Each year, my post holiday and pre-New Year's ritual is to play Charlie Brown to the conservative's Lucy and take a whack at the football of politics that hope to see enacted during the 2013 political year. Being a realist and a liberal, I understand that some of these are possible only in the deepest furrows of my mind and represent a political landscape where my vision of a fair and just America plays out for all of us. But, sometimes, we all know that dreams come true and this may be the year that we wake to a truly liberal nation with fairness for all.

So since the 112th congress was the most ineffective and least active congresses in history, here are my recommendations for my top fifteen house bills that should be passed in 2013.

1. The immediate restoration of tax cuts for the first $250,000 of earned income.
2. The immediate restoration {prior to it's cut} of unemployment benefits for the currently unemployed.
3. The introduction and passage of laws outlawing assault weapons and large magazines regardless of the complaints of the NRA.
4. Introduction and passage of a law imposing tariffs on American businesses doing their manufacturing overseas and providing tax incentives for companies bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States. 
5. Keep tax rates on dividends, capital gains, and inheritance at levels they will be at when the tax cuts expire at the end of 2012.
6. Pass legislation that makes raising the debt limit a pro forma action since it deals with spending that has already occurred and affects the good faith and credit of the nation.
7. Legislation should be passed that decriminalizes possession of drugs without intent to sell. This will immediately lower the prison population in the United States by a significant percentage.
8. Congress should approve and sign on to the U.N. Treaty on the International Rights of the Disabled.
9. Legislation should be passed to provide increased federal assistance to failing public schools in the country that work with the federal government to improve performance of students in those public schools. This legislation should include infrastructure modernization, teacher hiring, inservice training, etc.
10. The Affordable Care Act should be amended to include all uninsured Americans. and {10B} all health insurance policies should be required to include mental health diagnosis and treatment, and {10C) women's health diagnosis and treatment.
11. Congress should immediately pass the Violence Against Women Act and include all women under it's purview. The act should place into law the federal right to an abortion for rape and incest. Women living on reservations and trans-gender women should also be covered under this Act.
12. The congress should recognize and act on issues of climate change. We cannot be a 21st century nation if we don't recognize and work to solve 21st century problems.
13. Congress should pass a national voter registration law which seeks to move toward 100% eligible voter registration rather than the disenfranchisement of individuals who should be eligible to vote.
14. Congress should pass comprehensive immigration reform. This nation's immigration policies are dated and chaotic. A sensible and modernized immigration reform program is necessary.
15. Congress should pass a bill lowering the percentage of GNP that is utilized for national defense and military, attempting to develop a sane national military policy. We cannot continue to spend more than our next 10 largest countries in the world on the military and expect to ever get our debt under control. This is an area that can be reasonably be lowered and significant dollars saved.

I recognize that those who are conservatives may not agree with any of my visions of a 2013 political landscape. I believe that this would lead us to a better, more balanced nation. Feel free to give your opinions on what congress should do this year. Let's try to get a good discussion going.