Democratic Congress Accomplishing Progressive Agenda!

It's not a media narrative that we hear often, if at all. But, it's true.

The Dems are racing through the "Six for '06" platform they ran on in the last election. Last week, President Bush helped them knock off one more agenda item by signing a law implementing many of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, a core Democratic election promise. And last Tuesday, the House fulfilled another Democratic pledge by overwhelmingly approving a tough new lobbying and campaign finance law that will limit lobbyist gifts and force "bundlers" -- individual fundraisers who compile large checks from friends and associates then slip them to campaigns to avoid individual spending limits -- to reveal their heretofore unknown identities.

With the lobbying reform passing with a veto-proof majority and the increase in the minimum wage already implemented, the Dems have accomplished over half of their platform in just 8 months. That's way more than the previous "Do-Nothing" republican Congress.

So why isn't anyone in the media focusing on this great news? Democrats need to get this positive message out to the public. Rather, the political storyline heading into Congress' August recess was how the Democrats caved to Bush on expanding his warrantless surveillance progress. There has been much discussion on this major strategic blunder by the democrats and we need to ensure that Dems do not make these types of mistakes in the future. Over on Openleft.com, David Sirota offers a great strategy for the Democrats should pursue to build a stronger left-right coalition against this ridiculous encroachment on American civil liberties. We also need to put pressure on the media to actually cover the achievements of the Democratic Congress.

These successful Democratic offensives are a big relief for progressives, who have spent most of the summer aiming their fire squarely at the Democratic leadership for surrendering to Bush and the Republicans on the Iraq war, trade deals, and other issues. With House Democrats now (mostly) fighting for progressive priorities rather than working with Bush and Republicans to undermine them, progressive activists could now resume their preferred anti-Republican posture instead of aiming their fire at their own.

word.

~BT