The First 100 Hours, Introspective

Now that the election is over (and what an election that was!), the Democrats, led by minority leader and now Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi (no relation) vow that the first 100 hours in office will see true change to the issues that affect most Americans. Let me shout it from the rooftops: it's about time. It's overdue. Regardless of political persuasion, we're desperate for a refocusing and a fixing of problems that make Americans suffer needlessly.

Of course, those who voted last Tuesday were making statements about issues that mattered, like the war in Iraq, the corruption rampant in Washington, and the like. However, other issues that are at a tangent to most of our everyday lives were propped up as issues affecting our "moral fiber." Those prop issues, like gay marriage (because, quite honestly, this is not an issue that affects most households but, instead, is an acknowledged issue for the religious right to fight against and get their masses to the polls), abortion, and the loaded phraseology of the "Death Tax" allows regular Joes like you and me to be sidelined to what is immediate, as evidenced in Pelosi's "100 Hours" plans:

Day One: Put new rules in place to "break the link between lobbyists and legislation."
Day Two: Enact all the recommendations made by the commission
that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Time remaining until 100 hours: Raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, maybe in one step. Cut the interest rate on student loans in half. Allow the government to negotiate directly with the pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices for Medicare patients. Broaden the types of stem cell research allowed with federal funds. "I hope with a veto-proof majority," she added in an Associated Press interview Thursday.
All the days after that: "Pay as you go," meaning no increasing the deficit, whether the issue is middle class tax relief, health care or some other priority.
To do that, she said, Bush-era tax cuts would have to be rolled back for those above "a certain level." She mentioned annual incomes of $250,000 or $300,000 a year and higher, and said tax rates for those individuals might revert to those of the Clinton era. [Daily Kos, 2006]

I would like to look at each of these points, in the context of being the average American. I want to see how this affects my life, and if any of these issues really will promote change. For today's blog entry, I'll focus on Day 1. For tomorrow's, I'll tackle the rest. There's a lot to talk about!

Day 1: Breaking the link between lobbyists and legislation means that lobbyists, with pockets full of dollars and incentives, cannot bribe or otherwise push unsound, unsafe, or unsavory legislation suggestions at our representatives. In this way, our representatives can, and hopefully will, be voting on and suggesting legislation based on American citizens' needs, not corporations like Halliburton or Shell. They have never needed tax breaks, especially when Jim Efstathiou Jr., of Bloomberg online, points out that the "U.S. Energy Bill Showers Tax Breaks on Oil Drillers, Utilities" (2006). The 14.5 billion in tax incentives, as shown in this article, go to

Oil companies such as Exxon Mobil and utility owners such as Southern spent $367 million over the past two years lobbying Congress on energy legislation, according to data from PoliticalMoneyLine and the Center for Responsive Politics. The legislation contains tax breaks of $1.6 billion for oil and gas producers and refiners and $3.1 billion for utilities. [Efstathiou, 2006]

So it seems that tax breaks are beneficial: if you're an oil or utility company or a millionaire. Breaking the lobbyists' holds on these practices will not only save Americans hundreds of millions of dollars in lost taxes from corporations, but they should also encourage (and legislate) the imposition of new rules for car companies and utilities providers, at least: work on and support alternative fuel sources. Of course, gas companies like Shell and Amoco might state that they have incentive to become environmentally sound, but the numbers, and the American tax breaks, tell a different story.

References Cited

Efstathiou, J. (2006, July). U.S. Engergy Bill Showers Tax Breaks on Oil Drillers, Utilities. Accessed November 10, 2006, from http://quote.bloomberg.com/
apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a1eDReAgtETw&refer=news_index

Kos. (2006). The Pelosi Agenda: Draining the Swamp. Accessed November 6, 2006, from http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/10/6/11395/3029