Democrats decide to run on some issues
It’s about time they stand for something. I’m voting Democratic this fall, but it has more to do with getting the Republicans out than getting the Democrats in. But I actually like a lot of what Rep. Pelosi is proposing here. It will take more than a party slogan of “We’re the other guys!” to win back Congress for the Democrats.
Washington - Franklin Roosevelt had his first hundred days.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is thinking 100 hours, time enough, she says, to begin to “drain the swamp” after more than a decade of Republican rule.
As in the first 100 hours the House meets after Democrats - in her fondest wish - win control in the Nov. 7 midterm elections and Pelosi takes the gavel as the first Madam Speaker in history.
Day One: Put new rules in place to “break the link between lobbyists and legislation.”
Day Two: Enact all the recommendations made by the commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Time remaining until 100 hours: Raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, maybe in one step. Cut the interest rate on student loans in half. Allow the government to negotiate directly with the pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices for Medicare patients.
Broaden the types of stem cell research allowed with federal funds - “I hope with a veto-proof majority,” she added in an Associated Press interview Thursday.
All the days after that: “Pay as you go,” meaning no increasing the deficit, whether the issue is middle class tax relief, health care or some other priority.
To do that, she said, Bush-era tax cuts would have to be rolled back for those above “a certain level.” She mentioned annual incomes of $250,000 or $300,000 a year and higher, and said tax rates for those individuals might revert to those of the Clinton era. Details will have to be worked out, she emphasized.
“We believe in the marketplace,” Pelosi said of Democrats, then drew a contrast with Republicans. “They have only rewarded wealth, not work.”
“We must share the benefits of our wealth” beyond the privileged few, she added.
It is time to fire the republicans AND democrats. Virtually all of them in Washington are criminals, from Bush on down. I know people think they will be wasting their vote if they vote for a third party, but the opposite is really true. The idea that one is ‘at least better than that other one’ is flawed. He/She is not enough more honest to matter. They are ALL bought and paid for by special interests. The only way to take the power out of the hands of lobbyists and stop TRILLIONS of dollars from being stolen from us is to make third party candidates a real threat.
This is the problem: Lobbyists give billions per year to politicians. Politicians spend this money to brainwash us into thinking that republican or democrat are our only two options, and to get reelected. When in office, they tax (rob) us hundreds of billions per year, and give most of it to the special interests who hired the lobbyists, and the cycle continues. We are the victims AND the enablers when we vote for the two major paries. I hereby initiate the “Vote for the crackpots” movement!
generally I am with you, but I think this election is a special case. I think it is imperative for the future of this country to remove the Republican control over the Congress. Democrats may not be any better in general but at least they are not the same party as the President that is trying to destroy our Constotution. I hope that they would be willing to stand up to him and re-establish some checks and balances
I agree that the best we can do right now is take some of the power away from the nursery of selfish children called the Republican party.
I also believe that the two-party system in this country is broken. We need to either fix it or find better options.
I will support the Dems in the upcoming elections and wait and see. If things don’t change for the better (if they manage to get a majority), I’ll go back to voting Green.
Well, she had me at “cut interest on student loans.”
twincats: ‘If things don’t change for the better’? They never will until we take power away from BOTH parties.
James: I’m sure this election is not a special case. We have had majorities before that were not the same party as the president, and guess what - we still got robbed of hundreds of billions per year.
By the way, I have heard Pelosi say the STUPIDEST, most transparently political garbage of any politician ever (and as you know, that is saying a lot). You must have caught her on a good day, because she was saying what we intelligent people want to hear. It is still just empty promises though. She is a crook like the rest.
I understand that, which is why I have been voting Green for the last couple of years. I am supporting the Dems this election as a stopgap measure to try to curb the Repub agenda that is gutting the Constitution. I am that afraid of losing ‘guaranteed’ rights.
I don’t blame you for being afraid. That “stupid document” as W. calls it is being eroded at an amazing rate under his administration. The problem is that a democratic president will follow his lead! They know that people won’t go back to the republicans when the democrats do the same crap. The bar has been lowered. I think you would be surprised at how little the republicans and democrats care about which party is in power, because the lobbyists still have to pay them both off just in case. I’m afraid your stopgap measure is not going to work.