reflections on the elections...

[nathanm]

I never knew I was backed by special interest money when I attended a couple of "tea parties." In fact, I demand to know where my check from the Koch brothers is.

Where's my check from Soros or the DNC? 

[Conan71]

MY EYES!!!! (thanks Drudge)

Gweed, knock it off Halloween is over!

[guido911]

Where's my check from Soros or the DNC? 

Let's file a complaint with someone that will listen.

[guido911]

Gweed, knock it off Halloween is over!

Sorry. Is this better?



Really thanks Drudge

[Conan71]

Sorry. Is this better?



Really thanks Drudge

Makes me want to go beat an O'Donnell protestor.

[guido911]

Makes me want to go beat an O'Donnell protestor.

Here's some video:

http://www.kdlt.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5905&Itemid=57#video

[Breadburner]

Fun watching the libs get owned in this thread...Jump in your toy yoda's and move on down the pike....

[Hoss]

Fun watching the libs get owned in this thread...Jump in your toy yoda's and move on down the pike....

Actually, the only people getting 'owned' are the citizens, because, yet again, it will be gridlock, like it has for the last two years.  But hey, if you'd rather get a Boehner watching the libs get 'owned', more power to ya!

[Conan71]

Actually, the only people getting 'owned' are the citizens, because, yet again, it will be gridlock, like it has for the last two years.  But hey, if you'd rather get a Boehner watching the libs get 'owned', more power to ya!

Let's not think so pessimistically, it's a bad pygmalian 

I'm gleaning from POTUS' comments, he's still not clued in that the American people are afraid of an over-reaching government.  He seems to think he still knows what is best for the average American even though he's not one of them.  While the election results are not a "mandate" they are most definitely a referendom on citizens being very unhappy with our elected official's actions over the last two years.

I think President Obama came off as ill-informed, inflexible, and incredibly detached yesterday.

[Townsend]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101103/ap_on_go_co/us_tea_party

Tea Party comin' atcha like a spider monkey.

I'm curious how long it'll take for reality to hit.

I see "That's not how we do things 'round here." in their future.

[Conan71]

I was wondering if the "Pledge For America" had vanished like a fart in the wind due to many of us still wanting to sue for breach of contract on the 1994 marketing gimmick.  Turns out it's still kicking around, now it's the "Pledge To America"

http://pledge.gop.gov/

America is more than a country.

America is an idea – an idea that free people can govern themselves, that government's powers are derived from the consent of the governed, that each of us is endowed by their Creator with the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. America is the belief that any man or woman can – given economic, political, and religious liberty – advance themselves, their families, and the common good.

America is an inspiration to those who yearn to be free and have the ability and the dignity to determine their own destiny.

Whenever the agenda of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to institute a new governing agenda and set a different course.

These first principles were proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, enshrined in the Constitution, and have endured through hard sacrifice and commitment by generations of Americans.

In a self-governing society, the only bulwark against the power of the state is the consent of the governed, and regarding the policies of the current government, the governed do not consent.

An unchecked executive, a compliant legislature, and an overreaching judiciary have combined to thwart the will of the people and overturn their votes and their values, striking down longstanding laws and institutions and scorning the deepest beliefs of the American people.

An arrogant and out-of-touch government of self-appointed elites makes decisions, issues mandates, and enacts laws without accepting or requesting the input of the many.

Rising joblessness, crushing debt, and a polarizing political environment are fraying the bonds among our people and blurring our sense of national purpose.

Like free peoples of the past, our citizens refuse to accommodate a government that believes it can replace the will of the people with its own. The American people are speaking out, demanding that we realign our country's compass with its founding principles and apply those principles to solve our common problems for the common good.

The need for urgent action to repair our economy and reclaim our government for the people cannot be overstated.

With this document, we pledge to dedicate ourselves to the task of reconnecting our highest aspirations to the permanent truths of our founding by keeping faith with the values our nation was founded on, the principles we stand for, and the priorities of our people. This is our Pledge to America.

We pledge to honor the Constitution as constructed by its framers and honor the original intent of those precepts that have been consistently ignored – particularly the Tenth Amendment, which grants that all powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

We pledge to advance policies that promote greater liberty, wider opportunity, a robust defense, and national economic prosperity.

We pledge to honor families, traditional marriage, life, and the private and faith-based organizations that form the core of our American values.

We pledge to make government more transparent in its actions, careful in its stewardship, and honest in its dealings.

We pledge to uphold the purpose and promise of a better America, knowing that to whom much is given, much is expected and that the blessings of our liberty buoy the hopes of mankind.

We make this pledge bearing true faith and allegiance to the people we represent, and we invite fellow citizens and patriots to join us in forming a new governing agenda for America.

[we vs us]

Boehner and O'Connell both have come out in the past day or two embracing the Tea Party and essentially declaring a frontal assault on anything Obama's going to try to accomplish, not to mention an attempt to to roll back HCR by any means necessary.  Obama, for his part, has mentioned bipartisanship several times and set up several mixed meetings with both Ds and Rs present. 

So Obama's taking the hint.  Boehner and O'Connell, not so much. 

[Hoss]

Boehner and O'Connell both have come out in the past day or two embracing the Tea Party and essentially declaring a frontal assault on anything Obama's going to try to accomplish, not to mention an attempt to to roll back HCR by any means necessary.  Obama, for his part, has mentioned bipartisanship several times and set up several mixed meetings with both Ds and Rs present. 

So Obama's taking the hint.  Boehner and O'Connell, not so much. 

Be a little difficult to repeal when there is no veto override power for them.  Like I said, it's 1994 all over again...

[Conan71]

Boehner and O'Connell both have come out in the past day or two embracing the Tea Party and essentially declaring a frontal assault on anything Obama's going to try to accomplish, not to mention an attempt to to roll back HCR by any means necessary.  Obama, for his part, has mentioned bipartisanship several times and set up several mixed meetings with both Ds and Rs present. 

So Obama's taking the hint.  Boehner and O'Connell, not so much. 

So the President has called a meeting with leaders of both houses, just like every other President before him.  *yawn*

Part of bi-partisanship will involve the President and the majority leader of the Senate actually listening to the opposition and being willing to alter their agenda.  There's a huge back-lash over healthcare and that was part of the anger that mobilized voters on Tuesday in addition to huge deficits and the economy.  You simply can't cram a massive program like HCR down the throats of people who didn't want it in the first place and who really don't want it now that they know what the bill contains.  As I said yesterday, I don't know that the bill needs to be gutted and I don't think the GOP should waste a bunch of time repealing the whole measure.  But the President needs to be open to making changes to it which will make it more agreeable to individuals and employers.

Honestly, I heard very little out of him yesterday which indicates he really intends to become more flexible.  I don't think we are going to see a repeat of 1994.  President Clinton and Congress actually managed to provide six years of relatively good governance in spite of the personal politics which played out during that time.  The President and Senate Democrats need to moderate.  Senator McConnel and Rep. Boehner will need to approach from the middle, not the far right.  The majority of Americans don't want deeply liberal or deeply conservative ideology right now.

[nathanm]

The irony of all that is that if you listen to the left, they've been complaining that Obama and the Senate have been governing and legislating from the center, not the left, while the Republicans have stated quite clearly that they're not interested in moving toward the center in the least.

I think if people still hate HCR in 2015, it should probably be modified. Until then, it hasn't had a chance to work, and any opposition is based on either ideology, speculation, or outright lies, rather than any actual problem with the legislation itself. Nobody wants a health care policy that ends up costing a fortune and does nothing to abate the growth in overall health care spending. Given that it is premised on unpredictable future behavior, it ought to be given a chance to have its premises proven or disproven.

And here's a fascinating gem from the exit polling, further bolstering my contention it was more about the economy and the apparent Congressional deadlock than anything else:

By 52% to 42%, more voters expressed an unfavorable opinion than a favorable opinion of the GOP. Indeed, views of Republican Party are no more positive than those of the Democratic Party (53% unfavorable vs. 43% favorable), which was roundly defeated.

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1789/2010-midterm-elections-exit-poll-analysis

We all need to read and digest that page. People are rightly pissed about the economy, and they're going to vote out incumbents en masse until it gets fixed. The only mandate this election provided (at least as manifest in this particular exit poll) was for not extending the tax cuts on people earning more than $250,000 a year or not extending them at all. On every other issue support was surprisingly evenly divided.