Under Democratic leadership, the Senate has passed the following measures:

[spanone]

this was only up to june!

* A fiscally responsible budget: a budget that restores fiscal discipline and will lead to a surplus, while cutting middle-class taxes and funding foreign anddomestic priorities, including education, children’s health care, veterans, and our troops;

* 9/11 Commission recommendations: a bill to make America more secure by giving our first responders the tools they need to keep us safe; making it more difficult for potential terrorists to travel into our country; advancing efforts to secure our rail, air, and mass transit systems; and improving intelligence and information sharing between state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies;

* Homeland security funding: legislation that provides $1.05 billion in funding necessary to address dangerous border and transit vulnerabilities left open by the Bush Administration since 9/11;

* Support for our troops: legislation funding the President’s requests for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, including $1.2 billion in additional funding for a total of $3 billion to provide our troops in Iraq with mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles;

* Health care for wounded soldiers and veterans: legislation that provides $3 billion in supplemental funds for military health care and $1.8 billion in supplemental funds to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to accommodate the increasing number of new veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan;

* Benchmarks for Iraq: legislation that conditions U.S. economic support for the Iraqi government on its progress toward achieving key political benchmarks;

* National Guard readiness: legislation to provide an additional $1 billion to President Bush’s request for National Guard equipment needs to remedy equipment shortfalls that are compromising the quality of force training and limiting the Guard’s ability to quickly respond to natural and potential man-made disasters at home;

* Continuing Resolution: legislation providing funding for the nine remaining appropriations bills that were not completed by Republicans in the 109th Congress. In passing this legislation, Democrats stayed within budget limits, eliminated earmarks, and increased funding for national priorities, including veterans’ medical care, Pell grants, elementary and secondary education, the National Institutes of Health, state and local law enforcement, and global AIDS prevention and treatment;
* Energy Bill: landmark legislation to increase our energy independence, strengthen the economy, reduce global warming emissions, and protect American consumers.

* American competitiveness: bipartisan legislation to increase the nation’s investment in basic and innovative research; strengthen educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics from elementary through graduate school; and develop the infrastructure needed to enhance innovation and competitiveness in the United States;

* Ethics and lobbying reform: a bill to slow the “revolving door” for former Senators and staff, strengthen limits on gifts and travel, expand lobbying disclosure requirements, establish a study commission on ethics and lobbying, prohibit pensions for Members of Congress convicted of certain crimes, and implement reform procedures relating to earmarks and conference reports;

* Minimum wage: legislation to increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25/hour;

* Middle-class tax cuts: the 2008 Budget Resolution provides for permanent extensions of the Marriage Penalty tax relief, the $1,000 refundable Child Tax Credit; the 10 percent income tax bracket; the adoption tax credit; the dependent care tax credit; U.S. soldiers’ combat pay for the earned income tax credit; and reform of the estate tax to protect small businesses and family farms;

* AMT patch: the 2008 Budget Resolution ensures that the number of taxpayers subject to the alternative minimum tax will not increase in 2007, giving Congress and the Administration time to come up with a permanent solution;

* Head Start: a bill to expand eligibility for the Head Start program;
* Stem cell research: legislation to expand the number of human embryonic stem cells eligible for federally-funded research;

* Children’s health coverage: the 2008 Budget Resolution and the 2007 Emergency Supplemental provide needed funds for the Children’s Health Insurance Program;

* FDA reauthorization: a bill to greatly improve the Food and Drug Administration’s oversight of drug safety;

* Rebuilding the Gulf Coast: legislation providing a total of $6.4 billion for victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, including $1.3 billion to complete levee and drainage repairs, $50 million to reduce violent crime in Gulf Coast states, and $110 million to repair the seafood and fisheries industries, which is vital to the region’s economic recovery;

* Army Corps reform: legislation to ensure that the Army Corps of Engineers does its job more effectively and soundly;

* Disaster assistance for small businesses: legislation providing recovery assistance for small businesses impacted by the 2005 hurricanes in an effort to revitalize the Gulf Coast economy;

* U.S. Attorney appointments: legislation ending the indefinite appointment of interim U.S. Attorneys and restoring the role of the Senate in the selection of U.S. Attorneys;

* Tax relief for small businesses: legislation providing a range of deficit-neutral tax incentives designed to help small businesses grow;

* Education and training: the 2008 Budget Resolution provides for the largest increase since 2002 in funding for elementary and secondary programs; and

* Energy and environment programs: legislation increasing funding for basic science research at the Department of Energy and for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.
http://www.apostille.us/news/democratic_accomplishments_in_the_110th_congress_leading_america_in_a_new_direction.shtml

[Fredda Weinberg]

1. K&R

[robinlynne]

2. You've got to be kidding. NONE of those are working well.

renewable energy: a disaster
the environment: a disaster
FDA: a major disaster
Iraq: couldn't be much worse
ethics: seriously?
national guard readiness: We don't have a national guard. They are all in Iraq. And the antional guard has been fedralized witha new bill. The pres can overturn any governor and take the national guard away from the states to do whatever he chooses.

What country are you living in?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. Nancy, try posting under your name. unforunately,

not are they working well, the price paid for a few of those "victories" was way too high. Like, the survival of nation.

[msongs]

4. gee I don't see the troop withdrawal timeline resolution or funding cutoff nt

[Der Blaue Engel]

5. But Democrats are imperfect

Therefore a Republican majority, which fucks EVERYTHING up, in addition to being completely immoral, would surely be preferable.

How dare you try to say something nice about the Democrats?

:sarcasm: <---it's sad that this is necessary

[Pab Sungenis]

9. No, not Republicans

but different Democrats.

[mmonk]

6. Some of those are bad things based on bad policy and falsehoods.

Want me to go through them with you?

[JDPriestly]

7. Your forgot

the FISA bill
approval of the appointment of Mukasey
the Iraq bill
the Move-On Censure

and then there are the really basic things they haven't done
hold impeachment hearings for Cheney and Bush
restore habeas corpus
end the incarceration of prisoners of war without due process at Guantanamo
end the torture
end rendition (maybe they did this and I just missed it)
universal health care
pass inherent contempt measures against members of the executive who failed to appear when subpoenaed by Congress

There are many, many more.
And these sins of omission happen to be far more important to me than their little token "gifts" to the American people. I am not happy with Congress, not happy at all. They congratulate themselves for doing the obvious, and fail to do the important. They are taking the easy way out. They are incredibly lazy.

They waste their time and our tax payer money passing resolutions about this week and that week. Forget that nonsense. I want a government that protects my rights under the Constitution.

What good is raising the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour with one vote, if with the other you vote to outsource jobs that would pay more than that in this country.

Edwards made a very good point on TV. We need economic policy that gives incentives to middle class people. Right now, the hardworking members of the middle class are effectively suffering pay cuts due to the falling dollar and rising inflation. We are caught in a squeeze. Many of us have lost jobs and then found that the new jobs we got paid half what our old jobs paid -- for the same work and the same hours. What is Congress doing about that? Congress does not seem to know what is really going on in our world.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

8. Absolutely. K&R.

[Warren Stupidity]

10. As predicted, the pathetic energy bill is added to the list of bullshit.

Can you actually post that crap with a straight face?

[AllyCat]

11. AMT??? As of November 19th, the IRS deadline, Reid had stalled a vote

on anything that would change AMT. As it stands right now, any family of four making about $66K a year or more will be subject to a tax hike from 0.7% (currently) or so to a staggering 36%.

I don't know about you, but our family of 3 makes more than that combined, is barely scraping by with NO new cars, no cable, a modest house payment, and no extravagant trips or other expenses. And we are considered "wealthy" according to Congress and in no need of having the AMT fixed this year. Why? Because Reid didn't want to dicker with the Repukes who passed it the last 8 years, but with no way to pay for it. So, the wealthy will continue to get their tax breaks while the middle class pays for it. Thanks Democratic controlled Senate!!! That's really great.

I'm not sure I'm seeing any result of the other stuff on this list either. I think that a good part of what they "passed" amongst themselves was later bargained out of the mix. I don't think the troops are getting that money that they keep approving. I think it goes to the likes of Halliburton and Blackwater.

[hfojvt]

17. those numbers sound like hype to me

No family will be paying AMT unless they have a ton of deductions, as far as I can tell by looking at forms from 2002.

[AllyCat]

18. That's the trouble. The Senate did NOT vote on a patch for AMT

like we've had in past years. So looking at last year's forms or any past year's forms won't give you an idea of how much more tax people will pay and at what income level. Our local paper (conservative, but getting more liberal) reported those figures. I used an on-line "AMT calculator" to determine that our family alone will pay $2915 more in tax this year because we will now qualify for AMT.

Reid sat on it as the IRS deadline loomed on Nov 19th (so they could print forms), because he knew the Repukes wouldn't vote for it since the patch involved paying for the cut with repealing tax breaks for traders. Rather than "look bad" not getting it passed, he just didn't let it come up for a vote. So the traders will get their huge tax breaks and the average American family will take it in the teeth.

There is talk of a patch coming through later, but anyone who files before March 30, 2008 will have to pay it and then wait for a refund of the money they paid.

http://money.cnn.com.vacation-resources.info/2007/12/05/pf/taxes/amt_refund_delay/index.htm?postversion=2007120510

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- If you're expecting a tax refund next year - or worse, if you're counting on it - you may have to wait. That's because lawmakers still haven't passed a temporary AMT patch for tax year 2007, something they've been promising to do. If Congress does follow through, the IRS will need to reprogram its systems - a process that will take 7 weeks from the day the patch becomes law.

"If the IRS must postpone accepting returns in the early part of the filing season in 2008, it would delay the processing of returns and the issuance of the associated refunds," the IRS Oversight Board noted in a Nov. 26 report.The tax filing season is currently scheduled to begin Jan. 14, 2008. Even if Congress were to pass a patch in the next week, the start date for tax season would push to Jan. 28.

A patch would prevent the AMT - a tax originally intended for the very wealthy - from hitting roughly 21 million new taxpayers this tax year. The average tax bill increase would be $2,000 unless a patch is passed, according to Treasury Department estimates. Electronic filers who want their refund direct-deposited into their bank account typically receive their money between 10 days and 2 weeks after filing. It takes 3 weeks if they want a check mailed to them.

Paper filers typically get their refunds within 35 days if they choose direct deposit, or about a week longer if they opt for a check.Whether those intervals would grow and by how much, the IRS can't say yet. But the later the IRS starts processing returns, the more likely it is that there will be a backlog of returns to get through.

If a patch isn't signed into law until, say, Christmas Eve, the filing season could be pushed to Feb. 4. That would delay the processing of 15.5 million returns from which the agency is likely to issue 13.3 million refunds totaling more than $39 billion, according to the IRS Oversight Board. If lawmakers wait until early 2008 to pass a patch, the numbers grow substantially from there.If they wait until the week of Jan. 7, the filing season won't get started until the week of Feb. 18. That would affect 38 million returns from which 32 million refunds worth $87 billion would be issued.


The delay on the Hill is about - what else? - money. There is still strong disagreement over whether to pay for the estimated cost of the patch - roughly $50 billion - by raising tax revenue elsewhere through so-called offsets.As things stand now, the House has passed an AMT patch bill with offsets, but the Senate has yet to pass its own bill. While there's still a chance a patch will pass this year, the debate may be pushed into early 2008.


Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Monday that the Senate would address the AMT patch issue "as soon as we can," according to "Tax Notes," a publication of Tax Analysts. Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), meanwhile, indicated there may not be enough time this year for an AMT bill given the disagreement about the offsets. Failure to reach a compromise by now also has introduced a lot of uncertainty into the planning of taxpayers who still aren't sure whether they'll be on the hook to pay the AMT or not.

[flashl]

12. Let's not forget the bi-partisan anti-gang bill

War of Words or Words of War?

"In essence, the bill will make it easier to classify youth as members of gangs, and intensify the penalties for those who are charged with crimes."

[rodeodance]

13. k and r

[creeksneakers2]

14. They don't get the credit they deserve

The latest military funding bill, H.R. 1585 contains a provision that nixes permanent bases in Iraq and also US control of Iraqi oil resources. Those things were a big deal here until the Democrats did something about them. Posting the great news brought three responses, two of which said there had to be a catch somewhere. The media completely ignored the story.

http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/110_HR_1585.html

(Sec. 1222) Amends the Warner Act to make permanent the prohibition on the establishment of permanent military installations in Iraq or U.S. control over oil resources of Iraq.

Bush is expected to sign the bill tomorrow.

[rockybelt]

15. All Bull Shit nt

[OneBlueSky]

16. and while doing all this "great" work, they have totally ignored . . .

1) ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (which, btw, are bankrupting this nation at a more than alarming rate) . . .

2) addressed global warming and environmental destruction, undoubtedly the most critical issues ever facing the nation and the planet . . .

3) failed to deal with the collapsing economy and the impending recession/depression . . .

4) failed to find ways to rebuild the nation's manufacturing base and keep good jobs in this country, rather than in India et.al. . .

5) and, possibly most importantly, has failed to hold the Bush administration accountable for the myriad of crimes against both U.S. and international law in which they have engaged -- many of them impeachable offenses on their face . . .

the most the Democrats can claim is that they're working hard to re-arrrange the deck chairs on the Titanic . . .