A Punchdown List for the Incoming Congress

 I wrote this post on Facebook on November 4, 2026, the day after the mid term elections:

I  hope and want to have confidence that the new Democratic majority in Congress focuses first on what will make the lives of the American people (and the world) better. I know that many will want accountability (which will only be painted as retribution to the MAGA faithful), but there really are more important matters. Don't waste your advantage over the next two years.

Then I decided to make my own list of priorities to send to my members of Congress (all Republicans) and to others in Congress.  Before I wrote my representatives, I thought I would try my ideas on my friends to see if they could make any positive suggestions.

The World

• Enact legislation to address climate change, our country's contribution to it, honoring the science behind global warming, enabling partnerships with allies and even adversaries to address the threat to our existence.
• Do whatever Congress can in its power to pressure the administration to repair our relationships with traditional allies and to convince those allies that the United States can be a trusted partner again.
• Create legislation to provide necessary support for the people of Ukraine.
• Use the War Powers Act to curtail Trump's war on Iran.  Further, use the power of the purse to provide Iran with reparations for damages done.
• Pressure Israel to treat the Palestinian people with justice and mercy.  

The Nation

• Reverse the most harmful provisions of the One Big Beautiful Act.  Specifically,
• Reinstate the subsidies to premiums for the Affordable Care Act.
• Cancel the permanent tax relief given to the most wealthy (Restore fair revenue.)
• Restore subsidies to public media (NPR, PBS)
• Ratchet back the funding glut going to Defense, Homeland Security, etc.
• Address the issues that Trump caused the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
• Tightly restrict the funds that would go into any cosmetic projects which the administration  conceives (Triumphal Arch, e.g.).
• Restore staffing levels to all of the decimated departments of the federal government (e.g., Social Security, National Parks, NASA, NOAA,  etc.  Pretty much anything that DOGE touched.)
• Create a humane immigration law that addresses the security of the border, while it recognizes the rights of those seeking asylum, the rights of refugees vetted by the UNHCR, the labor needs of the country at large.

These are just the first items to occur to me, here on the first day after the election.  Perhaps you can suggest some additional bullet points.