The problem
Many of the challenges we face as a country today require strong leadership from our government in Washington. Unfortunately, many Americans don’t trust the government to tie its own shoelaces.
And no wonder – over the past six years, we’ve seen the Republican Party transform government into a piggybank for its special interest friends and donors. Cronyism at the highest levels, huge giveaways to big corporations, out-and-out fraud, and simple incompetence – that’s not what the government is supposed to be there for.
Al's solution
If we are going to entrust government with our hard-earned tax dollars and the responsibility of providing security and opportunity for our families, we must demand accountability. Democrats are off to a good start, eliminating the practice of slipping earmarks into legislation in the dead of night and restoring Congress’s oversight role, which had been totally abdicated for six years. But those of us who believe that government can be a force for good must take a zero-tolerance approach to waste, fraud, and the corruption that has been a hallmark of the Bush administration and its allies in the Republican caucus.
Al says:
Republicans like to run by saying that government doesn’t work. Then they get elected, and they prove it. It’s gotten to the point where the Democratic Party is both the liberal party AND the conservative party in this country. There’s nothing conservative about record deficits. There’s nothing conservative about billions of dollars in earmarks. There’s nothing conservative about using taxpayer funds to reward your campaign donors. There’s nothing conservative about refusing to pay attention to waste, fraud, and contract abuse in Iraq. And there’s certainly nothing conservative about running out of money so that we can’t invest in things like early childhood education and health care to build a stronger workforce and a stronger America.
