GOP Leadership Is the Problem, Not The Solution

The really sad thing is, this is what grass roots bloggers like myself (http://thevailspot.blogspot.com) have been saying for the past 2 years. The GOP "elite" establishment is part of the problem. They are NOT part of the solution. They have spent the past 40 years "going along to get along" with the Dem's that they have given up all of the principles of the GOP. They rail against increased spending, then pass "continuing resolutions" because they lack the back bone to stand up the the Dem controlled Senate (which hasn't passed a budget in FOUR YEARS!).


Boehner doesn't have the strength of charecter, or the moral will to pass a budget and send it to the Senate, then refuse to do any more business until the Senate passes a budget. He needs to send every single member of the GOP caucus home to talk about how the Senate (Dem control) has refused to do it's Constitutional duty of passing a budget. He needs to send out every single member of his causus to tell their constituents how Obama has not submitted HIS budget plans within the Constitutionally mandated time period...Obama is now more than a month past due with his budget.


The GOP leadership in the House and the Senate need to start a scorched earth publicity battle with the Socialist Democratic Party and begin to explain to voters just how they want to tax and regulate America into 2nd world status...just like Dem's have done in California, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. (Those states economies are the weakest in the nations due to Blue State policies of heavy regulation of business).


The GOP leadership is part of the problem, and not part of the solution. The GOP is well on the way out as a political party because the leadership in DC are just as much to blame as the Democratic party...they are statists in all but name. It's time for them to go!


The Tea Party movement started because the GOP political leadership has failed utterly in following the principles that the party stands for. This is what happens when the leadership of a party become divorced from what the grass roots desire. The GOP used to stand for smaller, less intrussive government, but our leadership is so enamoured of it's pork, and spending other people's money, that they are now the problem...not the sollution. It's time for the GOP to join the Federalist and Whig parties on the dust heap of history. They have failed to stay true to the tenents of the party, and have lost their way politically.


I suspect that within the next 1o years, unless the leadership weans itself away from the cotery of lobbyists and "experts" (who have by the way lost every election they were in charge of since 2004) that there will be, if not a massive change, they will be tossed aside by the surging Tea Party movement.


Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio weren't elected because they are "establishment" candidates. They were elected by the Tea Party movement. While the TP isn't perfect, and has chosen some horrendous candidates, by and large, it is the future of fiscally conservative movement in America. The GOP leadership ignores them at their own peril.

Passing Laws...

Most laws are passed in secrecy...not sure that's right...actually, I'm very sure that' wrong...



We shouldn't do as Nancy Pelosi urged "we have to pass this bill, to see what's in it..." That's exactly the wrong way to approach the problem.

Sen Schumer Blocks Tea Party Debt Commission

Senator Charles Schumer, an early supporter of the Occupy Wall Street groups, blocked the Tea Party Debt Commission from meeting in the Capital building in Washington DC. via The Other McCain , but then, that's what Liberals do when they are afraid of your speech. Do do their damndest to supress it. "Free speech for me, but no for thee." If this was a "political" meeting, then why does Congress allow Congressman Conyers to hold his bull-shit "commission" meetings on Capital building grounds? Yet another intellectually bankrupt Democrat stopping the 1st amendment rights of others.

Nancy Pelosi's Conflict of Interest

Here's video of Nancy Pelosi trying to defend her conflict of interest in introducing "credit card reform" after she was given preferential treatment in a stock offering by VISA.

Deficit Crisis Explained!

I found this on Don Surber's blog it's by Kate @ Small Dead Animals...and it's a great way to explain just what the recent "deficit deal" was about, and how it cuts spending...in the future, but not today:

America's Fiscal Reality 

A friend of mine in Texas republished some recent financial numbers:
U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000
New debt: $1,650,000,000,000
National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
Recent budget cut: $38,500,000,000

Most people glaze over such numbers so he then equated it in simpler terms:
Annual family income: $21,700
Money the family spent: $38,200
New debt on the credit card: $16,500
Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
Total budget cuts: $385
Finally, he wrote: "This is an impossible way for a family to survive. Bankruptcy is the only way out. This family is headed for complete failure."

P.S. Keep in mind that anyone who "dares" suggest that much more should be done to get America's fiscal house in order: is mentally unstable, wants to destroy their country, is a terrorist, and/or is a right-wing extremist. So says Obama's foot soldiers in government and in the MSM.

Now...does that make things a little easie to understand?  Or...to put them in Mr. Surber's words:

If anyone is wondering why we are in financial straits as a nation, consider that the president we elected in 2008 spent more money than anyone has ever spent in any election anywhere — 50% more more than John McCain — just to finish 6 points ahead on Election Day. President Obama is not exactly a penny-pincher or even a Benjamin-pincher. A Democratic Congress gave Obama a boxload of blank checks. The amount of misspending by this administration is nearly impossible to comprehend for most of humanity, and so Kate at Small Dead Animals put federal spending in terms of a family’s spending, but the numbers she described were rather lowball.

She gave the annual income of this family as $21,700. But the median household income in 2009 (the point where half earn less and half earn more) was $50,277. So I will adjust her figures accordingly.

Family income: $50,277.
Family spending: $88,506.
Added to the credit card: $38,229.
Outstanding credit card debt: $330,646.
Proposed cuts: $829.

That $829 cut means we will borrow another $37,400 next year.

But some will say it is a mortgage not a credit card. If so, we just took out a home equity loan of $38,229 last year on a house that is already underwater.

Barack Obama may do things this way. But not the rest of us.

What I don't understand is how our current political elite can justify continuing spending at this rate?  Are they stupid?  Retarded?  Do they think that the bills just won't come due?  They're coming due at a rapid rate...and we just can't continue spending like this.  The GOP & Democratic leadership had better understand, that the time for insane spending is over.

BUDGET CUTS

I hope you're sitting down reading this because here is a short list of some of the proposed "extreme" cuts that the GOP House of Representatives would like to cut.  Read to the

end.

• Corporation for Public Broadcasting Subsidy. $445 million annual savings.
• Save America's Treasures Program. $25 million annual savings.
• International Fund for Ireland . $17 million annual savings.
• Legal Services Corporation. $420 million annual savings.
• National Endowment for the Arts. $167.5 million annual savings.
• National Endowment for the Humanities.  $167.5 million annual savings.
• Hope VI Program. $250 million annual savings.
• Amtrak Subsidies. $1.565 billion annual savings.
• Eliminate duplicative education programs. H.R. 2274 (in last Congress) , authored by Rep.
• McKeon, eliminates 68 at a savings of $1.3 billion annually.
• U.S. Trade Development Agency. $55 million annual savings.
• Woodrow Wilson Center Subsidy. $20 million annual savings.
• Cut in half funding for congressional printing and binding. $47 million annual savings.
• John C. Stennis Center Subsidy. $430,000 annual savings.
• Community Development Fund. $4.5 billion annual savings.
• Heritage Area Grants and Statutory Aid. $24 million annual savings
• Cut Federal Travel Budget in Half. $7.5 billion annual savings Trim
• Federal Vehicle Budget by 20%. $600 million annual savings.
• Essential Air Service. $150 million annual savings.
• Technology Innovation Program. $70 million annual savings.
• Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program. $125 million annual savings.
• Department of Energy Grants to States  for Weatherization. $530 million annual savings.
• Beach Replenishment. $95 million annual savings.
• New Starts Transit. $2 billion annual savings.
• Exchange Programs for Alaska , Natives Native Hawaiians, and Their Historical  Trading Partners in Massachusetts . $9 million annual savings
• Intercity and High Speed Rail Grants. $2.5 billion annual savings. Title X Family Planning. $318 million annual savings.
• Appalachian Regional Commission. $76 million annual savings.
• Economic Development Administration. $293 million annual savings.
• Programs under the National and Community Services Act. $1.15 billion annual savings.
• Applied Research at Department of Energy. $1.27 billion annual savings.
• FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership. $200 million annual savings.
• Energy Star Program. $52 million annual savings.
• Economic Assistance to Egypt . $250 million annually.
• U.S. Agency for International Development. $1.39 billion annual savings.
• General Assistance to District of Columbia . $210 million annual savings.
• Subsidy for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. $150 million annual savings.
• Presidential Campaign Fund. $775 million savings over ten years.
• No funding for federal office space acquisition. $864 million annual savings.
• End prohibitions on competitive sourcing of government services. Repeal the Davis-Bacon Act.
• More than $1 billion annually.
• IRS Direct Deposit: Require the IRS to deposit fees for some services it offers (such as processing payment plans for taxpayers) to the Treasury, instead of allowing it to remain as part of its budget. $1.8 billion savings over ten years.
• Require collection of unpaid taxes by federal employees. $1 billion total

 

Some savings...add up the totals...there there are these proposals for the next ten years.

• Prohibit taxpayer funded union activities by federal employees. $1.2 billion savings over ten
• years.
• Sell excess federal properties the government does not make use of. $15 billion total savings.
• Eliminate death gratuity for Members of Congress. Eliminate Mohair Subsidies. $1 million annual savings.
• Eliminate taxpayer subsidies to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
• Change. $12.5 million annual savings
• Eliminate Market Access Program. $200 million annual savings.
• USDA Sugar Program. $14 million annual savings.
• Subsidy to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). $93 million annual savings.
• Eliminate the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program. $56.2 million annual savings.
• Eliminate fund for Obamacare administrative costs. $900 million savings.
• Ready to Learn TV Program. $27 million savings..
• HUD Ph.D. Program. Deficit Reduction Check-Off Act.

TOTAL SAVINGS: $2.5 Trillion over Ten Years

 

But the real question is just what were these items doing in the budget in the first place?  We're out of other people's money and it's time to pay as we go.  What we need to do is return to the 2006 budget, the one that had $150 million or so deficit and cut that by  30% across the board.  Eliminate several departments...and eliminate bureaus, offices and departments that duplicate their efforts. 

 

Democratic Control Of Congress

For the most part since 1932, the Democratic party has controled Congress.  Not just one house occasionally, but both, as well as the office of the Presidency.  From the comments section on "what the little people think" about the recent downgrading of US debt by S&P.  The article the comments come from is linked here.

Iceman, the Dems are not blind, or stupid. They just want job security: their own. Carville says in his book that the Dems will rule for 40 years. The Dems have been the dominant party since 1930. Here's some facts on that since 1930:

The Democrats controlled the House:
1930-46
1948-52
1954-94
2006-present
R-16 years, D=60 years

The Democrats controlled the Senate:

1932-46
1948-52
1954-80
1986-94
2000 (a week)
2001-02
2006-present
R-21 years, D=55 years

The Democrats controlled the Presidency
1932-52
1960-68
1976-80
1992-00
2008-present
R-36 years, D-40 years.

There has been Democratic control over both houses of Congress and the Presidency:

2008 to present
1992-94
1976-80
1960-68
1948-52
1932-46.
That is, 28 years in the lifetime of most Americans.

There has been Republican control over both houses of Congress and the Presidency:

1952-54
Jan. 20-June 6, 2001
2002-06.

See what I mean. And don't forget, Congress makes the budget, not the President. If it wasn't for Brown's election, followed by the November 2010's election, this Country would be closer to bankruptcy than it is now, the Constitution would be a memory, and our Democratic government would take care of everyone, via taxes, and the beginning of our new socialist form of living, like eastern Europe.
Don't think the Dems are blind, or stupid. They know what they're doing

What Democrats are truly afraid of is that "the little people" will finally figure out that the vast majority of US debt stems from Democratic party policies that were passed and larded upon through their control of Congress...and that they will be blamed, rightly, for what we are now going through.

After all, from January of 2007, when the Democratic Party took control of Congress, they passed the largest of "Bush's" deficit budgets ($400 billion dollars)...once Mr. Obama took over the White House,  the deficit spigot became gusher, and they have in the past several years added fully 1/3rd to the US debt...it's so bad, that in 2010, neither the House of Representatives, under Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) or the Senate under Harry Reid (D-UT) passed a budget bill, because they were terrified of what would happen to their rather slim majorities if they did...they're still playing politics...and We The People will end up paying for this.

National Debt Road Trip

Here's a great video:

WeinerGate: Even Adolf's Pissed!

great video:


Hitler Upset About Weinergate from FTR Radio on Vimeo.


The epitaph about Anthony Weiner isn't that he wass arrogant..but rather that he was stupid enough to think that he could lie to everyone...and get away clean, without having to pay for his stupidity.  He may well survive in Congress, merely by hanging on, tooth and nail, but he will never serve any where else.  If he does survice this, hopefully, his constituents will have the sense enough to vote his sorry ass out of office in 2012.  I doubt it, but hope never ceases.



Richard Fernandez has this to say:

Going for the big time requires the ability to maintain discipline and focus in a pitiless environment. Weiner, Trump implied, had showed that he had neither. The Congressman badgered him for donations, and he might have gotten them had he shown his quality. After Weiner self-destructed, Trump concluded it was obvious he lacked a certain something. “I thought his career was so important to him. The fact is that what he was doing was more important to him.” And that, in the calculus of power, was his greatest fault. He took his eye off the ball. Weiner could therefore rattle his tin cup somewhere else, somewhere in the bush leagues.

HatTip:  Ed Driscoll

What the hell is in their water?

By JP Bender

I think the United States EPA should launch an immediate investigation into the content of the drinking waster for the residents of the state of New York. At a minimum the EPA should issue a written advisory warning to all elected officials to drink only bottled water from adjoining states.

The recent history of damage is clear and the present danger requires such a written warning. It has affected the following to the point of concern:
Elliot Spitzer served as the 54th Governor of New York from January 2007 until his resignation on March 17, 2008 in the wake of the exposure of his involvement as a client in a high-priced prostitution ring. Prior to being elected governor, Spitzer served as New York State Attorney General. He currently is a political entertainer and is the co-host of In the Arena (previously Parker Spitzer), a talk-show and punditry forum broadcast on the CNN cable network,
Congressman Eric Massa (Tickle Me Elmo) resigned, after claiming he was forced out by Obama’s White House former Chief of Staff (and now Mayor of Chicago) Rahm Emanuel, because he refused to vote for Obamacare. Massa also claimed that he had knowledge of corruption in the Democratic Party concerning the way they were trying to pass the horrid Healthcare bill. On top of that, the Congressional Ethics Committee’s investigation of inappropriate behavior in relation to allegations of sexual harassment toward three of Massa’s male congressional staffers. He soon became known as the “Tickle Me Elmo” member of congress.
Congressman Chris Lee, from New York’s 26th Congressional district, also must have sipped some of that same water. On February 9, 2011, Lee was found to have been responding to a personal ad from a woman on Craigslist. Claiming to be a 39-year-old divorced lobbyist but using his real name, he used a Google Gmail account to send her a shirtless photo taken with his Blackberry phone.The female recipient searched his name, discovered he was a married Congressman, and turned over her email correspondence to the New York news blog Gawker. After confirming the facts, Gawker published its exposé on February 9, 2011.

Lee resigned from office the same day.He also issued a statement of apology, saying, “I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents.... I have made profound mistakes and I promise to work as hard as I can to seek their forgiveness.”

Speaking of asking for forgiveness and promising to work hard, we have the embattled Congressman Anthony Weiner, who now admits to posting lewd photos of himself on Twitter. Weiner also said he engaged in several inappropriate conversations with more than six others. He lied to his wife, lied to the news media, and lied to members of congress. After trying (lying) to do damage control, he was forced to admit that Weiner’s wiener was a real photo. Of course, being a member of Congress, he is quite adept at lying.

Oddly enough, the congressman should be thrown out of office due to his ridiculously over-inflated sense of self-importance. His precious bruised ego notwithstanding, Congress should throw him out – immediately. Weiner must have had a full gallon of this water.

Warning to all who travel to New York – DO NOT DRINK THEIR WATER.

Congress' Exempt Itself from Laws...

The following was submitted by Linda D. for posting:

No one has been able to explain to me why young men and women serve in the U.S. Military for 20 years, risking their lives protecting freedom, and only get 50% of their pay. While Politicians hold their political positions in the safe confines of the capital, protected by these same men and women, and receive full pay retirement after servingone term.

It just does not make any sense.

Monday on Fox news they learned that the staffers of Congress family members are exempt from having to pay back student loans. This will get national attention if other news networks will broadcast it. When you add this to the below, just where will all of it stop?


35 States file lawsuit against the Federal Government

Governors of 35 states have filed suit against the Federal Government for imposing unlawful burdens upon them. It only takes 38 (of the 50) States to convene aConstitutional Convention.

This is an idea that we should address.

For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform... in all of its forms. Somehow, that doesn't seem logical. We do not have an elite that is above the law. I truly don't care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. The self-serving must stop.

Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution: "Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States."

Here's my own take on a possible 28th amendment: I hereby propose the following as the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

1. No citizen of the United States shall be elected to the House of Representatives to more than four (4) consecutive, two (2) year terms to office.
2. No citizen of the United States shall be elected to the United States Senate for more than two (2) consecutive, six (6) year terms of office.
3. No citizen of the United States shall receive any retirement benefits from serving in either the United States House of Representatives or the United States Senate.
4. Congress shall not exempt itself from any laws of the United States of America, in whole or in part.
5. Congress shall be in session for a period of not less than 90 60 consecutive days in the Spring, and 90 60 consecutive days in the Summer Fall of each year. Each sitting of Congress may be extended by the President for a period not to exceed 30 15 days. The Spring session shall start on the first Monday of March. The Summer Fall session shall begin on the first Monday in August. An additional 15 day session to begin on the 2nd Monday of November shall may be called by the President if so deemed necessary by declaration of a national emergency and voted so by a 2/3rds majority of the sitting Congress and may not be extended. session may not be extended unless a period of National Emergency is formally declared by the President. {This section I think is necessary to basically force Congress to actually work...in the past decade they generally only spend 2 1/2 days per week actually working in Washington, DC. Most often only from Tues afternoon to Thurs afternoon!}

What do you think?

Bingo!

I've received this one from several people...it's just too good not to post.

Work hard all your life...Put up with this idiot...


Alan Simpson, former Senator from Wyoming, Co-Chair of Obama's deficit commission, calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he compared " Social Security " to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats. August, 2010 .

Here’s a response in a letter from a fellow in Montana, I think he is a little ticked off.

He also tells it like it is.
“Hey Alan, let’s get a few things straight… 

1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole for FIFTY YEARS.
2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old - I am now 63).
3. My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme that would have made Bernie Madoff proud.
4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to age 67. NOW, you and your shill commission is proposing to move the goalposts YET AGAIN.
5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare from Day One, and now you morons propose to change the rules of the game. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy to such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay the bills.
6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why? Because you incompetent bastards spent our money so profligately that you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.

To add insult to injury, you label us “greedy” for calling “bullshit” on your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for YOU.

1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during your pathetic 50-year political career?
2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the American taxpayers?
3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?
4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual, have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?

It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators who are “greedy”. It is you and they who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. And for what? Votes. That’s right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic political careers. You know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.

And you can take that to the bank, you miserable son of a bitch. ”

How Government Failure Caused the Great Recession

Here's an excellent explaination on just how government rules and regulations FUBAR'd the economy into near depression. 

By Mark J. Perry and Robert Dell

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Filed under: Government & Politics, Economic Policy

The banking crisis that began in August 2007 shocked markets and precipitated the Great Recession. To fully explain the banking crisis, one must account for its timing, severity, and global impact. One must also confront a startling historical contrast. If we define “banking crisis” to mean bank failures and system losses exceeding 1 percent of a country’s gross domestic product (GDP), we find that in the period 1875-1913, a period of marked expansion in international trade and capital flows comparable to the last three decades, there were only four banking crises worldwide.(1) By contrast, in the period 1978-2009, a period of much more extensive bank regulation, central bank intervention, government protection of depositors and other bank creditors, and government control of mortgage markets, about 140 banking crises occurred worldwide. Of these, 20 were more severe than any crisis from the earlier period of 1875-1913, in terms of total bank losses as a percent of GDP.

Leading financial economists such as Charles Calomiris have argued that a necessary condition for a banking crisis is government policy that distorts the micro-incentives of banks. Likewise, University of Chicago scholar Richard Posner has argued the banks that got into trouble during the recent crisis were simply taking “risks that seemed appropriate in the environment in which they found themselves.”(2)

But then why didn’t a banking crisis erupt sooner—say, in the recession years of 1990-1991 or 2001-2002? What changed in recent years that led to business risk-taking capable of wrecking the U.S. housing market and the U.S. banking system and other banking systems throughout the world? Further, why were prudent credit practices reasonably maintained in credit card and commercial mortgage securitization in recent years, but wholly abandoned in residential mortgage securitization?

Some economists have criticized securitization as an inherently flawed business model, particularly since the process of securitization involves a “long chain” of players with “information asymmetries.” The buyer of the mortgage or security typically knows less than the seller. But many of the financial institutions involved in subprime securitization (e.g., Citigroup) held portions of their own securitizations, and they have for decades been securitizing credit card loans without major debacles. Calomiris has observed that even during the subprime boom, banks aggregating credit card loans for securitization and investors in securitizations closely examined the identity of originators, their historical performance, the composition of portfolios, and changes in composition over time.(3)

Read the whole thing here...


H/T InstaPundit

Senate Earmarks

Here is a list of Senate earmarks.  If your Senator has taken out earmarks please call them and demand that they drop their corrupt practice.

Cochran (R-MS) 230

Wicker (R-MS) 199
Murray (D-WA) 172
Harkin (D-IA) 152
Reid (D-NV) 129
Menendez (D-NJ) 123
Feinstein (D-CA) 121
Lautenberg (D-NJ) 120
Lincoln (D-AR) 114
Inouye (D-HI) 113
Schumer (D-NY) 106
Johnson (D-SD) 105
Landrieu (D-LA) 104
Specter (D-PA) 103
Pryor (D-AR) 96
Levin (D-MI) 93
Stabenow (D-MI) 91
Boxer (D-CA) 90
Brown (D-OH) 87
Grassley (R-IA) 86 -hypocrit signed the anti-earmark pledge
Bingaman (D-NM) 86
Durbin (D-IL) 86
Akaka (D-HI) 83
Wyden (D-OR) 83
Cardin (D-MD) 79 - this one is mine...he's up for reelection in 2012...we'll rememer this you corrupt...
Merkley (D-OR) 79
Gillibrand (D-NY) 79
Bond (R-MO) 78  -  another hypocrit
Bennett (R-UT) 76 -  paying off his supporters...this is why he was voted out.
Casey (D-PA) 76
Udall (D-NM) 73
Reed (D-RI) 70
Kerry (D-MA) 69
Cantwell (D-WA) 69
Hagan (D-NC) 69
Voinovich (R-OH) 68 - retiring corrupt politician
Klobuchar (D-MN) 68
Rockefeller (D-WV) 67
Dodd (D-CT) 66
Mikulski (D-MD) 65 -  my senator, she campaigned as a fiscal conservative who saved US money...right
Tester (D-MT) 65
Lieberman (ID-CT) 64
Hutchison (R-TX) 63 -  she's up for reelection soon...we'll remember this one.
Burr (R-NC) 63 -  The North Carolina Tea Party needs to have a chat wit this one...
Baucus (D-MT) 62
Dorgan (D-ND) 60
Warner (D-VA) 60
Webb (D-VA) 58
Franken (D-MN) 58
Collins (R-ME) 57  - Ms. Collins is up for reelection in 2012, if I'm not mistaken.
Leahy (D-VT) 56
Murkowski (R-AK) 55  - This woman was rejected by her party...but believes she too important...
Whitehouse (D-RI) 55
Kohl (D-WI) 54
Conrad (D-ND) 52
Vitter (R-LA) 48 -  Mr. Vitter, we need to have a chat.
Cornyn (R-TX) 45 - ditto
Snowe (R-ME) 44 - ditto
Nelson (D-FL) 43 - he's up for reelection in 2 years
Chambliss (R-GA) 42
Crapo (R-ID) 41 - hypocrit
Risch (R-ID) 41 -  ditto
Bennet (D-CO) 40
Brownback (R-KS) 39 -  he's not in Kansas any more...and perhaps he should be, permanently
Carper (D-DE) 39
Begich (D-AK) 37
McConnell (R-KY) 35  -  Mr. McConnell is part of the problem and not part of the solution
Roberts (R-KS) 35 - ditto
Sanders (I-VT) 33
Shelby (R-AL) 32 - Addicted to earmarks
Inhofe (R-OK) 32 -  not serious about ending corruption in our political system.
Shaheen (D-NH) 32
Alexander (R-TN) 30  -  Mr. Alexander is another one who isn't part of the solution...and needs to go.
Udall (D-CO) 30
Lugar (R-IN) 29 -  time to retire this one.
Graham (R-SC) 27 -  RINO who needs to have a serious primary challenge in 2012.
Thune (R-SD) 26 -  needs primary challenge.
Isakson (R-GA) 24 - ditto
Nelson (D-NE) 23
Sessions (R-AL) 21 -  ditto
Bunning (R-KY) 21 - ditto
Ensign (R-NV) 20 - ditto
Gregg (R-NH) 13 -  ditto
Barrasso (R-WY) 4 - ditto
Enzi (R-WY) 3 - ditto
Hatch (R-UT) 1 - ditto, though he's going in the right direction....though 1 earmark is 1 too many
Bayh (D-IN) 1 -  ditto
Corker (R-TN) 1 -  ditto
Brown (R-MA) 1 - ditto
McCain (R-AZ) 0 -  these are where the GOP needs to be.  the zero earmark zone
Feingold (D-WI) 0
Kyl (R-AZ) 0
DeMint (R-SC) 0
Coburn (R-OK) 0
McCaskill (D-MO) 0 - though she's now afraid after her Dem colleague was slaughtered at the polls...
Johanns (R-NE) 0
LeMieux (R-FL) 0
Manchin (D-WV) 0 -  he's up for reelection for a full term in 2012...he barely won this time around...
Coons (D-DE) 0 -  he's not had enough time to begin his corruption...
Kirk (R-IL) 0

While the $8 billion dollar price tag of these earmarks is literally a drop in the bucket compared to the $1,200,000,000,000.00 Senate/Congressional Omnibus spending bill, it's not Congress' money they're spending it's our money they are using to pay off corrupt supporters who have bought their votes. That's the issue here. These earmarking Senators are bought and paid for and this is how they pay off their campaign donations by wasting your money on earmarks
These are some of the "pressing issues" our corrupt politicians are wasting our money on...during the most acute recession since the great depression, 70 years ago...Call your senators and congressmen and voice your opinion, they obviously didn't pay attention to last month's election results.


H/T Jamiewearingfool

UPDATE: via Jamie Dupree's Washington Insider, here are links to the earmarks themselves: 

EARMARKS PART 1 - How about a 98 page list of earmarks for Labor & Health programs? http://is.gd/iKI18



EARMARKS PART 2 - Then there is the 90 page list of Transportation & Housing earmarks http://is.gd/iKIgU

EARMARKS PART 3 - There is the short four page list for Military Construction http://is.gd/iKIoq

EARMARKS PART 4 - Here is the 16 page list of earmarks for Interior/Environment programs http://is.gd/iKIt2

EARMARKS PART 5 - Check out the 3 pages of Homeland Security earmarks from FEMA, etc http://is.gd/iKIAQ

EARMARKS PART 6 - And add in the 11 pages of earmarks for Agricultural programs (pdf) http://is.gd/iKIIW

EARMARKS PART 7 - Also the five pages of earmarks in the Financial Services bill (pdf) http://is.gd/iKIRb

EARMARKS PART 8 - And there are 29 pages of earmarks from Commerce/State/Justice programs http://is.gd/iKJ4X

EARMARKS PART 9 - And don't forget the 23 pages of Energy & Water project earmarks http://is.gd/iKJiU

Mr. Dupree comments,

When you take a long look at those earmark numbers, you can see that more Democrats are up on the high end in terms of earmarks, with a lot more Republicans down here on the low end of the scale. The projects include the usual smattering of things that make some lawmakers go nuts, like $300,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society. "I'm not making it up," said Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who again took to the floor on Tuesday to denounce the thousand of earmarks in this bill from both parties."The American people said just 42 days ago, 'Enough!'" said McCain. "Are we tone deaf? Are we stricken with amnesia?"

That there are any Republicans at all is damn near criminal.  Here's what America voted against and these bastards have utterly forgotten the lesson.  It's time to toss all  the rat bastards out.

Omnibus Spending Bill

Show to just how tone deaf the Democratic leadership in Congress, they have introduced an Omnibus spending bill the fund the federal government until October of 2011 (Fiscal 2011) that shoots past $1,200,000,000,000.00.  All of which will be funded...by bonds, you've got it, we'll have to BORROW the money!  Included in that bill are 6488 earmarks used as payoffs by corrupt politicians that total $8.3 billion dollars.  While that's basically chump change, it's corrupt chump change in a time we should be looking at fiscal austerity.

This is the bill that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid refused to bring to floor before the election because they feared what the public's reaction would be...as if losing 7 seats in the Senate, and 64 in the House weren't bad enough.  They were afraid that the tsunami would have been worse if the public had been able to peruse this bill before hitting the polling booth.

The $1.2 trillion bill, released on Tuesday, includes more than 6,000 earmarks totaling $8 billion, an amount that many lawmakers decried as an irresponsible binge following a midterm election in which many voters demanded that the government cut spending.
"The American people said just 42 days ago, 'Enough!' . . . Are we tone deaf? Are we stricken with amnesia?" Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a leading earmark critic, said on the Senate floor, flipping through the 1,924-page bill as he pounded his desk.

The bill includes $18 million for two nonprofits associated with deceased Democrats, the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Rep. John P. Murtha; $349,000 for swine waste management in North Carolina; and $6 million for a rural Iowa school program named after Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).

 While Mitch McConnell has agreed to a moritorium on earmarks...

the legislation includes provisions requested this year by McConnell, including $650,000 for a genetic technology center at the University of Kentucky, according to an analysis of the bill by Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog.

That's the height of hypocrisy...even for a jaded GOP leadership that no one in this country trusts.  On the plus side, John Boehner did release this: 

"If President Obama is truly serious about ending earmarks, he should oppose Senate Democrats' pork-laden omnibus spending bill and announce he will veto it if necessary. This bill represents exactly what the American people have rejected: more spending, more earmarks, and more big government. Republicans strongly oppose this last-ditch spending spree, a smack in the face to taxpayers at a time when we're borrowing 40 cents of every dollar we spend. Senate Democrats even go so far as to plow more than $1 billion into implementing ObamaCare, despite a growing national revolt against this job-killing health care law. . . .Senate Democrats should stand down so we can get to work on cleaning up Washington's fiscal mess"

The need to stop Washington’s job-killing spending binge may be lost on Senate Democrats, but it will be a top priority for the new Republican majority in the House. We have already banned earmarks and made a pledge to America to end the practice of omnibus bills like this disgrace and cut spending to pre-‘stimulus,’ pre-bailout levels. Instead of making reckless spending decisions in the waning days of the lame-duck session, Senate Democrats should stand down so we can get to work on cleaning up Washington’s fiscal mess.

What the GOP leadership must emphatically remember, the country didn't choose the Republican Party because we like an trust them, they were chosen because "they suck a little bit less" than the Democrats.  Here's some of the pork in the Senate version

• $247,000 - Virus free grapes in Washington State
• $413,000 - Peanut research in Alabama
• $125,000 - Fishery equipment for the Guam Fisherman’s Cooperative Association
• $349,000 - Swine waste management in North Carolina
• $277,000 - Potato pest management in wisconsin
• $246,000 - Bovine tuberculosis treatment in Michigan and Minnesota
• $522,000 - Cranberry and blueberry disease and breeding in New Jersey
• $500,000 - Oyster safety in Florida
• $400,000 - Solar parking canopies and plug-in electric stations in Kansas
• $165,000 - Maple syrup research in Vermont

Here's John McCain on the floor of the Senate, commenting about this bill.

 

 Basically, what it comes down to is this Democratically led Congress is telling America, and the just past election results, a resounding "fuck you."  They obviously haven't been listening, much less paying attention to what We The People want out elected representatives to do.

It's well past time to put an end to "lame duck" sessions, unless there is a pressing national emergency.  It's only been in the past 30 or so years that lame duck sessions have become the norm, and that norm has only been in the past 12 or so years.  Prior to the early 1980's, lame duck sessions were only called when pressing issues needed attention.  This Congress, and it's leadership, has ignored the will of the people long enough.  I believe that they don't think that we will remember what they've done in two years.  I don't think that they are taking the Tea Party movement seriously enough.  2012 is coming, and we WILL remember.

H/T Instapundit as always

UPDATE:  Congressman John Sarbanes answered with this:

Thank you for contacting me about deficits and the national debt. The national debt is a serious problem that requires our attention; I agree that we must act decisively to right our present fiscal course.

The irresponsible fiscal policies of the last decade left our nation on precarious fiscal footing as we slid into the worst recession in a generation. The impact of these policies cannot be reversed immediately and, without sustained economic growth, draconian spending cuts and tax increases will be required. That is why there has been general consensus among economists and policy experts that in the near term, as a response to the recession, targeted tax cuts and government spending are a desirable form of economic stimulus. Although balanced budgets must be an essential piece of any long-term economic strategy, the responsible use of short-term stimulus provides a much-needed "shot in the arm" for our struggling economy.

As the economy returns to sustainable growth, and once we have pushed closer to full employment, we must take a serious look at all elements of spending and tax revenue in order to return to fiscal responsibility. Last year, we made progress by enacting a statutory Pay-As-You-Go law to ensure that non-emergency spending or tax cuts are fully paid for elsewhere in budget. Pay-Go was applied during the 1990s and, along with strong economic growth, helped us achieve the budget surpluses of that decade. But the law was allowed to expire in 2002. I am also encouraged by the President's decision to create a national commission to make independent recommendations to the Congress about policies to get our fiscal house in order. The Commission's recommendations include tough choices about entitlements, tax revenue, and discretionary spending. Although I do not agree with every aspect of this proposal, these recommendations serve as a starting point as we begin to debate a comprehensive deficit-reduction package in the coming months. Make no mistake, enacting measures that will truly improve our fiscal condition will require shared sacrifice and real tradeoffs between government services and tax policy. I will come to this debate with the perspective that our budget policies should reflect our nation's values— ensuring opportunity and strengthening communities, promoting private enterprise and innovation, and sharing the costs of government equitably. I look forward to your continued input on this issue and I will keep your views in mind when the Congress considers relevant measures.

Again, I appreciate hearing from you. Please do not hesitate to contact me about other issues of concern to you in the future.

Sincerely,

John Sarbanes
Member of Congress

and I...being an angry Tea Partier answered him thusly: 
message dated 12/15/2010 6:01:44 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, md03ima@mail.house.gov writes:

"The irresponsible fiscal policies of the last decade left our nation on precarious fiscal footing as we slid into the worst recession in a generation. The impact of these policies cannot be reversed immediately and, without sustained economic growth, draconian spending cuts and tax increases will be required."

But when Nancy Pelosi took up the Speaker's gavel in 2006, she said she would be a good steward of "The Peoples" money...yet on her watch, and yours, you have added 1/3 to the national debt, with over $4 trillion dollars added in the past 23 months. How can you justify wasted 1 trillion on 'stimulus' that was now acknowledged by the White House to be an abject failure? How can you justify a two year average deficit of $1.4 trillion dollars per year? Answer that, without political wishy washyness and explain in simple language how...

Richard A. Vail
Pikesville, MD 21208
ravail136@aol.com
http://thevailspot.blogspot.com/

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.--Thomas Jefferson

 

It's time to find a candidate who can oppose this sort of political corruption and do so while not being "captured" by the corrupt Washinton DC system.

PJTV Salutes: The Real Men Of Congress

My journey into the belly of the beast

Here's a terrific column from the Washington Times by Milton R. Wolfe, MD.  He's a political neophyte from Chicago who became active in the Tea Party movement out of anger and disgust with Washington DC...

I told them I will be the first to defend Barack or anyone from personal attacks. Besides, I'd rather win in the marketplace of ideas. But for the sake of our republic, I would launch the mother of all family feuds, if that's what it takes, and take my cousin Barack to task not for some petty, spun-up inference, but for his actual policies. It would be an epic showdown for the heart and soul of America.


I would make him defend the bank bailouts, the failed $814 billion stimulus, double-digit unemployment and the auto-industry takeover. Make him defend the disastrous health care takeover, the 16,000 new IRS agents. Make him explain why he broke his eight pledges to hold health care hearings in public.

I'd make him explain why he became our appeaser-in-chief, bowing (sometimes literally) to the demands of dictators. Make him explain why he abandons Israel, our strongest ally in the Middle East, but won't "meddle" in Iran while it is racing for a nuclear bomb. Make him explain why he wants to grant constitutional rights to the Sept. 11 terrorists but disregards his own constitutional obligation to defend America's borders from invasion.

I'd make him explain why taxpayers should pony up for yet another borrowed-money stimulus when the first one failed so miserably. Why he gave a second round of permanent big-bank bailouts but ignores Main Street businesses that actually create jobs. Make him explain why he broke his pledge not to raise taxes on families earning less than $250,000 and, for that matter, why he thinks families making more than $250,000 - the people who actually create jobs - aren't already taxed enough. Make him explain why each baby born today is welcomed into America with the shackles of more than $40,000 of debt.
I'd make him explain why a government that can't even plug an oil leak can somehow manage the complexities of our lives better than we can ourselves. It's time he explained why he or any president should exercise the unholy power to choose which Americans will be winners and which will be losers.

It's not a smear to say Barack Obama is just flat-out wrong. To disagree with him is not racist, and it's not a personal attack to say he's got some explaining to do. But even that's not the point.

The Tea Party movement exists, I told them, not because of the Democrats. We know who they are, with their tax increases, endless spending and Washington-knows-best takeovers. No, the Tea Parties exist because of the failures of the Republican Party. We were supposed to be the ones Americans could trust.

For too long, the Washington establishment - including Republicans - has been more interested in growing its own power than honoring the ideals upon which generations before us have built the greatest nation in history.

I realize that other serious issues exist. Some of those, in fact, are very important to me. But our nation is in a collapse of our own making because we have violated these basic principles, and if we don't get them right and do it now, we won't survive long enough to fight for those other causes. There comes a time when we must be Americans and take a stand, not for party, but for nation. That time is now.

Incidentally, he's a cousin of Barack Obama...but more importantly this is just the average heretofore, not been involved politically.  He's the typical Tea Partier...but all of his points are exactly what our "political elites" have done (on both sides of the aisle) to screw up our country.  I'm not sure if it will be possible to unfuck the mess that they, collectively have made.  The highlighted/bold is my emphasis, not the author's.

McConnell Gives In On Earmarks...

A little bit ago,  Mitch McConnell, the leader of the GOP minority in the Senate entered the Senate chamber and gave the following speech.

I have seen a lot of elections in my life, but I have never seen an election like the one we had earlier this month. The 2010 midterm election was a “change” election the likes of which I have never seen, and the change that people want, above all, is right here in Washington.

Most Americans are deeply unhappy with their government, more so than at any other time in decades. And after the way lawmakers have done business up here over the last couple of years, it’s easy to see why. But it’s not enough to point out the faults of the party in power. Americans want change, not mere criticism. And that means that all of us in Washington need to get serious about changing the way we do business, even on things we have defended in the past, perhaps for good reason.

If the voters express themselves clearly and unequivocally on an issue, it’s not enough to persist in doing the opposite on the grounds that “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” That’s what elections are all about, after all. And if this election has shown us anything, it’s that Americans know the difference between talking about change, and actually delivering on it.

Bringing about real change is hard work. It requires elected officials — whether they’re in their first week or their 50th year in office — to challenge others and, above all, to challenge themselves to do things differently from time to time, to question, and then to actually shake up the status quo in pursuit of a goal or a vision that the voters have set for the good of our country.

I have thought about these things long and hard over the past few weeks. I’ve talked with my members. I’ve listened to them. Above all, I have listened to my constituents. And what I’ve concluded is that on the issue of congressional earmarks, as the leader of my party in the Senate, I have to lead first by example. Nearly every day that the Senate’s been in session for the past two years, I have come down to this spot and said that Democrats are ignoring the wishes of the American people. When it comes to earmarks, I won’t be guilty of the same thing.

Make no mistake. I know the good that has come from the projects I have helped support throughout my state. I don’t apologize for them. But there is simply no doubt that the abuse of this practice has caused Americans to view it as a symbol of the waste and the out-of-control spending that every Republican in Washington is determined to fight. And unless people like me show the American people that we’re willing to follow through on small or even symbolic things, we risk losing them on our broader efforts to cut spending and rein in government.

That’s why today I am announcing that I will join the Republican Leadership in the House in support of a moratorium on earmarks in the 112th Congress.

Over the years, I have seen presidents of both parties seek to acquire total discretion over appropriations. And I’ve seen presidents of both parties waste more taxpayer dollars on meritless projects, commissions, and programs than every congressional earmark put together. Look no further than the Stimulus, which Congress passed without any earmarks only to have the current administration load it up with earmarks for everything from turtle tunnels to tennis courts.

Contrast this with truly vital projects I have supported back home in Kentucky, such as the work we’ve done in relation to the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Western Kentucky.

Here was a facility at which workers, for years, were unaware of the dangers that the uranium at the plant posed to their health or how to safely dispose of the hazardous materials that were used there. Thanks to an expose about the plant in the 90s by the “Washington Post”, the danger was made known and I set about forcing the government to put a cleanup plan in place and to treat the people who had worked there. Through the earmark process, we were able to force reluctant administrations of both parties to do what was needed to clean up this site and to screen the people who had worked there for cancer. These screenings saved lives, and they would not have happened if Congress had not directed the funds to pay for them.

Another success story is the Bluegrass Army Depot, which houses some of the deadliest materials and chemical weapons on earth. As a nation we had decided that we would not use the kind of weapons that were stored at this site; and yet the federal government was slow to follow through on safely dismantling and removing them, even after we’d signed an international treaty that required it. But thanks to congressional appropriations we are on the way to destroying the chemical weapons at this site safely and thus protect the community that surrounds it.

Administrations of both parties have failed to see the full merit in either of these projects, which is one of the reasons I have been reluctant to cede responsibility for continuing the good work that is being done on them and on others to the Executive Branch.

So I’m not wild about turning over more spending authority to the executive branch, but I have come to share the view of most Americans that our nation is at a crossroads; that we will not be able to secure the kind of future we want for our children and grandchildren unless we act, and act quickly; and that only way we will be able to turn the corner and save our future is if elected leaders like me make the kinds of difficult decisions voters are clearly asking us to make.

Republicans in and out of Washington have argued strenuously for two years that spending and debt are at crisis levels. And we have demonstrated our seriousness about cutting spending and reining in government. Every Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, for instance, voted against every appropriations bill in committee this year because they simply cost too much. Most included funding for projects in our home states. We voted against them anyway.

Banning earmarks is another small but important symbolic step we can take to show that we’re serious, another step on the way to serious and sustained cuts in spending and to the debt.

Earlier this month voters across the country said they are counting on Republicans to make tough decisions. They gave us a second chance. With this decision, I’m telling them that they were right to put their trust in us. And it’s my fervent hope that it will help demonstrate to the American people in some way just how serious Republicans are about not letting them down.

Republican Leaders in the House and Senate are now united on this issue, united in hearing what the voters have been telling us for two years — and acting on it.

This is no small thing. Old habits aren’t easy to break, but sometimes they must be. And now is such a time. With a $14 trillion debt and an administration that talks about cost-cutting, but then sends over a budget that triples the national debt in 10 years and creates a massive new entitlement program, it’s time for some of us in Washington to show in every way possible that we mean what we say about spending.

With Republican leaders in Congress united, the attention now turns to the President. We have said we are willing to give up discretion; now we’ll see how he handles spending decisions. And if the president ends up with total discretion over spending, we will see even more clearly where his priorities lie. We already saw the administration’s priorities in a Stimulus bill that’s become synonymous with wasteful spending, that borrowed nearly $1 trillion for administration earmarks like turtle tunnels, a sidewalk that lead to a ditch, and research on voter perceptions of the bill.

Congressional Republicans uncovered much of this waste. Through congressional oversight, we will continue to monitor how the money taxpayers send to the administration is actually spent. It’s now up to the President and his party leaders in Congress to show their own seriousness on this issue, to say whether they will join Republican leaders in this effort and then, after that, in significantly reducing the size and cost and reach of government. The people have spoken. They have said as clearly as they can that this is what they want us to do.

They will be watching.

Yes, Mr. McConnell we will be watching.  Mr. McConnell wants very much to be Majority Leader in 2012...but he wants even less a hard primary campaign which would leave him vulnerable to a loss...because the people of this country really are pissed at the irresponsibility of Congress in their spending habits.  But, when it's all said and done...it's our fault for allowing them to do so...by continually re-electing them to office. 

Yes, Mr. McConnell we will be watching everything you in Congress do over the next two years...the Tea Party movement isn't going to go away any time soon.  The grown up are going to take back control of Congress from the irresponsible children who have over the past 100 years, but even more so in the past 30 years, driven us into a ditch and nearly off of the cliff.

via Instapundit

GOP Buyer's Remorse? Think It's Congressional Remorse...

In today's NY Times there's a column by yet another tool of the Democratic media complex named Charles Blow.  He quotes a Pew poll that buyer's remorse has set in over the recent national election. 

Democrats still searching for a silver lining to the waxing they took last Tuesday can cheer up a bit. According to a new poll, the public may already be experiencing a bit of buyer’s remorse about the choices they’ve made,

I submit that there was far more "remorse" prior to the election due to the suicidal spending policies of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama.  Basically voters chose the GOP because the suck just a little bit less than the alternative...an alternative that in four years has added more than 1/3 to the national debt, much of that within the past 2 years.  Here's my comment:

Your Submitted Comment

Display Name  Rich Vail
Location  Pikesville, MD
Comment
I think the common fallacy here is that the country \"trusts\" the GOP more than the democrats. What it really is that the GOP sucks a little less than the Democrats. That's it pure and simple. Under the GOP when they controlled Congress, last in 2006, the largest deficit was \"only\" $485 billion dollars. That number has been dwarfed by the last to Congresses controlled by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid...who have added $5,000,000,000,000.00 to the debt, that's more than 1/3 of the cumulative national debt of $13 trillion dollars.

That along with a tone deaf White House who pushed a health care seizure that the country doesn't want, led by a Speaker who said \"we have to pass the bill to find out what's in it...\" has led the country to repudiate that agenda. America, whether you like it or not here in the NY Times echo chamber, is a centre/right country. The Democratic Party refused over the past two years to listen to what the voters wanted.

You think this election was bad...just wait until the 26 GOP controlled state legislatures reapportion Congressional districts. You'll see ever more losses of House seats. Additionally, there will be some 20 seats in the Senate that now hold Democrats...more than half of which are considered to be \"vulnerable.\"

If the GOP doesn't FUBAR the next two years, you'll see even more losses in the Senate (10-15, perhaps 18) and another 30 or so in the House...think about that...Even should Mr. Obama gain reelection, the GOP would then hold a veto-proof majority in both Houses of Congress as well as a filibuster proof majority in the Senate.

Rich Vail
Pikesville, MD
http://thevailspot.blogspot.com

comments?

E J Dionne's Hypocrisy

It's not often that a liberal commentator of the Washington Post can be all things to everyone...but E J Dionne manages it in a 2 year span.

"Above all, it is time to celebrate the country's wholehearted embrace of democracy, reflected in the intense engagement of Americans in this campaign and the outpouring to the polls all over the nation. . . . Barack Obama's sweeping electoral victory cannot be dismissed merely as a popular reaction to an economic crisis or as a verdict on an unpopular president. . . . In choosing Obama and a strongly Democratic Congress, the country put a definitive end to a conservative era."--E.J. Dionne, Washington Post, Nov. 5, 2008

This time the election of Mr. Obama can't possibly be a rejection of the GOP and George W. Bush, though Mr. Obama campaigned for 2 solid years as the "anti-Bush" candidate.

"Much of the post-election analysis will focus on ideology, on whether Obama moved 'too far left' and embraced too much 'big government.' All this will overlook how moderate Obama's program actually is. It will also pretend that an anxiety rooted in legitimate worry about the country's long-term economic future is the result of doctrine rather than experience. . . . The classic middle-ground voter who will swing this election . . . has always been suspicious of dogmatic promises that certain big ideas would give birth to a utopian age. This voter is looking for simpler and more realistic things."--E.J. Dionne, Washington Post, Nov. 1, 2010

But here...Mr. Obama, and his enabler's in the Congressional leadership who spent money that makes the $485 Billion dollars last (Democratic majority passed) fiscal year deficit look like child's play...But then, the original post above is exactly the point of the 2nd one...Obama promised us the moon and stars and has delivered dust...this election is nothing but about a rejection of the profligate spending and far left socialist agenda that Mr. Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have pursued since assuming office in January of last year.