sign-ups on the internet show youth support for Obama who has 1 million “friends” compared to Clinton’s 330,000 and McCain’s 140,000. (NYT 3/27/08)

The YCL has an impressive program for the 2008 elections including a week long training in St. Louis, voter pledge cards to use with voter registration, and participation in youth vote coalitions. There is a big opportunity to connect with young people in this election. The YCL is mobilizing their clubs. Party clubs and districts can outreach to young people and work closely with the YCL to build existing clubs and new clubs.

A word about two other sectors - environmental voters and peace voters.

Environmental Voters

Environmental voters could have a big impact. The global climate change affecting our planet will not wait. Young voters, and voters in general want action. The Take Back America conference featured the Apollo Project and others including Van Jones who are organizing support for a massive infrastructure program to green the buildings in our country while creating good jobs with union rights and affirmative action in hiring as well as in selection of communities to be rebuilt. The Bush administration has taken an anti-science, arrogant and dangerous course. John McCain has a zero rating from the League of Conservation voters for missing every environmental vote of consequence in the Senate. Many environmental organizations will be involved in voter registration. We should participate.

Peace Voters

A number of initiatives are keeping the demand to end the war and occupation vocal and visible as part of bringing the peace majority to the polls.

There are many ways to participate.

United for Peace and Justice with others developed a special taskforce . They plan a Peace Voter Guide, city council resolutions to end the war, and work with members of Congress on tactics for the budget resolution.

Progressive Democrats of America launched a Healthcare Not Warfare campaign linking withdrawal from Iraq with support for HR 676 Medicare for All.

Progressives for Obama just formed. Tom Hayden, Bill Fletcher, Jr.,Barbara Ehrenreich, and Danny Glover are calling on those in the peace movement who have been sitting out the election to join the grass roots upsurge around Obama and build the demand to end the war. This call to action should be useful locally.

The fifth year of war in Iraq and the economic crisis has given rise to a new national coalition of Peace and economic rights groups and unions. American United for Change along with MoveOn, SEIU, Vote Vets, USAction and others have initiated a major effort in swing districts on the “Iraq Recession”. Their poll shows that 69 percent of swing voters want to end the war and reinvest in health care and new clean energy jobs.

CLUB AND PARTY BUILDING

The reports from around the country on activities in the elections are exciting. We have to draw conclusions from our experiences so we can do our very best in the next seven months. There are many ways to participate – directly in the campaign movement; through the mobilizations of labor and people’s organizations; in our own concentration neighborhoods. These all overlap and are interrelated.

Like the slogan “building to win, building to last,” we should systematically work in a way that both strengthens Party clubs at the grassroots and simultaneously deepens our coalition relations with labor and allies.

This is a unique time when people are stepping forward, looking for answers and re-thinking old assumptions. This is a time to renew and refresh our concentration policy.

The upsurge of activism in this election, coming out of the conditions people face, presents new opportunities for building grass roots Communist Party clubs. The new stage of struggle demands a larger multi-racial working class base and constituency for our Party.

I can hardly think of a person or family we know who is not facing some crisis about their healthcare or their job closing or maybe losing their home. They all come to the Communist Party for advise, organizing tactics and skills and we must respond directly and also by mobilizing for the elections.

I would like to suggest that one component of our election work be choosing a multi-racial working class neighborhood or election district where we want to build the Party on an ongoing basis. A voter registration and education campaign with the goal of a landslide vote in that election district could be an excellent project, using the Peoples Weekly World and other literature.

Choosing one neighborhood and taking a collective mobilization approach could make it do-able where we are small. With a little follow-up a new voter or two may also become a new neighborhood activist and help organize the community to come out to vote. This could be the basis for a new or enlarged Party club.

In Missouri comrades took a goal for “decline to sign” pledges within the coalition working to defeat the anti-affirmative action ballot initiative. They plan to do the work in a way that builds a permanent base in one neighborhood.

There are other experiences of taking responsibility within a coalition for voter registration and turnout in a certain election district and then continuing to develop relations on a regular basis with the People’s Weekly World and activity.

There are experiences of making new friends at house parties or vigils and going together to community activities or traveling together to campaign mobilizations.

One workplace club with a good Peoples Weekly World readership found that people who had never come to meetings showed up for the elections powerpoint, got involved in the primary and then traveled to a nearby state to help out.

An education component to our work will help sustain and advance new activists. We will have materials to work with.

The People’s Weekly World is our number one. Goals for new readers should be part of our election plans. The internet department is providing YouTube presentations and other resources.
Work is beginning on a short pamphlet to be issued in large quantity by the Peoples Weekly World - Nuestro Mundo on McCain and the landslide. Fliers made from the “story of the week” will be available on the paper’s website.

Our 2008 Communist Party election program will be out in May in a short pamphlet format. It will talk about the landslide and expose McCain and the corporate ultra-right. It will present a bold emergency program to repair, restore and rebuild our country out of the devastation of the last 30 years including strong measures to relieve the victims of the crisis. It will introduce the Communist Party and our vision for socialism.

We are meeting numbers of people who are excited to come to work with us on the election. They want to know about the Communist Party. This program will be an important tool designed to have broad distribution among our coalition partners as well as at the grass roots.

A statement on the 2008 election policy of the Communist Party USA, drafted by Jarvis Tyner, appears on our website,

CALENDAR

Seven months to the November 4 general election is a short time. Three weeks to the April 22 Pennsylvania primary is even shorter. Pennsylvania has emerged as very important, perhaps the decisive primary battle. There are many opportunities to campaign in person and with phone calls.

Primaries to follow include Indiana on May 7 and Oregon on May 20.

During the months of June, July and August many states have their state and congressional primaries.

The Democratic National Convention is August 25-28 in Denver. The Republican Convention is September 1-4 in Minneapolis St. Paul.

At the next National Committee meeting we can better project outward to November.

CONCLUSION

We do not know all the twists and turns that the campaign will take. The great democratic spirit spreading through the country will hopefully prevail in a big way for a transformative election. If we stay on top of new developments we will be able to play our unity role. .

Just before he was assassinated, speaking from the depths of the civil rights movement, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King gave a sermon at the National Cathedral. He called for a radical revolution of values in our country from a thing oriented society to a person oriented society so that the triple evils of racism, militarism and exploitation could be toppled. Today, that revolution of values King dreamed of is unfolding.

The movement for a landslide victory is the beginning. The more decisive the victory, the greater the possibilities for that movement to keep going and growing to win big new gains in a new stage of struggle.

POLITICAL CLIMATE

There are so many things I could talk about right now with regards to the state of education, jobs, housing, and the on-going occupation in Iraq. But these days it would be difficult to mention these things without first discussing the 2008 elections.

At this point, many of us have heard some of our older comrades compare these times to the era that gave birth to Roosevelt and the New Deal, …or the movement that forced Johnson to sign the Voting Rights Act.

I cannot claim to know what it felt like to live during those times. But I can’t help but recognize that we are living through and making our own history right now.

When was the last time we witnessed a front-runner for the presidency claim that “the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to the inequalities that passed on from an earlier generation”?

What other viable presidential candidate has refused to see racism as endemic—stating publicly how racism holds down white workers as well as Black, Latino and Asian workers?

Who was the last national Democratic leader you heard blame greedy corporations for dividing workers along racial lines?

And have you ever heard a presidential candidate acknowledge the role of discrimination in the disproportionate numbers of Black youth in prison?

The movement surrounding the candidacy of Barack Obama is epic.

What makes this candidacy epic is what it has come to represent. This campaign has wrapped up in it all the hopes and dreams for the betterment of our country and the working people it belongs to. This campaign isn’t about a man so much as it’s about what’s possible if we are able to take our country out of the tight grip of the Ultra-right.

Is Obama a Communist? Is this upsurge around Obama a Communist movement?

Of course not.

But who dare say the upsurge around his campaign does not have a working class character? These elections are a pivotal battlefield for us to turn a corner in our struggle for socialism.

No where else would we be able to struggle for such broad unity within the working class in this specific moment.

No where else would we be able to struggle and persuade on our vision for the country and our understanding of the current barriers on so many issues.

In this period, we don’t have to wax profound about all of our advanced demands in order to advance the struggle for peace and equality, as some have suggested. Our task is to build and maintain unity in this surge against Bush and the extreme right. We fight for the most advanced demands of our movement’s center, the most unifying demands against the Right.

And right now, there is unity in struggling within the movement surrounding Barack Obama, especially given the divisive attacks on Obama and the speech of Reverend Jeremiah Wright. This is where the forces of unity are mobilizing.

It is not our job to convince people to be even more advanced than they have currently come to be. We ourselves constantly proclaim that it is through experience in struggle that people are won over.

Right now, the elections are the main forum for that struggle.

The American people are fed up!

We are tired of seeing luxury condos built while our houses are foreclosed or rents increase.

We are tired of seeing tuition rise while the value of a college degree plummets.

We are tired of seeing factories shut down while Bear-Sterns and the big airline companies get bailed out by the federal government.

Where is our bail out? Who’s going to bail out the young troops that return home from Iraq?

Labor and people from every walks of life see hope in the Obama presidency, and they see someone who will be responsive to the demands of the broader people’s movement more so than Wall Street. This was exemplified when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi got a letter from big Democratic donors demanding she take back her support of Super Delegates switching their votes based on their Districts.

Now, the interests that make up Team Democrat are very complex indeed; Wall Street on one side and the unions on the other.

The fact remains, Wall Street does not want Obama to win.

We also have to ask ourselves who’s victory will the primaries be? …the movement of the people or Wall Street?

It’s not simply that Obama is a great leader. It is the recognition of the key role between leaders and the movements they represent. The Clinton campaign made some divisive remarks earlier this year, claiming that even Dr Martin Luther King needed a Lyndon B Johnson. What was missed in this remark, which was designed to de-legitimize Obama as more of a great speaker and repeater of rhetoric than a great leader—was the fact that the movement benefited in having a president that would take a phone call from Martin Luther King, and President Johnson benefited from taking that call.

Forget that little red phone commercial! The united front of American workers, Black communities, immigrants, women, and youth needs a president that will answer the phone when we call.

Let’s just look at what’s possible if and when that phone call is answered:

The Employee Free Choice Act which strengthens labor laws on behalf of workers and their unions, might not only pass through Congress but actually get signed by the president after being blocked by a Bush veto the last 2 years.

We could win adequate funding for Pell Grants, Gear Up, LEAP—all kinds of programs to help us go to college.

We could end the war in Iraq.

Now, some of you have been noticeably uncomfortable during my entire presentation up until now. And I know that all of this can be hard to take in over one sitting, so take your time. You might ask yourself how Smiley could possibly give a report like this when our policy is not to endorse any candidate outside of the Communist Party and YCL. You might even think that this is an over-simplification.

It’s true. We do not endorse Obama or any other presidential candidate.

And the post-election struggle will probably be more complicated than it is now.

Capitalism’s slip is showing, and it’s becoming more and more difficult for traditional economists to fix it each day. The global economy is going through massive shifts and transitions, with countries like China and India rising to economic dominance. Workers in the United States are grappling with how these changes will affect us while being bombarded with the options of “China-bashing” over that of showing solidarity with working people around the world.

I can’t give you a perfect prediction of what the post-election period holds. I’d only be proven wrong in January 2009.

But I would argue that it is those who say we shouldn’t participate in the movement surrounding the elections that are over-simplifying. The complexities of the post-election period are not an excuse for us not to engage in the process right now.

Will these elections be the final step towards socialism?

Not even close.

And it is important to note that only through socialism can we win real democracy, lasting peace and equality for everyone.

But why should we be cynical about it? Why should we entrap ourselves on the sidelines demanding the election of a Communist president right now? We’re not going to elect a Communist president right now. That’s not where we are at.

Aside from electing a Communist president, running a Communist presidential candidate for the purposes of raising our advanced demands would also be un-strategic in this period. Again, our goal is to remove the Ultra-right from power right now, and currently we can only do this through the Democratic Party.

Does this mean we do not put forth issues we care about?

Again, the answer is a resounding “NO”.

But the way in which we do this must be connected to the main forum of struggle for the majority of people in our country—through the elections, and in particular the Democratic primaries.

We certainly have a vision for the way things should be. And, of course, we should share that vision with others—especially when we can do it in a way that moves people to act right now. This is why the Youth Bill of Rights is such an important tool for our organization. It gives youth a vision for how things could be, and it allows us to mobilize ourselves into action.

Even when engaging in the Democratic primaries, we have to remember that we cannot judge the current candidates as Communists. They are not Communists; not even close. Instead, we have to assess the momentum of the movement that has grown out of the entire process, and continue to build unity against McCain and the Ultra-right.

Here we have one of the most historic opportunities to build unity and elect a president generally responsive to people’s needs.

Let cynics be cynical. We are not cynics.

Let us remain known for our optimism; for our love of working people, and for our desire to improve the conditions for everyone.

Let us rightfully see these elections as an incremental step towards the achievement of these broader goals; goals which require the support and commitment of the overwhelming majority of the working class to accomplish; support that we have to continue to build and fight for.

Now I have said a lot about the campaign of Barack Obama. But there is one thing I do not want to get lost in this discussion.

Even if Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic nomination, the Ultra-right will suffer a massive defeat.

A Clinton Administration would still govern to the Left of McCain, and arguably further to the Left of the first Clinton Administration. By necessity, it would be more beholden to the will of our movement. Even if the Wall Street interests within the Democratic Party would rather see Clinton over Obama, they don’t want to see a landslide victory of either. They want business as usual, and a landslide victory would be a mandate for change.

Therefore, a landslide victory by either Obama or Clinton would be a striking blow against racism and sexism in the United States; it would be a blow against the Ultra-right. We have to make this clear, especially if Clinton wins, in order to ensure unity against McCain and the extreme right wing.

Look at the times we are living in!

We have a woman who is Speaker of the House, and the Democratic presidential candidates are Black and female. And these leaders were not put forth opportunistically by the Right as some had once projected.

Obama is no Uncle Tom.

These leaders are entering the electoral arena at the will of working people.

I say this here because just as there are some of you who have either cringed at my remarks or begrudgingly and critically accepted the current situation, there are others of you who are guilty of bad-mouthing Clinton supporters and even supporting the idea of sitting it out if Clinton wins. There are some of you in the room who have been such cheerleaders for Obama that you’ve temporarily abandoned the need for unity and antagonistically chastised those who weren’t yet convinced.

This is not the role of Communists in this election.

It is important that in all the excitement, we continue to strive for unity with young people and others who support either candidate.

Clinton supporters are not the enemy.

Even some McCain supporters are not the enemy, as many of them are currently voting against their own best interests.

The enemy for us remains the extreme right, and it is our responsibility to build unity in the struggle against them. If we stick to this, the McCain supporters will eventually join us. If we hold unity above all else in our discussions, it will not be as difficult for us to win Clinton supporters over to Obama if he wins the nomination and vice versa if Clinton manages to pull it off.

This election is not about progressive Democrats vs Blue dogs, and it isn’t even about how progressive Barack Obama is or can be. This election is about an overwhelming majority of Americans’ frustration with the direction the Ultra-right has taken our country into. This election is about turning a corner in the fights for working people. And working people understand we can do that best with a Democratic majority in Congress and a Democratic president.

In fact, one day we will be the old comrades in the corner, telling stories about the glory days of our movement, of the growth of the YCL and of the Communist Party.

We have been talking about the role of our Party for quite a few years now, and I think we’re still struggling with it. But I also think most agree with what Sam has been stressing, and that is, that our role is -- as expressed in our strategic policy --- to build the movement against the extreme right. To which he adds that part of building that movement is building a bigger Communist contingent within it. This is not optional; it’s an integral part of fully playing our role.

And being part of that movement is the starting point for growing our organization. What do we mean by “the movement?” – it is those forces, organizations, sections of our people, that are coming together around the 2008 election battle.

That’s my first point – we have to be as fully involved, on the ground floor, at the grassroots, as we can be.

Transforming our Party
Second: we have characterized this political moment in our country’s history as transformational. So here’s the question: Is it possible for political life to be transformed, to undergo a leap forward, and for our Party to stay the same? I don’t think so. We will be transformed as well.

We need to look very concretely at this: how will our clubs participate in this struggle, and be transformed? How will our press be transformed? How will our use of, and presence on, the internet be transformed?

Sam pointed to the fact that we are already experiencing growth. In some places it’s modest; in others, a bit more dramatic.

But we all know that we still have a ways to go towards a situation of steady growth, and I’m not talking about growth in general, but rather, growth among people who are involved in struggle, in the movement around the elections, as well as growth of our clubs.

There is so much that is new, exciting, dramatic, in the interest and involvement of people in political life, that we have the potential for making a turn towards consistent, across-the-board growth.

So here’s the third point: there’s a caveat: just being active doesn’t build our clubs; Party growth isn’t “inevitable” and will take plenty of attention, effort and creativity.

We have to be immersed in what’s going on in a particular way. We have to be foot soldiers, and we have to get to know other foot soldiers. We have to talk to people. We have to get the PWW into their hands. And we have to find ways to talk to people about the Party.

Our clubs should be thinking about whether what they’re doing, talking about, planning, is relevant, interesting, to new friends and contacts. One example from my own club: in February, we quickly put together a Black History month house party sponsored by the PWW/NM, which Juan spoke at, on African American-Latino unity, the Obama campaign, the California primary, etc. Five people we’d met because of their interest and involvement in that campaign came to the event, and one bought a sub to the paper.

Fourth: We’ve said this many times before, and I’m going to say it again: the key to building well functioning local organization is good club leaders, who get support, attention and resources for their work.

If we haven’t already, we should consider shifting assignments, away from national and district level projects to the clubs. For the political potential of a club to be realized, we need more comrades who make it their priority. Just a small example: many clubs meet only once a month, which means only 7 meetings between now and the election. Leading comrades should plan on being at every one of those meetings, should plan other work around that, should be thinking about the club’s goals for that period and how they can help.

Fifth: we need to make concrete plans for the year ahead.

Over the next weeks, every club should have a discussion where they “get down to brass tacks” about plans for working on the election. We will be talking with district leaders and trying to help in every way we can.

In the first place, this means figuring out how to participate in the primary over the next two months. It means looking at local races, and should include an approach to voter registration, an obvious necessary ingredient for a landslide victory in November. Wherever possible, we should work with others in voter registration efforts as well as planning our own part, with concentration in the clubs’ area of responsibility.

Club plans should include either adding to or drawing up lists of people: of potential PWW readers, of people we’d like to bring closer to us and eventually recruit. It should include a list of people we’re going to ask for money. Not everyone fits in every category – and the potential subscriber list should be biggest and broadest, which I’ll get to in a minute.

Club plans should include thinking in new ways about how club meetings are conducted, who we’ll invite to them, how the educational discussions can relate to the work and fit the needs of new people we want to bring around. Are there new techniques we can utilize, for example, from the website? Again, with so few meetings between now and the end of the year, we should try to make special efforts to plan each one.

My own club’s experience over these last 3 months contains some examples of what’s new and what’s possible.

In January, we had an informal get together of friends and contacts to talk about the Obama candidacy. We invited people by email and a few with phone calls. 6 new people came to that. At that meeting two friends volunteered to sign up on the website to host future events. A house party was organized, and leafleting at the subway station.

20 people showed up at the house party, including four from our club, plus friends, neighbors, and others who’d seen the posting on the campaign website. We collected names and numbers, and made plans to continue to work on the campaign. In March, that same person hosted a call-in to Texas house party for their primary (through moveon.org). We brought members and friends to this as well.

I also signed up to participate in a “Latinos for Obama” car caravan the weekend before the primary, where I met a couple of new people. We put flyers under the doors of almost 1000 apartments in our neighborhood. On primary day, I took the day off to hand out flyers at my poll, talking with many people, and collecting the names and numbers of people interested in future work. We organized a trip to Philadelphia to register voters at the end of March, a great experience, lots of conversations and fun, and promises made to continue to work together.

All along we have been working closely with the people we’ve met, emailing back and forth about news and developments, exchanging ideas and reactions, etc. We’ve had conversations about McCain, about voter registration projects, about how to maintain unity after the primary is over. People have commented more than once about the important political and organizational contributions the Communists have made in the various meetings. We have forwarded PWW articles, and asked for subscriptions.

We’ve also been able to connect the people we’ve met in this work with other things we’re doing, including a local peace vigil on the 5th anniversary of the war and a strike support rally in the neighborhood.

I have described this in some detail just to give a sense of how what’s new – the high level of interest and involvement in politics, and new people – can become part of our regular functioning as Party clubs.

The People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo
Finally, some thoughts on building our press.

We have said that the PWW is the best tool we have – but best for what? I would say it’s the best tool for accomplishing two related, but also different, tasks:

One is to utilize the paper (including its online edition) as part of our strategic policy, namely, building the people’s movement against the right, and labor’s leading role within it. The paper is a voice of that movement, and as such, can and should have many more readers than it does.

The PWW is also the best tool we have for building the Party -- for gathering a circle of friends, neighbors, political co-workers, etc., with whom we have regular political contact. The paper gives a rounded and concrete representation of our politics. PWW readers can be brought to our events, contribute money, and of course, can be recruited into our organization. Over the coming year, we should focus on building up the readers around our clubs, and finding a variety of ways to bring them closer to the Party and our work on the election.

Today I want to focus more on the paper as a voice of the people’s movement, with a broader character and hence even bigger potential than the Party organization.

We have just finished with our subscription campaign, and first, we should congratulate ourselves on the success that getting 700 new subs in a relatively short period of time represents. It shows what can be done; it was a very good start to moving the membership towards seeing the paper’s potential.

But we also have to look at the problems in the sub drive, the biggest of which was that too few people participated in it. And I think part of the explanation for that is that over time, we have fallen into a narrow way of thinking about the paper. In practice, many comrades see the paper and the Party as the same – the problem being, that the reasons they hold back on asking people to Party events or to join become the same ones that hold them back from getting subscriptions and regular readers.

Now, let me be clear about what I’m saying, and it’s not that we should accept as insurmountable the obstacles, real or imagined, that keep people from joining the Party, not at all. What I am saying that if we don’t see the paper as having a very broad appeal, we will limit our use of it, and the tremendous potential it has for developing a much, much, much bigger readership.

And this will damage more than the size of our subscription base -- it will inhibit our ability to contribute to the developing movement, which needs this paper.

Going forward, we should find ways to transform our concept of, and use of, the paper in this direction. Though financial and staff constraints have forced a reduction in the print run, and availability of bundles, we should take this as an opportunity to turn a negative into a postive, and put a bigger proportion of our attention to increasing the subscriber base.

The most important point of all is that in this incredibly exciting election battle, we will have lots of opportunities to do so. In the next months, we should find every opportunity to make the case for the PWW as a must-read for everyone who is working to defeat the Republican right in November.

Where else will they get our take on the critical importance of the elections at this stage in the class struggle, where will they get the clarity we can offer on the many ideological issues and problems, our uniquely grounded but also optimistic attitude about the way to win? Where will they be able to read of the many ways and places that people are joining this struggle? What better source for those necessary ingredients of successful struggle – inspiration, encouragement, unity?

Proposals/concrete plans
The PWW/NM is grossly underutilized. I think it’s possible to have 10,000 subscribers, in the near future, if we focus. We need club and district to put together lists, of who they’ll ask to subscribe, to plan PWW events, to look anew at public advertising, special offers, routes, small bundles, etc. Dan is developing some proposals on these areas. If you haven’t checked out the weekly flyers (using PWW articles) we’ve been doing, you should – already 3 local areas have turned their own articles into flyers for insertion into the regular paper.

Nothing succeeds like success: we should put the next nine months on the shoulders of the past six.

-- Our aim is a much bigger readership and making PWW-building a regular, ongoing, aspect of the lives of every member, with an emphasis on subscriptions and small bundles;
-- Every club should discuss and settle on subscription goals for the rest of the year. The goals should be collectively arrived at and regularly monitored;
-- From the national office (Org. Dept and PWW Circulation), we will put more emphasis on support for club and district projects, phone-a-thons, materials, and develop new ways to promote the paper as the voice of the broader movement, with materials, special offer/promotional ideas, direct mailings, etc.

In this year ahead, let’s think big about our wonderful publication, and its role and potential in helping the developing movement.

As of this writing, the Republicans have settled on their nominee, and the U.S. is still in the midst of a Democratic primary race that has energized and mobilized millions of people, especially youth, across the country. In state primary after state primary, record numbers of people have come out to vote, or caucus, to add their voice to the millions debating the question: Who will be the Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) or Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.)?

Either way, the results will be historic: We’ll have, after the Democratic National Convention at the latest, the first-ever woman or African American presidential candidate, and, if all goes right, one of them will make history by going on to become president. This fact alone is invigorating, and the election of either will be a tremendous victory against the ultra-right. The process alone has gone a long way to dispelling much of the left-wing cynicism that set in after the 2006 electoral victories.

The 2006 results were a complicated, though definitive, victory to all youth and working people. Our country began 2007 on better political terrain than we have seen in decades, better than most youth have ever seen. The 2006 elections yielded results that only the most optimistic had expected: The ultra-right lost the majority in both the House and in the Senate.

This has radically shifted American politics in favor of young and working people, of the racially and nationally oppressed and women. For example, the day before the 2006 elections, the question in Congress was whether to stop the war in Iraq. After the elections, the question became “When?”

Congress took an initial step in the right direction on higher education by decreasing the interest rates on student loans, an improvement that will help many youth currently dependent on loans for school. Increasing the minimum wage improved the income of many working people nationwide. And the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would make it easier for workers to form unions without employer intervention had a majority of support in both houses.

But even though a lot has changed, many things have stayed the same. The U.S. is still an occupying force in Iraq and there is no set plan to get out and restore that nation’s sovereignty. EFCA still has not passed; the list could go on. The ongoing problems in our country, even with a Democratic majority, have made many on the left cynical, or, more likely, encouraged their cynicism, with a small but vocal number accusing the Democrats of being no different than the Republicans they ousted. One of the more outrageous examples of this is the ongoing protest outside the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Another example was the protest launched by largely middle-class white activists against Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), renowned as the most senior fighter for civil rights in Congress, for not going full-throttle to impeach the President. His protestations that the Democrats simply did not have the numeric strength to do so meant nothing to his protestors.

Rep. Pelosi, in October at a D.C. reporters’ luncheon, put it bluntly and correctly: “We said we would change the debate, that we would fight to end the war. We never said we had the veto pen or the signature pen.”

Here we have, in essence, the reason why there is still so much wrong with our country, and why there is such a need to win the 2008 elections. If the Democrats are able to scrape together enough votes for an important bill, say EFCA, they still have to get enough votes in the Senate—60 votes altogether—to avoid a Republican filibuster. Even after that, the bill then has to go to President Bush, who will strike it down with a veto. To override a veto, the Democrats have to get together an even higher number of votes. Consequently, to get anything done at all, given that the ultra-right still holds the executive branch and power in Congress, all sorts of compromises have to be made with the Republicans.

The 2008 elections allow us to both remove more extreme right-wingers from Congress and the opportunity to get rid of the ultra-right’s White House veto power. Many of the bills that passed through Congress in the last two years could actually become law. The chance to change the face of the executive branch also allows young people to put a stop to the appointing of backwards Supreme Court and federal court appointees.

But who are the ultra-right, and why should youth struggle against them in the 2008 elections?

The ultra-right represents the most extreme, backwards, reactionary sections of transnational capital. They represent the war profiteers and the energy/oil conglomerates. If left in power, they aim to:

? Waste billions of dollars on unjust wars
? Deny workers the right to organize a union
? Destroy public education and the ability for us to go to college
? Undermine the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act
? Deny a woman’s right to choose
? Privatize Social Security and dismantle pensions
? Repeal environmental regulations and reject any measures to curb global warming.

Young people, particularly youth of color and working class youth, suffer the most under these regressive measures, often seeing the military as their only option after high school. The overwhelming majority of soldier deaths are young men and women under 30. Those that do return often suffer from post-traumatic stress and mental illness, making it difficult to return to school or get a decent job. In fact, the jobs available to youth overall do not provide much to shout about. The long-lasting ultra-right wing attack on trade unions, which the Reagan administration took the lead on in the 1980s, has left young workers to fend for themselves with less than five percent of young workers having a union job.

While tuition rates continue to rise and state and federal grant based aid are at a devastating low, privatization runs rampant in colleges and public schools around the country. With no real interest in education, companies flock to schools to make money off of students. In reference to privatization, the National Education Association, a teachers’ union, reports on their web site that, if the ultra-right isn’t stopped, “one could imagine a system of public education where nearly all administrative, teaching, support, and even cultural functions would be controlled by private companies, reducing the role of elected school boards to glorified contract administrators.”

Young people are also the ones that would suffer from the environmental damages caused by deregulation of corporate emissions standards. We will have to scrap for reproductive rights in an anti-Roe v. Wade era. And in another 30 or 40 years, it will be today’s young people left with the empty bank account that used to be social security and pensions.

Intertwined with all of this is the question of the economy, which has already caused grief to millions, and appears to be rapidly getting even worse. While nothing short of the replacement of capitalism can end economic crises, the ultra-right aims, above all else, to protect the profiteers at the expense of working people.

Of course, a Democratic victory in 2008 will not solve all the problems caused by so many years of ultra-right domination, or by capitalism in general.

Some on the Left use this as an excuse to suggest reactionary action. Instead of targeting the ultra-right, which suffered a devastating blow in 2006 but is still in the fight, they focus on Democrats as the main enemy. Instead of targeting the driving forces behind the current war in Iraq, attacks on the labor movement and women’s rights, and youth, they rally against progressive Democrats like John Conyers and Nancy Pelosi “from the left.” Many of the people proposing these ideas are the same that have suggested that youth shouldn’t even participate in the elections, that they are “bourgeois” because they represent a choice only between two “imperialist” parties, etc. Instead, they argue, we should take to the streets and make our demands heard there—usually on a Saturday afternoon in front of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., when legislators are spending their weekends elsewhere.

These are all dangerous suggestions that take advantage of our legitimate anger and frustration with the current war, lack of jobs and poorly funded schools among other things. Youth need not have false notions about the Democrats in order to challenge the ultra-right. There is no excuse to stand on the sidelines.

Our ancestors certainly did not spill blood over the right to vote for us to simply give it up. While the leadership of both parties represents sections of the capitalist class, the sections are different. The most backwards, dangerous section is located within the Republican Party. At the same time, both parties represent coalitions: The Republican coalition represents corporate interests on the one hand, and extreme religious conservatives on the other. This coalition has begun to break down, and many who supported the Republicans for years are moving away.

The Democratic Party is also a coalition: Its leadership does consist of the less reactionary section of monopoly capital, but its mass base is currently made up of the labor unions, youth organizations, a large segment of the anti-war movement, women’s organizations, civil rights organizations, civil libertarians and so on. Looking at the parties as coalitions is more illuminating than simply looking at the leadership; it becomes much easier to see which camp we want to be in, which coalition we want to see win at this stage.

Swells of young people agree and have already stepped up to the challenge in the Democratic primaries, voting in record numbers and refusing to accept the idea that these elections don’t matter. In Iowa alone, the youth turnout rate more than tripled from under 21,000 in 2004 to over 65,000 in 2008, and it quadrupled in Tennessee despite the devastating storms that ripped through on Super Tuesday. Similar situations have occurred in all Democratic primaries to date.

The leading Democratic candidates represents the strongest opposition to the ultra-right we’ve ever seen in a presidential election. The mere fact that candidates must posture over who is more pro-jobs, pro-peace, pro-gay or pro-healthcare is a giant leap forward. And who cannot find progress in the fact that much of the country seems ready to elect either a Black man or a woman as president?

And there is something to be said for the movement of young people that surrounds Barack Obama. An overwhelming majority of the 2008 primary youth vote went to Sen. Obama, who won this section of the electorate in all Super Tuesday states but Arkansas, California and Massachusetts. Even in those states, Obama kept the margin of victory incredibly low. Obama went on to sweep the Potomac Primaries (D.C., Maryland and Virginia). Of the two candidates, many feel he has provided an inspirational vision for the future of our country. And for youth, who so often feel left out of the discussion, this has been increasingly attractive.

Whole new avenues of discussion have opened up. Barack Obama’s historic speech, “A More Perfect Union,” addressed the issue of race and racism in America more openly, and more insightfully, than any speech by a major political player in, possibly, a generation.

These developments have not only galvanized young people to vote, but to also get active in the campaigns. And progressive Democrats and young people are using the presidential elections as inspiration to engage in local races as well, removing backwards officials from school board posts, city councils and other state and municipal positions.

This fight is winnable, and there is an actual strategy to win, a strategy that consists of more than playing at revolution and calling for chaos in the streets. Right now the elections are the most critical form of struggle; this is where we have the best shot of finally breaking the back of the ultra right. Afterwards, we will continue to build a united movement that can work to establish a real electoral alternative, and eventually to challenge the system overall.

The only next steps to really ending the war, passing the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), raising the Pell Grant in a significant way, among other things, is to get around the Bush veto. This means that McCain must be denied the White House in November

Of course, who wins the elections, is also of importance. This question is not simply one of whether it will be Obama or Clinton. Going back to the idea of these U.S. electoral parties as coalitions, we have to ask: Which part of the coalition will most decisively leave its mark on the elections? Will it be the Democratic Party’s leadership, the machine, that section of the capitalist class? Or will it be the base of the party and those who operate within its orbit? The progressive forces, if they are really able to turn out the vote, to organize best for the elections—and this has been the trend—and to put forward their agendas most strongly, will certainly leave their imprint, and the next President will be pushed in a much more progressive direction than they may even care to go. This kind of victory, which would include a total Democratic sweep in November, could set the stage for higher forms of struggle for generations to come.

PREAMBLE
The Communist Party USA is the party of and for the U.S. working class, a class which is multiracial, multinational, and unites men and women, young and old, employed and unemployed, organized and unorganized, gay and straight, native-born and immigrant, urban and rural, and composed of workers who perform a large range of physical and mental labor—the vast majority of our society. We are the party of the African American, Mexican American, Puerto Rican, all other Latino American, Native American, Asian American, and all racially and nationally oppressed peoples, as well as women, youth, and all other working people.

The living standards of workers and the natural environment on which life depends are under constant attack due to the drive for maximum profits inherent in capitalism. Our party fights for jobs and economic security, a decent and rising standard of living, peace, justice, equality, a sustainable environment, gay rights, health care, education, affordable housing,  the needs of seniors, democracy, and a fulfilling life for everyone, with socialism as our goal. Only through the abolition of the capitalist system and the socialist reorganization of society can exploitation of human beings by others, and the evils of oppression, war, racism, environmental degradation, and poverty be ended. We seek to build a socialist society which puts people and nature before profits.

Our country’s founding Revolution exalted the ideals of equality, justice, and democracy, of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all. Marxists have long hailed its progressive significance, while recognizing its historical limitations, chief of which was the failure to abolish slavery. The Communist Party today upholds the continuing struggle to realize these ideals. The revolutionary democratic traditions of the United States call for radical change when injustice, inequality, and exploitation become unbearably oppressive. This legacy gives us, the working class and its allies, the right and responsibility to build a new society. We advocate an expanded Bill of Rights to guarantee religious, political, and individual freedoms, but also freedom from poverty, hunger, joblessness, and racism.

Racism plays a particularly destructive role in the life of our country, imposing severely impoverished living standards on tens of millions of the specially oppressed, and lowering the quality of life for all workers. Racism harms all workers, obstructing the development of working-class consciousness, driving wedges in class unity to divert attention from class exploitation, and creating extra profits for the capitalist class. The Communist Party is unalterably opposed to all manifestations of racism, national oppression, U.S. national chauvinism, male supremacy, homophobia, and anti-Semitism, which are used by the enemies of progress to divide the working class and people’s forces. The principles of democracy, equality, justice, and class self-interest require a joint fight against all expressions of racism and gender oppression. We fight for full equality for all who suffer from racial, national, and gender oppression as an essential aspect of the unity that is basic to all social progress.

Issues of war and peace, wealth and poverty, ecology and pollution, racial and national division, gender discrimination, and international conflict are all connected to class struggle, and have common features on which to build unity among peoples, organizations, and coalitions. The working class as the necessary leading force along with the other core forces—all racially and nationally oppressed groups, women, and youth—can build a movement that also includes the many streams of our working people—such as family farmers, small business owners, and the self-employed—who united together have the power to make fundamental progressive change.

Peace is essential for the survival of the planet and humanity. The pursuit of world domination to further enrich capitalists has resulted in destructive wars, environmental devastation, and massive poverty. The Communist Party fights for solidarity among the working class and peoples of all lands and supports their pursuit of self-determination over their own lands and economies. In the spirit of working-class internationalism, the Communist Party builds the closest bonds with Communist and Workers Parties throughout the world.

Founded in Chicago in 1919, the Communist Party of the United States has an outstanding history in the struggles for peace, democratic rights, racial and gender equality, economic justice, union organization, and international solidarity. Our Party is organized on the principle of democratic centralism, combining maximum democratic discussion and decision-making with maximum unity of will and action, ensuring our ability to play a strong organizing role in the class struggle. We focus our efforts on increasing our ability to organize millions into struggle, fighting anti-communism as a divisive weapon of the capitalist class. With Marxism-Leninism guiding our actions, the Communist Party strives to build the broadest unity against global capitalist imperialism now headed by U.S. imperialism, for immediate gains and reforms that benefit working people, and for a progressive democratization of the government, the economy, and society of our country on the road to and after winning socialism.

With pride in our past and confidence in our future, we hereby establish this Constitution of the Communist Party of the United States America.

ARTICLE I - Name
SECTION 1. The name of this organization shall be the Communist Party of the United States of America.

ARTICLE II - Principles of Organization
SECTION 1. The system of organization of the Communist Party is based upon the principle of democratic centralism, which means that decisions and policies are made through democratic procedures, and that once a final decision is made, all members are obligated to carry it out. Democratic centralism combines the maximum involvement of the membership in determining policy and in the democratic election of leading committees with responsible direction from one national center coordinating the activity of the entire Party along commonly agreed-upon lines of policy.

Unity is the strongest weapon working people have in the struggle to advance their interests. By making a commitment to unite around a program of action, members strengthen the Party and help unify the working class and peoples’ movements.

Collectivity is the basic style of work of the Party. Through group discussion and action, we seek to develop and apply the best possible plans to advance the interests of working people.

SECTION 2. Each Party body is subordinate to the next higher body, with central authority vested in the National Convention, the highest body of the Party, which not only has the authority to act on all aspects of Party policy and activity, but elects the national leadership to carry through its will and decisions between conventions.

SECTION 3. After a thorough discussion in any club, committee or convention, decisions are arrived at by majority vote. All members, including those who disagree, are duty bound to explain, fight for and carry out such decisions, as long as they do not conflict with national policies and decisions.

Decisions of leading committees on major questions shall be reported to all other Party bodies. Any member, club or committee, disagreeing with a decision, has the right to appeal the decision to the next higher body and request that the decision be reopened. While the appeal is pending, the decision must nevertheless be carried out by all members of the Party.

All appeals of decisions made to the next leading committee shall be heard by the respective body with 90 days or at the next regular meeting of the committee. Appeals may be made to successive leading committees up to and including the National Convention, provided that the appeals are made at least 30 days before the National Convention. Decisions of the National Convention are final. Once a final decision is made, no member, club, committee or leader has the right to violate the decision or to combine with others to conduct an organized struggle against the decision.

SECTION 4. Policies and decisions established by leading committees are open to review during the pre-convention discussion period set forth in Article V, Section 4, below. Members may express their views through the channels established for that purpose. All previous policies and decisions remain in full force until or unless they are changed by majority vote of the responsible committee or Convention.

SECTION 5. The principle of democratic centralism includes the obligation of all members and leaders to fulfill the decisions arrived at by the majority. Both leaders and members are bound by a common discipline.

Discipline is voluntarily assumed by members upon joining the Party and based on conviction, understanding and devotion to the cause to which the Party dedicates its efforts.

SECTION 6. The election of officers and leading committees at all levels shall be carried out with the fullest participation of the members of the elected Party bodies.

Elections shall be on the basis of a critical review and evaluation of the work of the elected body and of the individuals proposed for office. In elections to all Party committees, conventions and conferences steps shall be taken to maximize the representation of industrial workers, specially oppressed peoples and women.

Officers and leading committees are responsible both to the bodies which elected them and to the higher leading committees. All officers and members of leading committees may be released or removed from office by majority vote of the committees to which they are responsible.

SECTION 7. The Party as a whole, and each of its bodies including every club, shall plan and work for the mass circulation and use of our press and literature.

ARTICLE III – Membership
SECTION 1. Any person living in the United States, 18 years of age or over, regardless of race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, or religious belief, who subscribes to the principles and purposes of the Communist Party shall be eligible for membership. The age requirement for admission to membership may be waived in individual cases by a majority vote of the State or District Committee, when, in its judgment, special circumstances warrant.

SECTION 2. An application for membership may be received by any Party member, club, State (or District), or National body. The member or Party body receiving it shall promptly refer the application to the club (if known) and the State or District Committee where the applicant resides. The club and State or District leadership shall promptly confer about the application, and shall assign one or more members to meet or communicate with the applicant as soon as possible. Unless the club or State or District leadership have information indicating that the application was false, or that admitting the applicant would be harmful to the Party organization and its goals, the applicant shall be promptly notified that he/she has been admitted to Party membership, and he/she and shall be referred to a Party club where possible. In unorganized territory, in the absence of a club, the new member shall be referred to the next leading committee having jurisdiction. It shall be the responsibility of the club, if any, or the next leading body jurisdiction, to assist the new member in becoming involved in Party education, mass work and other activities.

If an applicant is not admitted to membership, the club and State or District leadership shall notify the club having jurisdiction (if any), the State or District Committee, and National Committee of the reasons why the applicant was not admitted.

SECTION 3. A Party member shall study and accept the Party Constitution and the Party Program as determined by the Convention, belong to a Party club where possible, be willing to carry out its decisions and pay dues. Membership in the Communist Party is a voluntary act of the individual.

SECTION 4. Party members three months in arrears in payment of dues cease to be members in good standing, and shall be so informed by their club (or district) leadership. Members who are six months in arrears shall be dropped from Party membership after effort has been made by the club (or district) leadership, through personal interviews to bring such members into good standing. They may, however, apply for readmission within six months, and upon approval of the club (or district) be permitted to pay back dues and regain their former standing.

SECTION 5. A member in good standing changing his or her place of residence from one state (or district) to another, shall request the state (or district) of origin to transfer his or her membership to the new state (or district). The request for transfer normally should be made before the member changes his or her place of residence, but in any event, not more than thirty (30) days after moving to the new state (or district). The transfer may be submitted by the state (or district) of origin through the National Committee office to the new state (or district), or it may be submitted simultaneously to the new state (or district) and National Committee.

The National Committee office and the states (or districts) involved shall process the transfer request as quickly as possible, and the new state (or district) shall promptly assist the member in getting situated in the new state (or district).

ARTICLE IV – Club and State (District) Organization
SECTION 1. The basic unit of the Communist Party shall be the club. The two basic forms of the Party club shall be based on: (1) place of work or industry, with shop clubs being the goal; and (2) place of residence, with the neighborhood clubs being the goal.

Each club shall have officers and an executive committee which shall be elected at the time of the annual club conference. Elections shall be by secret ballot if such method is requested by any member of the club.

The purpose of the annual club conference shall be to project the plan of work for the coming year based on: (1) policy as established by the national and state (or district) conventions, and further refined and developed by the National Committee and state (or district) committee; and (2) a thorough and critical examination of the club’s work in the previous year.

All clubs should have officers who fulfill the following functions, where possible: chairperson, financial secretary, educational director, labor secretary, press director, literature director, and a secretary who records all decisions. Two or more functions may be performed by one person. Additional officers and committees may be elected by the club.

Officers and committees are responsible to the club, and shall report on their work to the club from time to time. Financial reports shall be submitted to the club annually. Additional financial reports must be submitted when requested by a majority vote.

SECTION 2. State and district organizations may be established by the National Committee, and may cover one state, part of one state, or more than one state. They shall be known as the “----- State Committee, Communist Party USA”, the “----- District, Communist Party USA”, or the “Communist Party of -------, CPUSA”. Where there is more than one district in a state, the National Committee may establish such forms as are necessary to deal with questions of statewide importance.

The state (or district) organization shall comprise all clubs in one state (or district). The State (District) Committee shall have the power and duty to establish whatever subdivisions best fulfill the needs of Party work, such as state, county, city or section organizations.

The highest body of the state (or district) organization is the State (or District) Convention, which shall meet at least once every four years during the pre-convention discussion period prior to the National Convention. Each club in the state (or district) shall elect delegates to the convention in such number as the State (or District) Committee may determine, provided that the number of delegates to which each club is entitled shall be in proportion to its membership. Where there are members not attached to clubs due to geography, the State (or District) Committee may make special provisions for their representation at the State (or District) Convention. Class and national composition shall be considered in the election of delegates to the State (or District) Convention. To be eligible for election as a delegate, a member shall have been in good standing for at least six (6) months.

Members of the State (or District) Committee shall be elected in such manner and number as the State (or District) Convention may determine. All elections to the State (or District) Committee shall be by democratic process, including secret ballot.

To be eligible for election as a state or district officer or member of the State or District Committee, a member shall have been in good standing for at least one year preceding the date of the election.

The State or District Committee shall elect such officers as it deems necessary. Officers so elected shall be members of the State or District Committee by virtue of their offices, and shall be responsible to the State or District Committee. The State or District Committee may elect an executive committee and any other committees it deems necessary.

A vacancy among members of the State or District Committee may be filled until the next Convention by secret ballot and majority vote of the members of the State or District Committee.

Special State or District Conventions shall be called by a majority vote of the State or District Committee or upon the written request of clubs representing one-third of the membership.

The State or District Committee shall name a committee to administer the finances of the organization, which shall be responsible to the State or District Committee. The State or District Committee shall make a financial report to all regular State or District Conventions.

The State or District Committee shall meet at least four times a year. In districts covering large geographic areas, this requirement may be met up to three times per year through teleconferencing. A request by one-third of the members of the State or District Committee, or by one-third of the clubs, for a review of a state or district policy or adoption of a new policy requires that such a discussion be held by the State or District Committee.

ARTICLE V – National Organization
SECTION 1. The highest authority of the Party is the National Convention, which is authorized to make political and organizational decisions binding upon the entire Party and its membership.

Regular National Conventions shall be held every four years. A National Convention may be postponed beyond the four-year limit due to extraordinary circumstances by a three-fourths vote of the National Committee.

SECTION 2. The National Convention shall be composed of delegates elected by each State and District Convention by democratic process, including secret ballot, and in such number, in approximate proportion to the membership it represents, as the National Committee may determine. To be eligible for election as a delegate, the member shall have been in good standing for at least one year prior to the date of the Convention.

SECTION 3. Special National Conventions shall be called when there is an affirmative vote of 40% of the members of the National Committee or a majority vote of all State and District Committees. The office of the National Committee shall circulate any official request from any State or District Committee for a special National Convention to all other State and District Committees for their action. The time and place of special conventions shall be fixed by the National Committee. The basis for representation shall be determined in the same way as that for regular conventions.

SECTION 4. Prior to regular National Conventions, at least four months shall be provided for a pre-convention discussion period in all Party clubs and leading committees on the problems, reports, resolutions and other documents coming before the convention. During this discussion all Party members and organizations have the right to express their views and propose changes, including changes to the Party Program and amendments to the Constitution, to adopt resolutions on all questions of policy and tactics and on the work and composition of leading committees for consideration by the Convention. All policies and decisions, however, remain in full force during the pre-convention discussion.

SECTION 5. Each National Convention shall determine the number of members of the National Committee. Election of the National Committee by the National Convention shall be by secret ballot.

In the election of the National Committee, in addition to individual merit, such factors as class and social composition, wide geographic representation and political importance of the state or district organizations shall be considered.

SECTION 6. Vacancies in the National Committee may be filled by majority vote of the National Committee. Members may be released or removed by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of the National Committee.

SECTION 7. The National Committee shall elect from its own membership a National Board and such officers as it decides upon. The National Committee shall establish such other committees or commissions as it deems necessary.

All such officers, committees and commissions shall be responsible to the National Committee.

SECTION 8. To be eligible for election as a national officer or member of the National Committee, a member shall have been in good standing for at least the three years preceding the election.

SECTION 9. Between National Conventions, the National Committee is responsible for the enforcement of the Constitution and the execution of the general policies adopted by the National Convention. The decisions of the National Convention shall be binding on all Party organizations and members.

Between National Conventions, the National Committee is the highest authority of the Party, representing the Party as a whole, and as such has the authority to make decisions and take action necessary and incidental to the good and welfare of the entire Party, and to act upon all problems and developments occurring between conventions. In the fulfillment of its duties, and in the exercise of its responsibilities, the National Committee shall guide and direct all of the political, organizational and educational work of the Party and organize and supervise its various departments and committees. The National Committee shall organize and direct all undertakings of importance to the entire Party, and administer the national treasury. The National Committee shall submit a financial report to each National Convention.

The National Committee and the State and District Committees shall encourage the widest discussion by the membership on all questions of theory and general line of Party policy. The shall provide organs to facilitate such discussions, provided that in the opinion of the National Committee such discussions do not hinder or impede execution of Party policy and decisions or weaken the unity of the Party in action.

The National Committee shall not make any major policy change until it has submitted the proposed change in draft form to the Party organization for debate for specified periods and for recommendations thereon. In an emergency, which must be affirmed by a two-thirds vote of the National Committee, the National Committee may adopt another procedure for making a major policy change, including a referendum vote of the entire membership or the calling of special enlarged, delegated conferences on a national or regional basis.

In the discussion of such major policy changes, rules for pre-convention discussion shall apply in regard to the proposed policy change only, except that the period of discussion may be determined by the National Committee.

SECTION 10. The National Committee shall meet at least three times per year. The officers or one-third of the members of the National Committee may call additional meetings.

SECTION 11. Summaries and reports of National Committee meetings shall be made available to State and District Committees and shall appear in digest form in publications available to the Party membership. Such reports may be published when the National Committee so determines.

All departments and leading committees shall submit reports regularly to the National Committee.

SECTION 12. The officers of the National Committee shall make known to the members of the National Committee any request of any member of the National Committee for either a review of a policy or the introduction of a new major policy question.

A request by one-third of the members of the National Committee for review of a policy or for adoption of a new policy requires that such a discussion be held by the National Committee.

ARTICLE VI – Rights and Duties of Members
SECTION 1. Every member of the Party who is in good standing has the right and duty to participate in the making of its policies and in their execution, and to participate in the elections of the Party bodies to which he or she belongs.

A member has the right, within the Party organization, to express openly and uphold his or her opinion or differences on any question as long as the Party organization has not adopted a decision. This may be accomplished in meetings of the Party organizations and in authorized publications. After a decision, a Party member who disagrees has the right to appeal successively to the next higher body, including the National Convention. At the same time every member has the duty to carry out the majority decision.

Members may critically evaluate the work of all leading committees and individual leaders, irrespective of the positions they hold, provided it is done in appropriate Party meetings, conferences, conventions or other Party bodies. No one may interfere with this right of critical evaluation. Any member may address a question or statement to a leading committee at any level. Leading committees must respond as promptly as possible.

During pre-convention discussion members have the right and duty within Party organizations and publications designated for the purpose, to discuss any and all Party policies and tactics, and the right to critically evaluate the work and composition of all leading committees.

SECTION 2. A member shall strive to attend all club meetings. Members shall continually strive to improve their political knowledge and their understanding of Marxism-Leninism, to take part in the discussion of Party policy, to initiate activities, to work of the aims and policies of the Party, and to seek to win new members to its ranks. They shall also read, circulate and help improve Party publications. All members shall circulate the press and make work with the press central to their mass activity.

Each member shall critically evaluate the work of Party collectives and his/her own activity, with the aim of improving the work of the Party, its bodies, and his or her own activity. The National Committee and leadership at all levels shall take the initiative and give the lead for the development of the fullest critical evaluation and self-evaluation in regard to improving its work.

SECTION 3: It shall be the obligation of all Party members to struggle for the unity of the working class, against all forms of national oppression, national chauvinism, discrimination and segregation, against all racist ideologies and practices, such as white chauvinism and anti-Semitism. It shall be the duty of all Party members to fight for the full social, political and economic equality of the African-American, Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, Native American Indians, Asian and Pacific Islanders, other oppressed minorities, immigrants and the foreign born, and to promote the unity of all people as essential to the advancement of their common interests.

It shall be the obligation of all Party members to struggle against all manifestations of male supremacy and discrimination against women, and to fight for the full social, political and economic equality for women.

It shall be the obligation of all Party members to struggle against homophobia and all manifestations of discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people, and to fight for their full social and civil rights.

SECTION 4. All leading committees shall seek a maximum of consultation with other committees, Party clubs and the membership in policy formation, and especially with those comrades directly involved. In the period between conventions, the various Party organizations, from Section Committee to National Committee, may organize delegated conferences to evaluate Party work in a given field or to develop a position on new issues which may arise.

Other forms of consultation may include membership referendum.

SECTION 5. All Party members who are eligible must belong to their respective labor unions. If no union exists at a Party member’s place of employment, he or she shall strive to organize, or help to organize, a labor union whenever possible.

SECTION 6. All Party members working in coalitions and mass organizations (such as labor unions, farm, community, civil rights, fraternal, religious, etc.) shall promote and strengthen the unity and leading role of the working class, and fight for the broadest possible unity of the working class and its allies, in the course of fighting for their needs.

SECTION 7. All members who are eligible shall register and vote in all public elections, wherever possible.

SECTION 8. The Party shall give full aid in the acquisition of United States citizenship to those of its members who, because of unjust and undemocratic laws and practices, are deprived of this right.

ARTICLE VII – Disciplinary Procedures and Appeals
SECTION 1. Subject to the provisions of this Article, any member or officer of the Party may be reprimanded, put on probation, suspended for a specified period, removed from office, dropped or expelled from the Party for actions detrimental to the interests of the Party and the working class, for factionalism, for making false statements in an application for membership, for financial irregularities, or for advocacy or practice of racial, national or religious discrimination, or discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual orientation.

No action, including dropping, may be taken against a member without notifying him or her of the action and the reason for it. Assistance should be given to help comrades to overcome weaknesses and shortcomings, when possible.

SECTION 2. Subject to the provisions of this Article, any member shall be expelled from the Party who is a strikebreaker, a provocateur, engaged in espionage, an informer, or who advocates force and violence or terrorism, or who participates in the activities of any group which acts to undermine or overthrow any democratic institutions through which the majority of the American people can express their right to determine their destiny.

SECTION 3. Charges against individual members or committees may be made by any member or Party committee to the club of which the accused is a member or to the appropriate higher committee having jurisdiction.

All such charges shall be handled expeditiously by an elected trial committee of the club or appropriate higher body. The trial committee shall hear charges, make recommendations and then disband.

SECTION 4. All accused persons concerned in disciplinary cases, except publicly self-admitted informers and provocateurs, must be notified of the charges against them, shall have the right to appear, to bring witnesses, including non-members if agreed to by the trial committee, and to testify. The burden of proof shall be on the accusers.

SECTION 5. After hearing the report of the trial committee, the club or leading committee having jurisdiction shall have the right to decide by a two-thirds vote upon any disciplinary measure, including expulsion. Disciplinary measures taken by leading committees shall be reported to the club of each accused member. Higher bodies must be informed of all disciplinary actions above a reprimand. There shall be an automatic review of all expulsions by the next higher body.

SECTION 6. Any member or committee that has been subject to disciplinary action has the right to appeal to the next higher body up to the National Convention, whose decision shall be final. The National, State (or District) or other leading committee shall set a hearing within 60 days from the date of receipt of the appeal and notify the appellant of the hearing date. When, however, the appeal is to a State, District or National Convention, the appeal shall be acted upon by the Convention following the filing of the appeal, provided that such appeal is made at least 30 days prior to the convention.

ARTICLE VIII – Initiation Fees, Dues and Assessments
SECTION 1. Initiation fees and dues shall be paid according to rates fixed by the National Convention. Between National Conventions, the National Committee may revise the rates of initiation fees and dues by a two-thirds vote of the National Committee.

SECTION 2. The income from dues and initiation fees shall be apportioned among the various subdivisions of the Party as determined by the National Convention, or by a two-thirds vote of the National Committee between conventions.

SECTION 3. Special assessments may be levied by the National Convention or by a two-thirds vote of the National Committee.

All local or state (or district) assessments are prohibited except by special permission of the National Committee.

ARTICLE IX – Amendment
SECTION 1. This Constitution may be amended by a majority vote of any regular or special National Convention, or by membership referendum initiated by the National Committee or one-third of the state and district organizations. It may also be amended by three-fourths vote of the National Committee and a majority vote of the majority of the State and District Committees. This vote must be preceded by a minimum of a two-month discussion period in the Party organization.

ARTICLE X – Authority
SECTION 1. The Communist Party is not responsible for any political document, policy, book, article, or any other statement of political opinion except such as are issued by authority of the National Conventions and the regularly constituted leadership of the Party.