America Needs Bold New Political Ideas

With the election now over and the Democrats getting ready to take control of both the House and Senate in the next Congress, let's hope they don't overreach. That would be the natural tendency for a party that's long been out of power. Congress shouldn't try to control America's foreign policy no matter how much they may want to. That's the job of the President. Congress must not engage in impeachment hearings or assigning partisan blame for past mistakes. That would be a total waste of time and energy.

Over the past two years, the Democrats have demonstrated remarkable discipline. Soon-to-be Speaker Nancy Pelosi, soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Howard Dean all deserve tremendous credit for the job they've done. Let's hope John Kerry quickly announces that he is not running for President again in 2008. He's such a loser he almost lost an election he wasn't even running in.

Looking ahead to 2008, I personally hope that neither Hillary Clinton nor Oback Barama win their party's nomination. Given the South's solid red Republican block, it's going to be hard enough for the Democrats to win the presidency without trying to elect the first woman president or first minority president. Furthermore, Hillary Clinton is such a political lightning rod, she'd probably lose a national election if she ran unopposed, and Oback Barama is simply too inexperienced and unproven to seriously consider running in 2008.

So, what can Democrats do?
America faces incredible challenges both at home and abroad: budget deficits; healthcare funding; energy independence; nuclear weapons proliferation; government ethics; Islamic terrorists; racial inequality; illegal immigration, Baby Boomer social security obligations -- to name just a few.

America desperately needs bold new thinking and leadership. Perhaps the Dems could sponsor some of the following ideas:

• Let's make mass transportation free! To cover the cost, we should add lots more toll booths along Interstate highways, especially around our cities where traffic jams have become unbearable. Our nation's goal has to be to encourage reductions in overall energy consumption.


• Let's pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting political advertising on the public air waves. In other words, no more television or radio ads by politicians, political parties, lobbyists or special interest groups. This would drastically reduce the need for political campaign contributions.


• Let's institute a mandatory two-year national service obligation. Young people who elect to serve in the armed forces can receive greater compensation than those who choose to perform other jobs. Qualified college graduates can contribute in jobs related to their field of expertise by working in education or healthcare.


• Let's recognize that America's war on drugs has been an abysmal failure. Instead, we ought to decriminalize illegal drugs and levy substantial taxes on them like we do with alcohol and cigarettes.

Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with these particular ideas, the main point is that this past election was a rejection of the status quo. America needs to recapture her imagination and inspiration.