Our Issues

Independent Action believes in electing progressive legislators who will vote with us on the issues that matter most. Our endorsements are carefully considered, and we look for competitive candidates who support our positions on the following.

Choice
Abortion is one of the most heated issues in American politics. While acknowledging that people have a right to disagree on such an emotional topic, we also believe that a woman has the right to make her own decisions about her reproductive health. Access to safe and legal reproductive medical procedures were guaranteed with the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, but Republicans have repeatedly undermined that decision with legislative attacks in both the House and the Senate. Independent Action believes in strongly affirming a woman's choice and seeks candidates who will work to ensure both the right to choose and access to family planning of all kinds.

Gun Control
We support gun control laws, such as the Brady Bill, that seek to reduce gun violence and prevent the trafficking in firearms. We look for candidates who endorse simple but sensible policies — like background checks and waiting periods — that will keep our communities safer by keeping guns out of the wrong hands.

Civil Rights
We believe in ending discrimination and ensuring the same rights and opportunities for all Americans. We support an end to racial profiling and all other forms of race-based discrimination. And we strongly endorse the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would disallow job discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation. Our endorsed candidates have demonstrated a commitment to civil rights, supporting policies that would create greater equality in our society and under the law.

Environment & Energy
We are committed to protecting our planet's precious natural resources and we support candidates who share that commitment. Our nation's environmental laws have sustained a 7-year siege under the Bush Administration, and we are working to elect Democrats who will bring sensible and sustainable policies back to the nation's capital. We believe in enforcing and strengthening current regulations to conserve our air, water and land. We believe in protecting our forests and saving our endangered species. And we advocate innovative and sustainable approaches to energy policy — policies that will move us away from the carbon-fueled economy that is driving global warming and towards renewable energy solutions that will provide sustainable and secure power for the 21st century.

Education
We support candidates who will work to protect and improve public education. Quality public education is the bedrock of American growth and ingenuity. In the richest country in the world, it should also be a basic right. We look for candidates who will strongly fund our public schools and promote an education system that utilizes innovative technologies, draws teachers who are well-trained and well-compensated, and is accessible and affordable from the first day of preschool to the last day of college.