Democratic Priorities that scare me... Options

[Hartmann]

I'm interested in seeing what the Democrats do in power but the following stuff scares the crap out of me.

1. Military: Force an immediate drawdown of troops in Iraq and conduct oversight hearings on missteps on the war. Democrats renewed their call for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign.
   
   Definitely not a good idea.
   
   
2. Transportation: Consolidate air traffic control facilities. Allow more foreign control of airlines. Limit the number of Transportation Security Administration airport screeners to 45,000. More oversight hearings on the Federal Aviation Administration.
   
   What?! Foreign control of airlines?! I can't wait to fly "Al-Qaeda Air"!!!
   
   
3. Minimum wage. Pass legislation to raise the minimum wage from the current $5.15 an hour to $7.25
   
   This has been covered before, a basic economics course would help immensely.

Things I am glad to see happening:

1. Veterans affairs: Increase oversight with detailed budget accountings. More funding for veterans' health care, including additional mental health counseling for vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
2. Energy and environment: Increase incentives for biodiesel, ethanol and other alternative fuels as well as wind, solar, geothermal and other sources of alternative energy. Renegotiate oil and gas leases that waived royalty payments to the government. Impose a national cap on industrial carbon dioxide emissions. Resist Bush's efforts to open more public lands to oil exploration (iffy on the last part).
3. Intelligence: Increase attention given to emerging terrorist threats in Africa and Southeast Asia and devote more resources to North Korea and Iran. More oversight of terrorism and government surveillance.

I am on the fence about some of their healthcare stuff, taxes, and agriculture plans.

[Hartmann]

Oh, my thing with the consolidation of air traffic control facilities is that the current system, if stuck to, works. If you fly US Air or United (can't remember which), they let you listen to the radio chatter of the ATC and it's pretty amazing to hear how efficient they are.

I've tuned into the ATC and ground control here and it makes my jaw drop. If anything, Congress should be pushing for ground radar at all commercial airline facilities. Most runway incursions occur in bad weather in places where ground radar is not in place.