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An alternative agenda
It's interesting that the New York Times issued a 'Must-Do' list for Congress Sunday. Interesting because The Nation magazine also offered a list of specifics back in January.
The Times's offerings are focused on issues surrounding the Iraq quagmire and the so-called War On Terror. Too bad the Times didn't label their ideas the War On Error.
George Bush liked to talk about all that political capital he had earned after his two electoral victories--may the Dems get the backbone and cohesion to do the same and then act. There's been enough wishy-washy-iness regarding Iraq since the Democrats took back Congress when it all boils down to Bush's partnering with Shia liars and murderers being doomed to failure from the get-go. Partition or get out NOW! Congress; act NOW! The American public want leadership--provide it!
Here goes:
March 4, 2007Read the specifics here.
New York Times Editorial
The Must-Do List
The Bush administration’s assault on some of the founding principles of American democracy marches onward despite the Democratic victory in the 2006 elections. The new Democratic majorities in Congress can block the sort of noxious measures that the Republican majority rubber-stamped. But preventing new assaults on civil liberties is not nearly enough...
Restore Habeas Corpus
Stop Illegal Spying
Ban Torture, Really
Close the C.I.A. Prisons
Account for ‘Ghost Prisoners’
Ban Extraordinary Rendition
Tighten the Definition of Combatant
Screen Prisoners Fairly and Effectively
Ban Tainted Evidence
Ban Secret Evidence
Better Define ‘Classified’ Evidence
Respect the Right to Counsel
The Nation compiled a much more comprehensive list in the form of the subject matter for congressional inquiry:
Ten Blockbuster Hearingstop
by Chuck Collins
The Nation
January 5, 2007
On May 9, 1975, a Senate committee chaired by Frank Church subpoenaed acting CIA director William Colby during an investigation of intelligence agencies. Colby (after practice sessions with President Gerald Ford's chief of staff, Donald Rumsfeld) was grilled about US covert operations, illegal assassinations and domestic spying abuses. The stunning revelations of the Church Committee hearings were followed by several years of rigorous Congressional oversight and reform legislation.
How can progressives best grab the momentum from the November elections to promote bold initiatives to end illegal war, fight poverty and inequality, and rein in the corporations that are destroying our democracy? Congressional oversight hearings could be one critical tool. And that's not as boring as it sounds.
Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are in line to chair ten of the twenty standing House committees and as many as thirty-five subcommittees. If they are media savvy and work creatively with activists and affected communities, they could turn humdrum hearings into blockbuster investigations that wrench the nation's attention away from Britney and Paris (not the city) and onto the pressing matters of our time. And while the Democrats' narrow majority will make it difficult to pass very much progressive legislation in the 110th Congress, well-designed hearings could lay the foundation for significant reforms in the medium and long term.
1. The Katrina Divide.
2. War Profiteering.
3. Torture.
4. Unequal Sacrifice and the War.
5. Runaway CEO Pay.
6. Wealth Inequality and the Estate Tax.
7. Concentration of Corporate Power.
8. Oil Industry Influence. 9. Censorship of Climate Science.
10. A Real Security Budget.
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