I share my fellow Iowans' grave concerns about the course our country has taken in recent years. We must work to restore confidence in Washington and its ability to get things done for the American people. Despite our current trajectory, we must find a way to ensure that our children and grandchildren inherit a world filled with promise, opportunity, and hope.
What does this mean? It means we Democrats must address the economy because Bush-backed bromides won't do the job. This starts with rescinding tax cuts for those who are already quite comfortable. The same old discredited trickle-down approach has never worked effectively for those who most need Washington to stand with them... working families, young families just getting started, family farmers, veterans, and middle-class retirees.
Second, and closely related, we must extract our forces swiftly from our misguided involvement in Iraq. We now spend $338 million in Iraq every single day. Ironically, this is almost exactly the same amount ($343 million) we borrow every day to finance this war. There's a close link between our economic situation and our mistaken involvement in Iraq.
What the economy most needs now is public infrastructure investments that create jobs in the short-term and move us toward a 21st century, clean energy economy in the long-term. These include investments in our infrastructure - such as roads, bridges, and schools - as well as investments in renewable energy and improved energy efficiency. These kinds of investments will put hundreds of thousands of people to work rebuilding our economy.
