Kennedy Speaks
washingtonpost.com: Text: Sen. Kennedy on the Future of the Democratic Party
So much for Peter Beinart havig an impact on this guy!
Our progressive vision is not just for Democrats or Republicans, for red states or blue states. It's a way forward for the nation as a whole to a new prosperity and greater opportunity for all; a vision not just of the country we can become, but the country that we must become: an America that embraces the values and aspiration of our people now and for coming generations.It is a commitment to true opportunity for all, not as an abstract concept but as a practical necessity.
To find our way to the future, we need the skills, the insight and the productivity of every American, in a nation which each of us shares responsibility for the future and where the blessings of progress are shared fairly by all our citizens in return.
Obviously, we must deal with Iraq and the clear and present danger of terrorism. I intend to address that issue in greater detail after the elections there.
Um, isn't it fair to assess a progressive vision given what we know today about the demands of fighting terrorism? Say what you will of Iraq, but when Tony Blair's got you beat on this count, you're losing points.
Be that as it may, let's enumerate Kennedy's "progressive vision:"
We need an economy that values work fairly, that puts the needs of families ahead of excess profits, an economy whose goal is growth with full employment and good jobs and good benefits for all.To create good jobs for both today and tomorrow's economy, the private and public sector must work together toward specific goals.
We should reduce our dependence on foreign oil, not by drilling in the priceless Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, but by investing in clean energy.
We should invest in new schools and modernize old ones to make schools the pride of their communities again.
We should invest in research and development to pave the way for innovation and growth.
We should invest in broadband technology so that every home, every school, every business in America has easy and comprehensive access to the Internet.
We should invest in mass transit to reduce the pollution in our air and the congestion on our roads.
We should stop the non-scientific, pseudo-scientific, anti- scientific nonsense emanating from the right wing and start demanding immediate action to reduce global warming and prevent the catastrophic climate change that may be on our horizon now.
...
We must not let the administration distort science and rewrite and manipulate scientific reports in other areas. We must not let it turn the Environmental Protection Agency into the Environmental Pollution Agency.
Quite the detail man, that Kennedy!
It kinda drones on from there ... but you get the idea by now, right?
UPDATE: In what has to qualify as a total shock to all, Ed Kilgore is not a fan of Kennedy's call to expand Medicare to everyone.
(sorry, couldn't resist)
Comments
Kennedy speaks and America shrieks. It's sad when either he doesn't get it or no one told him, he IS the problem. He is the Republican's #1 poster child.
Posted by: EG | January 13, 2005 05:44 AM