The Demos' "New Partnership for America's Future"

Last Fall, Minority Leader San Fran Nan Pelosi and House Democrats unveiled their "New Partnership for America's Future." They did so in a most conspicuous manner -- on the tenth anniversary of the Gingrich Revolution's rollout of the "Contract with America." Alas, the downtrodden Demos' document is nothing but a microwavable form of their 2004 party platform -- the same platform that was convincingly rejected by voters last November, along with Fightin' John Kerry (who, by the way, served in Vietnam).

So, why bring it up now?

Because election season never ends, and the Democrats are already trying to count their chickens come 2006, and even 2008. Democrat pollster Celinda Lake -- author of the latest, greatest piece of pollaganda, purportedly showing a leftward turn of the female electorate -- highlights the point: "You can't target women three days out from the election," Lake said in reference to politicians' desire to secure an early edge for the 2006 elections. "Both sides are asking: 'Where are they now?'"

Indeed, where are the Democrats? With all their focus groups polled and their polls focused, what is it that Democrats have decided they believe? What big idea, what sui generis concept, what revelation has been delivered to them that puts the "new" in the Demos' "New Partnership" with you and me?

The answer is -- drum roll, please -- more government.

That's right, the party that brought us the New Deal, the Great Society, the Bridge to the 21st Century, and the Great Leap Forward has reinvented itself for the '06 elections. Once again, they're insisting that more government is the answer to our every problem -- from job growth and health care, to Internet access (every American's right) and freedom from fear of weapons of mass destruction.

Just in case the rest of us are having second thoughts, the Demos are prepared to provide themselves with a whole new voter base by extending citizenship to "undocumented" workers who can pass a background check. (Here, a critical thinker might ask, How on earth can anyone who entered the country illegally pass a background check?)

The Demos' plan revolves around six key principles, all shamelessly stolen: prosperity, national security, fairness, opportunity, community and accountability. In Nan Pelosi's own words, "This New Partnership is our pledge to build a future worthy of the vision of our Founding Fathers, worthy of the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, and worthy of the aspirations of our children." (When Nan Pelosi invokes the Founding Fathers, it doesn't quite pass the giggle test, does it?)

Back in the real world, this patronization of, er, partnership with America is nothing but a see-through cloak for the expansion of the nanny state to every corner of our lives. As such, it is hardly a future envisioned by our Founders, hardly one that honors our fighting forces, hardly one worthy of our posterity.

Apparently, President George W. Bush's mammoth spending increase for government education -- the largest in that extra-constitutional program's history -- wasn't enough. Demos are clamoring for at least $27 billion more, and another $25 billion per year on college education -- a plan that will bump up the price of college education by (you guessed it) about $25 billion. School vouchers, on the other hand -- a program of particular interest to the inner-city poor whom Left claims to serve -- didn't merit much mention among the NEA-beholden Democrats.

Now, one might ask, what of government health care, the entitlement that dwarfs even our rapidly failing Social Security program? Clearly, the Republicans' irresponsible drug plan for seniors, costing $500 billion annually, wasn't enough. Demos propose a plan for seniors costing billions more. They also want to expand health spending for children, minorities, low-income Americans, and middle-income Americans; in short, they want to "make health care affordable for every American." Petty constitutional qualms aside, it sounds like a nifty idea -- if only nationalized health care didn't consistently raise costs, lower the quality of care, and reduce the level of innovation in medicine. Furthermore, the Demos want to "allow access to lower-cost re-imported prescription drugs." But that's not allowing the free markets to work. Instead, it's breaking the backs of pharmaceutical companies forced by Canada's socialized health care system to sell prescription drugs at a loss -- something they've been willing to do until now simply in order to keep the North American market.

The bottom line? According to the American Enterprise Institute's Kevin Hassett, if the Democrats get their way, federal spending will increase by $2 trillion above its present projected levels over the course of the next ten years -- and you thought the Republicans had a spending fetish.

Finally, to pay for your every need from cradle to grave, the Democrats want to rescind the Bush tax cuts for those making in excess of $200,000 a year -- you know, the filthy rich. That move would bring in all of $80 billion more per year, which is hardly a dent in the additional $200 billion in annual red ink the Demo plan creates.

Where national security is concerned, the Democrats promise to "build an American military second to none," to "protect our borders," to "prevent the technology of weapons of mass destruction from falling into the hands of terrorists," and to "honor veterans." This from the same people who consistently whittle away at defense appropriations, disparage and condemn the U.S. military, demonize anyone opposed to illegal immigration as a right-wing racist zealot, and consistently cozy up to despots and terrorists such as Castro and Arafat. It's hard to disagree with any of this, but where was the Demos' stalwart commitment to our nation's security during the Clinton years, when our armed forces fell into steep decline, and we balked at an opportunity to grease that tall, swarthy, bearded bad guy in the flowing white robe?

There's too much doublespeak and too little substance in this "new" partnership, but perhaps the most telling statement of all comes from Rep. Artur Davis, Alabama Democrat, who was present for the partnership's September unveiling. "This election is still winnable," he said of the Kerry campaign, "if we can seize the agenda." Fortunately, they didn't, but should the Demos somehow take the reins in the next election, you can be sure their phony partnership -- with its constitutional abrogation, big-government solutions and big-government price tag -- will be waiting in the wings.

-- Federalist Patriot