it's February, 2005 - post-election, post-inauguration and therefore

[ulysses]

time to get back to the issues. :) What are your top three and which ones do you give time and/or money for?

I'm having a hard time focusing on any one issue right now, but I'm thinking of volunteering with a local adult literacy outfit and staying local in general in terms of activism. Anyone else?

[SheilaT]

1. My issues are the ones that should

be at the forefront of the election, because they won't magically be better just because (if it happens) John Kerry is in the WH.

Balancing the budget.
Real educational reform that involves a great deal more money for schools both to pay teachers better and to improve the infrastructure as well as provide appropriate level of teaching for ALL students.
Rolling back the tax cuts, increasing minimum wage, and getting started on a universal health care.

[ulysses]

3. very much with you,

especially on education and UHC. :thumbsup:

[Doctor_J]

6. Unless we have a house of Congress,

a tax cut roll back is unlikely. And without that, any reform of education is also a long shot.

It's going to take awhile to undo the mess that the Repugs have done the last four years. Start with small cheap things - restoring our treaties, making friends with other nations, reinstating Kyoto, patching the holes that have been created.

[SheilaT]

7. You bring up a crucial point.

It won't be enough to get a democrat in the White House. We need to have a Democratic House and Senate also.

[tedoll78]

2. Stocking the judiciary..

with tons of young, healthy liberal liberal liberal judges.

Hell, let's DNA test them for medical conditions to make sure they'll be healthy enough to serve 40 years apiece! (j/k.. kinda)

[kainah]

4. the war, public lands, & health care

just as they are right now....... After proving to me once that you can steal an election, I am refusing to put all my hopes into something you might well steal again. It's time to make policy drive politics, not vice versa.

[Webster Green]

5. My Top Three.....

1. War Crimes Tribunal for ChimpCo Inc. Orange jump suits and leg irons for everybody.

2. Repeal of every law, policy, or appointment put into place by the evil chimp while he illegally occupied the office of president.

3. Work to change the election laws to some sort of instant run-off system, so that the will of the voters can decide who will govern.

[The White Rose]

8. GET THE MONEY OUT OF WASHINGTON!!!

NO meaningful reform is going to happen in this country while our representatives in office (on BOTH sides of the aisle) are in the pockets of the special interests that put them there. I'm reading a book at the moment called "The Real State of the Union" (Ted Halstead, ed.), which has some fascinating proposals for change that, I think, could really make a positive difference; none of them can or will happen unless the legal BRIBERY that underpins EVERY decision made on the Hill and in the Whitehouse ENDS ONCE AND FOR ALL!

[corporatewhore]

9. "Free" Trade colonialism(occupation in iraq;palestine) Equal Rights

[guitar man]

10. Living wage employment......

....and plenty of it. We need to pursue economic policies that encourage businesses to put people to work at jobs with adequate wages/benefits for people to provide for their families. Without a strong consumer base,our economy will collapse and turn us into the biggest 3rd world country the world has ever seen.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. My top three

1. national health care

2. a peace-oriented foreign policy that doesn't try to rule the world

3. the environment, especially weaning ourselves from oil

[rdfi-defi]

12. repeal the pat act should be the first order of biz.

section 213 and 215, which do not go out with the 'sunset clause'

[FDRrocks]

13. Well

I'm a civil libertarian... so...

an end to the 'victimless crime'
an end to corporate subsidies (I don't want my tax dollars to pay for new subways rather than the welfare of the homeless, as it always has)
an end to pentagon (and thus murderous) pork spending

And...guess what?...Kerry won't do anything about thsee things