I’m curious what people think Democrats should try to accomplish first should they win at least one chamber in November.
Gesture politics often matter and their first piece of business would be reflective of the differences between the two parties.
Personally, I’d like to see them pass a minimum wage law, even if Bush makes clear that he will veto it.
Impeach Bush.
Edit: and his little dog Cheney, too. And any other members of his administration you wanna throw in there.
Impeaching Bush would be a good start. It doesn’t seem like anything short of that will get him and his cronies to stop implementing unconstitutional policies without the public knowing about them until a media leak.
Chances of them winning the Senate remain unlikely (I’m convinced that Allen is going to remain quite safe).
So… I doubt he’ll be removed from office.
Censure is certainly possible.
Zeroth: Get a plan for Iraq. Yes, it’s not right to set a timetable, but we have to get out of there as soon as possible.
First: minimum-wage increase
Second: repeal upper-class tax cuts (or don’t let them go permanent) and apply them to middle class + get rid of AMT
Third: get to work on improving the healthcare system
First? Start using the subpeona power, and really rip the lid off the massive corruption of the last five years.
Hold hearings on the decision making process that got us into Iraq and keeps us there.
Here is what I would like to see in no particular order (my top ten) …
Couple of runner-ups
Git 'Er Done!
The Democrat answer: “What would the Republicans do?”
Add an amendment to every bill that says something along the lines of “Resolved: Dubya is an asshole” just to see if he’ll veto it.
Edit: lawls at yuri’s #15
Impeach Bush: This covers things such as investigating why we got into the Iraq war.
I do like Hawkeye’s idea, but they really need to controll both houses for that to work.
Veto? Yeah right! But I can’t wait to see the signing statements.
US HRC 114 A, George W. Bush is a poopfondler, VETO IF YOU AGREE.
“The provisions of this bill cannot apply to the Commander in Chief, who retains the innate authority to be or not be an asshole according to the necessities of national security.”
Edit: “Though some liberals might object to the poopfondling process, it is a vital element of the Department of Homeland Security’s campaign to make the country safer from those who would perpetrate inhuman attacks upon us in the name of terror.”
Seconded. With any luck getting the details about all the corruption, cover-ups, and cronyism out in the open will drive Bush’s popularity down to the point where impeachment is feasible. In particular it should be made clear the President is not above the law, and that we have 3 branches of government for a reason.
That reminds me of the most cunningly logical trap I have ever seen deployed against a retarded person. This guy named Scanner Dan was yelling out on the street during a baseball game a couple years ago in Madison. He kept yelling “yankees are GAY, yankees are GAY!” It was interesting that he should use perjoratives for a sexual orientation, because otherwise, he was quite liberal for a dunderhead. He did believe every sorority girl in town was his personal paramour, and told them so on every occasion, but that is neither here nor there, unless it says something about his hypermasculinity, in which case, it is spot on. I digress.
Some guys were trying to argue with him, but he’s retarded, so they were losing. Until, that is, some brave anonymous gentleman offered up this proposition;
Only gay people like yelling on the street. Yell something, anything to show that you are gay.
Sweet silence.
Impeaching Bush, while the most beneficial thing they can do, is not a clear-cut win.
Some things that would probably be better ideas:
[ul]
[li]Start an automatic funding drawdown for Iraq, with the last dollar scheduled to be spent in 6 months; transfer the funding to Afghanistan, the National Guard, and anti-terrorism measures at home.[/li][li]Cut off CIA funding for torture and transfer the money to the Voice of America.[/li][li]Come up with a national health care program, force Bush to vote against it. Fund it with taxes on stock speculation, real estate speculation, stock grants/options to CEOs, and removing the taxable earnings cap on social security.[/li][li]Cap the unlimited mortgage deduction at something like 200% of regional median home price; transfer the money to assist first-time home buyers.[/li][li]An inflation-linked minimum wage increase.[/li][li]Duplicate the federal presidential campaign funding system (with tighter restrictions on independent and quasi-independent cash) for house and senate races.[/li][li]Repeal the bankruptcy bill, regulate the shit out of credit cards and subprime lending.[/li][/ul]
Oh yeah: don’t worry about the deficit; it’s Bush’s fucking problem to fix. Seriously, the thing is politically useless; don’t dare propose any taxes that go to deficit reduction. Just make sure that when you propose a program, fund it from a politically ironic source.