The Hill gives a preview of the congressional Democrat agenda once the election is behind them: hundreds of billions in new spending (with more and more governors calling for a state bailout), an end to secret ballots for union organizing, and tax increases:
A certain starting point for Democrats will be the financial crisis, and a stimulus package could be taken up as early as the November lame-duck session. A landslide win will boost the likelihood that bill will lean heavily toward spending on infrastructure, money for cities and states, an extension of unemployment insurance and additional money for food stamps. Business leaders are anticipating an early push of union-backed bills. At the top of the list is the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, which would eliminate the right of employers to demand secret-ballot elections before a union can be certified. Instead, a majority of workers could sign petition cards certifying a union – a process known as “card-check.” The bill passed the House in March 2007, but failed three months later in the Senate to get the 60 votes required for controversial legislation… Tax policy may also come up early as lawmakers look for offsets to pay for expensive programs. Two early possibilities include a tax on the carried interest that hedge funds and other financial firms make in compensation and an effort to close several tax haven loopholes. They were both part of a broad tax proposal pushed in late 2007 by Rep. Charles Rangel (N.Y.), chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
Is this the agenda that Barack Obama is promising the American people? In 1993, voters were surprised when Bill Clinton forgot his campaign promises of welfare reform and middle class tax cuts to focus on gays in the military, public works spending, and BTU taxes. Now it seems that congressional Democrats are planning a near repeat of what happened back then. Those who don’t learn from history…
