Not including getting a new Prez, what are your top three priorities?

[Bertha Venation]

In the last few days I've had a shift in my number one political priority. I'll tell about it later. For now, I'm curious: What are DUers' top three priorities?

environment?
civil rights?
homelessness?
military?
poverty?
gov't reform?
etc.
etc.
etc.

Looking for lots of replies; I'm really curious. Thanks.

[BlueEyedSon]

1. Arrest and convict all the criminals from the last administration!

[cmayer]

2. At the risk of sounding like Miss America ...

World Peace. That would, of course, entail more than three seperate things.

[Codeblue]

3. Well I'll give my two cents

My number one priority is the environment. Protecting the environment must come first, because without the environment, humans aren't worth much. It's disgusting to me to see the damage we humans have caused to our Mother Earth.

Number two priority has to be government reform. WIthout a substantial change in government policies and how the government is run, there can really be no progress towards a healthier, stronger America. The way things are now just allows for too much special interest politics.

Number three priority...being a college student my number three priority is educational reform. We need more funding for our schools...basically we need universal education. I really would like to not be thousands of dollars in debt to the government when I graduate.

[Ysabel]

4. poverty - civil rights - environment...

poverty - civil rights - environment...

all equal in importance...

universal health care and homeless-ness - in my mind - would be included under the heading of "poverty" - or perhaps - all three ought be under the heading of "health care"...

i'd also like to see govt. reform...

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edit - ooops - typo...

editing again to add: i'd include education - as well - under health care - too many un-educated and / or under-educated - makes an un-healthy world...

[LividLiberal]

5. Thought provoking question

Off the top of my head, in no particular order:

Iraq war - ending it
Civil rights - women, gays, minorities, pro-choice, etc
Social Programs - Federal and State
Education - K through 12 and college

Okay, I had to pick 4 priorities

[rucky]

6. 1) Healthcare

2) Campaign reform
3) Living wage

[Sliverofhope]

7. The environment

My previous pet issue was drug law reform, but recently, a lot of environmental stuff looks scary.

On the one hand, we could have peak oil, which is still a little controversial (www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net)

On the other hand, we have global warming.

On the third hand, we have perhaps a food/overpopulation problem. (See, Lester Brown, Plan B)

There's a book out called the 2030 Spike about how all three of these problems will all get really bad around 2030. And if this is true, we are screwed. On a global level. On a level to make all other issues seem insignificant.

[happyending]

8. good question

Off the top of my head, they are

Campaign finance reform

Canadian style heath care in the US

No more "pre-emptive" wars.

[woo me with science]

9. supreme court justices. nt

[Cyrano]

10. The three things that can nullify the past 3 years

Democratic controlled house
Democratic controlled senate
Impeach Scalia and replace him with a liberal

[Bertha Venation]

12. welcome do DU

:hi:

NOTHING can nullify the last three years. All we can do is work to fix what we can. Of course, that doesn't include "fixing" the dead in Iraq.

[newyawker99]

19. Hi Cyrano!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[sangh0]

11. My three

1) New President
2) New President
3) New President

I'm sorry, but I'm obsessed. Ask me again in December

[Kadie]

13. I would have to say

Healthcare
Education
Social Programs - food to the poor etc.

[Bertha Venation]

14. what -- Faith Based Initiative isn't enough for you?

;)

[stevedeshazer]

15. Good question

1. End the occupation of Iraq and get the UN in there.

2. Roll back the tax cuts for the uber-rich to pay for a national jobs program, better schools, and rebuilding our infrastructure.

3. Energy independence for America through investment in sustainable and renewable energy sources.

Damn, it's hard to narrow it down to just three....

[library_max]

16. 1. Restore bipartisanship and civility in US government.

Democracy depends on a kind of social contract. The majority respects the rights and prerogatives of the minority, and the minority accepts the right of the majority to make the decisions. What we have now is a plurality (at best) masquerading as a majority, with the very overt agenda of punishing their politcal enemies (in this country) as severely as possible. Under such circumstances, why should the minority, or the side out of power, accept or cooperate with any decision by the "ins"? And it won't improve things one bit if we take over and start treating the Republicans the way they treated us. The very basis of democracy in this country is hanging on by its toenails. If we didn't have a 200+ year "habit," it probably would already be gone.

2. Mend foreign policy fences. As somebody said earlier, this is really a lot of "things," but it's closely analogous to item 1. The polity and the economy are global now, and we can't fix anything until we regain the good will of the rest of the world.

3. Fix international trade. We can't make it go away, but if we can reestablish American prestige and goodwill, we can steer it and set up some international guidelines. Globalization is moving jobs of all kinds to the cheapest, sweatshoppiest labor markets. A race to the bottom is bad for everybody, plus the collateral damage to the environment. We need to establish worldwide the kinds of fair labor practices established in this country during and immediately after the New Deal. Trade isolationism won't work anymore (many US companies are based in the Bahamas or Caymans already anyway), and robber-baron globalization is going to get us back to the era of Dickens and Upton Sinclair before we know what hit us.

[fob]

17. 1 - A New Prez,2 - A New Prez and 3 - Following Instructions

nt

[Kanary]

18. Low Income Housing -- (HUD restored) Health Care, Safety Net

The so-called "Safety Net" has been dismantled, and that includes under Clinton, too, and if there isn't a concerted effort to restore those cuts, there will be not only misery, but deaths.

This doesn't seem to be much of a priority for Dems anymore, as evidenced right here at DU. I'm feeling pretty hopeless that Kerry will not only NOT restore the safety net, but will continue to make cuts, and I don't really hear people on DU expressing a determination to push the issues.

I think there will have to be lots of deaths before anything is recognized, if even then, and I might be one of those deaths.

Given that my very existence is in question, I have a hard time caring about the other issues any more.

Kanary

[genius]

20. Bringing back the Warren Court and also, imprisoning the Bush gang

for life.

[Bertha Venation]

21. In the interest of getting a finer point on this survey, I MUST CLARIFY:

We all know the Bush administration is evil and must be voted out. That is going to happen. If we're lucky, some of them will be indicted and prosecuted and convicted.

Imagine for the sake of this survey that the Bush administration gets its full comeuppance. Imagine that that's a given -- that it's going to happen. Imagine, therefore, that it's no longer a priority. It's a done deal.

NOW: What is most important to you?

Thank you.

[sangh0]

23. My bad. I apologize for the joke

My top three are:

1) Energy - we need to develop technologies for conserving energy and using renewable sources. This will not only reduce pollution, and save us money. It will also create jobs, and reduce our need for military bases overseas

2) Taxes - we need a truly progressive tax system

3) Electoral reform - we need to reform our electoral processes to insure that the right to vote isn't turned into an electoral Potemkin village

Then, once our economy and democracy are on the right track, we can concentrate on social programs that raise the living standards of poor people in the US and abroad.

[guitar man]

22. Living wage employment

People need jobs. Jobs that pay enough to keep honest,hard working people above the poverty level so their families can experience some kind of modicum of comfort in exchange for the work performed by the breadwinners.

We need to stand up as a working class and tell Korporate Amerika once and for all: WE DON'T OWE YOU OUR LABOR FOR A PITTANCE! IF THE PRICE OF OUR LABOR IS TOO HIGH FOR YOU,GET OFF YOUR GODDAMNED LAZY ASSES AND DO IT YOURSELF!!!


That is probably my biggest beef.After that,probably the environment and then church/state separation.

[GreenPartyVoter]

24. Only 3?

1. Election reform such as that listed on my website.

2. Repair relations with the world by improving foreign policy.

3. Get cracking on environmental issues.

-----

4. Clean up the white collar crime, get the corps to pay into our system, collect all missing taxes.

5. Scrap the military pork.

6. Take above windfall and create universal healthcare and cradle to grave education.

[No2W2004]

25. first has to be

(1)To remove corporate control of government by real campaign finance reforms. Nothing will change until represenatives, senators, and presidents can not be bought and paid for by using "loopholes' in existing laws.

(2)Tax reform so corporations must pay their far share of taxes, no matter where their "home office" might be located.

(3)Social reform. Everyone who lives in America should have the right to be able to live without going bankrupt or resorting to crime in order to survive.

[seabeyond]

26. children

my focus is the children, the ones not being parented, the ones spinning out of control in our out of control world we have created for them, the giving them drugs to cope, the teaching them adult responsibilities cause parents are living their own lives and can be bothered so kids are left to raise self, yet not giving them the foundations of integrity, work ethic, and so much more so they can cope as successful adults.

i am looking at the 4, 5, 6 and 7 year olds

[wyldwolf]

27. 1. The House, 2. The Senate, 3. The Supreme Court

All other priorities of mine are more likely to be met once the top three are.

[demosincebirth]

28. affordable healthcare for all

second, enhance labor laws...making it easier to organize

[Nailzberg]

29. Getting a job - the education gap - GLBT equality

Okay, so the first one is all about ME first. Got a problem with that, I need to get working dammit.

[davannaj]

30. There are so many.......

There are so many things that I would like to see changed in our country right now, but my top three would have to be: education, welfare, foreign policy.

Lets start with education. I know people who work for the educational systems in Texas, where Bush started his "no child left behind", or as I call only poor and kids whose parents were never given the oppertunity to get their education left behind. Public schools suffer more than any other institution in this country. They are crowded and the teachers are not always prepared to deal with the children that they teach. Take for example a friend of mine she teaches english as a seccond langue in her class, but she doesn't even speak spanish. She has on her own tried to learn spanish to better teach her students but the school did not have the funds to send her to a colledge class so that she could learn. We need more teachers, and in order to encourage more people to teach we need to pay them more.

Next would be foreign policy. Looking past the recent atrocities in Iraq one must look at all of the other times the USA goes around sticking it's nose into Middle Eastern affairs. My brother and I got into a fight about how extended we should be in other countries. Didn't we learn anything in history class? All of the great empires of the past fell as soon as they became over extended. Now looking at the situatiion in Iraq right now. Remember Vietnam, and I realize that not nearly as many soldiers have died in this war, but they are simialar. How are we going to just pull out, when we pulled out of Vietnam it caused the absolute rape of Cambodia.

And the last would be welfare reform. I do tend to socialisim so I will spare you my "you should help everyone as much as possible" speach. While I think that there are some fundamental problems with welfare I think that it is a good system and that with reform it will work even better. I don't mind paying taxes so some single mother can have food stamps.

[Bertha Venation]

31. kick

:kick:

[burythehatchet]

32. House, Senate, Governorships