Decision 2006 Decided!
I did my part and voted yesterday. In the past, I have been lax with voting, especially for mid-term elections, but I think this recent election proves that every election counts. Unlike our democratic friends in Europe, our government can change every two years. Even though I don’t support either major party, have big problems with the new congressional ruling party, and aren’t thrilled with 99% of our elected officials, even I have to admit, that the system worked. Americans were unhappy, and they “threw the bums out.”
On the local level, I was much happier with the results. The Kansas school board is now in control by members who actually understand science. Phil Kline, one of the most despicable people I have ever seen in office, was blown out in his bid to be re-elected attorney general of Kansas by Paul Morrison. The other races, while important, didn’t seem quite as important as the races for attorney general and school board.
The Democrats will now control the House of Representatives, and barring any surprises, the Senate too. What this means for Bush, is that he is effectively neutered. There are some economic policies of Bush that I support, such as eliminating the estate tax, social security reform, and lower taxes in general, but those are either never going to happen or are in danger of being repealed. There also many policies of Bush I abhor, such as the NSA wiretapping plan as it is currently implemented, the elimination of habeas corpus, and anything related to religion. I won’t even get into the long list of Democratic Party policies I’m against.
Instead, I’m proposing the “Four Point Plan to Gain Shane P. Brady’s Respect”™. This is all I want Bush and the Congress to accomplish in the next two years. No more ranting about “The Gays”, or flag burning. Forget Social Security for now. Keep the taxes the way they are now. Just do these four things:
1) Create a comprehensive immigration solution that increases funding for border patrol, creates a worker visa program for the existing and future immigrants, and creates a path for citizenship for illegal immigrants in the country now.
2) Restore habeas corpus to everyone, citizen or not
3) Create a real oversight process to any intelligence activities that have any chance on infringing on our privacy as citizens
4) Work with the young Iraqi government, and get them to commit to a series of milestones that will enable us to leave Iraq a functioning democracy.
That’s it. I think if the government can accomplish those four things, most people would look at 2007 and 2008 as two successful years. There are a lot more I wish could be done and changed, but with the Congress and President controlled by two separate years, I’ll settle for this.
