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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (185666)	11/8/2006 2:15:34 PM
From: Tadsamillionaire	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793597

This was Vote to clean house and Senate. 2 Years from now we do it again and every 2 years from then on, fresh ideas, fresh faces, and less corruption in our process. The arrogance that was portrayed by those in the Senate concerning the Border bill played a lot in this election.

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (185666)	11/8/2006 2:46:14 PM
From: TimF	Respond to of 793597

Right now most of what they have is "we're not Bush". Do they have an agenda? Well sort of, but not a very solid one. Tax increases (which they will explain as "not extending Bush's tax giveaways to the top 1%), but then some of them talk about middle class tax cuts. Getting us out of Iraq? That seems to be their eventual aim, but then in a certain sense its Bush's eventual aim. The "Democratic base" might want us out really quick, but a lot of the moderates (and many of the newly elected members of congress are moderates) want change but not an immediate dash for the border. For some it comes down to "we will do the job better than Bush", in other words an anti-Bush message but not a real agenda. They also campaign against the sleaze seen from some Republicans (ignoring the sleazy Democrats). That to an extent was a gift to the Dems that they happily took, but saying "I won't send inappropriate IMs to congressional pages", or "I won't take money from Abramoff" isn't much of a political agenda. What else do they have? Looking at their official agenda democrats.org They have 6 points mostly just direct or indirect bashing of Republicans or so vague as to not mean much. #3 Energy Independence "We will create a cleaner, greener and stronger America by reducing our dependence on foreign oil, eliminating billions in subsidies for oil and gas companies and use the savings to provide consumer relief and develop energy alternatives, and investing in energy independent technology." Well "Energy independence" might be a serious platform plank. Its not a very realistic one if they mean "no energy imports". Getting rid of the subsidies is probably a good thing but it would decrease "energy independence". As would consumer relief (which would likely cause and increase in demand). What about "developing energy alternatives"? Well the problem is more one of cost effectiveness, and actual investment and deployment rather than lack of development, and the money saved from oil and gas subsidies would be a drop in the bucket compared to the investment needed to replace imported oil with non oil sources, esp. since reducing the subsidies might decrease conventional production, and because the Dems want to put some of the money towards providing "consumer relief". #4 "Economic Prosperity & Educational Excellence We will create jobs that stay in America and restore opportunity for all Americans, starting with raising the minimum wage, expanding Pell grants and making college tuition tax deductible. We also believe in budget discipline that reduces our deficit." Tax increases are hardly the way to economic prosperity, and increasing minimum wages will cost jobs. The other measures they mention will cost money so they are the opposite of budget discipline. #5 looks like it might be a move towards socialized health care. I find that to be a very negative idea, but it could be considered to be a real part of an agenda. #6 "Retirement Security We will ensure that a retirement with dignity is the right and expectation of every single American, starting with pension reform, expanding saving incentives and preventing the privatization of social security." Increasing taxes hardly creates an inventive for savings, and opposition to entitlement reform doesn't help increase retirement security.

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (185666)	11/8/2006 2:59:26 PM
From: one_less	Respond to of 793597

It was more than that. The Dems hated the Repubs because the powerful repubs had gotten to smug and comfortable in their powerful positions. But they hated their own guys too. You didn't see them electing the radical ridicuous fanatics like the wacko conspiracy theorists on the internet. It is time for change and renewal, which doesn't happen with powerful people who are comfortable with the status quo. The Dems wanted a change, but they started by making the change internally. Strong, conservative and moderate Dems were elected, which will do more to change their own party than it will do to change anything else. That could be good for all of us since this new Dem party will be much more capable of reaching across the isle to moderate republicans. Well, lets hope so anyway.