After GOP victories, what changes do you see for the state and the country?
Posted at 5:00 AM on November 3, 2010
by Jon Gordon
(69 Comments)
Filed under: Politics/Government
Republicans made big gains in races across Minnesota and the United States in elections yesterday. Today's Question: With the sweeping Republican victories, what changes do you see ahead for the state and the country?
Comments (69)
Economic issues are certainly of primacy right now, but as a member of the gay community having endured the DOMA and "sanctity of marriage" rhetoric from the conservative side, the last decade has been demoralizing. On the local level, it was exciting to consider the likelihood of electing a governor here in MN who is in favor of marriage equality, and then deflating to see Republicans (who are not in favor of such action) take control of both houses. For social justice issues like that aren't "priority" (compared to, say, health care or the national debt), it's frustrating to feel that we don't have a voice amidst the partisan wrangling and gridlock when this is an issue that directly impacts a sizable number of us.
I agree with many of the comments above. The gap between rich and poor will widen. The ME first attitude will prevail. Education for the masses will be underfunded. Crime rates will rise dramatically. Prisons will expand and continue to require more funding than education. Environmental issues will lose to the demand for greater individual wealth. Outsourcing will continue and cheap labor imported to satisfy the lust for money and profit. The American Dream will be gone and the Grand idea of " government of the people, by the people and for the people" will become a faded memory.
I'm not democrate or republican; but in my opinion today is a very sad day. When a party whose main objective is not to govern but to dismantel and disrupt, I fear we are in danger of civil unrest.
if the mantra is jobs and smaller government, doesn't the opposition know that with smaller government there will be MORE unemployment. I think government is too big by at least 30%, but I'm not sure that now is the time for massive layoffs or spinoffs toward outsourcing already broken government processes.
During the next two years, if the party of filibuster and "no" continues with that campaign, they will not be voted in in 2012. This is not a time for the democrates to be humble about the progress that has been made or will be made as initiatives are fully implemented. That may mean altering any regulations that do not show significant progress. Please don't take the short term view. Stay invested for the long term. Remember we will be paying off 8 years of prior Republican rule for more than the next 8 years. So legislate for the long term, ignore lobbyists and tune out those who want ot make politics a "reality show".
My message to Obama, be bold, decisive, bring both sides together and hold them accountable. Consensus building is NOT a concept American people (as a whole) understand or appreciate.
I wonder what how much the outcomes would have differed if self serving "celebrities" and lobbyists were not so successful. When I see the result of their influence if in general, we are smart enough to elect our own representatives.
By the way, I'm very happy Terryl Clark lost, I was appaled by her negative campaign and me, me, me messages.
I think that in many respects the Minnesota governor's outcome is a mirror to the nation. As a nation, I think we are split right down the middle.
JBlilie - apparently sarcasm doesn't translate well in text. :(
I see another economic downturn coming, OR WORSE. The poor, middle class, and down-and-outers will be worse off while big business and the rich will get even more. Whiny people voted for a change because they haven't recovered yet from the Great Recession after only 2 years. It took many more years than that to recover from the Great Depression. Why don't you (who voted Republican) think about others for a change, instead of just your own pocketbook.
I'm not sure about the changes I see coming, but what I hope for is a scaling back of federal interference in the affairs of states and of private citizens. Lower taxes, fewer mandates, intelligent regulation only where needed, and acceptance of a reduced role. Too much to expect, perhaps; but I can at least hope.
While I regret her loss to Betty McCollum, I am so proud to have met and had the chance to support Teresa Collett in her bid for Congress.
I hope I'm wrong, but I foresee more whining, blaming, poor leadership unable to work WITH others to resolve real issues. I see weak and unrealistic proposals or proposals that continue to hurt those of us who work hard, take care of our families, struggle to find health care, live on social security. Yet it will continue to benefit those have more than they need and fail to support those in need. In short, a continuation of the control of big business and greedy leaders who fail to understand what it means to be a part of a community. OUr only hope is Governor Dayton who, I am confident, will insist on legislators working together and will attempt to keep Minnesota focused on creative community centered problem solving.
Virtually nothing of any consequence will happen here or nationally over the next two years. All parties in power will remind us that it's not "the American People" (Lord I'm starting to hate that phrase) that politicians care about but only the amassing of personal power and wealth that comes with winning the next election, and then the next.
At both the state and federal levels, I expect to see the Republicans continue their non-compromising ways. Our way or the highway.
We will see the same trends continue that stated under Reagan: the wealthy will continue to get wealthier, the middle class will continue to shrink, and the percentage of Americans living in poverty increase.
Reagan seemed to have had two primary goals for domestic policy: destroy the labor movement, and use tax policy and every other means possible to transfer the public's wealth to the already wealthy. By eliminating the progressive income tax (or dismantling it as much as possible) and by destroying (at least partially) the labor movement, he dealt an almost fatal blow to the middle class.
The current version of the Republican party is pursing Reagan's goals with a vengeance. Listen to Emmer talk about the teacher's union: he absolutely froths at the mouth.
Clark a word for you: I lived in France for several years. If I hadn't been born and raised in the United States, and if my family didn't live here, I'd probably choose to continue living in France. Their health care system is ranked first by the World Health Organization. That's a little better than 37th, where ours was ranked when the health-care-reform legislation passed. The fact is most Western Europeans enjoy a much higher standard of living than most Americans do. We have to constantly worry about where we're going to find enough money to send our kids to college (university education is virtually free in most Western European countries), and Americans constantly worry about how they're going to afford health care, or what will happen to their health care if they lose their jobs, And of course those who do have jobs are finding they have to pay higher and higher deductibles and co-pays. I know several people who have health insurance, but don't see a doctor when they're sick, because they can't afford the co-pays. My my, it just never ends. And how do Europeans pay for their fabulous health care systems? That's what they get for their taxes. What do we get? Well, in addition to the big entitlement programs, Social Security and Medicare, we get a military budget that is roughly the equivalent of all of the military budgets of all of the countries in the world combined. Aren't we lucky? And, of course, the Republicans in Congress want to cut funding for education and increase the military budget.
I would love to see Americans demand (and I mean really angrily, furiously demand) of their senators or representatives an answer to this question: Why do we need such a huge military budget? If we start addressing that question and looking at what's behind the military budget--what the real purpose of our military is--then we might be able to really move forward as a country.
Mostly we'll unleash our insecurities on a whole new set of people. Also, the Democratic party as a whole will switch from being terrified to act back to being unable to act. (If ever there was a lesson about ripeness of time, this was it. They're like the J. Alfred Prufrocks of national politics.)
I think that yesterdays election is the end of the Republican party; that is to say, the Republican party as we've know it for generations is dead. It is no longer the party of fiscal conservatism, it is that party of CEO's. If you ever wondered what the U.S. House of Representative should be insured for, it's $350 million, at least that is what was paid for it last night by the likes of The Chamber of Commerce and Karl Rove. In the senate, millions of dollars flooded into specific races like WI and like a drone attack, they took out members of the Senate who have served this country for years. It looks like there will be a party with the same name as The Republicans, but it does not, and will not look like any Republicans we've seen.
All I have to say is all of you folks who voted for the GOP? Well, you will get exactly what you wanted, or at least what you thought you wanted. How quickly you forget the disaster which were the Bush years. Not one, but two wars, flat job growth, “enhanced interrogation” and, oh yea, and the little issue of the financial meltdown. If you’re well off financially, have health insurance, and have a job, you’ll have little to worry about. The GOP will take care of you……..As long as you can care for yourself. The rest of us? Well, there is the “Trickle-down theory”!
Two years from now you’ll all be dumb –founded asking, “What happened?” What happened indeed!
The military is licking its chops, expecting big funding again. Isn't it about time for a third Iraq War? Or did it never end?
Stomping on enfeebled the middle class will accelerate.
National health care will be eviscerated. You'll have to work into your 70's to keep shrinking employer-supplied health benefits, as the eligibility age for Medicare will be raised.
You can expect to be downsized several times due to "business-friendly" policies.
I am worried about funding for early childhood education and also the programs that go along with this field. Such as Head Start and Day Care funding for lower income families who need this help as much as their children do.
Midas: "I'm expecting a return to the prosperity of the Bush years. And I can't wait!"
Midas: I think you are very confused: You are remembering the Clinton years, not the Bush years! The Bush years: when we had the jobless recovery, two new wars, record deficits (yes, including when the GOP held all the branches), and policies that created the current recession.
Goodness, your comment surely makes it easy for me to see how that GOP has convinced the electorate to vote against their own economic interests!
maybe we will be more aggressive on the economy and a wakeup call that the obama admin needs to step it up!
I didn't follow at all. But, here's what I'll have to say. The term 'victory' is wrong. I see the campaign and the dabate, as a platform and a catalyzer, where all the cards are set open on the Table, and everyone and even those who don't enquire and participate, have a chance to turn each plan and each proposed venue, from all directions and all sides, test each one as completely and throughly as possible, to select the one that meets the common cause. Not only no one is adversary, and no one registers win, on the contrary, they both right from the start try to serve the same cause, and by firm but candid debate, spot the flaws, as well as those which promise the most efficient way to get where one set as the goal. The only Ballot I took part, was vote for officers of my Professional Societies, and there is no winners there. That's one of the reasons, why we, as Professional Societies, prosper, and get better and better. Checks and balances. As a matter of fact it's an going process, everyday. We only wrap it up at Elections, where we have already all that we need to make a choice.That is at least one good thing about Professional Society, dry and objective and impartial, at least striving to, which is hard to come by elsewhere.
Honestly, this passage came to me this morning @ 4 am.
But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon the people.
Luke 23:21
None I think I'm going to like.
Nothing will change. This year was the GOP's time to use the word "change". What's not clear to me is who will get to use the word in two years.
There will be no real change unless the economics of electoral politics changes; the politics of electoral economics is such that it will not change.
Right. Left.
Left. Right.
Short Memory.
Little Patience.
Business As Usual.
Clark-
I think you are misunderstanding/misusing that stat. Yes the wealthy pay for the majority of government but that is meaningless. The Sun is responsible for nearly all of the energy on earth but we are only intercepting a tiny, tiny portion of the energy the sun is putting out. Similarly the top 20% fund most of government but they pay a smaller portion of their income in taxes than most other income levels. And the more money you make the lower your percentage of taxes you pay. Even rich people do better when taxes are progressive because the schools and the infrastructure are better so there is more growth.
Oh Gawd! I don't know what the legislature should do first, now that it has changed hands, but, based on some of the posts I've read here, perhaps the first thing they should do is re-legalise dueling. I can't see any other way some of these arguments will come to an end!
I don't know what will happen next. Politics have a way of changing so rapidly that the sort of predictions were being asked to make tend to become irrelevent pretty quickly. One thing I am pretty sure of is that the earth is not going to shift in its orbit--so calm down!
@Clark:
"Unless your in a blood sucking public employee union, wealth creation is the driver."
No really, it's "you're." Words have actual meanings.
I'm nowhere near the top income earners, but I'm pretty sure I could find $5 in my bi-weekly budget that could be taxed instead. If we all pay just a little more, we can make a lot of progress.
Clark, do you actually believe that you have earned every bit of wealth you have, that you deserve to be allowed to keep every penny, and that you have no responsibility to support the common good or help provide for those who can't provide for themselves? What did you do to deserve being born into an affluent society, or to have the social support in your childhood to achieve what you did in your education? Did you create the economic system in which you've found a way to prosper, or did you merely exploit what others had already built? What did you do to merit being born with the traits that have enabled you to succeed? Did you benefit from having wealthy parents? If so, how did you earn that privilege? Are you a white male? How did you come to deserve the privileges that go with that? If you' ve given your kids the advantages of growing up in an affluent home, how did they earn that?
And what did children born into poor families do to deserve being disadvantaged throughout their lives so that it's much harder for them to prosper and much more likely that they will grow up to be poor themselves?
"From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded."
~~ Jesus of Nazareth
GRIDLOCK! Each side will continue to blame the other for this country's problems, every politician will continue to cater to his/her campaign donors, immigration reform will not occur, the debt will continue to increase, and America's death spiral will steepen...
I see the continued denial of a civil right to some Minnesota couples. Namely, civil marriage will likely continue to be denied to gay couples. Despite the separation of church and state, some allegedly-Christian denominations will continue to insist that their religious rules be codified into civil law.
Tax cuts will be extended, and the rich will get richer while the poor become poorer.
We should all expect more racism, ignorance and classism as the party who cares more about themselves than their peers gains more power.
Today is a good day if you own a business. For the other 99% of citizens in the country (non-business owners), life will undoubtedly become even harder.
I think this country is about to learn that cutting spending doesn't revive the economy. More to the country issue, there's a lot of hate right now, for gays, for immigrants, for minorities, for the poor, for the elderly, for government that I think we've started a civil war here today, certainly one that hasn't been officially declared, but one that is taking shape nonetheless. Minnesota mirrors that same hate, and long term, that's going to mean more Minnesotans are going to have go with substandard schools, substandard roads and bridges, substandard care for their parents and grandparents, and all that substandard care comes at a personal cost, so while taxes won't be raised, Minnesota families are going to have to pay extra from their own pockets to take care of these needs. Having taxes taken out, which are fairly small and invisible, is nothing like having to pay a monthly bill that is large and is going towards a business that can raise its prices whenever it wants to, and sue you or disconnect your service if you don't pay your bill on time. Small business also thinks they won't be hurt by a Republican Congress, but historically Republicans have allowed large sections of main street to be run OUT OF BUSINESS by large corporations. They haven't historically helped main street.
American decline accelerating and triggering another global economic collapse. Just like if the Democrats had won.
- Pelosi will let the Bush era tax cuts expire; it will be a circus to watch.
- The Health Care Bill will be improved; it will not be repealed.
- We will start hearing about all those irrelevant social issues again.
- Spending will drop, but not materially, and the national debt will continue to grow.
- Dayton's tax increases won't happen. There will be all kinds of amazing accounting tricks coming out of St Paul.
- Our current economic challenges will stick to the newly elected Republicans like glue and they will have a real problem on their hands in 2012.
- Obama will become a better president. He will pay more attention to the deficit and will communicate his successes more thoroughly.
- The economy will do whatever it's going to do. Unless someone proposes a "currency adjustment surcharge" of about 50% on Chinese imorts, jobs will continue to head offshore.
- It will all-in-all be better than people think it will be, as balance helps the quality of thinking and legislation.
Our chances of becoming another California, Greece, France or England has lessened some.
Which is a good thing.
As soon as the House of Representatives is sworn in with it's Republican majority, I expect House investigative committees to be formed, subpeonas issued, and a steady stream of administration personnel to wear a path to the Capitol. These committees will of course be looking to find any perceived malfeasance in Obama's administration. As the Democrats did with Bush and the Republicans with Clinton, our representatives will waste millions of dollars and valuable time to simply grandstand and be self-righteous when more pressing issues are at hand, like governing a nation.
Not much. There will be a lot of staging, bickering, and compromise. Legislation that is put into law will be lukewarm, Michelle Bachmann will say some truly brilliant things, and everyone will be talking about the 2012 national campaign. "Sigh" I think it's time to kill my television.
Naturally, the State and Federal Governments will take a step back in protecting the publics interest. Property is the essential plank of the GOP. The People is the essential plank of the DFL. It is truelly that simple.
At the Federal level- Defense will get more funding, Wall Street and the Banks will be further deregulated, Reproductive Choice will be more regulated, Business will have more to say, Healthcare will be more profitable, Education Funding will be slashed, Energy will prosper with more deregulation, the Infrastructure will further decline, the Quality of Life will suffer with more economic consequences.
At the State level the bills are due. Slashing State spending will occure in Infrastructure, Healthcare, Education, Local Governments, Recreation, Pensions, etc.
More debt will be pushed to the future, when possible.
More bridges will fall. MnDOT will kill more people. The Quality of Life will spiral downward.
I'm getting close to retirement and count on Social Security and Medicare to be there, especially so after the huge drop in our 401Ks and IRAs. We spent our money on college for our kids and renewing our skills after both being downsized in earlier recessions. We don't have much set aside and I worry about property and income taxes consuming all our meager retirement income. Do we have to chose between services for the poor and needy vs. maintenance of bridges? Where do we cut back as a state. I have a lot of faith in the general goodness and practical nature of the people who serves us in our local and state governments.
I see us spending a lot of money on Congress and Senate salaries for those representatives hell-bent on making sure Obama doesn't get re-elected. Talk about wasteful spending. I can't believe we elected representation that has no plan to work for us but only the Republican Party.
I haven't personally been affected significantly by the economy, but look around people. Look outside of your $500,000 house and see what is happening. Just think how many lives Michelle Bachman could have changed with her millions of dollars of campaign funds. Where have our values gone?
I see a continuation of the failed policies of the Bush years; with a steady march towards increased income inequality, a shrinking middle class, and increased power of the wealthy over every body else. We become more like Latin America, and less like Europe.
Andrea:
The top 20% of income earners already pay 70-75% of all federal income taxes. Is your solution 100% so the bottom 80% can ride the wagon their entire lives. If you remove incentives to wealth creation, we're toast as a nation. Unless your in a blood sucking public employee union, wealth creation is the driver.
I refuse to accept the notion you have the right to confiscate my income for your worthless legislation. Move to France or Belgium.
As obama stated in 2009, we won, you lost.
As far as the state of Minnesota goes, I don't really expect much of a change. No new taxes pledges, a growing gap between rich and poor, and cuts to programs serving those most in need are all things that we've seen under Gov. Pawlenty. I don't expect the same Republican tactics to suddenly yield different results this time around.
I expect the rhetoric to get even nastier. When Obama took office, he held out an olive branch and started trying to compromise with the Republicans even before negotiations began (e.g., by taking "single payer" off the table) and was still opposed and sabotaged at every turn. He wound up having to compromise even further to get mere baby steps done (e.g., giving up even the "public option" so as to pass a feckless health care reform based mostly on Republican ideas, that they opposed anyway). Meanwhile, the Republican base has punished any incumbent that dared show the least bit of concilliation. The Republicans who won last night all ran on promises of not compromising in the slightest and their leadership has stated that bringing Obama down is the their first priority.
No wonder Republicans tend to oppose anti-bullying legislation for schools. Bullying has worked very well for them in Washington and St.Paul.
I expect my neighborhood to deteriorate further as the rich get richer, the middle class get poorer and the poor get pushed over the edge. I expect a lower quality of life for the vast majority of Americans. And as a lesbian, I expect even more scapegoating and fear-mongering about same-sex marriage and about queer people generally.
Fortunately, President Obama will still have the veto pen to control concessions that Republicans may make to big business and to the wealthy. I fear that if Mark Dayton isn't declared the winner of the gubernatorial race in Minnesota, the state of Minnesota, under Republican control, will continue to pander to the wishes of the wealthy, and the concerns of big business. This will result in the continued decline of the middle class, and continued reductions in services for the poor and elderly.
I'm also very upset with the Republicans already crying fraud in the closeness of the Governors race, and the accusations that the Secretary of State may have has something to do with inconsistencies in the ballot counting, without any basis for their accusations.
Tax breaks for the ultra rich.
Corporate welfare.
Corporate greed.
Out of controll Defense spending.
Middle Class hurting.
Poor people and disabled in big trouble.
You know, the Bush Administration.
@Clark: I would like to pay for YOUR education. Then you would understand how to properly use "YOU'RE" in a sentence.
If Republicans think they can fix the economy by cutting spending and not raising any taxes anywhere, then more power to them.
In reality however, change is slow to come, and frustrated Americans will just turn it all around yet again in another two years, because we are too impatient and too demanding.
You like the rest of the media are not talking about the massive amount of money that was provided by the millionaires nation wide to tell the voting public the biggest lies ever to sway this election in the very conservative direction to put this country baqckwards for decades to come.
The massive amounts of money were made possible by the very conservative Surpreme Court, just like Bush was made President back in 2000..
The average working class American is Screwed !
2 years of obstructionist politics.
Continued increase in poverty rate for our state. Less access to health care if areas of MN Care, etc...are scaled back. Wealthy holding on to thier wealth and no "trick down", its never happened.
I wonder if all these newly elected officials would be willing to give up thier new PUBLIC health care benefits that they are so much against for others.
Well it is now going to be a few years before anything gets done on the climate front so the change we may see is parts of Florida slipping beneath the ocean.
We will now have the Republicans in a position to use the instruments of government to wage a two year smear campaign on the President by forcing him to act as Moderate in chief, and then crying obstructionism.
Gloom, despair,agony, and woe, deep dark depression, excessive misery, if it weren't for bad luck I've no luck at all !!!!!
I honestly don't know what is going to happen. There are no "quick fixes" for the economy. It took 10 YEARS to recover from the Great Depression, but if corporations invest in the economy like they did in this campaign, things may start moving quickly. The only words I have for the GOP? Good luck, it's time to put your policy where your mouth is. Remember the Chinese curse about getting all you desire? And Clark? Remember what goes around comes around. You may one day find yourself as the "you" that you disparage and when you reach for a helping hand find a closed fist instead.
Brad writes
"The only thing I know for sure is that we'll have divided government both state and federal. That is a GOOD thing."
Divided government is good when both sides of the divide are willing to negotiate, compromise and work together to find common ground in pursuit of solutions to the problems we face. I am concerned that we don't have that kind of divided government right now.
First off, I never expected to see so much red in MN....
As far as changes, I think it will be a lot of the same partisan bantering and gridlock, unfortunately. It really depends on who ends up being the official governor. If Dayton ends up pulling the official win, we stand a chance as a state. If Emmer pulls the official win, I think we are all basically screwed.
For most of us, nothing will change. The Democrats and Republicans will continue to exchange playground barbs and get very little accomplished that will truly deal with the issues facing us right now. Despite all the media coverage of change, we will still get to hear all sorts of finger-pointing but will see no action.
I see the US House focusing more on partisan investigations than solving the problems our country faces. In DC overall, we're in for solid gridlock - nothing happening in the Senate and no ability to compromise between the Senate & House, which almost assures a budget showdown & gov't shutdown.
In the states, the laboratories of democracy will begin experimenting with single-party control in WI, among other states. MN has the potential for gridlock, apparently having swapped red for blue & blue for red in the executive & legislative branches. Or do I have that backwards? In either case, more of the same - Lege writes a budget the Gov won't sign, meaning no resolutions to the budget fiasco.
Its hard not to be cynical this AM.
I see no changes. I think we'll be seeing a gridlock at the federal level with the house and senate divided. I'm not feeling optimistic, that's for sure.
Evisceration of public services (including education); further decay of our already crumbling infrastructure; a blank check for corporations to ride roughshod over the environment and the American public.
I'm expecting a return to the prosperity of the Bush years. And I can't wait!
Cheese it! We're boned.
I'm updating my resume as we speak in preparation for the now sure to arrive lay-off notice.
Clark, you can only keep your "hard earned income and wealth" so long. Or do you expect there will be a U-Haul trailer attached to the hearse that eventually takes you to the cemetery?
Americans chose to support the Gang Of Plutocrats. I expect to see increasing prosperity for those who are already prosperous, and the rest of drifting further into economic servitude. But hey, that many lemmings can't all be wrong, can they?
Some reductions in spending at the federal level are likely. The U.S. House will pass a trainload of bills, send them to the Senate, and most will languish for the next 2 years. The U.S. Senate can't order coffee and rolls without a minimum of 60 votes, and all it takes is one to say "I object," and that's that.
Assuming Sen. McConnell retains his leadership post with the Senate Republicans, he's going to have his hands full with Jim DeMint and Rand Paul, let alone trying to deal with the Democrats.
At the state level, even if Dayton prevails, his proposal to increase income taxes to deal with the projected budget shortfall are toast. Spending will have to be cut significantly. Those are the new realities.
I don't see much change coming, again. The elections seem to be nothing more than rinse and repeat. I think that all the money spent by the candidates reveal the real attitudes of the people in power regarding "Fiscal Responsibility" and "Wasteful Spending".
We don't have a democracy anymore, we have an auction.
Sadly, I'm not optimistic that Republicans will understand what this is truly all about, just as the Democrats did not understand post 2008.
This victory was not won by the far right, just as the 2008 victory for the dems was not won by the far left. It's the folks in the middle who, in reality, aren't really that concerned about abortion, gay rights, and other social issues. They simply want responsible, honest representation that isn't beholden to labor unions and environmental extremists on the left, or corporations and religious extremists on the right.
The only thing I know for sure is that we'll have divided government both state and federal. That is a GOOD thing.
FANTASTC, FANTASTC The American public does not want to be France. We have voted against pelosi and obama for valid reasons.
I do not want to pay "your" mortgage.
I do not want to pay "your" credit card bills.
I do not want to pay for your fat lazy slob bad habits that increase health care costs.
For all your far left democrats, this is a HUGE defeat for your socialist agenda. I get to keep more of my hard earned income and wealth.
Obama, your next!
The republican victory is the result of a short sighted public desperate for anything that promises to help them out of their econonomic troubles. They have forgotten that it was republican lack of oversight, deregulation, deficit spending on unjustified wars, and tax policies favoring the richest among us that shaped the federal government's role in this economic debacle in the first place. The public that voted the republicans in is looking for a helping hand. Republicans want smaller, less helpful government, not more. Only a very small, very rich portion of the public will benefit from the policies the republicans will advance.
The party of NO will now try to take us backwards. Towards what? We have seen their vision and it hasn't turned out very well.
Finally, our democracy needs to get money out of politics. Blind campaign trusts and publically financed campaigns must occur if true democracy is to survive.
Dip back into recession, just like 1938. Dismantling of public education.
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