Low Hanging Fruit - Thoughts on a Legislative Agenda.
Low hanging fruit are those policies in which the party leaders are closer together than further apart.
- Raise the minimum wage
- Give middle class families a tax deduction for tuition offset by increasing the tax on the rich.
- Allow Medicare to negotiate bulk purchase of drugs
- Senate Immigration plan.
- Redirect Energy industry tax breaks towards renewable energy methods.
- Restore Iraq contract oversight
- Reduce corporate subsidies not in the national interest.
- Ethics reform. More transparency.
- Limit earmarks.
- Redistricting reform and more open primaries, move election day to Saturday.
- Remove barriers to competition in the Health Insurance industry.
- Remove ideological restrictions on sex education and access to day after pills.
- Concede that the country is not yet ready for Gay Marriage but is for civil unions.
- Set a threshold for Estate Taxes and move on.
- Simplify Taxes - combine a flatter tax with a higher consumption tax.
- State Children’s Health Insurance Program
- No Child Left Behind
- Social Security adjustments: raise retirement age, remove tax cap, Means testing.
- Set up bipartisan teams to work out the more controversial issues.
- Implement the 9/11 commission recommendations.
It would be reassuring to hear of a steady stream of policy reconciliations over the next few years while we get to the really important stuff like a flag burning amendment ;-)
- Raise the minimum wage
- Give middle class families a tax deduction for tuition offset by increasing the tax on the rich.
- Allow Medicare to negotiate bulk purchase of drugs
- Senate Immigration plan.
- Redirect Energy industry tax breaks towards renewable energy methods.
- Restore Iraq contract oversight
- Reduce corporate subsidies not in the national interest.
- Ethics reform. More transparency.
- Limit earmarks.
- Redistricting reform and more open primaries, move election day to Saturday.
- Remove barriers to competition in the Health Insurance industry.
- Remove ideological restrictions on sex education and access to day after pills.
- Concede that the country is not yet ready for Gay Marriage but is for civil unions.
- Set a threshold for Estate Taxes and move on.
- Simplify Taxes - combine a flatter tax with a higher consumption tax.
- State Children’s Health Insurance Program
- No Child Left Behind
- Social Security adjustments: raise retirement age, remove tax cap, Means testing.
- Set up bipartisan teams to work out the more controversial issues.
- Implement the 9/11 commission recommendations.
It would be reassuring to hear of a steady stream of policy reconciliations over the next few years while we get to the really important stuff like a flag burning amendment ;-)
posted by Paul Silver at 10:36 AM
I cross posted this item on another Blog and got the feedback that it came across as a Democrats wish list.
It may seem that way by someone who does not agree with a specific item but my criteria was whether there was meaningful sympathy for the idea in both parties.
It seems to me that the point of the view of the GOP is very different whether or not one includes the perspective of the religion right.
If we subtract out the passionately partisan and evangelical Republicans we are left with a relatively pragmatic list of Centrist policy initiatives.
Posted by
Paul Silver |
Thursday, November 09, 2006 1:47:00 PM
It's a pretty impressive list. If they can get together on two or three of them, it would be a successful session.
To be honest, I thought the same thing when I read this list. The Republicans have fought many of these ideas for years. I think immigration is the one that stands out because the President's position is closer to the Democrats' position.
Ethics reform also seems like a good bet. The Democrats rode to power on a wave of resentment over ethical lapses, and the Republican are in no position to stand in the way of reform.
All the tax and wage/employment issues are the ones that traditionally have led to cries from the right of class warfare. Tax cuts for the middle class might get some consideration, but the President has been vehement about not repealing the cuts for the rich.
But then, he was recently pretty vehement about the prospects of a certain Defense Secretary, too, and we all know how that turned out.
Posted by
Michael Laster |
Thursday, November 09, 2006 9:20:00 PM