100 Reasons For A New Direction

With 100 Days Until Election Day, 100 Reasons For A New Direction
By: Phil Singer, DSCC

1. Failure to plan for post-war Iraq

2. Failure to reduce violence in Iraq

3. Failure to be honest with the American people about WMD intelligence

4. Failure to hold Administration accountable for failed policies in Iraq

5. Failure to conduct Congressional oversight of White House management of Iraq

6. Failure to listen to General Shinseki about troop levels needed in Iraq

7. Failure to honestly account for the fiscal costs of the Iraq War

8. Failure to provide adequate armor to American troops on the front lines in Iraq

9. Failure to prevent or even investigate contract abuse by firms like Halliburton

10. Failure to confront Abu Ghraib so that U.S. troops aren’t further endangered


11. Failure to capture Osama bin Laden

12. Failure to capture Mullah Omar

13. Failure to prevent Somalia from falling to Pro-al Qaeda Islamic extremists

14. Failure to follow through on the war in Afghanistan

15. Failure to secure many terrorist convictions

16. Failure to effectively respond to Hurricane Katrina

17. Failure to secure U.S. ports

18. Failure to adequately fund first responders

19. Failure to adequately address rail security vulnerabilities

20. Failure to secure chemical plants

21. Failure to enact the 9/11 Commissions recommendations

22. Failure to implement radio interoperability measures

23. Failure to curb billions of dollars of contract abuse in the Dept of Homeland Security

24. Failure to conduct Phase II of pre-war intel probe as promised by Chairman Roberts

25. Failure to conduct a National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq since 2004

26. Failure to secure the Social Security numbers of 26.5 million veterans

27. Failure to implement key reforms included in 2004 intelligence overhaul

28. Failure to prevent a Pentagon budget shortfall

29. Failure to keep the military at readiness level needed to counter new threats

30. Failure to prevent North Korea from quadrupling its nuclear inventory

31. Failure to further prevent war in the Middle East

32. Failure to stabilize Middle East after Iraq, allowing Iran to expand its influence

33. Failure to improve America’s standing abroad

34. Failure to implement a foreign policy that reduces global instability

35. Failure to stand up to Pakistan’s nuclear proliferation efforts

36. Failure to secure “loose nukes”

37. Failure to prevent Russia’s slide away from democracy

38. Failure to heed warnings that VA was underfunded, resulting in a $1 billion shortfall

39. Failure to provide mandatory funding for veterans’ health care

40. Failure to end record-breaking GOP-created budget deficits

41. Failure to resist the largest expansion in federal spending since Johnson

42. Failure to implement fiscally responsible Pay-As-You-Go legislation

43. Failure to reign in budget-busting earmarks

44. Failure to keep the debt ceiling below $9 trillion

45. Failure to responsibly reform the estate tax

46. Failure to provide a permanent AMT tax fix

47. Failure to stop giving tax breaks to companies that send U.S. jobs abroad

48. Failure to restore job growth to Clinton levels

49. Failure to reduce number of Americans in poverty

50. Failure to increase real household income

51. Failure to reduce income inequality

52. Failure to pass pension reform

53. Failure to pass a minimum wage increase that is viable

54. Failure to prohibit the Bush administration from taking overtime pay from workers

55. Failure to prevent U.S. jobs from moving overseas

56. Failure to hold gas prices in check

57. Failure to reduce reliance on foreign oil

58. Failure to make America a leader in renewable energy

59. Failure to revoke massive tax breaks for oil companies bringing in record profits

60. Failure to enact price gouging legislation

61. Failure to admit that global warming exists

62. Failure to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant as promised

63. Failure to force big polluters to help clean-up the messes they make

64. Failure to reduce power plant pollution

65. Failure to enforce the Clean Air Act

66. Failure to expand embryonic stem cell research

67. Failure to reduce the ranks of the uninsured

68. Failure to put seniors ahead of big drug companies in the new prescription drug bill

69. Failure to keep seniors from falling into a Medicare’s “doughnut hole”

70. Failure to be up-front about the real costs of the Medicare Part D legislation

71. Failure to allow Medicare to use its purchasing power to negotiate lower drug prices

72. Failure to allow seniors to reimport safe prescription drugs from Canada

73. Failure to provide a responsible solution to Social Security

74. Failure to give up on Social Security privatization even though majority oppose it

75. Failure to fix the broken immigration system

76. Failure to keep up with the Clinton Administration’s record on border apprehension

77. Failure to keep up with the Clinton Administration’s record on interior enforcement

78. Failure to pass comprehensive ethics reform even after Jack Abramoff’s guilty plea

79. Failure to close the revolving door between Congress and lobbyists

80. Failure to investigate the CIA leak case

81. Failure to fire any administration official involved in the CIA leak case

82. Failure to make it through a Congress without having a member convicted of bribery

83. Failure to extend the expired college tuition tax credit for middle-class families

84. Failure to make college more affordable

85. Failure to fully fund No Child Left Behind

86. Failure to prepare states to meet the “Highly Qualified Teacher” standards in NCLB

87. Failure to fully fund Special Education

88. Failure to expand Head Start to reach more preschoolers

89. Failure to commit to reducing class size

90. Failure to boost maximum Pell Grant amount as promised

91. Failure to renew the ban on assault weapons

92. Failure to fully fund the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program

93. Failure to appoint an immigration enforcement chief with experience

94. Failure to confront the White House when it’s wrong

95. Failure to resist the urge to pander by diagnosing Terry Schiavo from the Senate floor

96. Failure to implement a plan to reduce abortions by preventing unwanted pregnancies

97. Failure to implement Country of Origin Labeling despite inclusion in 2002 Farm Bill

98. Failure to take adequate steps to prevent country from Mad Cow Disease

99. Failure to focus on issues important to the public instead of pandering to conservatives with wedge issues

100. Failure to give voters any reason to return Republicans to power in 2006