Full 2016 Platform

CORPORATE POWER & MEDIA REFORM (2018 DRAFT)

Corporations are not people and are not entitled to the constitutional rights of people. The power of money in politics nullifies the people’s will and must be drastically reduced. An informed citizenry and persistently inquisitive media are essential for democracy to flourish.

We support:

1. Amending the Constitution to firmly establish that corporations are not people and that money is not speech
2. Restoring adequate funding of public radio and public television, free from public and private pressure
3. Internet neutrality, in which bandwidth is not limited based on content or ability to pay
4. Separating investment banking from retail banking and subjecting both to tighter regulation, transparency, and accountability
5. Criminal penalties for corporate executives whose companies egregiously violate state or federal laws or regulations
6. Strengthening and enforcing laws to provide active protection and restitution for any whistleblowers who lose their livelihoods
7. Reforming patent and copyright laws that give corporations, including pharmaceutical manufacturers, undue control through unnecessarily long terms and other tactics
8. Increased oversight of companies vital to our economy and environment, such as those in banking and fossil fuel extraction
9. Revoking the charters of corporations that repeatedly violate laws or regulations
10. Media ownership rules and frequency set-asides from the FCC that cultivate localism, encourage a diversity of viewpoints and preserve a competitive marketplace of ideas for American communities
11. Encouraging womxn, minority and community media ownership
12. Financial support for independent investigative reporting and coverage of state and local government and issues
13. Free radio and TV time for local, statewide and national candidates and ballot measures before each election
14. Increased payments to local governments by cable companies for their profitable use of the public right-of-way
15. Protecting journalists from unwarranted pressure to reveal their sources
16. Equitable access to modern communications infrastructure, including high-speed internet, for all Americans, by means of a fast, affordable, publicly owned telecommunications system in every community, including extending it to rural areas and Native American nations
17. Statewide availability of TV Washington legislative channel

We oppose:

1. The Trump corporate tax cuts to the wealthy
2. Corporations’ exerting undue influence on our government through access to regulatory commissions and secretly drafting congressional and state legislation
3. Privatization of public services, especially water.
4. Policies that allow U.S. businesses to incorporate or move offshore to evade taxes and laws
5. The sale of hedging contracts on securities, i.e., credit default swap contracts
6. Corporations and governments substituting 401(k) plans for defined benefit pensions
7. Concentration of media ownership and cross-ownership by corporations engaging in other non-media commerce
8. Government-funded, corporate-funded or foreign propaganda disguised as news
9. Government intimidation of the news media
10. False claims of “national security” to suppress investigative journalism
11. Creation and distribution of videos that use Artificial Intelligence to deliver propaganda.