[PEN-L:11005] PEN/PKT Challenge

[Terrence Mc Donough <TERRENCE.MCDONOUGH@xxxxxx>]

Employment:

Promote full employment through progressive shortening of the work
week, the expansion of meaningful public employment, aggressive job
search/training for long term unemployed, basic income for those
still unemployed.

Wages:

The question is not the level of wages but the variance.  Restrict
income inequality to a 10 to 1 top to bottom spread.

Taxes:

EU average VAT.  Taxes on carbon emissions, speculation, and other
negative activity.  Taxes on capital consistent with international
balance of class forces.  Taxes on high income consistent with a 10
to 1 spread.  Graduated income tax to make up remaining shortfall.

Public spending:

Consistent with above full employment program.

Trade:

Passive or active resistance to any international trading agreements
which damage the environment or the achievement of social goals.
Agitation for change within the agreements generally preceding
withdrawal.

Fiscal policy:

Mildly inflationary.  Passive resistance to EMU convergence criteria,
forcing Germans to cancel the project or allow France in on the basis
of more liberal policies.  If EMU proceeds, oppose sado-monetarism
within the central bank.

Popular mobilization scenario:

Government commits resources to building active popular support for
above program, implementing it as support reaches appropriate levels.
At the same time the government should be propagandizing for the
eventual transition to socialism.


The above program has the advantage of radically challenging some of
the basic features of capitalism without going beyond social
democracy.  It is in a sense the maximal social democratic program
well short of socialism.  And is therefore  not unrealistic to expect
from a social democratic regime.  As such it provides a yardstick
against which the new French government can be measured.

Terry McDonough