Russell's Blog

My dad and I have been talking about the 2008 campaign and various platforms for Democrats could use. We've come up with a platform for the next two years, encompassing the coming sessions of Congress and the 2008 elections.

There is a lot of stuff on this list, but each item is achievable with decisive action. Some of it could be accomplished starting in January, other things would have to wait for a Democratic White House. The idea is that for next two years (including the 2008 campaign), Democrats should pick an agenda and stick with it. Achieve as much as possible with control of Congress, and highlight those achievements in the election as proof that they can Get Things Done. Then, the message in 2008 can be "Let's Finish the Job."

• Return to the time-tested principles of American government
  • Rebuke the loan industry, especially college loans
  • Auditing reform across all government programs
  • End illegal wiretapping
  • End support for torture and extraordinary rendition
  • Junk Bush's illegal practice of issuing signing statements
  • Scrap the Military Commissions Act
  • Correct organizational blunders (extract FEMA, the Coast Guard, the TSA and the Customs Agency from DHS)
  • Try bin Laden and Guantanamo suspects in civilian courts
• Return to the time-tested principles of fair taxation
  • Sunset tax cuts for the rich
  • Fix the alternative minimum tax
  • End subsidies to prospering industries (oil in particular)
  • Rebuild the enforcement mechanisms for industry (the SEC, FCC, FTC, EPA...)
  • Balance the budget
• Return to the time-tested principles of environmental stewardship
  • Reinstate environmental protections
  • Greater funding for conservation and alternative energy
• Return to the time-tested principles of world leadership
  • Out of Iraq ASAP
  • Seek greater international consensus in foreign policy
  • Officially re-ratify the Geneva Conventions
  • Reduce China's influence over the value of the Dollar
  • Force Israel to make peace with the Palestinians
  • Catch Osama bin Laden
  • Immigration reform, provide a pathway to citizenship
  • Replace or augment NAFTA with an Immigration and Development treaty; if the Mexican economy and currency are stronger, immigration will fall
• Return to the time-tested principles of innovation and entrepreneurship
  • Modest globalization protections for American workers
  • Simple, minimally invasive universal health care
  • Urban redevelopment, especially in transportation and education
  • Agricultural reform; protect small farms and reverse the trend toward factory farms
  • Increase funding for science and technology
  • Replace large, under-preforming science projects (the Shuttle, ISS...) with less expensive, more promising alternatives

Most of the stuff on this list has no ideological color. Democrats should emphasize as much as possible that resuscitating the existing apparatus of government is neither liberal nor conservative. Democrats should talk about the new things they want to do (universal health care), but they should always preface these discussions by pointing out that the repair work takes precedence.