THE BOULDER CONFERENCE

A follow-up meeting to continue work on the Common Ground Declaration was held in Boulder, Colorado, on November 17, with 23 activists from the Nat'l Independent Politics Summit-Nat'l Committee on Independent Political Action, the Green Politics Network, the Left Green Network, the New Jersey Independents, the Washington State Rainbow Coalition, the Oregon Committee of Correspondence, the California, Colorado, New Mexico, Maine, and Virginia Green Parties, and the Socialist, Natural Law, Libertarian, Patriot, and Wyoming Labor Parties, and from the Boulder Progressive Alliance, Democratic Socialists of America, the Colorado Peace Mission, the ACLU and other organizations.

The gathering designated itself as the Boulder Conference Working Group to further refine the Common Ground proposals. Twelve points were recommended for adoption at the January conference of Third Parties '96, and of these nine were agreed upon unanimously. The percentage of approval is listed next to those points which were not unanimous.

The Twelve Proposed Points

  • Candidates should have free, equal access to media, and all other expenses should be publicly financed.
  • Local communities should have the right to make decisions for their areas through democratic neighborhood assemblies. (91%)
  • We support measures to insure that all jobs pay a living wage.
  • We call for a shorter work week with no cut in real pay. (91%)
  • We support a ban on the hiring of replacement workers during strikes or labor disputes.
  • We support a publicly-financed single payer health care plan which guarantees universal coverage. (91%)
  • Housing is a fundamental human right and should be available to everyone.
  • The disparity in economic resources provided to students should be ended, in favor of genuinely equitable financing of public education.
  • Corporations are not entitled to be considered as persons under the law, with the same criteria of human rights.
  • We oppose monopolistic corporate agriculture, and we call for support for family farms and agricultural cooperatives.
  • We call for a program of sustainable agriculture.
  • We call for the development and use of wind energy.

    Back to TP'96 The CGD Agenda for Round Two Register for Round Two