Core Issues
The following is a list of core issues of concern for GBI, as they relate to legislative and executive actions under the current Administration:
Democratic Process, Function and Values
- Protection of voting rights for minorities
- Electoral reform, including the gerrymandering of districts, and reform of the Electoral College
- Respect for an independent judiciary
- Concern about ethics violations in the Administration, including the Presidents’ myriad conflicts of interest, potential violations of the emoluments clause, and general lack of transparency
- Respect for the freedom of the press, freedom of speech
- Checks on presidential power: monitor against creeping authoritarianism; protect the separation of powers and checks and balances; monitor for attempts to arbitrarily
- Maintenance of the separation of church and state
Civil and Political Rights
- Protection of individuals’ rights against infringement by the government, by social organizations, or by private entities, including but not limited to: voting rights, the rights of natural justice, minority rights, privacy rights of all citizens, rights against discrimination, and basic international human rights
Women’s Rights
- Protection against any rollback of reproductive rights and the right of individual women to choose
- Protection of women’s rights to self-determination over women’s health care issues
- Protection of the right to equal pay for equal work and the right to equal protection under the law
Climate Change
- Protection against the silencing of the scientific community in terms of the time-honored practice of sharing research and data, especially that which supports the broad consensus of the scientific community regarding human-led damage to the planet in general and fossil-fuel damage to the climate in particular.
- Fulfill our international treaty obligations to reduce carbon emissions and fossil fuel consumption.
- Concern that the EPA will be gutted by the current administration and its ability to regulate polluters will be reduced or eliminated.
Immigration
- Concern over the threatening behavior of the Administration and ICE towards undocumented immigrants and their children
- Concern over the Administration's threatened punitive measures against sanctuary cities
- Concern over potential mass deportation of otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants, and its moral/economic cost to the US
- Concern over the moral/economic cost of constructing a border wall between Mexico and the US
- Concern over the moral cost of closing our doors to refugees in general and to Syrian refugees in particular
- Concern over the moral and legal implications of a travel ban that targets particular religious groups and has no apparent rational basis other than religious discrimination
Tolerance for Minorities
- Strive for policies that foster inclusion and tolerance for ethnic and racial minorities
- Guard against the creation of a negative/hostile environment by the Administration’s use of inflammatory language, and in particular, but not limited to, members of religious minorities, ethnic minorities, racial minorities and women and LGBTQ communities
- Concern over racial profiling in law enforcement and the high rates of incarceration for members of minority groups
- Concern over any religious tests in distribution of rights
- Monitor for discrimination based on membership in any of the above minority groups
LGBTQ Rights
- Protect against rollback by the Administration of LGBTQ Rights to equal protection under the law; and in particular the right to marriage equality
- Support continued progress towards, and protection of, inclusivity rules
Health Insurance
- Protect ACA/ObamaCare, with agreement to continue to work for improvements to ObamaCare
- Ensure that the Administration’s replacement plan does not result in net reduction in benefits to millions of the newly insured
Gun Safety Laws
- Concern over the erosion of existing, albeit limited, checks on gun ownership, such as basic background checks, and protecting the limited rules preventing gun purchases by mentally ill and/or incompetent individuals, or by criminals
- Concern over congressional aversion to gun safety regulation and perceived out-sized influence of NRA on congressional voting record on gun safety
Education
- Threats to public education, federal funding
US Foreign Policy
- Desire that the Administration and Congress continue to support our traditional allies and respect our international treaty obligations
- Support for the paramountcy of diplomacy and negotiation for the protection of US interests and allies abroad, with use of military
- Continued reliance on the expertise of the State Department, in consultation with Defense Department, on matters of international conflict and dispute resolution
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