This morning, we went over the preordained Republican takeover of the Senate. So, other than having to hear “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says” over and over, what will the next two years look like? For the most part, you’d be correct in assuming that it’d look a lot like the last four years: With Democrat Barack Obama still the president, and a Republican-controlled House and Senate, it’s going to be a loud not much. Yet even with that caveat, we can still look into what a unified legislature is going to at least try, and perhaps...
Continue reading...Democrats
Voters decide the government is doing too much to help them
A hearty number of column inches (so anachronistic!) are being devoted today to explaining various reasons Democrats lost yesterday and Republicans won. It’s the long-running day-after tradition, and it’s rarely illuminating. But, you got to fill the papers, they say. Truth is, we all knew this was going to happen two years ago. Hell, we were all pretty sure even six years ago, when this class of senators was elected. Without a presidential election to buoy them, these unlikely Democratic faces representing deeply conservative states would not be long in their seats. The reason why is not surprising....
Continue reading...Republicans Supporting Non-Republicans
Interesting news from the Pennsylvania senate race today: Former Senator Chuck Hagel will endore Joe Sestak. Hagel was a Republican; Sestak is a Democrat running against Republican Pat Toomey. Hagel told The Associated Press on Monday that Sestak has demonstrated during his two terms in Congress that he puts what’s best for the country before the interests of his party. He said Sestak’s courage and integrity as a legislator are qualities the nation needs more of. This just shortly after we’ve learned that Bob Dole, former Republican senator and presidential candidate, has thrown a $1,000 check to...
Continue reading...I'm sorta disgusted.
I was fed up with the actions and rhetoric of the left when Bush was in office, despite sharing many of their concerns. I’m fed up with the current tactics of the right, and share none of their concerns. And yes, sadly, I’m still fed up with the left. I’m having trouble understanding how we move forward from such insanity. President Obama answered the question quite diplomatically this morning, as he often does. Noting that there is a divide in the ‘tea party’* movement between the truly insane (birthers, etc…) and the more rational (deficit hawks, etc…)...
Continue reading...Enjoy your brand new Parliament!
So, I read Pop’s post on bipartisanship with interest, and I just wanted to add a comment or two. I mostly want to say that I think Pops is mostly right, but doesn’t go far enough. It’s true that it’s good to have varying viewpoints in the discussion, and he’s right to say that at least to this point that viewpoint has come from conservative Democrats rather than liberal Republicans, but I don’t think that’s due to some coincidence. The fact is that in the initial votes in the Senate and House, the controlling vote was owned...
Continue reading...A two-party system
If the recent debate over health care reform has taught us anything, it is that the U.S. does still have a functional two-party system. The two parties, however, are not the Democrats and Republicans, but the Democrats and the Democrats. This is not to suggest that his is necessarily a bad thing—for the Democratic Party or America. The Republicans may have a substantial 41-member minority in the Senate, but being tied to their strategy of obstruction, just saying no, and refusing to cooperate or even compromise, have rendered themselves utterly and completely irrelevant. Consequently, the two teams...
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