Tossed Salad

I’ve been conspicuously absent as of late, I know… I could drivel on about how busy I’ve been, and I have. Yet, in all honesty, if I took twenty minutes out of my news reading addiction per day, I could in fact manage to post more often… RSS feeds are worse than drugs, at times I feel as though I’ve lost precious parts of my non-virtual life to them. Regardless, I feel I should finally comment on all the things I’ve missed. Since I haven’t posted in quite a while, I’ll do so in list format for ease of reading.

1. November 7th
   Democrats regain control of the House and Senate for the first time in 12 years. Does it really matter? Probably not, considering as how days later the infighting began and the party of new ideas began looking like the party of the same old bullshit. Democrats have an opportunity here: Put forth legislation that works for the majority of Americans, the lower and middle classes.
   • Tax breaks for Joe Average, tax hike for oil companies and the upper 25% earners. Bring down the debt and stop deficit spending. Cut earmarks and pork barrel spending.
   • Propose election and ethical reforms.
   • Don’t cut and run from Iraq. Iraq must be stable before we leave. We broke it, and consequently, we bought it.
   • Work forcefully with the insurance industry to provide affordable, subsidized insurance for the uninsured. Increase taxes on corporations who either do not provide insurance or do not pay high enough wages for employees to become insured.
   • Propose an increase to the minimum wage, while leaving the death tax alone for estates over $1 million and abolishing the death tax for estates under a million. With exceptions for family farms.

   Even if these don’t pass the narrowly divided congress, they will show America that the Democratic Party is at least making some half-hearted attempt on their behalf. Responsible governance is the one sure-fire way to win elections. Pandering to one faction or another (read: the extreme right or left) only alienates the majority of those who still vote. I predict we’ll find that the congressional majority cycle will continue to shorten as Americans buy into the new sound bite political culture.

2. Bishop Carlton Pearson
   I heard Carlton Pearson’s story on NPR’s “This American Life,” you should listen to the podcast. Bishop Pearson gives me hope for the Evangelical community.

So that’s it for now… But I’ll be back soon (and more frequently, too)