Democrats in Charge

So as of yesterday, the Democrats, led by Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, are now in charge of the Congress. I'd be happier if the younger crop of Democrats were in charge, like say, Barrack Obama or even Hillary Clinton, who may not be younger age wise, but she's still part of the younger crop. Some see this as the sign that the end is near. Some say that a revolution is upon us and we've averted disaster.

I don't like going to either extreme like that, but the first few actions of these Democrats is promising, and Republicans look silly in their responses. The first act of the Democrats, to reinstitue "Pay-Go" (pay as you go, only spend money you have, don't borrow from foreign banks), was a great move. I've been wondering for years when the so called "fiscally Conservative" Republicans would finally get back to doing what they used to do best, shrink government and reduce spending. Instead, they reduced income and increased spending. It doesn't take a mathematical genius to figure out that when you are spending more than you make, you're in trouble. This from the same Congress that made it a law to increase consumer payments to their credit card issuers to pay down consumer debt faster.

Enough Republican bashing though, their hegemony is over, and it's time to look to the future, figure out how to clean up their mess, and get over the last 12 years or so of political divisiveness. Democrats are trying to end earmarks, which spend billions of taxpayer dollars on pork barrel projects. They're saying no to wasteful tax cuts, to wasteful spending, to billions more spent on the military when the first hundreds of billions were never even blinked at before the checks were signed. The Republican response is the same old tired "Democrats want to raise your taxes." Give it up guys! You've wasted billions, maybe even trillions of dollars for years irresponsibly, and now we have to clean up your mess. We'll do it by cutting billions in spending, but it might also mean raising taxes to pay for the giveaways you gave to the richy riches of the nation. The middle class sees right through it, the poor see through it, and we're sick of your partisan, decade old attacks, so either stop it, or at least find some new relevant material to hit the Democrats with.

But that's just the start of what Democrats want to do. To be honest, they won't get half of what they want, because half of their new initiatives cost money, and I don't think they'll be able to offset all the costs to pay for them under their own rules. But let's talk about another of their big talk items, Bush and the war in Iraq. Bush this week will unveil a request for 20,000 or more troops, and billions more in spending. Democrats have already said they will not write a blank check like Republicans did. Bush has to actually justify his request, what he thinks it would solve, why he wants it, and why it actually might be worth it. Finally. Let me say it again, finally. Congressional oversight has been missing for at least the last six years, during the Bush presidency. I'm not saying I want them to say no to Bush automatically, but finally we're going to hear them ask for his justification, his reasoning, what he thinks will be accomplished, and if we're lucky, some actual specifics rather than generalities. If Bush wants something, he can't just ask and get it now, he has to tell us all the details, or Congress will say no, and he'll either have to find the money somewhere else, or he'll make a foolhardy blunder.

The Democrats have plenty of other ideas. They want to raise the minimum wage, which has a decent chance of passing. They want to cut the interest rate on college loans, which is 50/50, and is more likely to get a 25% reduction, rather than a 50%. They want to overhaul education, look into Katrina fraud, overhaul Congressional ethics rules, enact the 9/11 Commission recommendations, increase money for port security, eliminate the AMT (which is starting to hit middle class families), and this isn't their 2 year plan, this is their 100 hour plan. It's ambitious, and not likely to succeed entirely, but it's exciting, and most people can't argue with what they want to do. The only question is, can they actually do it?