Four Tasks for the New Congress

In ten years of living in Minnesota, I can count on one hand the times I have agreed with a Minneapolis Star Tribune editorial. Here's the one time!

What congress needs to do:

1. Restore fiscal discipline
   
2. Reform immigration and address the millions of illegal aliens living and working in the United States
   
3. Reform the entitlement programs (Medicare, and Social Security)
   
4. Define an exit strategy for Iraq
   

Here's the editorial: Star Tribune: Four Tasks for the New Congress

I'm cynical that the Democratic party can accomplish more than one of these things!

1. They have never been the party of fiscal discipline! Its too bad that the Republicans of late have not been either!
   
2. Immigration reform? This seems like a possibility for the Democrats to accomplish.
   
3. I don't see the Democrats reforming the entitlement programs! They were created by and expanded by the Democrats. And raising the taxes of the so-called "rich" is not necessarily the answer (a regular Democratic tune!).
   
4. A satisfactory exit strategy for Iraq is not "leave now" (as much as I wish we could!) My view is that the Robert Gates selection for Defense Secretary will result in an exit strategy to be defined well before the 2008 Presidential race kicks off!