Democrats Want to Win Back Middle-Class -- And Congress

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, June 24) -- Democrats admit they didn't get enough done when they controlled Congress. So five months from Election Day, their new agenda of "family-friendly" legislative ideas represents an attempt to win back middle-class voters and retake Congress.

Over the weekend, Democrats rolled out a "Family First" agenda in a carefully-orchestrated, televised town meeting. It's a grab bag of tax breaks, pension reform measures and environmental legislation -- some of which President Bill Clinton already has proposed.

"I think people do want to know what you're going to do," Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.), one of the architects, said today on NBC's "Today." "You can't win an election simply describing what's wrong with the other side...We've got to show people."

Republicans immediately scoffed at the Democrats' clone of the GOP's "Contract with America."

Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), chair of the House Republican Conference, said the American people "are smart enough to see this election-year rhetoric for what it is: visionless hot-air."

Among the Democratic proposals:

Tax breaks for educational expenses.
Legislation to help workers retain pensions when changing jobs.
A cut in inheritance taxes for family-owned businesses.
A loss of tax benefits for companies that shift jobs overseas.
Additional federal funding for police officers.
Expanded child care tax credits.
A ban on clothing imports made with child labor.

Actual bills won't come until next year and until the legislation is written, no one can say what the package might cost.

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Democrats' "Families First" Agenda

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Democrats Want to Win Back Middle-Class -- And Congress

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