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An Agenda for the Democrats' Second Hundred Hours

By Sally Kohn, AlterNet. Posted January 7, 2007.


Who wants publicly financed elections, quality health care, and a public education system that works?
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(Attention: Actual, specific, ideas contained below)

In 1994, the Republicans took control of both houses of Congress. Up to that point, Democrats had controlled the Senate for six years and the House for thirty-four years. And a Democrat, Bill Clinton, was still in the White House. Like a new jockey mounting a horse that had just bucked the previous rider, one might have expected the Republican leadership to be timid, hesitant, more concerned with maintaining power in the next election than using their power to achieve real change. But instead, the audacious Republicans went for the gold.

Newt Gingrich and the Republican leadership of the 104th Congress outlined a "Contract With America," a bundle of proposals that Republicans promised to introduce and pass during the first 100 days of their control of Congress. This was no shrinking violet agenda. Republicans set out to implement a bold vision that included eviscerating welfare, abolishing basic fiscal equity through tax cuts for the super-rich, privatizing social security, undermining the peacekeeping role of the United Nations and expanding the U.S. military for wanton escapades abroad. And while much of the agenda did not pass in its intended form, clearly variations on the theme have seeped into political reality today -- to the point where many of these proposals have recruited new adherents, including the new class of conservative Democrats in Congress.

Fast forward to 2006: the Democrats take back Congress. Pundits and political leaders declare the Democrats' victory a landslide. Even President Bush admitted it was a thumping. So, back on the horse of Congressional power -- in much the same position as the Republicans twelve years ago -- what goals are the Democrats trying to reach?

In the lead up to the election, Representative Nancy Pelosi -- in the Speaker role that Gingrich once held -- outlined a six-point agenda for the Democrats first 100 legislative hours in office, a period potentially stretching over several weeks. The "Six for '06" includes some very good ideas -- negotiating for Medicare prescriptions to lower drug prices, cutting student loan rates and making college tuition tax deductible, reducing dependence on foreign oil through new energy-efficient technologies.

But the agenda Democrats outlined can hardly be called bold and ambitious. Stopping the privatization of Social Security is important, but as Americans live longer and the baby boom generation reaches retirement, we need to expand Social Security to support all of us when we need it. Re-examining the strategy in Iraq is a nice first start, but what about re-examining the cowboy foreign policy used to justify pre-emptive war, whether on faulty intelligence or not? Raising the minimum wage is essential, but just as important is a plan for sensible trade the builds jobs and local economies in the U.S. and abroad -- rather than just building the bank accounts of multi-national corporations.


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See more stories tagged with: democrats, pelosi

Sally Kohn is the director of the Movement Vision Project of the Center for Community Change, which is interviewing hundreds of activists across the country to determine the progressive vision for the future of the United States.

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Re-election or Real Electoral Reform?
Posted by: dgiVista.org on Jan 8, 2007 12:52 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This piece is a bold and poignant description of what should happen.

As this image indicates, however much the democrats are really Republican-Lite, preserving power and incumbency will likely rise to the top. How can you change the world if we cannot get elected turns into how can we change the world if we cannot get re-elected, etc.

As much as Maine and Arizona have leapt forward to embark on public election financing, the Democrats really ought to do the same nationally. Except, the drive for re-election will likely undermine the reality of this.

Whither demcracy? Wither democracy.

dgiVista.org

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I'm For Peace & Freedom, Aren't You? (NO)
Posted by: edith on Jan 8, 2007 12:56 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The mini-quote by JFK was simply a euphemism for Cold War victory by the US and the success by government contract of corporations, including the growing hitech MIC companies in Mass. in the 60's. Sorta like of super-rich; ande W's prattle about "freedom" in his inaugural address: a Halliburton in every Third World Nation. How inspiring.

The putative new "Six" proposals also sound good but watch out. Raise taxes for quality education? Who except billionaires with kids in private schools could oppose that?


The supposition is that the major problem in our public schools today is a lack of funding. That is not true, at least for federal funding which has rocketed by appropriations backed both by Dems and Bush since 2001. Federal aid to education is 50% higher today than when W was sworn in. But the mediocrity of US schools, particularly middle schools and high schools continues.

Until the anti-intellecutal and anti-literacy attitudes explicit in today's pop culture are effectively countered, throwiing money at education will simply mean that we have spent thousands more per dropout than before.

Schools still are primarily funded by states and by local communities that are orgaisms, usually by state constitutional decree, of states. The prosperity of the past few years could easily have been targeted by states to provide a state of the art school with state of the art media for every kid, and with class sizes smaler. Much indeed has been done.

But even in the best equipped schools, readinglevels fall, teaching to standardized tests remain the standard, and the brightest and the best flock to private school alternatives. Money per se will not solve America's antipathy to learning.

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My list of truths
Posted by: Uncle Crabby on Jan 8, 2007 7:18 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
1. We, the People, own the broadcast waves, and we own the real estate that carries transmission lines to us. Therefore, if a lobby organization, like the swiftboat assholes, buys an ad, we the People, should place an ad balancing the message, and the broadcast company should pay the People back for their use of our airwaves and real estate, by broadcasting this message, at no charge, for the People. When this happens, groups like the swiftboat assholes will find out that they are spending enormous amounts of money, and that money and effort is being negated by the People. We will get back to a more normalized election by employing this method.

2. Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security for all. The easy way to pay for all of this is to invite the investor class back into the tax program. By having only one line on the tax return for income…something like “How much came in this year Total?”, and then taxing on that amount will drop the tax rate for the middle class, pay for healthcare and retirement, repair our infrastructure, and pay off our enormous federal debt. I want people who get W2’s to stop getting screwed by our country. There aren’t different flavors of money, so let’s stop pretending that there are …

3. Schools and teachers are taking a pounding in the public opinion arena, and, for the most part, it’s not fair. For some reason, people “bit” on the bullshit fed to us by the right, starting with Reagan, who gutted the educational system in the 80’s, and started the anti-intellectual movement that brought about people voting away their own interests, believing that corporations will take better care of them than collective bargaining, i.e. unions. That is why we are a dumber country now, and that is why we are herded around like sheep by business! My point. Parents need to be reeducated. They need to think that school matters and they need to take part in their child’s education. Emailing homework assignments to the parents would be a good start. The truth is that we allowed the corporatists to create an entire generation of dumbasses that think intellectual pursuit is a sign of weakness, nonpatriotic, non-macho, etc. … and this is a major problem! How do we wake these dim bulbs up? Sorry…I don’t know…

4. The income redistribution that started with Reagan is a serious part of the cause. People who work ALL the time just to keep the bank off their ass don’t have the energy to do much else. Taking healthcare and retirement out of the “for profit” arena (where it never should have been in the first place) will take power away from the corporations. They will have to pay and shut up. A commodity that is “not for profit” is socialism. Get used the word. It is not a bad word. If you think it is, you are one of the brainwashed, and need to get some help.

5. Capitalism is not democracy. These are concepts that are independent of one another. I am no longer fooled by those who want to say that the current “balls to the wall” capitalism that is ruining our country, and the world, is democracy. If it is, I vote it out!

Thank you.

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THE WOMAN ONLY HAS TWO HANDS
Posted by: VZEQICVA on Jan 8, 2007 8:37 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The "Second 100 Hours". What alot of nerve. A six year disaster can't be cleaned up in two weeks. Bush will continue to drag his feet and babble about 'goals' and 'winning'. The big change is the fact the he will be officially questioned. About the money, that is. We can't continue to throw more money at ideas that do not work. That's the most important order of business. New people in charge? How many times have we heard that. Hang in there peole. Thanks, ANNA

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Repealing No Child Left Behind Would Remove One Major Hindrance. . .
Posted by: Douglas on Jan 8, 2007 12:27 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
. . . to guaranteeing a quality public education for every child. I am definitely in favor of raising taxes on the rich and upper middle class (and the rest of us if that is what it takes) to improve the public schools, but money alone will not solve the problem. The US Congress (members of both parties) have continually meddled in education for the last 40 years or so--No Child Left Behind is probably their biggest folly-- and we can now see the unhappy results. Anti-intellectualism and anti-teacher bias have played a heavy role in what Congress has done in its efforts to "reform education.". Education should be about more than teaching to the standardized test. And it should occur in student friendly environments, not the concentration camp environments that US public schools have become, the result in large part of all the often unfunded or underfunded federal mandates. Rather than having the public schools financed by local property taxes but heavily micro-managed by the federal government, Big Government should raise and distribute the taxes to pay for the public schools but otherwise they should get out and let the states and local school boards run the schools. Grassroots democracy should begin with the schools. And the standardized tests must go!!!

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Moving Forward in spite of the FEARFUL and the SELF-ABSORBED
Posted by: Lightening.Rod on Jan 8, 2007 12:46 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As the author, Sally Kohn, states, after Congress moves on the “First 100 Hours” legislation (and stopping the war in Iraq so that we can help them via the U.N. as noted below), then the next Congressional steps should include removing private (mostly corporate) money from U.S. election campaigns, and real national health care and real improvements to education.

Peace and Freedom can only exist in a world (yes, world) where the basic needs of all people are provided. Period. And we should set the example here in the U.S. and then help others in this effort. This world is only as strong as its weakest government and people.

Without a planet-wide effort to create a nurturing and harmonious way of life, peace and freedom will always be fragile and temporary. Sally Kohn’s article outlines the next logic step to getting our country healthy and happy and hopeful.

The biggest overall theat that we face in America today is GREED. Profiteering is a cancer to our country and to our very Constitution. Excessive profit taking is at the EXPENSE of the National Health and the National Security!

Those who have been in power recently and those in the Bush administration worship only excessive profit taking and do not care about the U.S. Constitution that they swore to protect. Excessive profit taking and its influence must come to an end now – and forever.

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Greed Out of Control
Posted by: Spyder on Jan 8, 2007 3:01 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Yes, the person who said greed is our problem is absolutely correct. The Home Depot CEO gets fired with $210M for a consolation prize. How much do Home Depot employees get paid? Our problem is not capitalism. Our problem is that the conventions of capitalism have been allowed to develop totally without constraints. The problem is not the Walmartization of America, but the Walmartization of most, but not all, industries. Try to look at the problem this way and the picture becomes a little clearer. Big pharma is lobbying to make sure the health care industry is not Walmartized. Many large corporate interests are lobbying to make certain that the corruption inherent in our illegal immigration issue keeps the race to the wage bottom on its intended track. Our domestic auto manufacturers could build hybrids, but they choose not to do so, simply for the short-term profits of SUV's. The list is endless. Wake up, America. We are all in this together!

Suck the Boob

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What's a Democrat, anyway?
Posted by: willymack on Jan 8, 2007 6:35 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Read Garrison Keillor's book "Home Grown Democrat" for a good idea of what they USED TO BE, and what they should be now.

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The new postal bill
Posted by: Gregor on Jan 8, 2007 7:51 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Well why we are posturing, they have passed a new postal bill, which apparently no one read and no one cares about, but in the last paragraph it gives Bush the right to read anyone's mail...Another right taken away. Who knew it would be so easy to just snatch away our freedoms in a blink of a TV set.

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