Illinois lieutenant governor candidate Aaron Del Mar criticized the Democratic Socialists of America’s policy agenda while speaking outside the Socialism 2026 gathering, pointing to proposals involving housing, policing, prisons, energy, and government-funded services.

“Good morning, everybody. I'm Aaron Del Mar, candidate for lieutenant governor, and right before me is the Democratic Socialists of America program that is happening right behind us at Socialism 2026,” Del Mar said.

Del Mar said the event included a daylong Marxism 101 program before turning to a document outlining proposals for essential services and housing.

“Food, education, energy, medicine, transportation aren't for private business; they are common goods, and they are free to you. Okay. Who's paying for it?” Del Mar said.

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“Nowhere in this whole document does it say who is paying for all of this.”

Del Mar argued that taxpayers would ultimately bear the costs.

He also focused on proposals involving law enforcement and incarceration.

“They say here, We're going to end mass incarceration and political police immunity. And they're talking about fully abolishing the police and the prison system. Fully abolishing the police and the prison system,” Del Mar said.

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The DSA program calls for redirecting police funding toward public services as steps toward “fully abolishing the police and prison system,” while also advocating an end to qualified immunity.

Del Mar questioned what those policies would mean when police are needed to respond to violent crimes. He also criticized plans for government-owned housing, citing Chicago’s experience with Cabrini-Green and the Robert Taylor Homes.

“They talk about the Green New Deal, passing federal jobs guarantee, implementing a massive system, and owned all housing by the government. Well, I believe in Chicago we've already tried that. We had Cabrini-Green. We've had the Robert Taylor Homes. How did that work out?” Del Mar said.

A narrator then expanded on the proposals, describing what he called the DSA’s top policy goals.

“They want a new constitution. They want to abolish the Senate, the Electoral College, and they want the legislature, executive, and judiciary to be all subordinate to them, the Congress,” the narrator said.

The DSA program calls for drafting a new constitution, abolishing the Electoral College and Senate, and replacing the president and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary selected by and subordinate to Congress.

The narrator also highlighted proposals involving public ownership of large corporations and essential industries, universal health care, a 32-hour work week, free public education through college, student debt cancellation and publicly owned housing.

“A 32-hour work week, free public education, pre-K through college, cancel all student debt. So they want you to pay for everybody that's currently in college debt,” the narrator said.

Immigration was another major focus.

The narrator said the agenda calls for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ending detention and deportations, granting amnesty and expanding voting rights to noncitizens.

“Abolish ICE, end all detention and deportations, immediate amnesty, voting rights for all non-citizens,” the narrator said.

The DSA program calls for abolishing ICE, ending immigration detention and deportations, granting amnesty regardless of immigration status and extending full voting rights to permanent U.S. residents.

The narrator also criticized the Green New Deal proposals, including the planned phaseout of fossil fuels and expansion of publicly owned energy and transportation.

“Green New Deal, phase out fossil fuels, public-owned energy and transit. Can you just imagine the energy prices when this gets implemented?” he said.

The program calls for a federal jobs guarantee, major investment in publicly owned sustainable energy and transit infrastructure and phasing out fossil fuels.

It also calls for defunding the Department of War, ending foreign wars and closing overseas military bases.

The narrator concluded by criticizing proposals involving policing, prisons, taxes and public financing of elections.

“Wealth, inheritance, corporate taxes, public financing of elections, end money in politics,” he said.

“This is insane.”

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