I recently read an article in The Week about Mrs. Pelosi:
http://www.theweekmagazine.com/article.aspx?id=1739and I am deeply concerned. If Pelosi's current agenda is followed, I fear that Democrats will be thrown out
in large numbers at the next election, something that freedom-loving people in this nation cannot afford.
The first concern is that she appears to advocate going soft on
illegal immigrants, a thing that most Americans, Democrats and Republicans, are against. People are not
stupid. The people know that any and all welfare costs related to the support of undocumented people will
come out of the pockets of taxpayers (i.e. all of us working people). People clearly prefer that America help her
own people in need first and not become the safety-net for other nations who are failing to support their own.
People also know that there is a "race to the bottom" as relating to wages and to standard of living because of
the uncontrolled influx of persons who are willing to work for next to nothing. People also fear terrorists
sneaking across the borders, a fear that is not unfounded. Reasonable people don't want bigotry or hatred of women
written into the constitution either. Most reasonable people aren't extremists who are
against immigration, but most people want something done.
The second concern is Mrs. Pelosi's tendancy to strong-arm people, a la DeLay. People want reasonable persuasion
applied to those who are recalcitrant, but no one wants bullying. K-Street is OUT! People are clearly sick and tired of that
sort of thing. Non-cooperation in the past brought the government to a near standstill and people view that
as a major problem.
Both of these things are wrong-headed, and indicate a blindness to what the people actually put her in power for.
What America clearly wants is cooperation accross the aisle to end the Iraq war, and answers regarding
economic and domestic issues, such as the misapplication of the Patriot Act (domestic spying) and the malfeasance in
Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. Most people also want reasonable reforms to the immigration issue
that allow people in legally, stopping terrorists from entering, while allowing people who contribute to
our society and economy to enter without degrading wage rates and without encouraging business to devalue jobs.
People are seeking answers to the energy and oil crisis and want government to encourage automakers and
manufacturers to produce energy efficient vehicles and other products. People want a government that
encourages business to find answers that will make this nation independent of fossil fuels.
People want environmental reforms because of the clear evidence of damage from global warming.
People want reforms of Medicare Part D, and some sort of healthcare help. People want the repeal of the
stupid new Bankruptcy Laws. People want an end to jobs leaving the country and tax assistance to companies
that export employment. Finally, people are terrified that our very system of voting has been tampered with and
they want someone to restore confidence in this, the most important of democratic acts.
This is why the Democrats were elected--to solve these particular issues. The Republicans did nothing to
straighten out matters and so the people naturally turned to us, the populist party.
What the people DO NOT WANT is welfare support for people who have not entered this country legally. They do not want the
issue of vote tampering ignored; they definitely do not want Iraq and the attendant issues of Abu Ghraib and the Patriot act
forgotten and they do they want partisan strong-arming substituted for finding an answer to problems. People do
not care about the Washington shell-game of power in government.
If Pelosi turns into a Democratic version of DeLay, intent upon her own power and forgetting the people, she will be out of
there in 2008, along with most of the Democratic Congress. Democrats ignore the people at their peril on this one.
If we want to hold onto power in 2008, we need to think differently. We need to put the people first, and not some
stupid partisan issues.
As Obama said so eloquently, "the job is to represent the people to Washington, NOT represent Washington to
the people." We Democrats forget this at our peril.