Well, I'd like to say I'm tickled pink over the election last Tuesday. Honestly though I haven't even breathed a sigh of relief. The last two years have involved a lot of poor and backward decision making in Washington. Decisions led to policies and laws that need to be undone. The Republican Party is now poised to be able to start repairing things. Notice I said start. This is not a quick fix.
I took this week to look over the new Washington landscape before posting anything. I think the next two years will be long and drawn out. The Democrats still hold the Senate and the Oval Office, and sadly the worst of the worst (Reid, Pelosi, Frank, Boxer) all managed to coerce, defame, or buy their way into re-election. Yes, I believe that, but I have no proof that will “stick”. On a bright note, I think Pelosi's days are numbered. That hallmark of American politics is about rear its ugly head... feeding on your own, and Pelosi is what's for dinner unless she can scare up enough support. I say scare for a reason, it’ll take threats from her base to win House Minority Leader. Hopefully she’ll lose and resign. The Democrats who lost their election bids are already blaming her.
Oh the Republicans are doing it, too. The Tea Party’s crusade was the reason for the resurgence of Republican (well, actually conservative) support, yet some in the Grand Old Party have had the audacity to try to blame them for the Republicans not taking the Senate. What morons. The players (Sen. Lindsay Graham, and former Senator and current lobbyist Trent Lott for example) who are blaming the Tea Party are not conservative Republicans… they are lifetime politicians who are in it for two reasons: power and money. They are the types who need to be replaced as soon as possible.
I think the Republicans will maneuver in such a way that the "Party of No" will force Mr. Obama to be the "President of No." El Presidente will be forced to utilize his veto power to fight off what he will see as the scourge of evil conservative legislation. Of course the media will applaud his tenacity despite demonizing the Republicans for theirs over the past 24 months. The President will “bravely” veto legislation, although the Republicans were obstructionists for the same behavior. The important thing is that the Republicans continue to push legislation that promotes less government and less spending. Let him say no to saving… he and his party are already in trouble for saying yes to spending. Sadly, chances of overriding a veto are slim.
Can the Republicans kill Obamacare? No (not yet, anyway), but they can definitely take the wind out its sails. We can begin saving money and shrinking government by defunding programs necessary for Health Care Reform to grow. Do NOT expect Obamacare to go away in two years. The Dems (and the press) will tout that they saved it and try to twist it so that it sounds like it survived because it’s what America wanted. I’m giving you a two-year heads up… I expect it to still be here, but hopefully weakened. If you plan to vote against the Republicans in two years if Obamacare still exists you’re being unrealistic.
The first challenge the Republicans will face? The debt ceiling. If they raise it, they begin the next two years with a grade of F from the voters who want controlled spending. If they don’t raise it, services stop and the value of the already weak dollar implodes. Solution? I think we need to look at this a new way. I think the answer is to TEMPORARILY raise the debt ceiling with specific wording that dictates that it must come back down by a certain amount and by a certain date. If we don’t raise it, the press will say the Republicans don’t care about Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea. If we do raise it, the press will say the Republicans were grandstanding during elections and had no intention of or plan for controlling spending. Finally, there are going to be two very different schools of thought on this in the Republican Party. This will not be a right vs. left fight, rather I expect it to be right vs. right… and the press will have a field day with that as well. Ignore the press’s insinuations and watch what the politicians are doing. This is not an easy decision and no debate would scare me much more than heated debate.
Finally, the Democrats, lead by President Obama, are now all preaching the importance of a bipartisan government. With all due respect… you’ve lost your minds. There has never been such a disrespectfully partisan leader of this nation. You can not call the other party an “enemy” and tell them “they gotta sit in the back” and expect a few days later for them to forgive and forget. Think about this POTUS… whether you or I like it, you ARE my President, sir, and you have implied I am an enemy and that I may not sit at the table with you simply because I do not agree with your agenda. That is as bad as mistreating someone because they are not your color. You’ve created an “ism” of some sort, and you are an “ist”. Shame on you Mr. President.
I agree bipartisanship is essential if this government, and more importantly this country, is to improve. The ones screaming for a stop to partisanship are the ones coming off of a 2-year run of decrying, impugning and posturing that did nothing but drag this country down. I expect the Republicans to compromise when appropriate, but it is NEVER appropriate to compromise your ideals. They need to get in there and start doing what they said they will do. I will be watching to ensure they do. I hope all of you will, too. Things are neither better because of the latest election, nor are things worse. Things are merely different. We must watch and grade those selected to serve. We must hold them accountable not only to the standards they have set for themselves through campaign promises, but to the standards we have set for them as well. I implore you all to contact your Congressmen regularly with likes and dislikes.
All in all, it’s takes longer to fix something than it does to break it, and we’ve been “breaking” things for 100 years now. This could be the start of recovery because the American people are active right now. We have a long road ahead, and we must stay involved. I am cautiously optimistic, but my guard will be up for some time to come.
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From Stacey on Facebook -
ReplyDelete"Your paragraph on "obamacare" interests me and I would like to hear more about what programs need to be defunded? And...how would this grow healthcare reform? Thx!"
First, I do not approve of health care reform in it's current form. It makes the health care system a monstrous bureaucracy. If we really want to reduce cost, increase availability and improve quality we need to pursue tort reform and reduce waste and mismanagement of current programs like Medicare. Lawyers and politicians will never improve health care by trying to manage it.
I have read estimates that the health care reform bill creates anywhere from 111 to 159 NEW government agencies. The House could simply defund those in existence and not fund any others. With the word "shall" appearing in the bill over 3,000 times (the same bill Pelosi said "we have to pass the bill so you can, uh, find out what is in it") cutting out the new bureaucracies should go a long way toward cutting the legs out from under Obamacare.
Enough inconsistencies and untruths have surfaced to tell me this bill is flawed beyond repair. It was rushed through to make a deadline. Most politicians, notably the supporters, did not even read it. In my opinion it's a terrible piece of legislation, and it needs to be repealed.
From Sandra on Facebook -
ReplyDelete"How come Obama was supposed to fix the economy wrecked by a Republican president and Republican Congress in only 18 months but we're supposed to be patient with the new Republicans in Washington?"
Wow... where to begin?
I guess I'll start by asking you where I gave a time line for Obama to succeed or fail? Have I ever posted "he had enough time, now it's our turn"? Nope. I have never once said he's not acting fast enough. My problem with Obama is not that he did not fix economy, my problem is that his policies will NEVER fix the economy and that fixing the economy was never his highest priority. He slapped expensive band-aids on the economy that have done nothing. Unemployment has soared under his administration and he, in between vacations, shoved an unpopular bill down our collective throat. At the rate he is going he will outspend every single President that came before him combined in just one term. How is it the Republicans wrecked the economy?
Second, he's been in office 21 months. Sounds petty, but that's 16% more time... imagine if he'd saved 16% more jobs and homes.
Third, the economy began it's collapse under the Democratic Congress and their agenda... you may recognize some of the names... Obama, Clinton, Biden, Emanuel. They were in charge of the economy starting in 2007. Pelosi helped ensure the House Republicans didn't have a role in the stimulus package and what did the Dems put in it? Contraception, funding for the arts, restoration of the national mall, stop-smoking programs. People were (and still are) losing their homes and jobs and the Dems bought rubbers. Again, the Republicans wrecked the economy?
Finally, I'm sure you realize that the liberals still hold most of the cards. They hold the Senate and the oval office. The President can veto, and even if the House get's 2/3 vote to overturn it, the Senate will almost definitely not. So I don't think it's fair to compare holding the House of Representatives to holding both houses of Congress and the executive branch. The Republicans are still the underdogs... but they at least have a foothold now.
I'd like to comment on why Obama was supposed to "fix the economy".... because that was one of his promises. Change.... yes the economy was already tanking, yes jobs were being lost and yes homes were being lost too.
ReplyDeleteHis "Change" was to offer 2 large stimulus pkgs to bailout corporate companies, extend welfare benefits and to create a national health care plan that manages to offer care for those that can not afford health care (which is a good idea) and yet, those that do have health care have their premiums increased, in some cases by four digits per year. So far, I haven't really seen any huge developments in job growth, even the seasonal job market is reduced. Plain and simple, without jobs, the economy is never going to get better. So I would like to know, where are all of these jobs that he keeps saying were created as a result of the stimulus pkg and economy growth plan? Does it really take 2 yrs to create these wonderful jobs that will offer America the stability needed to get back on her feet and able to make her mtg pymts?