This diary is about things the Democrats could demand from the Republicans in exchange for not continuing the government shutdown and raising the debt ceiling.
The Point Of These Demands Is To Illustrate How Absurd It Is For The Republicans To Make Demands From Their Side
Therefore, some of these demands will be actual Democratic goals, while others will just be silly. Attaching one of either sort to a CR or a debt ceiling increase would, of course, be absurd. Just as absurd as messing with the Affordable Care Act, in fact.
Below the Orange Squiggle of Power, find a number of Democratic Demands, presented to provoke thought and perhaps amuse.
- The Congress apologizes to ACORN for believing the lying videotape edited by James O'Keefe and restores funding
- Raise the inheritance tax back to the rates under Reagan
- Keys to John Boehner's liquor cabinet, to be returned on good behavior
- Appoint a special prosecutor to investigate if there were any civilians in the US Government involved in war crimes during the Iraq war, such as occurred at Abu Ghraib
- An end of all oil industry subsidies
- Rename Reagan International Airport, Carter International Airport
- Louie Gohmert and Steve King, and perhaps others, to wear dunce caps whenever on Capitol Grounds
- Eliminate the special tax rates for capital gains
- Legislation requiring that all political speech by corporate persons be verifiable truth, not a matter of opinion. This includes speech made by other entities given money by corporations to engage in political speech on their behalf
- Constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion rights to be presented to the states for ratification
- Legislation requiring that justices of the Supreme Court be subject to the same ethical rules as justices of inferior courts
- Restore the Fairness Doctrine
- Require Sean Hannity to begin each show with the words "Hello. I'm Sean Hannity, and I'm a Republican Tool"
- Increase the number of members of the House to the Constitutional limit of 1 per 30,000 residents, with elections to fill the additional seats to be held one month in the future
- Turn Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld over to the ICCC in the Hague for torture and other war crimes
That's enough for now. Feel free to amuse yourselves in the comments by adding more.
Why don't the Democrats make these sorts of demands?
This is a question for the "both sides do it" pundits. Why have the Democrats NOT made any of these demands, or similar ones, in exchange for keeping the government functioning?
The answer is obvious, pundit. One party, the Democrats, believes in democracy, the rule of law, and the utility of the US government. And one party, the Republicans, believes that they are not only right, but entitled to do whatever is necessary to have more power.