Richard Sherzan To all Democrats and the Democratic Party: Greetings!  My name is Richard Sherzan, and I am writing to you now, as one Democrat, to offer the below, new, political and economic ideas for your review and consideration, regarding the future direction of the Democratic Party, and regarding the governing ideas, which should guide the Democratic Party, going forward.  These ideas, I believe, offer a strong foundation for a new union among all Democrats, including, progressives and liberals alike, and a strong foundation for the renewal of the Democratic Party.  The below ideas are supported by objective, historical evidence, and by empirical, economic data and trends.  They represent the truth, as I see the truth.  Although I apologize for the length of the email, the importance of the subject matter requires an effort towards a clear, detailed explanation.  My background is described briefly, in the below paragraph, and in the bottom paragraph. In 2014-15, I announced as a candidate for the U.S. Senate, in the 2016 Arizona Democratic Party primary election.  The theme of my U.S. Senate campaign was “A New West For America”.  I ran because I wanted to offer Arizona Democrats, and Arizona voters, new, independent, political and economic ideas—a vision of a new direction for the Democratic Party and for America.   I still believe the times require independent-minded leadership, with new ideas, if the Democratic Party and America are to succeed and move forward.  Indeed, I believe history shows, that there is no real movement forward, without such leadership.  I am a life-long Democrat.  I represent no political, economic, or social special interest group.  I speak only as one Democrat, and one American, who is concerned about the direction and future of the Democratic Party and America.  I grew up in Iowa and have lived in Arizona for over 30 years. The following paragraphs describe new, political and economic ideas, which, I believe, can be the basis for a renewed Democratic Party and America:

1. A New Election-Year Party Image For The Democratic Party—And A New Election-Year Political Paradigm For The Democratic Party

Since the end of WWII, the Republican Party has repeatedly falsely labeled the Democratic Party, as the Party of and for “Liberal Big Government”.  During this time, the Republican Party, also, has repeatedly falsely framed the election-year political debate between the parties, as follows:  the Democratic Party, as the Party of and for “Liberal Big Government” vs. the Republican Party, as the Party of and for the “Free Market and Small Government”.  In this election-year political framework, the Republican Party, I believe, has always had the “political edge”, over the Democratic Party, because the Republican Party’s Party image is more closely aligned with the economic-political self-interest of the individual voter. To win elections, the Democratic Party must offer the individual voter a new, alternative, election-year Party image, and a new, alternative, election-year political framework.  To win elections, the Democratic Party must offer the individual voter an election-year Party image, that correctly reflects the Party’s true principles and values—the enhancement of the freedom, dignity, security, and happiness of the individual.  This election-year Democratic Party image should be, as follows:   the Democratic Party, as the Party of and for “Individual Rights and Freedom for all Americans” (see paragraph 3 below, health care, education etc.).  To win elections, the Democratic Party must then use this  election-year Party image, to create a new, election-year political framework or paradigm, between the parties, as follows:  the Democratic Party, as the Party of and for “Individual Rights and freedom for all Americans”  vs. the Republican Party, as the Party of and for the “Free Market and Small Government”.  In this new, election-year political paradigm, the Democratic Party will have the “political edge”, because the Democratic Party’s new, election-year Party image will be more closely aligned with the economic-political self-interest of the the individual voter. The above analysis and conclusions are supported by objective, historical evidence--Harry Truman’s 1948 “miracle” presidential election.  Truman’s campaign for the presidency was “waged chiefly” on Truman’s advocacy of Franklin Roosevelt’s “Economic Bill of Rights”—new rights for individual voters, for individual Americans.  (“Working with Roosevelt”, 1952, Samuel I. Rosenman)

A New Economic Partnership, Between The Public And Private Sectors, To Create And Maintain A New, High-Technology, High-Wage American Economy

The American people, through the American Constitution, created and sustained an American national economy for over 200 years, based upon a fundamental economic assumption, namely, the existence of a productive, workable, economic partnership, between the public-private sectors, to drive the American economy forward.  However, the character of this public-private economic partnership has always varied over time, depending upon changing economic circumstances:  Sometimes the public-private economic partnership was weak, and sometimes it was strong (weak partnerships-- taxes, tariffs, trade regulations, infrastructure spending etc.) (strong, short-term, stratigic partnerships--1860s Union-Pacific Railroad, under Republican Abraham Lincoln; 1960s NASA Apollo Moon Program, under Democrat John F. Kennedy).  Clearly, then, the American Constitution created a national legal framework for an ever-evolving “American System” (see, “The Federalist” No. 11, by Alexander Hamilton) of public-private economic partnerships, to meet the ever-evolving economic needs of the American people. In American history, there have been challenges to the “American System” of public-private economic partnerships.  During the 1st Progressive Era, in the early 20^th century-- the era of Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson--the challenge came from the  “concentration” of American Big Capital or American Big Business in the American  economy.   In 2017, Americans live in a new, 2nd Progressive Era—a Space Age Progressive Era-- with a new challenge to the “American System”.  This new challenge, related to the post WWII rise of the new global economy, is the “abandonment” of the American economy by American Big Capital or American Big Business.  Today, American Big Capital or American Big Business has become “global” or “multinational”, while American Labor remains, essentially, “national”.  Today, American Big Capital or American Big Business is “American” in name only, because the primary economic interest of “American” Big Business is now the global economy-- not the American economy, and not the American people.  Today, for the first time in 200 years of American history, the above, fundamental economic assumption—the existence of a productive, workable, public-private economic partnership—is no longer a valid assumption, because, as indicated above, “American” Big Business has abandoned the American economy, abandoned its historical public sector partner, and abandoned the American people.  Today, as a consequence of this “abandonment” by “American” Big Business, the American economy is functioning like an “economic train”, without a truly American “economic engine”, to drive the American economy forward. The most recent economic data and trends from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, for the period 2009-2014, support the above analysis and conclusions.  During this period, as indicated by the below figures, the overall proportion of workers employed in the U.S., by “American” Big Business, “American” multinational corporations, went down, from 68% to 65.8%, while the overall proportion of workers employed abroad, by these same companies, went up, from 32% to 34.2%.  From 2009-2014, the total number of workers employed by “American” Big Business, in the U.S., changed from 23 million to 26.6 million (3.6 million increase, or a 16% increase), while the total number of workers employed abroad, by “American” Big Business, changed from 10. 8 million to 13.8 million (3 million increase, or a 28% increase).  So, the bottom line, regarding all these figures, is that by 2014 “American” Big Business employed a grand total of 40.4 million workers, both in the U.S. and abroad—with 13.8 million workers, or more than one-third (34%) of its total workforce, employed abroad, outside the U.S..  Clearly, the empirical, economic data and trends show “American” Big Business has abandoned the American economy, as its primary center of economic interest, and as its primary center for economic investment-- in favor of the global economy.  Clearly, therefore, “American” Big Business can no longer be relied upon--in any kind of weak, public-private economic partnership arrangement--to provide the investment, labor skills, high-technology, and economic leadership, that are required to move the  American economy forward. Stop here and think, what the above, new economic conditions mean, to the future of all the children and students in America’s schools and universities—to the future of your children and your grandchildren.  Think what the above, new economic conditions mean, to America’s workers, regarding the quantity and quality of jobs.  Think what the above, new economic conditions mean, to the social-economic fabric of America itself.  Clearly, as recent American history shows, such conditions only breed social-economic impoverishment, antagonism, factionalism, and civil disunion—look around you.  Indeed, in the final analysis, the new economic conditions, of our new, Space Age Progressive Era, like the economic conditions of the old Progressive Era, threaten American Democracy itself. History has brought us to this point.  Is it any wonder, then, given the above, new, threatening economic conditions, that the American people instinctively feel fearful, uncertain, and insecure about their economic future, and the economic future of their children and grandchildren?  Is it any wonder, then, given these new, threatening economic conditions, that the American people, therefore, have instinctively rebelled against these conditions—as clearly demonstrated by the recent November 2016 election results, and by the victory of Donald Trump’s “America First” presidential campaign?  Today, in 2017, given the above, new economic conditions, the American people are faced with an unprecedented economic task, under the American Constitution, of creating a new kind of economic partnership, a workable, strong, long-term, strategic, public-private economic partnership, to drive the American economy forward—and to keep it moving forward. Today, in 2017, in the new, Space Age Progressive Era, a “New American System”—with a new, strong, long-term, strategic, public-private economic partnership-- is needed, in order to create a “new economic engine” for the American economy.  And today, as it has always been, throughout American history, a fundamental principle of American Constitutional Democracy applies:   What the private sector is unwilling or unable to do--to ensure the economic development of the American economy, and the economic security of the American people—the public sector has the Constitutional responsibility to do! The November 2016 election results, including the great wave of traditional, Democratic Party worker-voter turnovers, were a direct consequence of the above, new economic circumstances, and of Donald Trump’s “America First” message of change and hope.  However, the “America First” message, in reality, offers only “nickel and dime change”, and only “hollow hope”.  Its economic agenda consists, essentially, only of a weak, short-term, public-private economic partnership (tariffs, cutting business regulations, trade regulations, tax incentives, infrastructure spending, etc.) to move the American economy forward.  However, given the above, new economic conditions, this weak, short-term, public-private economic partnership is inherently too weak, to constitute a “new economic engine” for the American economy.   Therefore, at bottom, it is really the “Achilles’ heel” of the “America First” economic agenda, and of Donald Trump’s presidency. The November 2016 election results show clearly, that the American people want dramatic economic change:  high-wage jobs, and a high-technology, high-wage American economy.  However, the economic data and trends also show, that only a new, strong, long-term, strategic, public-private economic partnership can create the kind of economic change wanted by the American people.  To win elections, the Democratic Party must offer the American people a realistic alternative to the Republican Party’s “America First” economic agenda:  a new economic vision and agenda, rooted in American history, and based upon a new, strong, long-term, strategic, public-private economic partnership.  To win elections, the Democratic Party must offer the American people a “New American System”, which can move the American economy forward--by successfully engaging the new economic challenges of our times:  the challenge of the “abandonment” of the American economy by “American” Big Business, and the challenge of the new global economy.

New Individual Economic Rights For All Americans—Heath Care, Higher Education, etc.

During the last years of his presidency, at the end of WWII, Franklin Roosevelt outlined a new American economy, which included a new “Economic Bill of Rights” for all Americans.  Roosevelt proposed new, individual, economic rights for each American, such as health care, education, etc., as an integral part of his vision for a new, post WWII American economy.  As indicated above, Harry Truman’s 1948 “miracle” presidential election clearly demonstrates the political power and voter appeal of this “Economic Bill of Rights”.  With the economic boom years of post WWII, the Democratic Party neglected its advocacy of the “Economic Bill of Rights”.  In recent years, with growing economic bad times for Americans, the Democratic Party offered a politically short-sighted, abbreviated, compromise version of the “Economic Bill of Rights”--in the form of the coercive, expensive, health insurance mandates of Obamacare.  The Democratic Party has paid a heavy political price for this compromise--in the November 2016 election results.  To win elections, again, the Democratic Party must return to its advocacy of an “Economic Bill of Rights” for all Americans--new, individual, economic rights for all Americans, including, health care and higher education.  Indeed, to win elections, the Democratic Party must return to an advocacy of an “Economic Bill of Rights”, as an integral part of a “New American System”, and a new American economy. My Background:  Retired (2014), Administrative Law Judge, Arizona Dept. of Economic Security, Unemployment Insurance Office of Appeals; J.D., Law Degree; M.A. Degree, American History; Law Clerk--Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (Civil Div.), AZ Attorney General’s Office (Criminal Div.), and Private Attorneys; Maricopa County Community College Teacher; State Representative in Iowa House, Iowa State Legislature; Polk County, IA, Coordinator, Morris K Udall Presidential Campaign; Vietnam War Army Veteran—Honorable Discharge (1969); Purple Heart; Bronze Star with “V” Device (heroism in ground combat).  I also protested the Vietnam War. Richard Sherzan 2016 Arizona Democratic Party candidate for U.S. Senate