Editor's note: Joelle Fishman chairs the political action commission of the Communist Party. She answered questions about the Communist Party election program (below) and about John McCain (to be posted). The Communist Party election program, 'Election 2008: Help Make History,' can be read and downloaded at .

JOELLE FISHMAN: Three decades of ultlra-right rule has created a disastrous situation in every aspect of life. On top of that is the devastating economic crisis. The Communist Party's program, 'Election 2008: Help Make History,' addresses the urgent situation and the tremendous opportunity to defeat the ultra-right in this election and create the conditions to turn the country around.

We are fortunate that an array of strong candidates came forward on the Democratic side in the primaries – and out of that emerged Barack Obama – breaking down divisions and barriers of racism. The Obama candidacy has opened up a much deeper discussion at the grass roots about the negative role that racism has played in the history of our country, and about how to correct the inequalities that have been passed on – at the expense of the people and to the benefit of the corporations. This development is reflective of people's anger and the yearning for a new day in our country.

This is an historic election. The labor movement, women, youth, Latino and African American voters are placing more resources than ever into educating and mobilizing. If voters turn out in overwhelming numbers and repudiate the rightwing Republicans, elect Barack Obama with a very large majority and increase the Democrats – hopefully pro-worker Democrats – in the Senate and House, we will be in a new situation. We think if that happens the whole people will be energized and excited and ready to go forward.

We view this election as the beginning and not the end. Already politics is being reconfigured in our country. If we are successful on November 4, then the hard work of cleaning up the devastation and achieving a New Deal for our time will begin.

We offer an 'Emergency Program to Repair, Renew and Rebuild' to contribute toward that process. In writing the Communist Party's election program, we tried to think through just what it is that the new President and Congress could, should and will do to address the emergency situation in our country. What kind of actions should a new government take to turn the country around and put people's needs first?

The program we have developed is predicated on the idea that funding would come from money now being spent on the Iraq War, the military budget, and tax breaks for the super rich. If we freed up that enormous amount of money, we could do so much in our country. Our Emergency Program to Repair, Renew and Rebuild has four sections. Our program incorporates many demands developed by labor and people's organizations.

The first section calls for immediate relief. Millions of people are facing or know somebody who is either facing foreclosure or an eviction or loss of job or unable to get the healthcare they need. These immediate relief proposals could be implemented and delivered without any delay.

Such relief includes a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions, resetting mortgages so that payments are affordable, but does not offer huge bailouts for the banks and mortgage lenders. It also includes special measures for those who have lost their jobs, or who have been unable to find full-time or good-paying jobs.

Congress recently passed a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits which is very good, but not long enough, benefits are not high enough, and eligibility is too restrictive.

An increase in food stamps is also needed. There is now even a discussion about a fuel stamp program to deal with the winter heating crisis, along with other forms of low-income energy assistance.

The Communist Party USA program for emergency relief also includes assistance to state and local governments, who have been starved by the purposeful federal cutbacks. In all of our communities there is so much that could be done to improve schools, create affordable housing, and repair infrastructure, which would create a lot of jobs.

The second section of our program is 'A Peacetime Green Jobs Economy For All.'

A comprehensive approach is needed to rebuild our country's economic infrastructure. At the heart is a massive public works jobs creation program and a sustainable clean energy development project. Lowering the carbon imprint in response to global warming will require a lot of job creation and job training – jobs to refit buildings, to expand public transit, to make the turn to sustainable and affordable energy to heat our homes and run our cars. There is a tremendous opportunity here.

Special priorities should be given for those hurt by the loss of manufacturing jobs and the loss of family farms, and for urban and rural high-unemployment areas including the Katrina-devastated Gulf Coast. All of these areas should have special priority in terms of massive public works jobs creation.


Then we emphasize the Employee Free Choice Act, which might be the single most important first act of the new president. The Employee Free Choice Act would level the playing field and allow workers who want a union – which is the majority of unorganized workers in this country – to organize on their own behalf. The enormous swelling of the ranks of the labor movement would be a most powerful voice to counter the pressure that Wall Street and the military-industrial complex is sure to place on the new administration.

Then we address HR 676, the US National Health Insurance Act, authored by John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich. This universal, single-payer healthcare proposal, which would take private profits out of the healthcare system and put us in line with all the other developed countries in the world, now has the support of the National Conference of Mayors and most labor organizations. It is a disgrace that people have to choose between food, healthcare and housing, and so we are a very strong supporter of the HR 676 solution.

The third section of our program is 'Restoring Civil Rights, the Bill of Rights and Separation of Powers.' There are ongoing important hearings by the House Judiciary Committee to address extreme abuse of power and wrongdoings by the Bush administration that have hurt many people both here and abroad, including the Iraq War, which was begun on a lie and has cost tens of thousands of lives.

Those responsible have to be held accountable. The undermining of our basic rights that has occurred under the Bush administration must be corrected. Those rights must be restored and further improved – such as affirmative action in employment, education and housing, outlawing hate crimes, repealing the Patriot Act, and restoring the right of habeas corpus for detainees. Others aspects of the restoration of rights include preserving Roe v. Wade and ending the school-to-prison pipeline, as well as insuring full rights for immigrant workers and their families so they are not separated by deportation and torn apart, and so that there is a path to citizenship. Another basic issue is the protection and expansion of voting rights, which, of course, has been, since the year 2000, a basic democratic demand.

The fourth section is 'Strength through Peace.'

Of course the top issue is withdrawal of troops from Iraq, leaving no contractors behind. We have to step back from the concept of war on terror and develop a new approach to foreign policy based on diplomacy, respect for all nations and peaceful relations. The war must not be expanded to Iran, and troops in Iraq should not go to Afghanistan. They should all come home and receive full medical and mental health care and other benefits.

Our program calls for ending trade policies that enrich corporations while destroying jobs, the result of NAFTA and CAFTA, etc. We call for ratification of the Kyoto Treaty and other climate-change agreements, nuclear non-proliferation, developing a nuclear-free world and closing US military bases around the world.

In all these matters, John McCain, a representative of the ultra-right policies, would continue and expand the Bush agenda of privatization and militarization of our economy and foreign policy. He is especially dangerous because he parades as a moderate and must be exposed. The Emergency Program to Repair, Rebuild and Renew would not be on the agenda with a McCain administration.

In the concluding section we point out that this program is offered as a start in turning our country around. Conditions have brought many thousands of people to think more deeply about why things are the way they are, and look for more far-reaching solutions. Capitalism and US imperialism are devastating to the democratic rights and quality of life of working people and our country as a whole. We view this emergency program as an essential step along the way toward a working people's government and toward socialism which would deepen and broaden our democracy so every person will have the opportunity to develop to their fullest potential.

All of today's struggles – for economic rights and to end the war, to live in equality and dignity in a safe environment – depend very heavily on winning the elections in November with a new pro-worker administration and stronger Democratic majorities in Congress while defeating John McCain and the ultra-right Republicans. In achieving such a victory, the labor and people's movements will gain new strength to organize and win gains that will repair, rebuild and renew our country.