Holiday
2007 Diary
What a year this has been! In January, thanks to the Democratic majority in both houses of Congress, we saw the speedy impeachment of both Bush and Cheney. Bush didn't have the sense Nixon did, and sat through the conviction hearings like he was expecting his fairy godmother to rescue him. She didn't of course, since Rove was in jail by then. I don't think he really understood that he was being removed from office. I understand there was an offer that if he would resign, he could just go back to his ranch. But he stayed, and now he is back on the ranch under house arrest while the trials drag on. Cheney was considered a flight risk, and now languishes in a federal holding facility.
He had most of his money confiscated under the RICO act, and it looks like he will be spending a long time as a guest of the government. Most of Bushes cronies fled Washington, and a few fled the country. Who can forget the photos of Israeli commandos capturing Gonzales in Argentina for the World Court?
President Pelosi has been great, as has Vice President Conyers. They were well prepared to take the reins of office, and pass the New American Agenda, the likes of which had not been seen for over 80 years. The Every Citizen Vote Counted act was first. The Act made sure there would be a verifiable paper trail for all federal elections, banned requirements such as drivers licenses, and restored voting rights to felons who had serve their sentences. Some of this was only on the federal level, but by making various federal funds contingent on using these standard, most states seem eager to comply. Next year will be the true test.
Extending Medicare to all citizens and legal residents, and imporving Medicare's drug benefits came next. Minimal dental care was added, though I think it should be much more extensive. I fully approve of the section that any corporation convicted of Medicare fraud can no longer be paid by Medicare; that pretty much ended the Hospital Corporation of America. I wonder what Bill Frist is doing these days. I hope he's not practicing medicine. But he may be, since there are excellent incentives for doctors and nurses to practice in underserved areas, like Harlem and the Black Hills.
Social Security reform is dear to my heart, and I am glad this was accomplished. Raising the cap to $250,000, and having it indexed to inflation will insure Social Security will be able to pay full benefits for many years to come. I wish they had rolled back full retirement age to 65, but that's just me - I want to retire a year sooner. Speaking of indexing, they finally changed the alternative minimum tax to actually go after the fat cats, and indexed it so it doesn't affect the middle class. About time, too.
Raising the minimum wage was years overdue. Tomorrow, the $7.50 per hour wage will have been in effect for six months, and despite dire warnings by corporate honchos, there has been excellent job growth in that time. Small business has prospered, thanks to new tax incentives and more streamlined reporting practices. Of course, redefining small business has helped as well; no more fat cats cutting in on breaks meant for the corner stores. The Sabo Act has helped as well; corporations can no longer deduct salaries to executives that are more than 20 times the wage of the lowest paid worker.
The Homes for All Act has given a large number of people housing in time for the cold weather, but building houses takes time. Paying for existing units is a stopgap, but once people are settled in new homes, most of them can turn their lives around. Better assistance to people in crisis is still being done piecemeal, but at least levels service of several kinds have been restored. I am concerned, because it looks like we are in for a cold winter here in Minnesota, and I am glad there are funds for paying heating bills for those who need it.
The Education for Employment program will give thousands of people funding for college and vocational schools. I'm really glad that part of the program is greatly expanding vocational and technical schools. We don't just need more college graduates, we also need auto mechanics and plumbers. Heck, plumbers make more than a lot of college grads, and its not an easy job, no matter what some people think.
The new transportation initiatives will provide a lot of jobs for those people coming out of training. The program to greatly expand Amtrak, local trains, and buses will help get cars off the road, and the new tax credits for hybrids and electrics will keep our oil usage and pollution down. Eliminating the credits for SUVs, and instead adding a huge tax surcharge will help too, but we need to get the current ones off the road.
Energy reform is moving more slowly. I had hoped for more funding for research, but at least there is some recognition that we need to turn to renewable energy as soon as we can. But tax credits are not enough. If we can put a man on the Moon in less than ten years, we can come up with a cheap photovoltaic cell in that time.
The Drug Reform laws were the most contentious. I would have liked to have seen all drugs legalized for people over 21, but I am satisfied with marijuana being legal as long as it's not advertised or marketed in any way. There is local option, as there is with alcohol, but most states seized on the tax possibilities, and legalized. Texas is losing a whole lot of money by keeping it a felony. Since most of the responsibilities for cocaine, heroin, and other "hard drugs" has been turned over to a new department of Health and Human Services, there has been a huge upswing in treatment, which is of course covered by the new Medicare. Smuggling drugs into the country is still illegal, and there seems to be better enforcement by the newly restored Customs Service, now that Homeland Security has been disbanded. This has had the side benefit of helping our balance of payments problems; great marijuana is still being grown in traditional places like Mendocino County and Hawaii.
Gay rights is still a hot button topic, but several states have added marriage rights for same sex partners, and increased enforcement of hate crime laws have benefited everyone but bigots. The case against Wildmon and the AFA for tax fraud will probably come to court this spring; if convicted, the precedent will probably remove tax exempt status for a number of hate groups masquerading as religious organizations.
It will take us a while to catch up on our U.N. dues, but it's only right that we pay what we owe. I'm glad that Pelosi earmarked our first payment to the Population Fund. Of course, since her first act in office was to rescind the gag rule, I'm not surprised.
The Universal Birth Control Act was controversial, but it squeaked by. I think the name is poorly chosen, since it merely make birth control available, free, to all, but not required. And part of the new education reforms has been teaching balanced family education in schools from fourth grade; accurate sex information is only part of the curriculum, along with building healthy relationships, parenting, budgeting and much more. I've heard that showing high school kids how hard it is to raise a child both helps them see things from their parent's point of view, and makes it much less likely that they will have children too early.
We still have a lot to do in 2008. Happy New Year!
This is a fantasy, but it could happen, if we work hard enough. Please don't criticise this as unrealistic.
BTW, Rep Martin Sabo (MN-5) has already proposed a bill that would regulate how much a corporation deduct as salary for the highest paid exec, either 20 or 25 times what it pays its lowest paid worker. There would be ways around it, I'm sure: contract out the scut work, pay execs in sneaky ways, but it would be a step forward.