Why not just join the People's Party?
What is the difference between the Progressive Party and the "People's Party?"
The short answer is available in red at the bottom of this page.
The short answer is available in red at the bottom of this page.
ProgressiveParty.US agrees with MANY of the progressive ideas that are mentioned in the platform on PeoplesParty.org.
However, we also have many areas of disagreement and concern:
The statements listed below are excerpts from the People's Party Platform (accessed on October 11, 2020).
The People's Party Platform makes a number of vague and grandiose socialist promises without any realistic details.
However, we also have many areas of disagreement and concern:
- ProgressiveParty.US advocates AGAINST taking power and control away from the people and putting it into the hands of federal government bureaucrats.
- We advocate AGAINST the concentration of power at the Federal level.
- We advocate AGAINST the socialist federal government takeover or outright destruction of the industries of health insurance, energy, housing, space exploration, child care and education.
- The organizational structure behind the People's Party is in need of examination.
- Despite their policy positions regarding money in politics, they are legally organized as an organization that can accept "Dark Money."
- Their handling of money and donations is currently less than fully transparent.
The statements listed below are excerpts from the People's Party Platform (accessed on October 11, 2020).
The People's Party Platform makes a number of vague and grandiose socialist promises without any realistic details.
- "In 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt proposed an Economic Bill of Rights that would guarantee employment, food, clothing, leisure, a living wage, housing, healthcare, social security, education and freedom from monopolies and unfair competition to every American. We had the technology and the resources to achieve it 70 years ago, and we could easily accomplish it today. It’s time to fulfill Roosevelt’s vision and guarantee the necessities of life to all as a human right."
- "Make access to the necessities of life a human right with a universal basic income."
- "Guarantee health care as a human right with Medicare for all. Health care is a human right. We must place human life above profit and put an end to this with Medicare for all, a single payer system that covers prenatal, mental, vision, dental, preventive care, prescription drugs and all other medical needs." (Health care is not a human right. Freedom of choice of healing options is a human right. The proposed Medicare For All bills support the monopoly of the medical, hospital, pharmaceutical industrial complex.)
- "Ensure that work and re-training are available for those who seek them with a federal job guarantee."
In order to finance the above goals and those listed below, the People's Party Platform appears to advocate the Modern Monetary Theory idea that government can digitally "print money" to pay for expanded government control.
- "Advocate for a realistic way of looking at how our economy works, as posited by Sen. Bernie Sanders’ economic adviser Stephanie Kelton. The government, which is the source of and controls how dollars are taxed or untaxed, has deceived the public into thinking that we cannot afford the social programs that the vast majority of Americans say they want. Congress’ focus on deficits as a justification for why we can’t have a job guarantee or social programs is fundamentally flawed. Our elected representatives always manage to come up with trillions of dollars for the military budget and corporate welfare. Money is not a scarce commodity like silver or gold. Spending must precede taxation or there would be no dollars in the economy to tax."
- "Abolish the $1.3 trillion in student loan debt that is shackling a generation of young people." (This is an unfair transfer of wealth to the upper classes who went to college while ignoring those impoverished people who could not afford to go to college.)
- "With a keystroke, Congress could authorize the money for universal health care, social security, a jobs program and more because federal taxes don’t fund spending."
- "Pass a comprehensive Green New Deal to turn the tide and create millions of good-paying jobs."
- "Guarantee affordable housing and rent control to all."
- "Enact universal economic programs like Medicare for all and a universal basic income that lift the most marginalized and disadvantaged communities the most, instead of means-tested programs that often leave people of color behind."
- "Ensure access to universal childcare, Head Start programs and higher education through free public college tuition."
- "Reignite the country’s passion for space exploration with an ambitious manned mission to Mars. Empower NASA and academia to pursue an understanding of the origins of life, our universe and space, the final frontier."
The People's Party Platform contains some internal conflicts (at best), but one could also see this as hypocrisy.
- Money in politics is the bottleneck that is preventing the dam from breaking on the many progressive policies that the public desperately needs. The problem is not a lack of honest politicians. It is a system that structurally incentivizes and rewards corruption. Ban super PACs, independent expenditures and dark money, shutting down unlimited and untransparent outside spending. The establishment parties are so intertwined with corporate dollars that the money and parties are no longer distinguishable from one another; big money pervades the organizations down to their DNA. They are inherently highly-centralized, undemocratic and unaccountable to the public. They are corrupt by design and impervious to internal democracy at a fundamental structural level. The establishment parties lack the internal democratic mechanisms and channels that are necessary to come to power within it. The organizations are not democratic enough to be taken over. They are controlled through unofficial channels to the donor class. (But the legal structure under which the People's Party operates - People For A Working Democracy - is allowed to take dark money which clearly goes against their official platform statements.)
- If the minimum wage had continued to track productivity, it would be about $22 today. Implement a $15 minimum wage and index it to inflation. (why not $22 per hour?)
- Require employers to provide paid vacation and sick leave so that women can stay home to take care of a sick child. (Sexist statement)
The People's Party Platform advocates for changes that would likely require Constitutional amendments, but the difficulty in passing such amendents is downplayed.
- We must also fight for a national initiative power that gives Americans the power to bypass Congress and put laws on the books directly. Through this kind of direct democracy, the people could vote on broad policy strokes like free public college over high tuition, and single-payer health care over employer-based insurance. Politicians would cease to be decision-makers and become glorified administrators of the public’s preferences, as they should be.
- Enact congressional term limits.
- Switch from first-past-the-post to ranked choice voting, and from single-member districts to multi-member districts.
- Do away with the archaic electoral college, which distorts the weight of people’s votes.
The People's Party Platform states that they would "Ban domestic oil drilling and fracking." This may be feasible at some point in the far off future, but they do not specify a date.
And finally, despite their rhetoric, the People's Party Platform NEVER actually states that they want to cut the military budget.
One of the dangers of promoting Modern Monetary Theory is that it believed that the military already employs a secret form of MMT to fund off budget activities. We certainly do not accept the military's use of MMT.
One of the dangers of promoting Modern Monetary Theory is that it believed that the military already employs a secret form of MMT to fund off budget activities. We certainly do not accept the military's use of MMT.
TO SUMMARIZE:
Most Americans are in the political center between the extremes of left and right.
Most Americans prefer freedom to government control.
The People's Party supports many progressive ideas and we hope to be able to work together with them towards those worthwhile goals. However, as a party, their tendency towards an authoritarian, socialist federal government takeover of the bulk of the U.S. economy (Health insurance, energy, housing, education) coupled with their reliance on MMT to digitally "print money" in order to achieve their goals, is a deal breaker for the vast majority of Americans.
Most Americans are very, very upset, but they want PROGRESS, not revolution.
Most Americans are in the political center between the extremes of left and right.
Most Americans prefer freedom to government control.
The People's Party supports many progressive ideas and we hope to be able to work together with them towards those worthwhile goals. However, as a party, their tendency towards an authoritarian, socialist federal government takeover of the bulk of the U.S. economy (Health insurance, energy, housing, education) coupled with their reliance on MMT to digitally "print money" in order to achieve their goals, is a deal breaker for the vast majority of Americans.
Most Americans are very, very upset, but they want PROGRESS, not revolution.
But wait, there's more...
Top Heavy Organizational Structure and Less Than Fully Transparent Financial Records
Something seems amiss.
Please be aware that the People's Party is legally organized as a 501(c)4 social welfare organization. This structure allows for unlimited contributions and expenditures to be kept private. This is otherwise known as "Dark Money."
Please be aware that the organization behind People's Party is legally registered as a non-profit Michigan corporation named "People For A Working Democracy."
Now, there is nothing wrong with a corporation "doing business as" (DBA) a name other than the name originally chosen by the corporation and placed on the corporation's founding documents, but I have not yet been able to find an official DBA announcement connecting "Movement For A People's Party" or "People's Party" to "People For A Working Democracy." Again, there is nothing wrong with filing a DBA, except that it is confusing and makes it a bit more difficult to research what is really going on.
Now, there is nothing wrong with a corporation "doing business as" (DBA) a name other than the name originally chosen by the corporation and placed on the corporation's founding documents, but I have not yet been able to find an official DBA announcement connecting "Movement For A People's Party" or "People's Party" to "People For A Working Democracy." Again, there is nothing wrong with filing a DBA, except that it is confusing and makes it a bit more difficult to research what is really going on.
Please be aware that the following information was a bit difficult to find because the EIN for "People For A Working Democracy" is NOT listed on
https://peoplesparty.org/about/transparency/
https://peoplesparty.org/about/transparency/
HOWEVER, The EIN that seems to be correct is: 81-5269113. Go to the following IRS web page:
https://forms.irs.gov/app/pod/basicSearch/search?execution=e3s1&format=
Check all three forms, enter the EIN: 81-5269113, and click on "submit basic search." The search results should be as seen below...
https://forms.irs.gov/app/pod/basicSearch/search?execution=e3s1&format=
Check all three forms, enter the EIN: 81-5269113, and click on "submit basic search." The search results should be as seen below...
Current organization information
Name: People for a Working Democracy
EIN: 81-5269113
Address:
P.O. Box 68
McLean, VA 22101-0068
E-Mail: PFWDmail@gmail.com
Contact: Nicholas A. Brana
Custodian: Nicholas A. Brana
Phone: 703-288-9603 (from IRS Form 990-EZ)
https://forms.irs.gov/app/pod/basicSearch/search?execution=e1s3&pacid=58499&format=
Founding Documents
The purposes for which the Corporation ("People For a Working Democracy") was organized include a number of things, but its stated purposes do not seem to be aligned with the formation of a new political party that will support or oppose candidates for political office. In fact, corporations that are legally organized as 501(c)4 corporations are generally NOT permitted to support or oppose candidates.
So what is "People For a Working Democracy" organized to do?
So what is "People For a Working Democracy" organized to do?
The founding documents list the following corporate officers:
Chairman: Nicholas A. Brana
Secretary: Carol Ehrie Lo Patin
Treasurer: Rodrigo (Rod) Brana
They are also listed as the three members of the Board of Directors.
Are they permanent members of the Board of Directors, or is that subject to change?
Chairman: Nicholas A. Brana
Secretary: Carol Ehrie Lo Patin
Treasurer: Rodrigo (Rod) Brana
They are also listed as the three members of the Board of Directors.
Are they permanent members of the Board of Directors, or is that subject to change?
| articles_of_incorporation.tif |
2017
Who were the independent contractors who received the $6,368 in professional fees?
What was the $6,043 for occupancy, rent, utilities and maintenance actually spent on?
What was the $6,043 for occupancy, rent, utilities and maintenance actually spent on?
NO political campaign activities on behalf of or in opposition to candidates for public office were conducted in 2017?
| irs_form_990_ez_2017.pdf |
| contributions_and_expenditures_irs_form_8872_-_january-june_2017.pdf |
| contributions_and_expenditures_irs_form_8872_-_july-december_2017.pdf |
2018
$30,620 - $28,577 = $2,043 seems to be unaccounted for.
2018 IRS Form 990-EZ:
Total revenue (Line 9): $30,620.71
Total expenses (Line 17 - NOT ENTERED): $31,375.16
Net Assets: $7,990.55
Total revenue (Line 9): $30,620.71
Total expenses (Line 17 - NOT ENTERED): $31,375.16
Net Assets: $7,990.55
2018 CONTRIBUTIONS IRS Form 8872
Quarter 1: $8,872
Quarter 2: $8,321
Quarter 3: $1,564
Quarter 4: $9,820
Total Contributions: $28,577
Quarter 1: $8,872
Quarter 2: $8,321
Quarter 3: $1,564
Quarter 4: $9,820
Total Contributions: $28,577
NO political campaign activities on behalf of or in opposition to candidates for public office in 2018?
| form_990-ez_2018.pdf |
| contributions_and_expenditures_irs_form_8872_-_january-march_2018.pdf |
| contributions_and_expenditures_irs_form_8872_-_april-june_2018.pdf |
| contributions_and_expenditures_irs_form_8872_-_july-september_2018.pdf |
| contributions_and_expenditures_irs_form_8872_-_october-december_2018.pdf |
Why are so many donor's addresses the same as the party mailing address in McLean, Virginia?
2019
As of the day this was last edited (October 12, 2020) "People For A Working Democracy" has not yet filed their 2019 IRS Form 990 (or IRS Form 990-EZ).
| contributions_and_expenditures_irs_form_8872_-_january-june_2019.pdf |
| contributions_and_expenditures_irs_form_8872_-_july-december_2019.pdf |
2020
| contributions_and_expenditures_irs_form_8872_-_january-march_2020.pdf |
| contributions_and_expenditures_irs_form_8872_-_april-june_2020.pdf |
| contributions_and_expenditures_irs_form_8872_-_july-september_2020.pdf |
2020 THIRD QUARTER
TOP DONORS:
2020 THIRD QUARTER
SELECTED EXPENSES:
6% of all donations in the third quarter were spent on "event insurance."
| contributions_and_expenditures_irs_form_8872_october-december_2020.pdf |
FOURTH QUARTER
TOP DONORS:
TOP DONORS:
FOURTH QUARTER
SELECTED EXPENSES:
On Line 46 of their 2017 and 2018 IRS Form 990-EZ, "People For A Working Democracy" stated that they had NOT engaged, neither directly nor indirectly, in political campaign activities on behalf of or in opposition to candidates for public office.
Let's assume that "People For A Working Democracy" told the truth when they completed their IRS FORM 990-EZ.
What is the point of trying to start a new political party if you are not going to advocate for or against candidates for public office?
Inquiring minds would like to know.
Let's assume that "People For A Working Democracy" told the truth when they completed their IRS FORM 990-EZ.
What is the point of trying to start a new political party if you are not going to advocate for or against candidates for public office?
Inquiring minds would like to know.
The articles below should make it crystal clear that, despite their rhetoric, the "People's Party" does NOT speak for organized labor.
THREE ARTICLES THAT ARE WORTH READING:
Article #1:
https://socialistorganizer.org/2020/07/31/our-assessment-of-the-movement-for-a-peoples-party/
https://socialistorganizer.org/2020/07/31/our-assessment-of-the-movement-for-a-peoples-party/
Excerpts:
“Our first objective is to promote running independent labor-community candidates beginning in 2019 at a local and state level around a platform that embraces workers’ and communities’ pressing demands. The explicit aim is to advance the effort to build a mass party for working people rooted in unions, youth, and communities of the oppressed. The platforms of these independent candidates need to be discussed and approved by labor-community assemblies, and the candidates must be answerable to these assemblies and to the coalitions formed for this purpose."
"In order to create such a mass party for working people, we will organize to raise awareness in the unions of the need to break with the Democratic Party.”
"We are just beginning the process of organizing independent labor-community assemblies that are involved in critical labor and community struggles; that run candidates on a local level who are mandated by, and are answerable to, these assemblies; and that are the building blocks for a new mass-based independent working class party."
"We reminded our MPP partners that when we formed the LCCIP in September 2018 we had come up with a compromise formulation — “for an independent party of and for working people, youth and communities of the oppressed” — that left the designation of the name and character of the new independent party to be decided at some point in the future after the patient work laying the groundwork for the new party."
"Calling the independent labor- and community-based party that we seek to build (on the basis of the AFL-CIO resolutions) a People’s Party is not an option for us. We had made our objection to this name crystal clear to our MPP partners from Day One."
"The editorial board of The Organizer opposes this political orientation. Building a new party of the type we seek is not a short-term effort; it’s a long, careful, and sustained process that has to involve the direct participation and leadership by organizations representing labor unions and communities of the oppressed. Key stakeholders in such a party cannot be mere endorsers subordinate to a process in which their input is not central. We have only just begun to identify which organizations are likely to commit to this process, let alone bring them fully on board."
"In order to create such a mass party for working people, we will organize to raise awareness in the unions of the need to break with the Democratic Party.”
"We are just beginning the process of organizing independent labor-community assemblies that are involved in critical labor and community struggles; that run candidates on a local level who are mandated by, and are answerable to, these assemblies; and that are the building blocks for a new mass-based independent working class party."
"We reminded our MPP partners that when we formed the LCCIP in September 2018 we had come up with a compromise formulation — “for an independent party of and for working people, youth and communities of the oppressed” — that left the designation of the name and character of the new independent party to be decided at some point in the future after the patient work laying the groundwork for the new party."
"Calling the independent labor- and community-based party that we seek to build (on the basis of the AFL-CIO resolutions) a People’s Party is not an option for us. We had made our objection to this name crystal clear to our MPP partners from Day One."
"The editorial board of The Organizer opposes this political orientation. Building a new party of the type we seek is not a short-term effort; it’s a long, careful, and sustained process that has to involve the direct participation and leadership by organizations representing labor unions and communities of the oppressed. Key stakeholders in such a party cannot be mere endorsers subordinate to a process in which their input is not central. We have only just begun to identify which organizations are likely to commit to this process, let alone bring them fully on board."
Excerpts:
QUESTION:
"You said that there were eighty unions at the Labor Party’s founding that represented roughly half a million workers. It seems like you were trying to make this a party that was — concretely and substantively, not just symbolically or rhetorically — composed of and led by actual leaders, organizers, and rank-and-file members of the labor movement. Can you speak about that kind of model and how it’s different from other existing parties?"
ANSWER:
"That was central to what we felt had to happen. We felt that if you have a party of labor, you have to have a significant percentage of the labor movement in the room and at the table at all times. We felt that the people who were going to move this were people who were really representative of the actually-existing labor movement. Those were the folks that we needed to win over, and not necessarily the top national leaders.
The base of the Labor Party was always local and regional, leaders of different union formations. Those are the folks who could really move the issue and who could really speak on behalf of a constituency. So that was very important.
And then Tony always had this dictum that “If you can’t get it passed in your own union hall, don’t bring it to a broader organization.” This hit on the need to connect whatever politics you were doing to a real institutional and living and breathing constituency.
So that was just our style from the very beginning. It’s easy to get a hundred leftists together and put together a shopping list of political issues that we want to organize around. You can lay that out, but it doesn’t have any kind of reality beyond the names on that list and the issues on that list."
"You said that there were eighty unions at the Labor Party’s founding that represented roughly half a million workers. It seems like you were trying to make this a party that was — concretely and substantively, not just symbolically or rhetorically — composed of and led by actual leaders, organizers, and rank-and-file members of the labor movement. Can you speak about that kind of model and how it’s different from other existing parties?"
ANSWER:
"That was central to what we felt had to happen. We felt that if you have a party of labor, you have to have a significant percentage of the labor movement in the room and at the table at all times. We felt that the people who were going to move this were people who were really representative of the actually-existing labor movement. Those were the folks that we needed to win over, and not necessarily the top national leaders.
The base of the Labor Party was always local and regional, leaders of different union formations. Those are the folks who could really move the issue and who could really speak on behalf of a constituency. So that was very important.
And then Tony always had this dictum that “If you can’t get it passed in your own union hall, don’t bring it to a broader organization.” This hit on the need to connect whatever politics you were doing to a real institutional and living and breathing constituency.
So that was just our style from the very beginning. It’s easy to get a hundred leftists together and put together a shopping list of political issues that we want to organize around. You can lay that out, but it doesn’t have any kind of reality beyond the names on that list and the issues on that list."
Article #3:
Excerpts:
“[W]e are the ones we have been waiting for.” No one is coming to save us from the tyranny of US presidents, murderous police and conservative courts and judges. “[W]e are the ones we have been waiting for.” No one is coming to save us from the backlash of imperialist wars and decades of bigotry and Jim Crow laws. “[W]e are the ones we have been waiting for.” No one except for us is going to advocate for affordable housing, universal healthcare, an across-the-board living wage or put a stop to imprisoning our Mexican neighbor’s children! “[W]e are the ones we have been waiting for.”
"So, who are we and what do we stand for?
The LCIP Statement of Purpose says we are “… political, trade union, and community activists from different political backgrounds…” who “… decided to constitute ourselves as the Labor and Community for an Independent Party (LCIP) with two intertwined objectives.” These “two intertwined objectives” are what we stand for, and what we ask everyone who joins us in organizing LCIP to agree with: (1) “… promote running independent labor-community candidates … at a local and state level around a platform that embraces workers’ and communities’ pressing demands.” I also add the House of Representatives because we need working-class Representatives to legislate in working-class interests."
"(2) “Our second objective is to promote widely in the trade union movement a committee [or, as I would say, committees] that advocates for a Labor-Based Political Party. A resolution adopted by the October 2017 national convention of the AFL-CIO affirmed that, “whether the candidates are elected from the Republican or Democratic Party, the interests of Wall Street have been protected and advanced, while the interests of labor and working people have generally been set back.”
A second convention resolution concluded that, “the time has passed when we can passively settle for the lesser of two evils politics.” The committee’s goal will be to promote the discussion inside the labor movement about the need to break with the “lesser of two evils politics” and to create a “Labor-Based Political Party”
"So, who are we and what do we stand for?
The LCIP Statement of Purpose says we are “… political, trade union, and community activists from different political backgrounds…” who “… decided to constitute ourselves as the Labor and Community for an Independent Party (LCIP) with two intertwined objectives.” These “two intertwined objectives” are what we stand for, and what we ask everyone who joins us in organizing LCIP to agree with: (1) “… promote running independent labor-community candidates … at a local and state level around a platform that embraces workers’ and communities’ pressing demands.” I also add the House of Representatives because we need working-class Representatives to legislate in working-class interests."
"(2) “Our second objective is to promote widely in the trade union movement a committee [or, as I would say, committees] that advocates for a Labor-Based Political Party. A resolution adopted by the October 2017 national convention of the AFL-CIO affirmed that, “whether the candidates are elected from the Republican or Democratic Party, the interests of Wall Street have been protected and advanced, while the interests of labor and working people have generally been set back.”
A second convention resolution concluded that, “the time has passed when we can passively settle for the lesser of two evils politics.” The committee’s goal will be to promote the discussion inside the labor movement about the need to break with the “lesser of two evils politics” and to create a “Labor-Based Political Party”
TWO VIDEOs THAT ARE WORTH WATCHING...
FYI: The Progressive Party Organizing Fund is a separate organization and is not officially connected to ProgressiveParty.US in any way.
We support the efforts of the Progressive Party Organizing Fund and look forward to cooperating with them. Visit their website by clicking on the button below...
The Progressive Party avoids all of these financial complications by being structured as a 100% volunteer organization that puts money, power and control in the hands of the people, not the party structure.
We do NOT have a top-down, authoritarian, hierarchical structure. The Progressive Party merely seeks to be an umbrella organization that brings like-minded local groups together in a coalition. It's not about "the party." It is definitely not about the party leaders. It is about empowering the working class on a local level and connecting them with like-minded groups around the country and around the world.
We believe in getting money out of politics, so we do NOT accept donations of any kind. We are able to express our views freely without government oversight and intervention BECAUSE we have gotten money out of our party's politics.
Can you see the difference?
