The Democrats have retaken the Congress, and this has been the cause of much celebrating across America. Celebrating is fun, but it doesn't actually get anything done.
Luckily, the new Democratic leadership of the House of Representatives has come out with a plan for getting things done. Unfortunately, that plan gives great cause for skepticism.
Go ahead and look at the House Democrats' legislative plan. Notice something missing? I'll give you a hint: The central issue of the 2006 congressional campaign was, for most voters, the war in Iraq.
There's nothing in the House Democrats' plan about Iraq at all. No plan for Iraq.
There's also nothing in the House Democrats' plan for dealing with the Military Commissions Act, or the new warrantless wiretapping legalization, or any of the other serious attacks on our liberty. Go ahead and search the entire website of the incoming House Democratic leadership. I did. On the entire web site, there is not a single mention of the Military Commissions Act. There isn't one mention of habeas corpus.
The House Democrats do mention torture, though - 4 times. Unfortunately, the last time they did so was in April, 2005.
At the bottom of the House Democratic leadership's 100 hours plan, there is the statement, "This new direction represents the priorities of a unified Democratic Party. This is our pledge to the American people."
Were these your priorities in voting for Democrat Mike Arcuri? No plan for Iraq? Do nothing about restoring the foundations of liberty in America?
Maybe the House Democrats have another, second, secret plan to deal with these other priorities later. Maybe, but there is good cause for skepticism.
The time for party loyalty and the election rhetoric is over. We need to look at the facts of what the Democrats say they plan to do, not what we assume or hope that they would do.
Promises by someone who has no legislative record are easy to make, and easy to break.
Michael Arcuri hasn't had the chance to actually do anything as a member of Congress. No votes yet. No cosponsorships yet. As those opportunities for action come, however, I'll be keeping track here of what Michael Arcuri actually does.
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8 comments:
"Were these your priorities in voting for Democrat Mike Arcuri?"
Absolutely! Three of my top three priorities are on this list. That doesn't mean I or congress doesn't care about Iraq. It means you certainly cannot accomplish what needs to be done about Iraq in 100 days and if it were the focus of that time NOTHING would be accomplished. I'm grateful to finally have a congress that is going to spend a little time on domestic issues for a change.
Jon - The Baker/Hamilton group is due to release their recommendations in December. A new secretary of defense has been named and will likely be confirmed quickly.
'Tis best to let these things happen and have Bush lay his cards on the table first, than to announce a plan and have to change it before you even take the oath of office.
If Bush announces an about face, the rise and fall of this fiasco will all be on his shoulders. If he doesn't, the Pentagon will soon be announcing a second round of National Guard and Reserve deployments to Iraq and a modification of Bush's limit of 24 cumulative months there for Guard and Reserve units. That will not make anyone happy.
I think there is plenty of time for Bush to continue to make folks unhappy even with policy changes before the new Congress takes office. Best to let him do that on his own because the new electeds have not taken office or assumed power yet anyway.
Read:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/
15674301/site/newsweek/
I tried the comment form at housedemocrats.gov. I guess they don't want comments, they rejected me. Maybe they knew it was a Libertarian on their site. Their priciple statement reads:
Democrats are the party of opportunity, dedicated to helping every American achieve the promise of freedom, success and financial security.
I feel better they put freedom first.
Are you still here?
LOL 11:13. You read my mind.
Don't Libertarians have their own boards to espouse on? Why would a Libertarian be interested in the democrats board unless it was to deliberately disrupt? After reading your posts pre-election, you could not possibly have another purpose as you have no respect for democrats in general. I see that you also post on local newspaper boards in places you not only never lived but never will even visit.You have no idea about their local issues but you are right there pitching in being a know it all.
I know this how: The House Democrats have published their plan for next year, and dealing with the Military Commissions Act isn't on it. Democratic Members of the SENATE have announced plans to revoke some of the worst parts of the Military Commissions Act. House Democrats have been silent.
Sure, I could speculate and say that there's a secret plan that no one is talking about, but that would be kind of crazy, like when soon-to-be-ex-Senator Conrad Burns said that George W. Bush had a super genius plan for dealing with Iraq, but it was just being kept secret.
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