|
1. Start healing the horror in New Orleans. We failed those people, and we need to start making some SERIOUS and DRASTIC moves toward making amends.
2. Incrementally turn over control of the Iraq Civil War (because that's what it is, now) to the United Nations. Get rid of stop-loss and bring some of those soldiers who've been involuntarily extended and redeployed for insane lengths of time HOME. Slash the Pentagon's bloated, obese budget and make them ACCOUNTABLE for what we DO give them. No more fatcat contracts for US corporations without serious bidding and accountability for results.
3. Raise the damned minimum wage. Not in teeny increments over an extended period of time--raise it all the way to $7.25 NOW. Show the Corporate Vampires that we mean business, and that we VALUE our workers here in the USA.
4. Impose serious tax penalities on companies that ship American jobs overseas for the sake of increased profits. Formulate a plan that ensures that a company's own bottom line is best served by keeping jobs HERE. In addition, a serious "Buy American" campaign would be very helpful toward that end, and would be something that both Dems AND Republicans could get behind.
5. Expand the Federal Pell Grant to more accurately reflect the wide inflation of tuition costs, and cut student loan rates. Offering an increased proportion of Perkins-to-Stafford loans would also be good here.
6. Repeal the tax cuts for the wealthy class. It costs money to run a country. Boohoo, get over it whiny millionaires.
7. Fix Social Security by expanding the income cap for the Social Security tax until the program is solvent and healthy--and keep the cap there at least until the Boomer generation is no longer around. We have to fix it somehow, and the solution is going to hurt *someone*, so let's make sure it only hurts the people whose retirements are WELL-secured already.
8. Win the Presidency in 2008 by being impeccable and responsible LEADERS. Refrain from infighting, choose a popular Democratic governer to run in 2008, and keep the primary mud-slinging LEASHED. I'm sick and tired of seeing Dems digging up dirt on EACH OTHER during the primaries and doing Karl Rove's job for him. We stick together. THAT should be the mandate.
8.
|