Day One: Put new rules in place to "break the link between lobbyists and legislation."
Day Two: Enact all the recommendations made by the commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Time remaining until 100 hours: Raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, maybe in one step. Cut the interest rate on student loans in half. Allow the government to negotiate directly with the pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices for Medicare patients.
Broaden the types of stem cell research allowed with federal funds &mdash "I hope with a veto-proof majority," she added in an Associated Press interview Thursday.
All the days after that: "Pay as you go," meaning no increasing the deficit, whether the issue is middle class tax relief, health care or some other priority.
To do that, she said, Bush-era tax cuts would have to be rolled back for those above "a certain level." She mentioned annual incomes of $250,000 or $300,000 a year and higher, and said tax rates for those individuals might revert to those of the Clinton era. [...] "We believe in the marketplace," Pelosi said of Democrats, then drew a contrast with Republicans. "They have only rewarded wealth, not work."
I'm all for it. Let's see if she can do it.
It's a good start. But what will all those unemployed lobbyists do?
Those lobbyists, even if they were unemployed, which they will not be, have plenty of fish to fry at Congress. There's plenty of stuff to participate in influencing or providing information on, without being contrary to ethics and law. Plus there is a lot of opportunity to influence things over at the multitudes of federal agencies and departments, plus at the 51 (state and District of Columbia) legislatures--oh yes--with less burdensome restrictions on the definition of ethical.
Further, various genuine citizen organizations are lobbyists at the congressional level, so "lobyists" are not simply good or bad. They're part of the process of government.