The Democrats have released their plan called “A New Direction.”
The sub-title will be “Advance to the Rear.”
Reprinted below but one can read-to-believe the “new” Democrat initiatives, at http://www.housedemocrats.gov/news/librarydetail.cfm?library_content_id=780
Reading the Democrats New Direction, it appears to be “let’s turn back 180 degrees and return to the failed programs we loved so much in the past.” The glaring omission in the Democrats New Direction is the War on Terror and how to confront terrorism around the world today. The only reason they do not mention the WOT must be because they do not have anything specific they can agree upon, other than the Cut and Run wing which dominates their party.
We actually do know their desired WOT plan. Democrats would use appeasement and avoidance to ignore terrorist world-wide threats. To Democrats, the WOT is a police problem and they prefer defense to offense. They are obsessed in anti-war rhetoric and would cut and run from Iraq and Afghanistan, let alone around the rest of the world. Democrats truly embrace defeat over victory for political power. Their model for Iraq is Vietnam.
COPIED FROM THE DEMOCRAT WEBSITE ( COMMENTS IN RED ITALICS):
Democrats in Congress offer a New Direction, putting the common good of all Americans first for a change, and will:
(I will patiently try to wait for Democrats to explain “the common good.” It appears to be Hillary’s It Takes A Village socialism. However, since Democrats don’t want to own the means of production, only control it, it’s closer to fascism;, but that’s another issue for future evaluation.)
MAKE HEALTH CARE MORE AFFORDABLE
Fix the prescription drug program by putting people ahead of drug companies and HMOs, eliminating wasteful subsidies, negotiating lower drug prices and ensuring the program works for all seniors; invest in stem cell and other medical research.
Democrats would “invest” which means raise taxes for new initiatives. Only Democrats would punish drug companies with higher taxes while complaining about their not manufacturing more drugs. The Republican drug benefit plan is too much anyway and the Democrats want to do more? No thanks.
LOWER GAS PRICES AND ACHIEVE ENERGY INDEPENDENCE
Crack down on price gouging; eliminate billions in subsidies for oil and gas companies and use the savings to provide consumer relief and develop American alternatives, including biofuels; promote energy efficient technology.
Crack down? The proven Democrat history has been a combination of raising taxes on both oil companies and consumers, and awarding Democrat activist special interest groups more funding. Every Democrat proposal has included higher prices, by raising taxing, and draconian restrictions on drilling, refineries and distributions of needed oil and gas products. Even now the Democrats continue to blame the producers of the oil we need unfairly. Any plan for energy independence that punishes the companies who provide the product makes no sense.
HELP WORKING FAMILIES
Raise the minimum wage; repeal tax giveaways that encourage companies to move jobs overseas.
A Democrat who does not profess the need to raise the minimum wage does not exist. There is no ceiling either. Every proposal Democrats support includes higher minimum wages no matter how it might hurt the economy or destroy companies.
CUT COLLEGE COSTS
Make college tuition deductible from taxes; expand Pell grants and cut student loan costs.
NEW! Democrats are now attempting to bribe younger voters by offering more free benefits. Will they buy into it? This one remains to be seen.
ENSURE DIGNIFIED RETIREMENT
Prevent the privatization of Social Security; expand savings incentives; ensure pension fairness.
The solution Democrats have put forward is to raise taxes to pay for future Social Security benefits. Democrats have refused to enter into real discussions for real solutions. They refuse to allow Private Savings for retirement where workers “own” their retirement accounts. The Democrat solution is more cradle to grave welfare.
REQUIRE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
Restore the budget discipline of the 1990s that helped eliminate deficits and spur record economic growth.
Budget discipline of the 1990’s? Did Democrats support lower taxes and lower spending in the 1990’s? No way. This is not just a rewrite of history but ignoring the facts! The ONLY discipline exhibited in the 1990’s was due to Republicans winning control of congress, lowing spending increases and stopping new initiatives. Welfare reform only happened because of the Republican congress, another fact conveniently ignored by Democrats.. Prior to that, Democrat budgets were out of control with high deficits and debt. Today tax revenues are up 12.9% because of lower taxes and the deficit is coming down. Not one item the Democrats propose reduces taxes or reduces the budget deficit. The sad truth is, since every proposal Democrats are supporting would increase spending, deficits and debt, there is no rational explanation of how their proposals could possibly work as claimed.
No wonder Democrats support drug legalization. They are so doped up they think everyone is forgetting what happened in the 1990’s and the Carter years.
THE WRONG DIRECTION
The Bush Administration and the Republican Majority in Congress have taken the country in the wrong direction for Americans and their families.
Democrats cannot stand success. What new direction is proposed? More money for spending on education, welfare, environmental issues? Why are Democrats always rewarding supporters and punishing everyone else to pay for their duplicity? They cannot back a level playing field for everyone because their power comes from keeping voters dependent on their generosity and largess.
The most offensive aspect of Democrat spending is the attitude they have of punishing success and rewarding failure. The Democrats have a history of rewarding donors, such as Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing, Loral, the ACLU, Planned Parenthood and the Trial Lawyers or education establishment. Is this the new direction they propose? Democrats want to return to “business as usual” under Democrat leadership.
This is also Democrat code-speak for ending the war in Iraq, impeaching President Bush, abandoning the successful military preemption policy for fighting terrorism and Islamic aggression around the world, when it makes sense to protect America. Democrats irrational quest for power would endanger all Americans, but they don’t care as long as they regain power so they can lead the country toward a utopian, socialist society where they are the anointed class, forcing their values on the country.
Consider the policies supported by Democrats as a reflection of their values: No firearms allowed, let alone handguns;, homosexuality is supposed to be normal; no religion spoken or mentioned in schools or in society, no smoking but marijuana legalization is fine; abortion on demand is a right; restricting talk radio and promoting commercial radio and TV that has liberal basis and bias; voting rights for felons across the board; voting rights for illegal aliens across the board; full citizenship rights for illegal aliens for education, medical benefits, retirement rights, etc.; using government power to back companies who support Democrats and punishing companies who either support Republicans or who do not support either; picking winners and losers in society. To enshrine Democrat morals, ethics and values, it would mean the return to liberal judges who would move us back to the judicial activism of the past.
Voters in 1994 rejected this policy of corruption, cronyism and destruction by voting Republicans into power. Changing direction would mean returning to the past, failed policies Democrats have supported for forty years.
RISING HEALTH CARE COSTS
Under this Administration, the cost of family health insurance has risen more than 70%, or an average of $4,500 per family, and 6 million more Americans are uninsured. Meanwhile, the Majority has enacted a confusing and costly prescription drug benefit that prohibits Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices, has cut funding for medical research, and has prohibited federal funding of a real stem cell research program.
Gee, how would this work? How do Democrats create Health Care for everyone? By raising taxes and socialized medicine.
RISING ENERGY PRICES
Gas prices have nearly doubled and exceed $3.00 per gallon in many places, and dependence on foreign oil increased to 60%. Meanwhile, the Republican Majority has blocked efforts to ban price gouging, rewarded oil and gas companies with billions in new subsidies at a time of record profits, and opposed investments in alternative fuels and energy efficient technology.
How would Democrats do this? Stopping refining and exploration in the US, raising taxes to pay for alternative energy sources while punishing oil and gas companies. Raise taxes at the gasoline pump and prices of automobiles by requiring auto companies to adhere to raised fuel efficiency standards. The Democrat plan for “fixing” problems is to create more problems and punish any company with solutions that do not conform to Democrat socialistic and environmental expectations. Senator Hillary Clinton, in May of 2006, proposed the return to Jimmy Carter solutions: windfall profits taxes, lower speed limits and requiring auto manufacturers to produce high mileage automobiles.
Americans could spend twenty times the amount of money we spend for energy today on alternative energy schemes and we could not produce the same amount of energy needed at current levels.
RISING ECONOMIC INSECURITY
Real family income has fallen every year of the Bush Administration, while CEO compensation has soared. Meanwhile, the Majority has blocked any increase in the minimum wage for 7.5 million workers, while providing billions in corporate tax subsidies that encourage sending jobs overseas.
The Democrat answer to economic recovery is to enslave citizens, punish business and claim victory. In the mean time, they ignore the current USA success Republicans have created for economic policy. More home ownership than ever in history, increased government revenue due to tax cuts and lowered spending, stopping the policy of government support of preferred businesses, and rising wages with lower unemployment. What does the Democrat plan boil down to? Raise taxes and increase spending while punishing business.
RISING DEFICITS AND DEBT
The Majority has turned a projected $5.6 trillion budget surplus into a $3.2 trillion budget deficit and put us on course to double our national debt to nearly $12 trillion by 2011.
The Democrats have never proposed or supported a balanced spending bill, nor have they supported lowering the national debt. Furthermore, they cannot produce the promised new and expanded programs without raising taxes, debt and the deficit. Promises are easy to make since they know they will not be held accountable or lose their power if the voters believe this fantasy and vote them into power. Bill Clinton said he would lower taxes. Once elected, he said the economy was worse than he thought and he raised taxes. Governor Corzine did the same thing in New Jersey. It’s a pattern: make the promise knowing they won’t keep it.
RISING COLLEGE COSTS
Tuition has increased by $2,000 (57%) at public universities and by $5,000 (32%) at private universities since the 2000-2001 school year. Meanwhile, the Majority has cut $12 billion from college student aid, increasing the costs of loans; has frozen Pell Grants for higher education; and has failed to extend the college tuition tax deduction.
Payoff! Democrats worked hard on young person voter registration, now they are proposing the payoff. If this is a good idea, cutting taxes for education, why not provide tax breaks for Home Schooling?
RISING RETIREMENT INSECURITY
The Majority has fought to privatize Social Security, which would have cut benefits for the middle class and added trillions to our debt, and failed to protect workers’ pensions while CEOs receive hundred-million dollar retirement packages.
Democrats refuse to address the upcoming problem of Social Security. Punishing a few executives will not solve the problem and Democrats would do to Social Security what they have done to education. Their only answer is to raise taxes, which is the only solution they openly support.
Great analysis by the Part-Time Pundit can be found at:
http://jcb.pentex-net.com/archives/2006/06/a_new_direction.html and caught by Free Republic at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1650826/posts
Also posted at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1650951/posts and http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1650731/posts
Another comment on their platform can be found at: http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens1.htm
Republican 1994 Plan: Contract With America
Democrat 2006 Plan: Contract ON America
Democrat Slogans:
You Pay So We Can Play
This Time We Aren’t Lying
Give Us a Chance, It’s Only Money
Save the Environment: Stop Breathing
Why NOT The Worst?
Support the Military: Surrender
Follow France!
Great post, MiD!!!!!!
She said that if we do nothing we'd still be able to pay 70% of the benefits.
So I guess a 30% cut in benefits is a good thing?
No one called her on that idiotic statement.
Dems are truly DO NOTHINGS.
Great stuff Morgan special award time here.
Their proposal to make college tuition tax deductible that will only encourage colleges to raise their fees again and again. I do worry that younger voters may buy into it, however.
Great post Morgan
Later read...great work, MID.