Thursday, November 03, 2005

Glimmer of Hope for the Ds

Bernard Schwartz, chairman and CEO of Loral Space & Communication and a Democrat, writes most provocatively on how his party can adopt a platform of optimism and realism in the present environment. SWNID invites our gentle readers to consider the following planks:

Surely the United States will resist protectionist policies. And the Democratic platform will advocate tax reform that lightens the burden for the middle class, while encouraging savings and reducing the deficit. We also must pursue policies that shrink the number of families who live below the poverty level and stimulate income growth for low-wage earners.

We must enforce education reform, encourage and support advanced studies, and broaden tuition-financing programs. The Democrats must support scientific programs that face declining budgets. These include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency.

We must strengthen investment in the environment and alternative forms of energy. The successful development, production, and deployment of energy alternatives will increase American manufacturing jobs, decrease dependence on foreign oil imports, rebalance trade deficits, and help the environment.



Allowing that there are still things here to pick at, can anyone imagine proposals like these coming from Howard Dean or Nancy Pelosi? But wouldn't it be nice if the debate were framed around questions like these instead of whether Scooter Libby is a threat to humanity?

Does anyone remember what it was like to live in a country with two real national political parties?

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