This work is a comprehensive introduction to the most important issues facing American citizens and their government. It addresses various interpretations of the proper role of government with a view towards the Democrats re-working of such integral issues as:·States' rights·Societal affluence and social needs·Campaign finance reform·Media Consolidation·America's climbing debt ceiling·China's military and political expansion·Manufacturing's decline·Job outsourcing·The disappearance of pension plans·The whittling away of America's middle class·America's inadequate health care system·Environmental degradation·America's vanishing family farms