After a week of reveling in the post-election bliss that brought us a Democratic controlled Congress, it’s time to come back down to reality. Over the past week I’ve been approached by many bright eyed optimists who have asked, “Are we going to be able to impeach the president?” I was even asked, “Can we have all our troops home by Christmas?” I’m thrilled to see that there is renewed hopefulness in our democratic process but we ought not to get carried away.
While I certainly understand the desire of many to seek political retribution on the Republican Party for their reign of mismanagement over the past six years, what America needs now is unity. That unity certainly won’t be found in bitter, divisive impeachment proceedings. The president says that he is ready to work in a bipartisan manner. He has said that the voters have spoken and that he has heard. Though I am more than somewhat skeptical of his newfound insight, the election offers the legislature and the president a chance to move forward.
Another important reason for rejecting the notion of impeachment proceedings was offered by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. During a recent sit down with the Oregon College Democrats, Dean said, “If the President were impeached, Dick Cheney would become Commander and Chief. While, I know it’s hard to imagine anything worse than two more years with George Bush, I think we just did.”
As for bringing the troops home: Foreign policy is determined by the Commander and Chief. With the Democrats’ newly inherited political capital they’ve begun to pressure President Bush to begin phased withdrawal that includes benchmarks for the Iraqi government within four to six months. Though this proposal has been dismissed by the White House in the past, the “Iraq Study Group Report”, the new configuration of Congress, and the message of the election offer a chance to change the direction of this war.
Regardless of whether or not troops are brought home, Democrats have committed to holding investigative hearings on Iraq. Currently, there is over $9 billion in funds that were spent on war contracts in Iraq that can’t be accounted for. That’s $9 billion that we as tax payers must fork over without having received anything in return (not even A Bridge to Nowhere!). Democrats have also pledged to hold hearings on why our troops are still without adequate armor (especially in light of the $9 billion in unaccounted allocations). Sadly, the current Republican Congress has failed to look into either of these matters. Again, there is now a chance that working together Democrats and Republicans can find the answers to these, literal, life and death questions.
There has been widespread speculation among conservatives that the incoming Democratic Congress will focus its’ effort on dismantling the 2nd Amendment or crafting some way to tax us back into the Stone Age. Quite to the contrary, Democrats have been extremely explicit about their most immediate plans. Along with investigative hearings, soon to be Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that 110th Congress will fight to allow health care providers to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices (something currently not allowed under the bill passed by this Senate in 2005), lowering student loan interest rates in half (the Republican controlled Congress doubled them), creating comprehensive lobbying and ethics reform (something the Republican congress talked about, but ultimately never accomplished) and creating a thorough energy plan that paves the way for energy independence while creating new economic prosperity. On the statewide level, Senate Democrats are looking into a proposal whereby student loans would be paid off if graduates went into public service.
These are not radical ideas. Instead these ideas are exactly what the American people have been begging for: A return to commonsense legislating that puts an end to the partisan bitterness.
The 2008 elections will be a referendum on what Democrats do with the next two years. The 2006 election resulted in a chance… nothing more and nothing less. These next two years will prove whether the newly elected legislative branch can act on this opportunity. These two years will be a chance for us to hold Democrats and Republicans accountable. These next two years offer a real chance for them to bring us together as a nation, to begin to repair the damage that the past six years have brought, and to reestablish our reputation in the eyes of the world. Personally, I welcome this challenge and am glad to see Democrats playing offense again. That being said, none of us should be lulled into a false sense of calm. It is imperative that for these next two years we watch, we pay attention and accept nothing less than real progress. Don’t blow this chance… as we have learned the hard way, they don’t often come along.
[email protected]
A new hope
Daily Emerald
November 15, 2006
0
More to Discover