Democrats promote action plan that will harm America.

Members of the Democratic Party stopped smoking marijuana and having drunken sex with prostitutes to unleash a flurry of new domestic policy proposals.

The initiatives include such banal issues such as:

• increasing the minimum wage (which affects less than 1% of the population, and very few of those who earn the minimum wage are breadwinners. It is time to eliminate the minimum wage),
  
• cutting costs of prescription drugs,* (according to the Democrats, the healthcare system is not socialistic enough, so they must another way to reduce the incentive to produce new drugs);
  
• reducing interest rates on student loans (even though college graduates receive far more in compensation than non-college graduates, the non-college graduates must subsidize the education of the affluent!),
  
• rolling back subsidies for oil companies, and pay-as-you-go budgeting, according to party officials. (BORING!)

None of these measures are likely to attract majoritarian support. This seems to be a rehash of past failed policy proposals. This is just not an electoral position that is fresh and exciting. It sounds stale. For one thing, most people do not make the minimum wage; most people are not students; Joe Sixpack does not care about arcane issues such as "pay as you go" and other wonkish descriptions of federal budgetary issues. Ironically, the idea that the Democrats want to further subsidize prescription drugs, which Congress already did for the old geysors, is hillarious. How many times are the Democrats going to run with this issue?

Now, compare this with the exciting Republican Contract with America outlined in 1994:

1. THE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT: A balanced budget/tax limitation amendment and a legislative line-item veto to restore fiscal responsibility to an out- of-control Congress, requiring them to live under the same budget constraints as families and businesses. (Bill Text) (Description)

2. THE TAKING BACK OUR STREETS ACT: An anti-crime package including stronger truth-in- sentencing, "good faith" exclusionary rule exemptions, effective death penalty provisions, and cuts in social spending from this summer's "crime" bill to fund prison construction and additional law enforcement to keep people secure in their neighborhoods and kids safe in their schools. (Bill Text) (Description)

3. THE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT: Discourage illegitimacy and teen pregnancy by prohibiting welfare to minor mothers and denying increased AFDC for additional children while on welfare, cut spending for welfare programs, and enact a tough two-years-and-out provision with work requirements to promote individual responsibility. (Bill Text) (Description)

4. THE FAMILY REINFORCEMENT ACT: Child support enforcement, tax incentives for adoption, strengthening rights of parents in their children's education, stronger child pornography laws, and an elderly dependent care tax credit to reinforce the central role of families in American society. (Bill Text) (Description)

5. THE AMERICAN DREAM RESTORATION ACT: A S500 per child tax credit, begin repeal of the marriage tax penalty, and creation of American Dream Savings Accounts to provide middle class tax relief. (Bill Text) (Description)

6. THE NATIONAL SECURITY RESTORATION ACT: No U.S. troops under U.N. command and restoration of the essential parts of our national security funding to strengthen our national defense and maintain our credibility around the world. (Bill Text) (Description)

7. THE SENIOR CITIZENS FAIRNESS ACT: Raise the Social Security earnings limit which currently forces seniors out of the work force, repeal the 1993 tax hikes on Social Security benefits and provide tax incentives for private long-term care insurance to let Older Americans keep more of what they have earned over the years. (Bill Text) (Description)

8. THE JOB CREATION AND WAGE ENHANCEMENT ACT: Small business incentives, capital gains cut and indexation, neutral cost recovery, risk assessment/cost-benefit analysis, strengthening the Regulatory Flexibility Act and unfunded mandate reform to create jobs and raise worker wages. (Bill Text) (Description)

9. THE COMMON SENSE LEGAL REFORM ACT: "Loser pays" laws, reasonable limits on punitive damages and reform of product liability laws to stem the endless tide of litigation. (Bill Text) (Description)

10. THE CITIZEN LEGISLATURE ACT: A first-ever vote on term limits to replace career politicians with citizen legislators. (Description)