Introduction 7
open commerce between countries. We must bolster alliances with West-
ern Europe to deter Russian expansionism. We must fight back against
bigoted immigration policies that are untrue to our open and tolerant tra-
ditions. If President Trump creates a registry for Muslims in America, then
we all must register as Muslims. We must demand fair as well as free trade
agreements that focus not only on profits but also on labor, environmen-
tal, and human rights standards. Such agreements will level the playing
field and allow the American worker to compete more successfully.
3. It is time to balance our budget. Real budget reform requires real
political leadership, and two fiscal commissions have shown us how to do
it. Deficits must be reduced, revenues increased and stabilized, and the
federal budget fairly balanced by following progressive guidelines: achieve
a 50–50 split in deficit reduction between spending cuts and revenue in-
creases, share the financial sacrifice among all players and all income lev-
els, focus tax increases on higher incomes, while protecting the lowest
incomes from harmful spending cuts, and restore the pay-as-you-go bud-
get rules that helped achieve three Clinton-era balanced budgets.
4. Progressives must stand our ground—defending our principles and
values and fighting back against relentless right-wing demonization. We
are strong on national security and value bipartisan foreign policy. We are
people of faith who must uphold religious tolerance in the face of divisive-
ness and posturing. We must grow the economic pie for working families
and also for the least, the last, and the lost among us. Progressives must
take a clear stand on hot button social issues, trusting women to make
their own reproductive decisions, supporting gun safety proposals, and
defending gay rights and marriage equality. That doesn’t mean progres-
sives will make you have an abortion, take your gun, or turn you gay. But
we will fight hard on these fundamental issues, and the public must know
where we stand.
5. We need more health-care reform, not less, that establishes Medicare
for All. Right-wingers demonized President Obama’s Affordable Care Act
and are now foolishly demolishing it. But Obamacare worked by extending
better and more affordable health-care coverage to 20 million Americans
and ending unpopular insurance abuses like caps on lifetime coverage and
refusing coverage to those already ill. Single payer health insurance is the
answer, where everyone is covered and everyone pays, medical provid-
ers are held responsible for the quality of their care and the value of their
services and are promptly paid, no discrimination in coverage is permit-
ted, financial waste is minimized by simplified administration and univer-
sal budgeting, and public health is emphasized through prevention and
strong primary care.
