Barack Obama

serious adverse rulings on abortion from the SCOTUS, the one conservative institution that has the power to scuttle ALL liberal reforms for the next 30 years. The House is still controlled by the GOP and the odds or wrestling it back next year and 2016 are slim. And even in we do, the corporate wing of the Dems will block ANY financial/safety net reform and continue the austerity tango straight to fiscal ruin.

The most likely next president is another corporate tool who will do the bidding of Wall Street and the Oil/Gas industry.

The country will be "moving left" when we see the following reforms become law:

1) Constitutional amendment declaring a ban on "artificial persons", i.e. corporations, or at least denying then 1st Amendment rights.

2) Restoration of the Glass-Stegal Act.

3) Closing of corporate tax loop holes

4) Prosecution of war criminals and Wall Street banksters

5) An end to the "war on drugs" and all of its abuses.

6) A unambiguous repeal of legalized torture.

7) The repeal of the Patriot Act.

8) Withdrawal from Afghanistan.

9) Banning or at least mandatory labeling of GMO foods

10) Repeal of subsidies to oil/gas industry

11) Subsidies for renewable fuel.

12) A "Manhattan Project" for renewable energy (funded by a 10% cut in defense spending).

13) Restoration of food stamps unemployment benefits to realistic levels.

14) Prohibition of privatization of public services.

15) Repeal of abortion Trap Laws and other onerous restrictions.

16) Dissolution of Dept of Homeland Security.

17) Prohibition of domestic spying.

18) Expansion of Medicare to entire population.

19) Politically neutral redistricting laws

20) Repeal of voter ID laws.

21) Restoration of the gutted Civil Rights Act

22) National minimum wage law tied to inflation.

23) Reform of capital gains laws to penalize unproductive hedge fund day trading and reward long term "buy and hold" investment (gains made from trades of less than 30 days taxed at 90%, trades held longer than 25 years taxed at 5%).

24) Re-introduction and passage of ERA.

25) Serious investment in infrastructure and the return of training programs like CETA.

26) A "Net Neutrality Act" with teeth.

27) Refocusing of national law enforcement toward white collar crime and violent crime.

28) A federal carbon tax

I can go on, but these are the big issues off he top of my head.

Now we don't have to see ALL of these reforms to declare that the "pendulum is swinging left" but I would stipulate that at least five are required. Anything less than that and we are still drifting right.