Coalition American Style

3 November 2010



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Republicans Take House, Lose Freedom

The sigh of relief one hears emanating from the United States is that of millions of citizens who survived the TV and radio blitz of plain awful political advertising. With any luck, the 2012 campaign won't start until after Christmas. The Republicans have taken control of the House of Representatives, and thereby lost the most enjoyable job in politics -- opposition. The opposition doesn't have to make responsible promises, doesn't have to produce budgets that work, and doesn't have to make tough choices. In opposition, a party can pledge more spending, lower taxes, peace and security, a chicken in every pot, and Super Bowl tickets for all. Now, though, the Republicans need to start being more responsible, and that is going to prove a challenge.

Thus far in the Obama years, the Republicans have luxuriated in being the Party of "No" and not the Party of "Know." Because they lacked the votes to stop everything, they relied on the filibuster in the Senate to prevent legislation. That was the only card they had to play, and they played it repeatedly. Bills passed in the House died in the Senate without an up or down vote. Judicial and diplomatic nominations have been on permanent (even terminal) hold.

Because of the way the American constitution has arranged power in Washington, the Republicans still can't do much. Repeal Obamacare, tax cuts for all, privatizing Social Security, none of that is going to happen. A radical, or even muscular, conservative agenda will not pass the Senate and certainly will not survive a presidential veto. Indeed, one expects the House Republicans to pass a great many bills (constitutionally, all tax measures must start in the House) and the Democratic Senate will simply not act. This may give the GOP a weapon in November 2012, but it does little to help the country in 2011.

The Tea Party (or more accurately, the Tea Corporate Front Organization) didn't have much of a night last night, losing House and Senate seats that more responsible Republicans would have taken easily (the Delaware Senate sear for example). However, enough of its yahoos won seats in both chambers to make the established Republican leadership in Washington nervous. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell did not back Senator-elect Rand Paul in the GOP primary in Kentucky. Mr. Paul said on CNN early this morning, "We will challenge him [McConnell] from day to day, but there will be many areas in which we agree. Most Republicans think we're spending too much, the deficit's too high. But sometimes when we've gotten in power we've gone along and not really stayed the course. I will be one who will say to Republicans in my party, 'We do need to stay the course and go ahead and balance our budget'." That's going to require specific spending cuts and/or tax increases. The GOP will make enemies when it makes those choices, and the Tea Corporation shills won't let them off the hook.

There is a chance that the Republicans in the House will find a way to work with the Democrats in the Senate and with the White House. One will not go broke betting against that proposition, though. Too many GOP freshmen are entering the House at a time when compromise and cooperation are dirty words. Few of the GOP incumbents have a record of being anything but partisan obstructionists of the Obama agenda and partisan rubber stamps of the Bushevik policies.

Those sighs of relief will change to cries of pain in the coming months, either through Washington dealing with the disasters previous policies have created or through an inability to act. The good news is the American voter will get a chance to fix the mess again in 2012.

© Copyright 2010 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.

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