Our Issues

Independent Action believes in electing progressive legislators who will vote with us on the issues that matter most. As Democrats, we believe that government (We, the People) has a vital role in delivering the promises of our Constitution, like ensuring life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, providing for the common defense and promoting the general welfare, and ensuring equal protection and due process before the law. We also believe in the importance of good governance and government that works. Our endorsements are carefully considered with these ideals in mind, and we look for competitive candidates who support our positions on the following.

Civil Rights
We believe in ending discrimination and ensuring the same rights and opportunities for all Americans. We are proud of our endorsed candidates who passed the Mathew Shepard and James Byrd, JR Hate Crimes Prevention Act and welcomed the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which now allows our LGBT brothers and sisters to proudly and openly serve in our military forces.

We strongly endorse the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would disallow job discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation and gender identity.

We look forward to the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and we support Marriage Equality, which will allow our gay and lesbian family members, neighbors, and colleagues to be equally recognized and protected under the law.

Our endorsed candidates have demonstrated a commitment to civil rights, supporting policies that would grant greater equality before the law and help build greater equality in our society.

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 and even some Democrats have repeatedly undermined that decision with legislative attacks in both the House and the Senate. Independent Action believes in strongly affirming a woman's right to govern her own health and seeks candidates who will work to ensure both the right to choose and access to family planning of all kinds.

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.

Energy and the Environment
We are committed to protecting our planet's precious natural resources and we support candidates who share that commitment. Our nation's environmental laws were under siege for eight long years 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 like "cap and trade" — policies that will move us away from the "drill, baby, drill" carbon-fueled economy that is driving global warming, but towards renewable energy solutions that will provide sustainable and secure power for the 21st century.

Health Care
We strongly believe that every American should have access to affordable and quality health care. And we believe that, as with education, government has a very necessary role in guaranteeing that right. It makes no sense that America pays twice as much per capita to insure fewer and die sooner than all of our modern, democratic competitors who provide some form of universal coverage to their peoples. Independent Action will support candidates who will fight the special interests and deliver affordable and quality health care to every American.