I think it's time to start talking about what we expect from gubmint if we wind up in control.

[cherokeeprogressive]

I'm talking about controlling the White House AND both houses of Congress. It's beginning to look like a very real possibility. What will YOU expect from our elected representatives if this happens? I'm going to be expecting A LOT. An awful LOT. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if this scenario comes to pass, there shouldn't be ANY "roadblocks" to putting our ideals and agenda into practice.

Being politically active now is important, because we have to work toward getting the right people elected, but being politically active AFTER we achieve that is going to be MUCH MORE IMPORTANT. When WE are represented in the halls of Congress and at the White House, WE have to bang the drum constantly and let said reps know what WE want. If things don't change drastically in the first few months of Democratic control, I'm going to be very disappointed.

Dems should, after establishing control of the Executive and Legislative branches, be able to bring about:

Immediate repeal of all codes and policies enforcing and supporting "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".
An immediate BEGINNING of the withdrawl of military forces from Iraq.
A permanently viable "Living Wage" based on the country's GDP.
Immediate work on the "framework" of a "National Health Policy".
Immediate work on legislation that would force EVERY financial agency to be transparent 24/7 through the interwebs.
A "Jobs Program" that would serve two purposes; To get people involved in the economy once again, and to upgrade and replace components of our national infrastructure.
A public disavowment of ANY government policy advocating "Preemptive Military Strikes" against ANY COUNTRY.
A shift toward nuclear disarmament for THE WORLD, with this country openly taking the first step in destroying our nuclear weapons.
Publically funded research into alternative fuels.

I could go on endlessly of course, but I think those are good places to start.

That being said, I WILL NOT stand for a "do-nothing" Congress that we control. Come the mid-terms, I would tirelessly work towards getting EVERY incumbent member of congress voted out of office.

Failure to act once our party is in power will OUT elected representatives as being in the pockets of Big Money. Those who've been elected to their seats multiple times up to 17 will NEED TO GO. I will at that point contribute to ANY campaign that challenges those who've been there for decades, but whose best campaign slogan is "IF I'M RE-ELECTED, I'LL DO X". Time's up. Get with the program or GO HOME.

What would YOU expect from a gubmint controlled by people who supposedly shared your ideals?

[LSparkle]

1. Just break the "don't investigate the prior Administration" tradition

PLEASE. We need to know what has happened during the
past 8 years in order to AVOID DOING IT AGAIN. Yes,
I have other specific "wants" (make the rich and
corporations pay their fair share of taxes, get rid
of the idea of a global "war on terror" and put
targeted special ops guys in to get the damned
job done) but the most important thing is to hold
those who have harmed this country accountable.

Without accountability, we can never be assured
that the next times these pigs take power, they'll
go the same thing ... AGAIN.

[The Wielding Truth]

2. Get out there and get those votes, Walk, call,give rides.

Please, don't go there yet. Voter suppression is going strong and RWer's are voting. I will give you all my time after Barack Obama is sworn in as our President.

Volunteer. I have and it's tough sometimes. We need your help now.

To get involved enroll and start at http://action.barackobama.com/page/s/volunteer/.

If you are already working your buns off for democracy, then I thank you, and ask you to keep me on track by keeping your plans on ice until after Barack is our President.

[Webster Green]

3. Prove that the 2000 and 2004 elections were rigged..

Declare the entire Bush "Presidency" null and void.

Rescind all Bush appointments, declarations, proclamations, laws, signing statements, policies....everything!

Arrest, imprison, and then execute all the war criminals and traitors who were part of the Bush Administration criminal conspiracy. (including journalist enablers).

That's just for starters, of course. :patriot:

[dhpgetsit]

7. WOW! That would be spectacular!

[spin]

4. I agree with everything you suggested except for one item...

A shift toward nuclear disarmament for THE WORLD, with this country openly taking the first step in destroying our nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons are a deterrent. If we ever use the nuclear weapons we have, their purpose will be a failure. If we were to unilaterally disarm, we would be unable to stop other nations who saved their nuclear weapons from taking over large portions of the world and possibly the United States.

Having said that, I worry about terrorists obtaining nuclear weapons. Out nuclear stockpile does little to deter a terrorist group.

We need to work on weapons that are more precise and will accomplish much of the mission of a nuclear weapon without all the collateral damage. I suspect we are moving in this direction with weapons such as the MOAB (Mother of All Bombs). http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/moab.htm or the penetrating ICBM warhead:

(U) This category contains writeups about ICBM sustainment programs to include Minuteman III and ballistic missile replacement. ICBM systems (Peacekeeper and Minuteman III) provide both nuclear and non-nuclear strike options against fixed targets that are heavily defended or hardened. ICBMs with nuclear payloads are currently deployed in Missile Wings located throughout the CONUS. Non-nuclear ICBM payloads will be deployed at launch sites located on the Eastern Test Range (ETR) and the Western Test Range (WTR). High re-entry speeds and penetrating payloads deployed from ICBMs are effective against a broad range of heavily defended, high-value, and time critical targets (nuclear counterforce deterrence, buried command centers, and time-urgent targets that would be difficult to locate later). Historically high reliability of these systems will assure a capability to respond to sudden changes in the world environment, almost instantaneously.
http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/nssrm/categories/icbms.htm

Unilateral disarmament would be similar to taking all firearms from the police, hoping that the criminals would also decide to stop using firearms. Few people would join the police force and the existing police would avoid paroling the truly dangerous areas of many big cities. Crime would escalate and most citizens would find themselves at the mercy of the criminal element.

But we are working on ways of arming the police with non-lethal weapons so that the use of their firearms is a last resort.

We can develop weapons for the military that in almost all circumstances can replace nuclear weapons. If we accomplish this we should be able to reduce our nuclear stockpile to much lower levels then we have today.

And we may be able to stop nuclear proliferation if we can convince the other nations of the world to join in employing draconian sanctions against any nation who attempts to develop such weapons.

You made one statement in your post that I agree with passionately.

That being said, I WILL NOT stand for a "do-nothing" Congress that we control. Come the mid-terms, I would tirelessly work towards getting EVERY incumbent member of congress voted out of office.

Failure to act once our party is in power will OUT elected representatives as being in the pockets of Big Money. Those who've been elected to their seats multiple times up to 17 will NEED TO GO. I will at that point contribute to ANY campaign that challenges those who've been there for decades, but whose best campaign slogan is "IF I'M RE-ELECTED, I'LL DO X". Time's up. Get with the program or GO HOME.

If we are ever to solve the enormous problems our country faces, we must insist that the people we elect represent us and not the big corporations. If they fail to make significant progress in the next few years we need to replace them with new people who will.

[dhpgetsit]

5. First year's agenda not in any particular order

Election reform. No private companies get to count the vote on their proprietary machines again.

Build legislation to get corporate money and influence out of our government. Do not let them have any say in government policy.

Bust up the big corporations through the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Pry media (TV, Radio, and printed media) out of the hands of umbrella companies and make them truly indepandant and transparent.

Launch a program to build green energy infrastructure, similar to the CCC projects of the 30s.

Increase the minimum wage to at least $10/hr and tie it to inflation.

Single payer health care.

[dhpgetsit]

6. One small point.

The Senate will probably have enough Republicans left to block legislation by filibuster.