They presumably believed it was worth spending wildly on two of their favorite initiatives: the war in Iraq and tax cuts for the rich.

Yes, our national debt is a major problem if uncorrected over the coming years.

But the recession we’re trying to climb out of is also very dangerous. It will be disastrous for millions of suffering people, as well as for the country’s future prosperity, if the economy stays in the doldrums.

How can we significantly reduce the budget deficit unless many more people can find adequate work?

Once people are getting paid, and not living in constant fear of losing their jobs or their houses, they’ll be spending more money, and when individuals and companies are earning more, government revenues will increase, thereby reducing the deficit.

The escalating cost of health care to our overall economy will still be a challenge, but thanks to healthcare reform brought about by President Obama and the Democratic Congress, access to decent health care should gradually improve for most Americans, and the staggering burden of insurance premiums on employers should gradually be reduced.

That is, the healthcare cost problem is manageable given the political will to solve it in a way that is good for Americans’ physical and fiscal health.

It’s amazing that some of the fiercest critics of the deficit seem uninterested in avoiding waste in healthcare spending. They haven’t minded healthcare costs as long as private-sector insurers, pharmaceuticals, and other companies are making big profits, often at the expense of our well-being. (Witness the Republican-engineered Medicare Part D, with its prohibition against Medicare’s bargaining for prescription drugs, and the infamous doughnut hole. Fortunately the healthcare reform legislation of 2010 will improve Medicare.)

State budgets across the country are undergoing severe cuts as a result of tax revenues lost because workers and employers aren’t making enough money. (By law, most states are forced to balance their budgets.)

When enough revenue isn’t coming in, states must make painful cuts. Cuts that affect each of us in some way, whether it’s larger class sizes for our kids; slower response by EMTs, fire, and police; deteriorating public buildings and parks; unrepaired roads; weakened public health initiatives; excessive college fees; lack of investment in projects that would improve quality of life; more people suffering from insufficient food, shelter, and other basic necessities.

The budget reductions in many states (and note that the fiscal woes of big states, like California, have economic impacts on the rest of us) will add to the number of Americans who are unemployed. That will further depress economic activity.

The constant drumbeat — led by Republicans in Congress, followed by some Democrats in Republican-leaning states — at this moment about the country’s deficit (admittedly a serious problem) is weakening the political will to extend unemployment benefits and to continue stimulating job growth.

Somehow the foolish idea of “cutting off your nose to spite your face” has taken hold with some citizens frustrated by current economic conditions.

Especially in times like this, we need government policies that protect people from disaster and that invest in America’s future prosperity.

We won’t climb out of the hole if we adopt the Republican philosophy of tax cuts for the rich (it’s the rich who mostly benefit from tax cutting), trickle-down on everyone else.

As President Obama said recently, “After they drove the car into the ditch, made it as difficult as possible for us to pull it back, now they want the keys back. No! You can’t drive. We don’t want to have to go back into the ditch. We just got the car out.”

All Americans have reasons to be grateful for Democratic initiatives that to date have prevented this economic collapse from becoming another Great Depression.

If you don’t know what misery the Great Depression brought about, ask your grandparents or watch a movie about the 1930s.

In those years, they didn’t have unemployment insurance, food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, FDIC insurance to protect people from bank failures.

Thanks to FDR and other Democratic presidents, Democratic congresses, Democratic governors, and Democratic state legislatures, these and other programs for the common good have prevented much of the desperate hunger and widespread homelessness of the 1930s from recurring today.

Don’t hand the keys over in November.

You and your parents must also now be experts in the staggering cost of tuition, books, and living expenses.

It used to be that going to a state school was inexpensive, and if you lived at home and/or had a part-time job you could emerge from college without much debt. That must seem amazing to current students.

Something isn’t right when students who can perform at a college level, have an interest in learning more, and need a college degree to obtain a decent job face so many obstacles.

It’s not good for our whole society, since an educated work force is key to our future prosperity.

I’ve heard some older people complaining that today’s young people have it too easy. They question how teenagers can afford expensive coffee lattes, cell phones, MP3 players, laptop computers, and their own cars.

But every youthful generation has its own pleasures and legitimate needs. Many of us older folks spent plenty of our teenage allowances or summer wages at the record store for Elvis or Beatles songs or at the soda fountain counter for raspberry cokes that gave us a mouthful of cavities.

But we didn’t have to mortgage our future in order to attend college. It was expensive, but nothing like what it is today.

A couple of weeks ago, as part of the new health care and education reform legislation, President Obama signed into law major improvements in financial aid for college students.

Here’s how the President described it:

“You see, for almost two decades, we’ve been trying to fix a sweetheart deal in federal law that essentially gave billions of dollars to banks to act as unnecessary middlemen in administering student loans. So those are billions of dollars that could have been spent helping more of our students attend and complete college; that could have been spent advancing the dreams of our children; that could have been spent easing the burden of tuition on middle-class families. Instead, that money was spent padding student lenders’ profits.

“… I didn’t stand with the banks and the financial industries in this fight. That’s not why I came to Washington. And neither did any of the members of Congress who are here today. We stood with you. We stood with America’s students…

“In the 21st century, when the success of every American hinges more than ever on the quality of their education, and when America’s success as a nation rests more than ever on an educated workforce that is second to none, we can’t afford to waste billions of dollars on giveaways to banks.

“We need to invest that money in our students. We need to invest in our community colleges. We need to invest in the future of this country. We need to meet the goal I set last year and graduate more of our students than any other nation by the year 2020…

“By cutting out the middleman, we’ll save American taxpayers $68 billion in the coming years — $68 billion. That’s real money – real savings that we’ll reinvest to help improve the quality of higher education and make it more affordable.”

The new financial aid legislation isn’t as big an improvement as many of us would like, but it’s a major step in the right direction.

All Senate Republicans, including Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, voted against this legislation.

Luckily for the future of our country, there were enough brave Democrats in the House and Senate to lead the country forward on health care and financial aid.

Most of us have forgotten – if we ever knew – the big fights that had to be waged for almost every major program that benefits Americans who aren’t rich. Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, Medicare, are all examples of improvements in Americans’ lives that our country was able to bring about when a Democrat was President and Democrats were in the majority in the House and Senate.

Democrats have a record of helping young people afford college in ways that our whole society benefited from. If you doubt that, check out the history of financial aid in this country.

As Democratic President Lyndon Johnson said, “We believe, that is, you and I, that education is not an expense. We believe it is an investment.”

Or, as John Kenneth Galbraith said, “Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.”

We can probably agree that politics is not the art of perfection.  It’s not for purists.

But it’s the only way that citizens of a democracy can bring about a better future.

The untiring efforts – over decades of service — of people of good will are occasionally rewarded by an inching forward of progressive legislation.  It has been painful to follow the developments, but the health care legislation passed first in the House of Representatives, and then in the Senate on Christmas Eve, may become law early this year, if difficult compromises can be made between the House and Senate versions.

If it is does become law, once all the provisions are implemented (which will occur over several years) it will provide a significant relief for millions of Americans who now can barely pay their health insurance premiums, or can’t afford any insurance, or are denied insurance because of ill health, or who must stay in a terrible job just to maintain insurance for their families.  It will also mean that the rest of us don’t fall into those categories in the future. Many lives will be happier, healthier, and longer.

The disastrous choice is what we have today for a health insurance “system” for those not old enough for Medicare. Without the new legislation, in the coming years our health and our country’s economic well-being would be further threatened.

In future it may be possible to pass laws that do more to improve access to appropriate health care. (Other advanced countries have done it, with far less political turmoil.) Historians point out that when Social Security was first enacted, many Americans were not entitled to its benefits. In later years, as the public became more conscious of its positive effects, Social Security was expanded.

One of the clear lessons of the present health care debate is that political parties do matter. 

Republicans in Congress are doing everything they can to block progress on health care. This isn’t new. Republicans have traditionally voted in large numbers against legislation that would improve the lives of millions–such as Unemployment Insurance, Social Security, and Medicare–when it was first introduced.  After programs become popular with voters, Republican opposition is less vocal, but it’s always lurking (remember that our last Republican President tried to “privatize” Social Security).

Another lesson is how hard it is to get progressive legislation through the Senate even after it has passed in the House.

It takes 60 votes in the Senate to prevent a Republican filibuster. Currently the Senate has 58 Democrats and 2 independents. One independent is Sanders of Vermont, always a progressive voice; the other is Lieberman of Connecticut, who left the Democratic Party during the last election but whose vote was desperately sought in order to prevent Senate Republicans from blocking the legislation.

Another staggering fact about the Senate is that every single state has two senators and therefore gets two of the hundred possible votes.

Rural states get two votes. Industrial states get two votes. Heavily populated states get two votes (for example California, with almost 37 million residents). States with almost no one living there get two votes (for example Wyoming, with half a million people). Southern states get two votes. Northern states get two votes. States with more Republicans get two votes. States with more Democrats get two votes.  And so on.

Massachusetts has two precious votes. We must keep our two Senators in the Democratic column, working and voting – like Kennedy and Kerry –for the common good, for improving the lives of people, for a more just and compassionate society.

Don’t forget to go to your polling location on January 19 to vote for Martha Coakley, Democratic candidate for Senate in the special election to fill the seat formerly held by Kennedy. Polls are open from 7am to 8pm.

If you know that you won’t be able to get there on January 19, call or visit your town /city hall today to make arrangements for an absentee ballot:

Gloucester City Clerk, Dale Avenue, 978-281-9720

Manchester Town Clerk, 10 Central Street, 978-526-2040

Rockport Town Clerk, 34 Broadway, 978-546-6894

Your vote affects what gets done – or not done – in Washington. Many close elections have been lost because a few supporters stayed home.  Circle Tuesday, January 19, on your new calendar now!

On December 8 you can vote in the primary for the special election to fill the Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy. The result of the primary election determines who will represent each party on the general election ballot in January. In Massachusetts, you may vote in the primary of your party, or, if you are “unenrolled” (registered but not enrolled in a party), in any party’s primary.

You’d be shocked at how few people participate in the selection of the parties’ candidates. If you’re concerned about the quality of your representation, please participate in this critical winnowing process and vote on December 8.

The Senate has enormous power to help our country make progress on all fronts – or to block progress.

Ted Kennedy used his influence on Senate subcommittees to help millions of people in Massachusetts and many more millions across the country and the globe. Kennedy led and sponsored hundreds of bills that were enacted into law – a list far too long to include here.

Kennedy’s work in the Senate benefited—in various ways– the lives of everyone among your circle of family and friends…and also of those with no family and few friends.

Kennedy helped low-paid workers, workers who lose their jobs, people who work in unsafe conditions; children needing health care, better nutrition, an earlier start to learning; seniors receiving “meals on wheels” or dependent upon Social Security; the disabled; those needing assistance improving their home’s energy efficiency. He led the fight to end discrimination in voting, housing, education, and the workplace. He helped millions of students afford college. His efforts led to national community service programs.

But all of us are better protected by Kennedy’s persistent fight against an array of ills, including –to name a few–unsafe food, drugs, medical devices, guns; bioterrorism threats; and money in politics.

You probably wish we were further along when it comes to our country’s overall economic and social well-being.

But remember what Kennedy said in 1980 at the Democratic convention and take heart:

“For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.”

It’s up to us, We the People, to make sure that the work goes on.

Step 1: If you’re not registered to vote, register soon. Fill out a voter registration form (available at city/town clerk offices, by mail or Internet – see Voter Information below). In order to register, you’ll need to be 18 or older on election day, a US citizen, and a state resident. You can vote in the primary if you’re registered to vote by Wednesday, November 18.

Step 2: Register as a Democrat. If you appreciate what Senator Kennedy did for our state, our country, and our world, register to vote as a Democrat. Although Kennedy is famous for “reaching across the aisle,” he never gave up trying to achieve his Democratic goals. He also knew when to compromise — when otherwise he wouldn’t get enough votes to transform his ideas into action.

You’ll send a message to all politicians if you register as a Democrat and thus make clear your preference for the fundamental Democratic Party philosophy –so well exemplified in Kennedy’s achievements– of working for the common good.

Step 3: Vote in the Democratic Primary. On December 8, go to your polling place and vote in the Democratic primary. Help decide who becomes the Democratic candidate for Senator in the general election.

Step 4: Vote for the Democrat in January. If you’re registered to vote as of December 30, vote for the Democratic candidate on Tuesday, January 19.

Only a Democrat will carry on Kennedy’s work for the common good, ensuring that the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream – of a world healthier and safer for all –doesn’t die.

Information for All Voters
• Election day: All Massachusetts polling locations are open 7 am – 8 pm for state elections.
• Locations: Call the city/town clerk if you don’t know where to vote – or check out http://www.wheredoivotema.com.
• Absentee ballots: If you can’t be in town during voting hours, make arrangements in advance to cast an absentee ballot. Ask your city/town clerk or see the rules at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ELE/eleifv/howabs.htm.
• Registration forms. The US Elections Assistance Commission http://www.eac.gov/voter links to a national voter registration form, which can be printed out and mailed. Or contact:
Gloucester City Clerk, 9 Dale Avenue, 978- 281-9720, hours (through Nov. 1): 8:30 am – 4 pm, Tues-Wed 10:30 am – 4 pm, Thurs 10:30 am – 6:30 pm, Fri 8:30 am – 12:30 pm
Manchester Town Clerk, 10 Central Street, 978-526-2040, hours: Mon-Wed 8:30 am- 5 pm, Thurs 8:30 am – 8 pm
Rockport Town Clerk, 34 Broadway, 978-546-6894, hours: Mon 8 am – 4 pm, Tues 8 am-6 pm, Wed-Thurs 8 am – 4 pm, Fri 8 am – 1 pm
Secretary of State, 617-727-2828 or 1-800-462-VOTE

 We saw the Bush tax cuts give back thousands and thousands of dollars to the rich and a pittance to most Americans.

 Our country piled up debt while the rich piled up more wealth.

 Executives who didn’t believe in public service were put in charge at the highest levels of government. 

 Volunteer soldiers were sent to fight a reckless war with inadequate plans and armor, while private-sector military contractors were paid enormous sums without proper accounting controls. 

 Good-paying jobs became scarcer.  Public education suffered.  Many Americans lost the ability to get decent medical care. Government scientists were overruled whenever private profits were threatened.  The twin dangers of dependence on foreign oil and climate change were ignored. 

 It’s not just that forward progress was blocked. We fell backward.

 Readers of this column can easily list more examples of how our good country grew weaker during that Republican-led period.

 A few days from now, President Obama will have been in office for three short months. While hiring his top managers, he is dealing with unprecedented national and global problems—a legacy of the previous Republican administration.

 Obama has appointed well-qualified people to lead the myriad functions of government, most of which languished from lack of leadership and resources during the Bush administration.  You won’t find anyone leading FEMA whose previous job was Judges and Stewards Commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association (remember “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job” of Hurricane Katrina?).

 Our President is taking action (including international diplomacy) to try to prevent the global economy from spiraling further down into a nightmare depression. 

 Last week, the House and Senate approved budgets incorporating many of Obama’s priorities for next fiscal year.  Not a single Republican voted in favor.  Although individual appropriation bills to be enacted later will determine the details, the budget resolution provides guidance.

 As Obama stated, “This budget resolution embraces our most fundamental priorities: an energy plan that will end our dependence on foreign oil and spur a new clean energy economy; an education system that will ensure our children will be able to compete in the economy of the 21st century; and health care reform that finally confronts the back-breaking costs plaguing families, businesses and government alike. And by making hard choices and challenging the old ways of doing business, we will cut in half the budget deficit we inherited within four years. … Like the families we serve, we must cut the things we don’t need to invest in those we do.”

 It’s interesting that once again Republicans’ proposals to fix the economic crisis are to shrink domestic spending and … you guessed it, cut taxes (on the rich). It’s amusing to hear Republicans like Senator Pence of Indiana now say “Let’s not borrow from the next generation of Americans”—since he was part of the Republican Congress that supported Bush’s irresponsible tax cuts and mismanagement of resources.

 Thanks to Democrats gaining seats in Congress in 2008, Republicans aren’t able to block every initiative of Obama’s, but they still hold a powerful negotiating tool—the Senate filibuster—since Democrats don’t hold 60 seats in the Senate.

During the Depression of the 1930s, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt faced relentless hostility from the Republican Party when he used government investment to improve the lives of Americans who were suffering from lack of jobs and food and housing.  Republicans called him a “traitor to his class.” Yet virtually every American living today has benefited, in one way or another, from that “traitor” who reduced poverty and broadened the middle class.

We can expect intense Republican resistance to the change that Obama is working on—change that we who voted for him asked him to bring about.

Be sure to listen to Obama’s own explanations of his policies and programs rather than hear about them through Republican talk shows.  Take a few minutes out of your week to watch his press conferences on TV (a big change from the Bush years!) or get them via podcast or transcript. You’ll find very interesting material at www.whitehouse.gov, including Obama’s weekly Saturday address.

The more you learn, the more you’ll see how President Obama is working for the common good.

Will it be the economy? Health care? What about global warming? Will he take bold steps on one or two big issues in his first months in office, or will he proceed cautiously on many fronts? Will he concentrate on short-term needs, long-term strategies, or both?

In some ways, President Obama will face problems that are similar to that of a family suffering from a devastating drop in income.

The struggling family needs to buy groceries, pay the mortgage, get medical care when sick. The family car may need to be replaced to allow commuting to a job farther away. A host of problematic details present themselves daily, such as coming up with money for after-school programs, getting new sneakers for growing feet, paying the oil bill, fixing a leaking sink, paying the vet for mandatory shots for the cat.

The family also must decide whether to continue its monthly savings plan for the children’s college education and the parents’ retirement.

It’s clearly impossible for the struggling family to craft a list of priorities in neat numerical order. It’s a balancing act.

Like many parents these days, Barack Obama will confront compelling priorities competing for constrained resources.

What would Barack Obama’s presidency be like if he had followed Bill Clinton rather than George Bush?

He would not be inheriting the devastation caused by eight years of Republican government (“We’re all on our own”), the astronomical deficit, the economic crisis caused to a large degree by greed and the ideological bias against common-sense regulation.

He would not be inheriting the tragedy of a reckless and ill-planned war. He would not be inheriting federal agencies which many conscientious and hard-working public servants left when science was suppressed by political hacks.

Alas, Obama comes after eight years of reckless and, in fact, immoral leadership.

President Obama, Congress, and “we the people” must deal with our country and our world as we find them today.

In spite of the deep, deep hole that Obama has volunteered to get us out of, here’s what we can expect: Barack Obama — with the help of our Democratic Congress — will work for the common good.

Like the loving and pragmatic parents of a family struggling financially, he may ask us to hold back on some of our requests so that other needs can be handled first. He will talk with us honestly about what needs to be done. He will work on immediate problems and also watch out for the needs of the next generation. He will urge cooperation, understanding, and hard work.

Obama will keep up our spirits during a difficult time and, I hope, we will help him lift up our good country — with a Democratic emphasis on the common good.

He was the governor who seemed to have done good things in Texas and claimed a “bipartisan” approach to governing. He looked genial and good-humored—the folksy candidate most voters preferred to have a beer with.

Now that we have experienced the Bush Presidency, it’s interesting to reexamine what the Republican candidate said during an October 2000 debate with Democrat Al Gore:

“Spending money is one thing, but spending money without a strategic plan can often times be wasted…”

“I want to rebuild the military to keep the peace. I want to make sure the public school system in America fulfills its promise so that no child, not one child, is left behind. And after setting priorities, I want to give some of the — some of your money back. See, I don’t think the surplus is the government’s money. I think it’s the people’s money. I don’t think the surplus exists because of the ingenuity and hard work of the federal government. I think it exists because of the ingenuity and hard work of the American people, and you ought to have some of the surplus so you can save and dream and build.”

The contrast between Bush’s words and his actual “leadership” is painful—

Lives lost and many irreversibly damaged as a result of a reckless “war on terror.” Extreme mismanagement of the Defense Department. Soldiers sent off without adequate equipment while military contractors making millions were inadequately supervised. The budget surplus left behind by Democrat Bill Clinton squandered, leaving our next President with a deficit as far as the eye can see. Enormous tax cuts for the richest. Millions of children left behind. Many more Americans without adequate health care. Transportation systems crumbling. Tainted food supplies. “Home ownership” replaced with home foreclosure.

An even more colossal deficit than was anticipated just a month ago.

Now we see the results of out-of-control deregulation and the consequences of fixating on private-sector solutions to public services, as well as the Republican Party’s perennial hostility to the United Nations.

But make no mistake. The conditions our country is suffering from now are not the result of one misguided, reckless, and incompetent leader.

For most of Bush’s Presidency, Republicans held all the reins of power, since they also had a majority in both houses of Congress. They appointed thousands of people sharing their ideology, including judges who will rule on the bench for years to come.

It has taken time for the gross mismanagement, suppression of scientific knowledge, and myriad falsehoods to come to light.

It was only when Democrats gained a slim majority in Congress that many basic questions could be raised there. At best the questions are now being partially answered (Republicans can still filibuster in the Senate).

This fall, as in every election, the essential choice is not between the candidates’ personalities or styles. It’s a choice between the Republican and Democratic political philosophy.

A President and his party may occasionally be at odds, but that is the exception to the rule.

Republicans stick together. Remember—after McCain lost the Republican primary in 2000, he campaigned for the Republican nominee, saying Bush was ”fully prepared to restore integrity and respect to the White House.”

But when Bush entered the White House, he brought back to Washington shiploads of former Republican officials, including Dick Cheney, and newcomers like the Republican lawyer for the International Arabian Horse Association who did a “heck of a job” in New Orleans.

If McCain should win the Presidency, expect more of the same.

Consider a candidate who would select as the person next-in-line to lead our country someone as inexperienced as Palin.

What does that show about the kind of appointments McCain would make to the Supreme Court, Environmental Protection Agency, FEMA, heads of Social Security and Medicare, IRS, Food and Drug Administration, Secretaries of State and Defense, Ambassador to the United Nations…the list goes on.

The Republican philosophy in a nutshell is “You’re on your own” — unless you’re rich and powerful and suddenly feel a need for government’s helping hand.

The Democratic philosophy is to work for the common good, and Democrats have a record of concrete steps toward economic fairness and prosperity for all.

Be sure to review the actual accomplishments of each party before you vote on November 4.

… he’ll revitalize our economy, defend the working people of America, and meet the global challenges of our time.

Democrats know how to do this. As I recall, President Clinton and the Democrats did it before.

Claire McCaskill
John McCain is running for four more years of the same old politics and exact same failed policies that we had under George Bush. They did tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, they’re doing everything Big Oil asks for, and look where we are.

Jean Shaheen
No more country-club economics at the expense of working families and no more tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.

Lydia Sanchez
There are people listening to me right now who think that the outcome of this election won’t affect them. It will. It will determine whether you have a champion on your side, … or whether you get more of the same failed leadership that has given hard-working families the shaft.

Katherine Marcano
I am tired and overwhelmed, stuck in a system that tells me there is not enough funding for disabled kids like my sister. I am told we have to wait, we have to be patient. But I am running out of patience. And I am done waiting.

Al Gore
Eight years ago, some said there was not much difference between the nominees of the two major parties and it didn’t really matter who became president. … here we all are in 2008, and I doubt anyone would argue now that election didn’t matter.

…John McCain … is now openly endorsing the policies of the Bush-Cheney White House and promising to actually continue them. The same policies all over again? Hey, I believe in recycling, but that’s ridiculous.

Bill Clinton
They actually want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more.  Let’s send them a message that will echo from the Rockies all across America: Thanks, but no thanks.  In this case, the third time is not the charm.

Barbara Boxer
Instead of a president with an Exxon policy, we’ll have a president with an energy policy. … Let’s elect Barack Obama so that the world’s economic and environmental leader will clearly be our nation—the United States of America.

Bob Casey Jr
… he’ll pursue the common good by seeking common ground, rather than trying to divide us. … John McCain calls himself a maverick, but he votes with George Bush 90 percent of the time. That’s not a maverick. That’s a sidekick.

Barbara Mikulski
You know how we women are. We make our to-do lists. We check off our accomplishments. We get things done! And that’s exactly what we Democrats are going to do when we take back the White House!

Ted Kennedy
Yes, we are Americans. … We reach the moon. We scale the heights.  I know it.  I’ve seen it.  I’ve lived it. And we can do it again. … if we set our compass true, we will reach our destination-not merely victory for our party, but renewal for our nation.

The Reverend Leah Daughtry
It is our sacred responsibility to advocate for all the people, most especially the least, the last, and the lost, the discouraged and the despondent, the disenfranchised and the dispossessed. For them and for ourselves, for the work that must be done, for the bridges that must be built, for the children who must be saved, for the sick who must be healed, for the last who must be first.

Joe Biden
Millions of Americans have been knocked down. And this is the time as Americans, together, we get back up. Our people are too good, our debt to our parents and grandparents too great, our obligation to our children is too sacred.

Barack Obama
Our government should work for us, not against us.  It should help us, not hurt us.  It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who’s willing to work.

That’s the promise of America – the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper.

Let’s hope that a hundred years from now our posterity is able to look back with gratitude and pride at President number 44 – whom We the People are responsible for electing next November.

For the sake of all the children of the earth we need a Democratic President who will lead for the common good with judgment, persistence, and foresight.

Right now, if we had such a President, Democrats in Congress wouldn’t have to limit forward-thinking legislation – whether on health care, education, climate change, economic and energy policy, or international cooperation — simply to avoid a Presidential veto. (Compromises would naturally have to be negotiated among members representing different regions, interests, and parties.)

May the next twenty years be as significant in improving the lives of all Americans – and in furthering international cooperation – as during the long period, 1933-1952, when Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman led the nation.

Those truly progressive leaders had to do battle with both Republicans and the still powerful senior Democratic congressmen and senators representing the Old South, yet they moved our whole society forward.

My generation tends to take for granted the amazing progress for which they were responsible.

Think what our lives would be like without unemployment insurance when we or a family member has been laid off, or without Social Security checks during retirement years.

It’s likely that in most of our families a veteran was lifted from poverty because of the education or housing opportunities provided by the GI Bill.

Think what low-wage jobs paid before there was a federal minimum wage. (Making a living is far from easy even with our state’s higher minimum.)

Think about the lynchings that would have continued to be practically ignored, the military that would have remained segregated .

Imagine what our world would be like if we hadn’t won World War II,  followed creatively by the Marshall Plan and the United Nations.

Since then, we’ve had briefer periods of progress. Under Democratic Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, 1961-1968, and a Democratic Congress, Medicare was enacted, against strong opposition from Republicans. If you are a Medicare recipient now, or your parents or grandparents are, consider what it has meant to the health of your family. Could you pay your family’s hospital bills without the help of Medicare?

Additional steps forward were under one-term (1977-1981) President Jimmy Carter, who also worked with a Democratic Congress. He was responsible for the 1978 Camp David Accords, resulting in a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. He established full diplomatic relations with China, created the Department of Energy, and expanded the National Park System. If We the People had given him a second term, there would be more to write about. (After his presidency he won a Nobel Peace Prize for his international leadership.)

Two-term Democratic President Bill Clinton had only one Democratic Congress (1993-1994) during his eight years in office – for six years he had to work with a Republican House and Senate. That’s why his accomplishments tend to be in areas where the President has executive control, including monetary policy and international relations. Still, under Clinton, private-sector jobs increased, and the national fiscal deficit became an astonishing surplus. The US was especially respected for its foreign policy.

The next time you hear people talking about not voting because politics is “dirty,” or because politicians are “all the same,” ask them to consider how what has taken place in Washington has affected their families.

And when you hear people saying they “vote for the man, not the party,” ask them to review the facts about what has come about under Democratic rather than Republican administrations since 1900.

When people complain about partisanship, remember that a party represents shared political values. By supporting a party you help turn its basic philosophy into actions. You may not agree with every idea associated with that party – few people think exactly the same way about every political decision.

Perhaps you appreciate what Democrats did in the past but are frustrated they’re not doing more now. That’s understandable, but keep in mind that it takes political power to achieve results. We the People of fifty diverse states will determine whether Democrats remain in congressional leadership positions, whether Democrats gain enough seats in the Senate to avoid filibusters, and whether a Democrat becomes President in 2008. 

We can’t vote for President this fall – that election is two years away – but across our great democracy, 33 Senate seats, all 438 House seats, 36 state governorships, and thousands of other offices will be determined by voters.

The people competing for office will each have a unique background, personality, and emphasis on issues. Advertisements will be confusing, with conflicting statements about facts.

In the end, the fate of our country (and perhaps the world) will be determined mainly by which political party dominates in Washington, Boston, and the other capitals of government.

Currently the Republican Party has almost total power – it controls the entire Executive Branch (including the military), Congress, Supreme Court, and more than half the state governorships.

Notable “accomplishments” of this Republican era have been massive tax cuts for the super-rich, an inefficient and unfair “system” for providing prescription drugs, an expanding budget deficit, distortions of science and fact, a disastrous war.

Most of us are dismayed by what Republican government has done – and not done.

But we are still fortunate to live in a democracy where We the People get to decide the future, by voting for the kind of society we want.

We tend to take for granted the measures our country has adopted to make life fairer and more secure for its citizens. Almost all were begun and improved by Democratic administrations.

Under Democratic leadership the US won World War II with our allies and gave returning soldiers the opportunity to attend college cheaply and get a low-interest mortgage (GI Bill). Democrats led the world to establish the United Nations, in order to minimize international conflicts.

Democrats enabled jobless workers to put food on their table and keep a roof overhead (Unemployment Insurance). They established a minimum wage, lessened the widespread poverty of old age (Social Security), and improved health care (Medicare).

Among many other examples: Democrats reduced air and water pollution, protected public forests and parks, advanced civil rights, made the workings of our elected government accessible to the public (Freedom of Information Act), and encouraged artists, historians, and scientists.

More recently, under Democratic President Clinton, Democrats wiped out a budget deficit and raised the standard of living through private-sector jobs. The US was admired and respected by almost the whole world as a powerful force for both its prosperity and its social justice.

Here in Massachusetts, for the past 16 years we have had a series of four Republican governors responsible for managing state government.

During this long period of Republican administration, state roads, bridges, and tunnels have been neglected. Local aid has been slashed, leaving many cities and towns no option other than to cut school budgets, close fire stations, raise property taxes and fees, and leave public works in disrepair.

Massachusetts has lost population and good jobs (despite Republican campaign promises to bring in new industry). Our public higher education is now ranked among the lowest in the country. Young people graduate from public colleges with debts that will follow them into middle age.

Some of the deterioration under Republican governors is apparent only to those inside state agencies. For example, the Public Health department, formerly a national leader, has suffered from management changes and budget cuts, as have the environmental offices. It may take more than the Big Dig for all the neglect and incompetence to become apparent.

Consider the record of Democratic and Republican administrations. Think about their priorities and their fundamental values.

On Tuesday, November 7, vote for the kind of society you want to live in. If you’re not yet a voter, you can register by Wednesday, October 18. On election day, vote anytime between 7 am and 8 pm.

If you believe our country and state are headed in the right direction, vote for Republican candidates. As Republican Governor Romney says, “Having more Republican governors means more Republican congressmen, senators and better support for the presidency.” 

That’s why Republican Vice President Cheney flew to Boston to raise funds for Republican candidate Healey. Attempting to downplay her party affiliation, she didn’t let photographers see them together. She must hope that her contributions to Bush for President have been forgotten.

If you prefer the leadership of Democrats, vote for Democratic candidates. When Democrats regain power, our once-proud Commonwealth and nation can begin to reverse the damage.

The Democratic Party works for the Common Good.