Every time there’s an discussion over who should be voted for/against in the upcoming election, eventually this argument surfaces- “The Democrats don’t have a plan, so why should I vote for them?”
I’m curious, though… what exactly is the Republican plan? In another thread, I half-joked that the only plan I’ve seen come out of the Republican party is “Do whatever it takes to keep ourselves in power.” Like I said, however- I was only half joking.
Also, is it true that the Democrats have never put forward a plan, or is that just a Republican talking point?
Is it fair that the Republicans, a party in almost total power over all aspects of our current government, demand that the Democrats have a set-in-stone plan when they haven’t even been given full access to all of the intelligence, or logistics, necessary to draw up said plan? Bush asking the Democrats for a plan sounds, to me, like he’s setting them up to fail- any answer they give will invariably be the wrong one. Also, I suspect that if any step of the Dem’s plan involves withdrawing in any manner from Iraq, then they’ll be dismissed as “cut-and-runners”. I’m also afraid that Bush and friends are planning on leaving the whole mess for the Dems to clean up- and, when it’s not immediately resolved, then they’ll attempt to blame everything on the Democratic party. Kind of “I broke it- now what are you going to do about it?”
I would be hard for the Dems to come up with a better plan than, “Get to Baghdad as fast as possible and the, well, we’ll [del]burn[/del] cross that birdge when we get to it.”
The Dem plan is to give the King’s horses another try, since all the King’s men have made such a scramble out of Iraq.
Seriously, there can be only two honest plans for Iraq at this point, because it is in such chaos.
One is to go really, really large (if we could get them there today, 600,000 troops might be adequate, but given the time necessary to organize a draft and train the conscripts, a million will be needed by then) which we’re not going to do.
And the other is to leave in time to save Afghanistan by shifting troops there - and we’d better move fast.
But Iraq is totally fucked, relative to the resources we can possibly commit to it, barring a draft. No ‘plan’ is going to save it, any more than a plan will save someone in the final stages of terminal cancer. Talking about a plan may have made some sense in 2004, but it makes none now.
What really might have helped would have been if the Administration had had a carefully thought-out and vetted plan for the postwar that they were committed to. Defense beat out State for the responsibility to run Iraq after the invasion, and Defense not only had no plan, but viewed the people who’d worked on State’s plan practically as traitors.
Even better still would have been if the Congressional supporters of the war had noticed, when the Bushies testified to Congress about the postwar plan shortly before the invasion, that there was essentially no plan - and had accordingly revoked their authorization to use force in Iraq. But it was all politics and no accountability then - the GOP (and too many Dems for comfort) didn’t want to hear a bad word about the war plan, and so they ignored the emerging fuckup when it was right under their nose and they had a chance to do something about it.
There’s a Republican political ad out there that says “vote for me” essentially because Iraq is a horrible mess and is full of evil terrorists. The Democrats plan is to cut out of Iraq and negotiate… but you can’t negotiate with people who want to kill you. Those silly Democrats just don’t get it, do they? Stoopid Democrats. Vote for me!
I seriously hope people are smarter than to fall for that crap, but sadly, I know better.
It’s the ninth inning. Pitcher G. Bush has let the opponents get a 20 - 1 lead. Star batter Rummy has struck out each at bat - except when he hit into a double play by lining out to the first baseman. The manager finally replaces them with Democratic pitches and batters. It’s a tough spot they say, and then Bush and Rummy, from the bench, yell “defeatists! If the manager had stayed the course and left us in we’d win for sure. If we lose this game it’s all your fault!”
Of course the Republicans have a plan; to terrorize their base.
As for the last year or so, the Democratic plan as it has been is listed below. Curious how the Liberal Media never gets around to bringing it up although it’s been on the Democrats.org web site forever. Maybe they couldn’t find it under ‘Agenda’. Agree or disagree with it, it’s a proactive plan. And not a word in it about Bush.
6-Point Plan for 2006
Honest Leadership & Open Government
We will end the Republican culture of corruption and restore a government as good as the people it serves, starting with real ethics reform.
Real Security
We will protect Americans at home and lead the world by telling the truth to our troops, our citizens and our allies. We believe in a strong national defense that is both tough and smart, recognizing that homeland security begins with hometown security.
Energy Independence
We will create a cleaner, greener and stronger America by reducing our dependence on foreign oil, eliminating billions in subsidies for oil and gas companies and use the savings to provide consumer relief and develop energy alternatives, and investing in energy independent technology.
Economic Prosperity & Educational Excellence
We will create jobs that stay in America and restore opportunity for all Americans, starting with raising the minimum wage, expanding Pell grants and making college
tuition tax deductible. We also believe in budget discipline that reduces our deficit.
Healthcare System that Works for Everyone
We will join 36 other industrialized nations in making sure everyone has access to affordable health care, starting by fixing the prescription drug program and investing in stem cell and other medical research.
Retirement Security
We will ensure that a retirement with dignity is the right and expectation of every single American, starting with pension reform, expanding saving incentives and preventing the privatization of social security.
Heck, I could name a great deal of the Dems’ ideas that they’ll go after if they take either or both houses of Congress.
-Increase the minimum wage
-Implement real corruption reform
-More aid to students seeking higher education
-Implement all recommendations of the 9/11 Commission
-Have Medicare be able to negotiate prescription drug prices with insurance companies
And don’t you know that if a Democrat proposed a specific plan, the Republicans would be criticizing it as inappropriately specific and unpatriotically so (“Only the President can propose a specific plan to deal with the terrorists, and they’re giving the impresion that we Americans are divided into two parties, or something…”)