My Democratic Response

Journal sulli's Journal: My Democratic Response 7

Journal by sulli on Thursday February 03, 2005 @03:30PM

Am I the only one who thought the Democratic Response was completely lame? Of course, it might as well be, because of its format, but still it would have made sense to at least hit the guy hard instead of countering laundry list with laundry list. So, here's what Reid and Pelosi should have said.

Pelosi: My fellow Americans, good evening. We're here to give you our perspective on the state of the union, and on the president's priorities and record. And we'll be honest, it's not pretty. Let's cut right to the chase: while the president talks about expanding freedom around the world - a goal we share - the president is the greatest enemy of freedom at home to occupy the White House since John Adams signed the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798.

On this president's watch, American citizens have been detained without charges and denied access to legal counsel, for years. Prisoners of war, and civilians brought in for questioning in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo, have been tortured - yes, tortured by American soldiers in American military bases. And some have been sent to Syria and other places for even rougher treatment.

Friends of the United States now warn their citizens not to visit, because they might end up in Guantanamo. And here at home, Americans' bookstore and library records, not to mention their financial and related information, are subject to search whenever the president and his Justice Department feel like it.

Is this the America that we believe in? Are these the ideals our soldiers are dying for, right now, on the battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo?

This week, Iraqis gave democracy a resounding "yes" vote, bravely standing up to thugs and terrorists who would deny them the right to vote. Iraqi voter turnout was greater than ours has been in generations. And American soldiers, along with Iraqi and coalition troops, did a great job in protecting voters as they went to the polls. The US military and the Iraqi people deserve our congratulations and thanks for a job well done this week.

But at home, this president has done nothing but destroy our liberty. He again demanded a constitutional amendment today to establish a permanent class of second-class citizens - something not even George Wallace would have called for in the darkest days of Jim Crow. And you can be sure that if he can, he'll appoint a Supreme Court justice who will not only reverse Roe v. Wade but also vote to authorize torture and secret detentions in the name of national security.

So today, we Democrats are drawing a line in the sand. We will no longer lie down and take these assaults on our own freedom! We will fight every attempt to extend the Patriot Act; we will do all that is in our power to keep defenders of torture like Alberto Gonzales out of key roles in the administration; and we will fight vigorously any attempt at voter fraud by the Republican party machine.

And we call on the president to practice what he preaches. We share the president's belief in freedom's power to change the world. Unlike this president, we will never allow it to be taken away from us. We will stand and fight with every fiber of our being for the freedoms we hold dear.

Reid: On domestic issues, we have a simple message. The president's numbers simply don't add up. His Social Security reforms will cost trillions and cut benefits - at a time when we are already deep in debt.

The previous president, along with Democrats and Republicans in Congress, balanced the budget and kept it balanced. Yet President Bush claims he can only cut the deficit in half in five years!

Our recommendation is simple: that we balance the budget immediately. Every city and county, every state and regional authority in the United States has to run a balanced budget, and we should too. This means reversing the tax cuts, not extending them; and it means living within our means on spending. So that's what we will demand every step of the way.

As for Social Security, the current system works extremely well. It's got the lowest cost of any national retirement system in the world, unlike private systems in places like Chile and Britain, and it's done a great job preventing poverty among America's elders.

We do think there may be a need to modify the retirement age, and possibly raise the maximum income subject to the payroll tax, but the president is completely wrong when he claims there's a crisis, and he's entirely out to lunch when he claims we should spend more to privatize it.

So again, we're drawing a line in the sand. No costly privatization, and no benefit cuts! We're not going to negotiate details of a plan that makes no sense - this plan must be defeated, and we will defeat it.

On other issues, we'll work with our colleagues aross the aisle when it makes sense. But don't believe the other side when they complain about obstructionist Democrats. Part of the job of your elected representatives is to say no when bad ideas come along. This president won't do that, even when he knows he's being given dumb ideas. We will.

And we ask you to join us in saying no to bad ideas like running deficits and privatizing Social Security, and as Nancy said, in saying no, never, under no circumstances will we allow our precious freedoms to be taken away by the likes of Alberto Gonzales and John Ashcroft.

Instead, we say yes, and we urge you to join us in saying yes to a balanced budget. Yes to retirement security that's not a gamble. And most of all, over and above everything else, yes to an America that remains free and strong. We say yes to an America that the world looks to for inspiration, instead of an America that the world fears and avoids.

This is the America that we will fight for. This is the America that will and must survive anything President Bush and his cronies throw at it. We urge you to join us.

If the Iraqis can do it, so can we.

Thank you and good night.

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