What Frederick County Democrats Believe

The following list of beliefs were adopted by the Frederick County Democratic State Central Committee in the Spring of 2004 to help voters understand what Democrats believe.

• Government should work for all citizens, not just the powerful and well connected.
• America must be kept strong morally, economically and militarily.
• America must fight international terrorism with a full range of weapons, including better intelligence, military force, home security measures, ideas and cooperation with other countries.
• We owe our freedom to our active and retired military.
  • We should be generous in providing support and benefits to our active and retired military.
• American citizens should be very careful about sacrificing their Constitutional rights to privacy and due process in the interests of fighting terrorism.
• Citizens have the right to own and use firearms in conformance with existing laws and common sense safeguards.
• All citizens have a right to equal protection under the law regardless of sex, race, age, religion, ethnic background, disability, or sexual orientation.
• Politicians should not interfere in the private lives and personal decisions of American citizens about religion and reproductive choice.
  • Abortions should be safe, legal and rare.
• A good job with wages that will support a family is the road to success for Americans.
• Elected officials should live within a budget, spend tax dollars wisely, and balance spending with income.
• Financial security for Americans depends on protecting and securing pensions, retirement funds, Social Security and Medicare.
• The United States should work to improve wages and benefits for workers in other countries so American companies can compete globally without cutting American wages or shipping American jobs overseas.
• All workers should have the right to organize and bargain collectively.
• Frederick County and the State of Maryland should promote farm-friendly policies to encourage a strong agricultural sector in Frederick County.
• We should encourage the development of small businesses, which create jobs, not subsidize corporations that ship jobs overseas.
• We need to rethink the impact of our immigration laws and policies on security and the job market.
• America needs a health care system that makes quality health care affordable for everyone.
• Individuals, businesses and government should cooperate to protect the environment for the long term.
• All children should have the opportunity to get a quality education in public schools.
• Frederick County and the State of Maryland need to find better ways to meet the educational needs of minority and disadvantaged children.
• We need private sector and government cooperation to find ways to keep housing affordable for working people in Frederick County.