Liam Madden

While still in the military, Madden worked with sailor Jonathan Wesley Hutto to write and begin circulation of the Appeal for Redress, taking advantage of a legal right for U.S. military personnel to petition their Congressional representatives. The Appeal, which had been signed by over 2000 active-duty military personnel as of January, 2008,[6] states:

As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq. Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for U.S. troops to come home.

The Appeal attracted media coverage from 60 Minutes, NPR, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Nation, and the Army Times, among others.[7]

Madden's leadership and activism against the Iraq war was praised by Vermont's U.S. senator Patrick Leahy:[8]

Sgt. Madden is an American patriot. I wish officials in the White House and the Pentagon who got us into this fiasco had a fraction of his honesty and courage.

Madden is a critic[16] of the two-party system and regards "fixing the government" his "top priority".[17] To achieve a more democractic, accountable and responsive government he proposes the introduction of term limits, ranked choice voting, and national ballot initiatives.[17] Madden calls for public funding of electoral campaigns, stating that "[w]inning an election under the current system requires hundreds of thousands of dollars. This excludes most working class people from participating, and gives inherent advantage to the kinds of representatives with access to, and perhaps disproportionate sympathies for the economically elite."[17] He also advocates for using technology to "bypass politicians" as much as possible and create a direct democracy.[16][17]

Madden supports raising taxes for billionaires and large corporations to "invest this revenue into regenerative agriculture, sustainable infrastructure, healthcare, family leave, and education."[18] He proposes the introduction of a wealth tax: "Taxing wealth and not simply income is the only way to prevent the accelerating concentration of power that threatens democracy."[18] While sympathizing with the idea of Universal Basic Income (UBI) as put forth by Andrew Yang, Madden favors "universal public services": "Much of the same benefits of a UBI can be achieved via a federal work guarantee, federally funded (and locally controlled) health clinics, federal funding for 0% home loans and public transportation."[18] Madden calls for the creation of a large "public service corps" to guarantee employment and "to build needed public infrastructure like public transportation, housing, education, healthcare, and regenerative agricultural resources".[18][19] He supports worker cooperatives: "I would like to see a massive tax incentive, and other public subsidies for businesses offering meaningful avenues for employee ownership. And disincentives for companies that offer no such pathways."[18] Madden is a proponent of the Modern Monetary Theory.[18]

Madden favors public transportation and wants it to be the "backbone of our infrastructure and transportation needs."[19] He calls for "a trillion-dollar public transportation infrastructure and smart development, meaning creating housing and business land use patterns that are inherently more efficient."[19]