OUR CONCERNS

The 100 Hour Agenda ALL DONE IN LESS THAN 50 HOURS!!!

With our new Democratic Majority, House Democrats have pledged to honor the American people's faith in us, and restore America's faith in the future with a New Direction for America. Our New Direction begins now with a commitment to integrity, civility, and fiscal responsibility. We believe the voice of every American should be heard. We will work to make our nation safer, our economy fairer, and health care more affordable. We will work to broaden college opportunity, break the link between lobbyists and legislation, and commit to pay-as-you-go budgeting. These are the principles by which we will govern. And under these principles we will take our country in a new direction.

Democrats will introduce this legislation on the first day of the new Congress, and will pass it within the first 100 legislative hours. This new direction represents the priorities of a unified Democratic Party. This is our pledge to the American people.

In the first 100 hours:

The 100 Hour Agenda ALL DONE IN LESS THAN 50 HOURS!!!

In the first 100 hours:

	We will start by cleaning up Congress, ending the link between lobbyists and legislation. *H.Res. 6, Title II, "Adopting the Rules of the House of Representatives for the One Hundred Tenth Congress." passed 430-1, Jan. 4th, 2007*
	We will commit to pay-as-you-go, no new deficit spending. *H.Res. 6, Title V, "Adopting the Rules of the House of Representatives for the One Hundred Tenth Congress." passed 280-152, Jan. 5th, 2007*
	We will make our nation safer by implementing the recommendations of the independent, bipartisan 9/11 Commission. *H.R. 1, "Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007." passed 299-128, Jan. 9th, 2007*
	We will make our economy fairer, and start by raising the minimum wage. We will not pass a pay raise for Congress until there is an increase in the minimum wage. *H.R. 2, "Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007." passed 315-116, Jan. 10th, 2007*
	We will promote stem cell research to offer real hope to the millions of American families who suffer from devastating diseases. *H.R. 3, " Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act." passed 253-174, Jan. 11th, 2007*</< td>
	We will make health care more affordable for all Americans, and we will begin by fixing the Medicare prescription drug program, putting seniors first by negotiating lower drug prices. *H.R. 4, "Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act." passed 255-170, Jan. 12th, 2007*
	We will broaden college opportunity, and we will begin by cutting interest rates for student loans in half. *H.R. 5, "College Student Relief Act of 2007." passed 356-71, Jan. 17th, 2007*
	We will energize America by achieving energy independence, and we will begin by rolling back the multi-billion dollar subsidies for Big Oil. *H.R. 6, "Creating Long-Term Energy Alternatives for the Nation Act." passed 264-163, Jan. 18th, 2007*

Sen. Larry Craig scandal * Bob Allen scandal * Vitter scandal * Tobias scandal * Wolfowitz scandal * Gonzalez scandal * Lost e mail * Walter Reed scandal * Ney scandal * Foley scandal * Hastert scandal * Tom Delay scandal * Abramoff scandal * Katrina victims handling * War in Iraq * Selling US Ports to foreign governments * Revealing name of CIA agent to the Press * Eavesdropping on US citizens without court permission * Over eight trillion dollars national debt ($130,000 for every American family today) * The rich get richer and the poor poorer * Big tax breaks to the rich * Attempts to undermine Social Security * No Cohesive Plan for Affortable Health Care * $10 billion no-bid contracts to Halliburton * $423 billion projected 2006 deficit * 6 million Americans lost their Health Insurance during the Bush Administration * 12% increase of American children below poverty line since Bush took office *

We have many concerns over the course the country is on; we believe that these concerns can be addressed by putting aside ideology, focusing on the facts, and developing common sense solutions to problems, and we call on those who are unaffiliated with any Party to help us.

The below suggestions for Further Actions in the Mid-Term and Beyond 2008 reflect the Club’s views and are not necessarily endorsed at this time by the Democratic Party as a whole. They contain both items that we believe can be accomplished now and more ambitious initiatives that will likely require the support of a Democratic President.

ConceRns	The Democratic Goals	Actions To Take
Terrorism	Destroy the terrorist’s support base of money, weapons, schools and safe havens, as well as their leadership.	Develop a reliable detector for nuclear material in port cargo containers. Reestablish relations and increase covert anti-terrorist operations with traditional allies. Establish an effective program for countering extremist propaganda, including radio and TV broadcasts, and mass VCR/CD distributions. Re-inject the U.S. into help solving the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Impress upon China and Russia our deep concern over North Korea’s and Iran’s nuclear weapons programs and the potential for downstream military conflict and oil supply and other trade disruptions-- and secure their full cooperation in preventing. Task the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to do a study of energy alternatives to imported oil, including costs and environmental effects. Implement practical near term energy alternatives. Track the money flow from oil revenues to arms purchases, and cease U.S. oil purchases from countries sponsoring terrorism.
IRAQ	Not To put Our troops in Harms Way Without a Clear, Compelling Reason	Redeploy IRAQI troops in perimeter areas to Baghdad and some American troops now in Baghdad to the IRAN/IRAQ border to deter weapons and personnel influx. Emphasize training of IRAQI soldiers, police. Subsequently, redeploy American troops home, to Afghanistan, and to friendly perimeter areas in the Middle East to “wait and see” if tensions with IRAN, SYRIA, LEBANON grow.
The Scarcity of Good Jobs	To increase wages as profits do, and keep good jobs here through fair and balanced trade.	Remove corporate tax incentives for moving jobs overseas. Secure the borders. Level the playing field in trade agreements; incorporate worker, environmental standards. Restrict the outsourcing of job categories/skills vital to the Country. Reduce the federal budget deficit by not continuing the recent tax breaks for the wealthy, and cutting unnecessary earmarks, other programs and projects. Require an increase in annual worker’s wages consistent with an employer’s profit margin.
Getting Quality Health Care	Good health care affordable to all thru the private practice of medicine with opt-in government insurance.	Allow importation of drugs from Canada. Perform an independent study of the root causes of high and increasing medical costs in the U.S and implement the recommendations. Begin moving toward Universal Health Care by allowing Medicare to offer health insurance for purchase. Begin with a pilot project for younger workers without employer health insurance coverage.
Retirement	Preserve the planned Social Security Program thru modest fixes, keeping faith with soon to be retirees and actually doubling future benefits to younger workers.	Conduct an outreach program to the Public on the true status of the Social Security Program Raise the salary ceiling on the Social Security payroll tax. Retain the estate tax and dedicate the revenues to the Social Security Trust Fund. Require companies to meet pension commitments and adequately fund the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty corporation.
The High Cost of Living	Strengthen and enforce our anti price- fixing laws	Perform a study of the impact of the past deregulation of finance, energy sectors on consumer costs. Consider legislative controls as needed, including ceilings on credit card interest rates and other constraints.
Ineffective Government	Restore effective, honest, open and accountable government.	Pass strong Congressional ethics and lobbying reforms. Study the potential for government funding of elections. Create higher qualification standards for government management hires- both career and political appointee. Encourage staff input to key decisions. Curtail political appointee control of promotion and salary decisions for career workers.
Education	Provide Access to Quality Education for all	Increase availability and annual $ level of college Pell Grants. Reduce interest rates on federal college loans. Cap interest rates on private college loans. Provide for a government “baby bond”, redeemable upon graduation from high school with a “C” or better average.
The Environment	Preserve and improve the environment as an obligation to our children; and create jobs in the process.	Perform an Independent study of environmental risks (including global warming), past federal and state actions and progress; identify constraints and additional opportunities based on costs and benefits. Implement appropriate measures; consider changes to existing environmental laws as needed.