Lessig on the Issues
Lessig’s position on key issues. By Lessig. Comment, criticize, ask questions.
The First Reform
The first priority of a Lessig administration would be to fix the corruption that has crippled Congress, by enacting legislation to restore…the fundamental principle of a representative democracy: the equality of citizens. ¶ That legislation — the Citizen Equality Act — is described in detail here. Its basic objective is to give to each citizen an equal stake in our democracy, so that our government responds to all of us, and not just to the few. ¶ Passing this legislation would make practically every other policy described on this issues page easier to achieve.
LessigOct 17, 2015
The Economy
Americans are still suffering from the economic collapse triggered in part by Wall Street’s recklessness. Though the economy has grown…consistently since Congress passed Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan (described powerfully in Michael Grunwald’s The New New Deal), the growth is still historically anemic. ¶ One of the reasons for this weakness has been the government’s need to rely primarily on monetary stimulus, rather than fiscal stimulus. We have depended on the Fed to keep interest rates at historic lows as a way to spur economic activity, rather than the more traditional strategy of sustained public spending.LessigOct 17, 2015
Tax Reform
Taxes in America should be progressive and efficient. Today they are neither — or at least, not enough. We have flattened the traditionally…progressive income tax substantially. We have capped Social Security contributions at a regressively low amount. We tax corporations unequally and unfairly — and as economists have shown, regressively. And we have one of the most complex tax codes generally in the world. ¶ But many of these problems tie directly to the corruption of Congress. The rich are the most important contributors to political campaigns.LessigOct 16, 2015
Social & Financial Security
The market is a powerful engine for economic growth. We should encourage it where appropriate, and celebrate the achievements that are…inspired by its freedom. ¶ But there are spheres of social life that need to be protected from the market. Federal policy over the last 30 years has forgotten this obvious fact. ¶ The aim of financial policy should be to secure a safe environment for finance to occur. We need to be able to trust that banks won’t lose our money. Investors need confidence that massive speculation won’t destroy the stability of the financial system.LessigOct 16, 2015
National Security & Foreign Policy
Throughout our history, America’s strength has come only in part from its might. Much more important are our actions for right.Our sacrifice in World War II to save the world from fascism — and then, through the Marshall Plan, to help the defeated rebuild themselves — earned America the love of the free world. We didn’t fight Hitler to get access to oil fields. We didn’t enter the war in the Pacific because we really expected Japan to overrun us. Our grandparents made those sacrifices because it was the right thing to do.LessigOct 16, 2015
Criminal Justice Reform
Our criminal justice system is an embarrassment to our tradition and our values. The #BlackLivesMatter movement is the most recent reminder…of this obvious fact, and the most urgent demand for reform. That reform must happen over the course of the next presidential administration. I would commit to making that reform happen in the first two years of my administration. ¶ But almost every problem that we see in the criminal justice system flows from the core inequality that we’ve allowed to grow within our society. The laws are harshest against the most politically disempowered (the poor); they are unenforced against the most…LessigOct 16, 2015
Health Care Reform
The Affordable Care Act (which out of respect for our President, I will refer to as Obamacare) represents enormous progress towards…providing all Americans a security that citizens of other nations take for granted. We should celebrate and defend its provisions. ¶ But we should improve them as well. I would support legislation that would add a public option to the insurance mandate of Obamacare. I would also support legislation that would repeal the ban on the government negotiating lower prices for drugs. ¶ Beyond Obamacare, I would support reforms that would make pharmaceuticals more affordable.LessigOct 16, 2015
Achieving Equality
The fundamental aim of my administration will be to restore — or perhaps, for the first time, to achieve — the equality of citizens in…America. The First Reform will begin that process. ¶ But obviously, citizen equality is not the only equality that we must achieve or defend. In addition to that equality, we must defend victories for racial equality, by immediately restoring the protections of the Voting Rights Act. We must extend protections secured to women, by passing the Paycheck Fairness Act, securing support for Planned Parenthood, and expanding the protections against violence against women.LessigOct 16, 2015
The Internet
The Internet is infrastructure for the 21st century. It is the most important driver of economic and social transformation in America in…our lifetime. It is an engine of growth and innovation, and the core technology protecting the freedom of speech. If I were President, I would advance policies to achieve persistent and ubiquitous broadband connectivity by 2021. ¶ But the Internet is threatened by economic and political interests that don’t like the freedom and innovation that it enables. They in turn use their power, both economic and through government, to change the Internet and restrict its freedoms.LessigOct 16, 2015
Innovation Policy
Since the founding of America, the American government has secured to creators and inventors the protection of limited monopolies, to give…them the the incentive they need to create. ¶ I support this innovation policy. But I have long fought for reform in innovation policy, to fit the regulations of copyright and patent to the technology of the time. ¶ As President, I would do the same. On copyright policy, I would convene a Creative Rights Commission, composed of a broad range of disinterested but experienced individuals, who would survey the field of research and craft a blueprint for a copyright act for the 21st century.LessigOct 16, 2015
Reforms to Support Work
Our economy is changing. We have left the time when people work for one company for their whole life. We have entered a time when workers…are certain to work for many employers over the course of their career, and may in fact have many careers. ¶ We need work policies that make this reality easier for workers. That includes increasing wage security. It means better health care protection. It means protection for the basic facts of life — we all get sick, some of us are blessed with children. It means a simple ability to migrate retirement plans.LessigOct 16, 2015
The So-Called “War on Drugs”
The “war on drugs” has been the most self-destructive war in American history since the Civil War. Motivated by the same naive idea that…led America into prohibition, the war has cost billions of dollars, and countless American lives; it has weakened the law’s protection for civil rights, and it has destroyed the security and democracy of the many South and Central American nations drawn into the illegal drug trade. ¶ We must acknowledge the mistake of this war. Not the mistake in its objective — to protect the vulnerable against debilitating addiction.LessigOct 16, 2015
Immigration Reform
America’s tradition is to welcome immigrants to this country. Almost all of us have ancestors who came here, and very few with a visa…issued in advance. We need to recognize that among us Americans, there are millions of Americans who are not yet citizens, but should be. I would support the most inclusive and speedy path to citizenship for all but those proven to have engaged in serious crime. ¶ As President, I would push to pass the DREAM Act. I would also work with Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform that would give all deserving Americans not yet citizens a speedy path to citizenship.LessigOct 16, 2015
Education
Since the founding of this nation, we have recognized the need for the government to subsidize education. Education benefits the student…. It benefits the society. We all gain from an educated people. ¶ But over the last 20 years, we have lost sight of this fundamental truth. The consequence is a level of student debt that has created a national crisis. That debt now stands at $1.2 trillion — more than auto loans ($1 trillion), credit card debt ($7oo million), or home equity loans ($500 million). We need a workforce that is free to experiment and learn, not one that’s terrified into dead-end jobs.LessigOct 16, 2015
The Emerging Surveillance Society
The war on terror has led America to compromise a fundamental American value: that the state must leave us alone unless it has evidence to…support invading our privacy. To protect this value, our Framers enacted the Fourth Amendment. Its central principle is that suspicionless searches are not the American way. ¶ I would stop NSA surveillance on American citizens, wherever they may be. I would block any efforts by the NSA to outsource the violation of the Fourth Amendment to other governments or private contractors. And I would require that any surveillance system be built with both strict legal and technical protections to…LessigOct 16, 2015
Protecting Our Environment
Our values teach us that we don’t own this planet. We hold it in trust for our children. And we must pass to them as rich and diverse a…world as we inherited from our parents. This is a moral principle that it has taken too long for us to recognize, and act upon. ¶ The most urgent environmental challenge we face — in light of this sacred trust — is climate change. The science is clear that climate change is happening — in part at least — because of human activity. In light of our values, that part alone should be enough to demand that we do something immediately to respond.LessigOct 16, 2015