A few news articles for your reading pleasure as we begin the 110th.

2008!

From the Jackson Citizen-Patriot, a few items of note:

Looks like the presidential quest isn't the only 2008 race abuzz in the blogosphere, punditocracy and Washington insider press.

Daily Kos, Inside Michigan Politics and Roll Call have deemed the 7th District congressional contest one of the hottest in the country -- and U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg,

R-Tipton, was sworn in only today.

"One of the hottest in the country"! And no, I don't mind that they didn't mention another blog that's interested in the race...

Former U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz and lawyer Brad Smith are rumored Republican challengers. State Sen. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, has swatted away speculation about his candidacy but is still considered his party's front-runner. And two-time Democratic nominee Sharon Renier says she's in.

As for Walberg, he says he's just focused on his new job.

But he does want to clear up one rumor about 2008.

"I'm not running" for president, he laughs.

Schauer's out (though, expect to see him pop up elsewhere after his term ends... he's a rising star in Michigan's Democratic Party), but there are plenty of strong candidates out there. Most interesting for me, I think, is the possibility of Brad Smith launching a primary challenge. Smith (son of former Congressman Nick Smith), though losing to Schwarz, got more votes in the 2004 primary than Walberg, and knows all the right people to run a campaign.

There are other things worth reading in the article, including a mention of a speech by Joe Schwarz and a Jackson Party fundraiser for the Democratic Party.

But, you know what? Congressman Walberg is right, he ought to be focusing on his job now, not the next election.

Walberg's Agenda

Once again, we turn to the Citizen-Patriot. What does Walberg hope to push in the new, Democratic Congress?

Michigan's only first-term congressman confirmed he plans to co-author legislation in line with his support of a flat tax and elimination of the Internal Revenue Service.

Ah, tax reform. I'm sure we'll be writing an awful lot about that over the next few weeks. Walberg has previously advocated the "FairTax" national sales tax, which would be about 23 percent on all goods and services. Never mind that lower-income families would pay proportionally more than upper-income families, or that, without the IRS (or similar agency), the burden of collecting the tax falls upon the state governments. And we all know that the state of Michigan has plenty of free time on its hands.
_________
UPDATE: Cordelia at Michigan Liberal picked up on this as well, and offered this explanation of why the national sales tax is a bad idea. Once Congressman Walberg introduces a bill, I'm sure I'll have plenty of posts on the subject, but the short version is that taxes shouldn't be viewed as a punishment, but rather an investment in America. The amount you pay in ought to be based on ability to pay, and that's what the graduated income tax does.

For a different view, see Chad Sargent in the comments, and, out of fairness, www.FairTax.org. (Just one minor complaint: cute names like "FairTax" really bother me. Give it a simple, unbiased and descriptive name, like "National Sales Tax." This goes for both sides of the aisle.)
_________

What do some of Walberg's supporters hope for?

That's the conviction supporter Kathy Potts is counting on. As vice president of Jackson Right to Life, Potts said she's confident Walberg will champion anti-abortion bills.

Will his anti-abortion proposals simply seek to outlaw abortion, or will he support the 95-10 initiative of Democrats for Life-- a plan of reforms to reduce abortion by 95 percent over the next ten years? We shall see.

Of course, since 45 percent of Americans want action on Iraq (according to a CBS poll), more than any other issue, it will certainly come up. What are Congressman Walberg's thoughts?

Walberg also will have to weigh in on the Iraq war -- whose unpopularity helped swing Congress to the Democrats in November's election. While Walberg supports President Bush's policies, he said he hasn't decided if sending more troops to Iraq is the best course to take.

The congressman said Saddam Hussein's hanging last week could be a "first step" to stabilizing democracy in the insurgent-infused country.

"Maybe it will be like the pardoning of Nixon by Gerald Ford with getting the issue off the scene," Walberg said. "Saddam Hussein is no longer the poster child of captivity and repression by outside forces."

Saddam Hussein... Richard Nixon? Well, not the connection I expected, but it's nice that Walberg has our 38th president on his mind.

Still, as the article observes:

However, most of his work will probably be voting on the Democrats' first 100-hours agenda, which includes hiking the minimum wage and cutting student loan rates.

... which brings us to:

The Democratic Agenda

Here's what the new Democratic leadership has planned:

Democrats say the first 100 hours will emphasize protecting middle-class jobs, pushing health care reforms, breaking the ties between lobbyists and lawmakers and investigating the Bush administration's relationship with big corporations.

At the top of the legislative agenda are:

raising the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour;

banning lobbyists from providing free meals and gifts to members of Congress;

slicing interest rates on college student loans in half;

allowing federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research; and

repealing federal tax breaks for the oil industry.

"We need to end subsidies for Big Oil," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee. "The money should go into renewable fuels instead."

Republicans call the 100-hour legislative agenda a publicity trick, noting that the Democratic leadership has failed to disclose any details about what's in the legislation. And even if bills are approved, they predict, it's likely President Bush will veto many of them.