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 News from Around the Americas | June 2006 
Democrats Unveil New Domestic Agenda
 Z. Byron Wolf - ABC News
| | Despite new focus on health care and minimum wage, Dems remain fractured on Iraq. |
On the same day the House voted in a nonbinding resolution to essentially stay the course in Iraq, Democratic leaders from both houses on Capitol Hill unveiled a new domestic agenda under the slogan "A New Direction for America."
"New Direction" replaces their old slogan "Together, America Can Do Better." It focuses on, among other things, raising the minimum wage and lowering health care costs. Democratic leaders said they would pay for these programs and balance the budget by cutting tax breaks for oil companies and big business. They did not talk about tax levels for individuals.
The agenda, announced today by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Minority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California., and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland, is entirely domestic.
The Democrats still have no party agenda on Iraq, though the war did figure into the "New Direction" press conference. Taking questions from reporters, Democratic leaders spent more time talking about Iraq than they did about their new agenda. That issue - while Democrats don't agree on how to present a unified front against Republicans - clearly triggers passionate reactions among them.
Referring to the death of al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Pelosi warned "decapitation is not the end of a movement." Reid invoked the now-infamous quote by Vice President Dick Cheney made on May 30, 2005, that the insurgency, even then, was in its "last throes." Reid said the administration was wrong then, and there's nothing yet to indicate the insurgency is in its final throes now.
Debate on Iraq Pullout
Leaders of both houses seem to disagree on what the country should do in Iraq. Reid said it remains President Bush's problem for now. "Where's the plan?" Reid asked, his voice raised. "He's the commander in chief. We're not." This is a sentiment echoed by other Democratic senators, including New York's Chuck Schumer.
Pelosi agreed with Democratic representative Jack Murtha, a retired Marine colonel who called for the pullout of American troops back in November 2005. "It's time for a new direction in Iraq." she said.
Senate Democrats didn't support an amendment to the 2007 Department of Defense authorization written by Kerry, but it was called up as a political maneuver by Republican Mitch McConnell, who wanted Democrats to be on record, endorsing Kerry's call for combat troops to be pulled from Iraq by the end of the year.
Kerry said he would reintroduce the amendment on his own terms next week, despite its 93-6 defeat on the floor. Other Democrats will offer a less severe amendment that would call for a phased withdrawal from Iraq rather than a pullout deadline.
Sen. Carl Levin said yesterday that a phased withdrawal amendment would signal it's time to start bringing the troops home without instituting an artificial endpoint on the military. Debate on both sides of the issue is likely next week.
Republicans invite the debate, which they believe will be a winner for them. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist touted the defeat of Kerry's language in the McConnell amendment on the Senate floor, referring to it for reporters as the "cut and run amendment."
Despite their disparate views on the issue, Democrats are trying to dispel the perception that a military pullout from Iraq is synonymous with - as Republicans like to say - "cutting and running."
"There are two things that don't exist in Iraq," Reid said on the Senate floor Thursday. "Weapons of mass destruction and cutting and running."
Minimum Wage on Dems Agenda
Reid started today's press conference saying you can tell a lot about somebody by whom they stand with. Later, he clarified that the Republican agenda is "Wealthy people helping wealthy people."
There was a lot of talk about the minimum wage, which has not been raised in nine years. Democrats in both houses are expected to ramp up their attempts to pass a minimum wage increase under the noses of Republican leaders.
Next week, Sen.Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Rep. George Miller of California, among others, will hold an informal hearing to listen to stories of working parents trying to live on the minimum wage. Hoyer pointed out that if the minimum wage in 1968 were applied today, it would equal $9.05. The current minimum wage is $5.15.
The following items are included on the new domestic agenda as written by the Democrats:
• Make Health Care More Affordable: Fix the prescription drug program by putting people ahead of drug companies and HMOs, eliminating wasteful subsidies, negotiating lower drug prices and ensuring the program works for all seniors; invest in stem cell and other medical research.
• Lower Gas Prices and Achieve Energy Independence: Crack down on price gouging; eliminate billions in subsidies for oil and gas companies and use the savings to provide consumer relief and develop American alternatives, including biofuels; promote energy-efficient technology.
• Help Working Families: Raise the minimum wage; repeal tax giveaways that encourage companies to move jobs overseas.
• Cut College Costs: Make college tuition deductible from taxes; expand Pell grants and slash student loan costs.
• Ensure Dignified Retirement: Prevent the privatization of Social Security; expand savings incentives and ensure pension fairness.
• Require Fiscal Responsibility: Restore the budget discipline of the 1990s that helped eliminate deficits and spur record economic growth. |
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