( - promoted by Dean Barker)
Greetings from the Young Democrats of America summer national conference in Washington, where I'm representing New Hampshire as YDA National Committeeman. This is my first time visiting our nation's capital since I left after living here for six months. As some may know, I had the privilege of serving as an intern in Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter's office for the first half of 2009.
I was here for President Obama's inauguration and for, among other things, the battle for the Recovery Act-a bill to allow the government to blow air into the leaking balloon of our national economy, proposed because the new President took the oath watching seven hundred thousand jobs disappear each month. Although Republicans were nearly unanimous in their opposition to the bill, they were happy to offer suggestions and had a talking point list of specific items to strip out. One such item was funding for the National Park Service to perform much-needed maintenance on the National Mall. In addition to fortifying the memorials against the very real possibility of sinking into the Potomac, the project was to include revitalizing the grass in our national front yard, and it needed it-imagine looking at patchy New Hampshire grass at spring's first thaw, year round. Despite their ideological opposition to the idea that stimulus spending works at all, Republicans insisted this was not stimulus, that it was just wasteful. I found the removal of this project appalling. People in the District of Columbia need jobs too, and the National Mall is a public park used by tourists, locals, and events (including tea party protests). It's home to many of our country's most cherished symbols.
More to the point, the grass should always be greener in America's front yard.
I left CSP's office and went back to school in June 2009, just before the healthcare debate heated up. 467,000 jobs were lost that month-dismal, but far less than what it had been before President Obama replaced President Bush and got to work, with help from Carol Shea-Porter, Paul Hodes, and Jeanne Shaheen.
As it's been a year since my last visit, tonight I went to one of my favorite places in the world. If you've never been to the base of the Washington Monument at night, put that on your bucket list. From that spot, you can see the US Capitol, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the WWII Memorial, the very top of the Jefferson Memorial, and many of the spectacular museums and office buildings that line the Mall. After enjoying the view, I walked along the path from the Monument to the Capitol Building.
As I said, it's been a year. Private sector employment went up by nearly a hundred thousand last month. The Dow Jones has gone up by four digits in the past year. The panic has subsided. And the grass on America's front lawn is a little bit greener. A helpful little sign informed me that the Mall is being revitalized after all. Despite the best efforts of a negligent minority party, we're all better off because Democrats are leading the way.
The grass should always be greener in America's front yard. The streets are not paved with gold and our problems can't be fixed overnight, but America is a place where people's hope is rewarded. That is who we are. That is what we do. And that is why I'm voting for Carol Shea-Porter, Paul Hodes, and their fellow Democrats this fall.
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