The Republicans just made things a lot harder for themselves...

Originally posted by Curiousisall
So a lot of them lied about who they are just to get elected? That seems like just exactly what makes a good politician. So I am curious why anyone thinks they will even say Boo without Boehner giving them permission first anyway. I see the same old Republican faces all over the news in leadership positions and these Tea Party candidates seems whoefully quiet as well as their ATS waterboys.

I love how I can type something meaning one thing and it's taken in a completely different way...

No, I didn't say they lied to get elected. I said just because someone is registered as a Republican doesn't mean they're going to do whatever party leaders want them to, which incidentally was exactly what I meant to say.

Actually, I'd say that their jobs just got easier. Much easier.

The real story is at the state level, where the Democrats got absolutely obliterated. The Democratic party lost over 680 seats in state legislatures nationwide last night. Yes, you read that right. The GOP will hold its highest percentage of state legislative seats since the 1920s. The GOP will have control of more state legislative chambers than at any time since the 1950s.

Now why is this important? Every ten years, Congressional districts are redrawn. Just as the Democrats have used this power in the past to gerrymander Congressional districts to their advantage, now the Republicans will have that opportunity and obviously, it will have far reaching implications for the next 10 years of American politics.

reply to post by Logarock

They need now to get this Tea Party monkey off its back. lol Watch the measures to isolate the TP now. Let it die out. They are not going to want to look like they are doing any TP bidding. The TPs worst enemy in the future may be the republicans. In fact I saw some moves in this direction already today.

Yep!!

Just like Al Gore distanced himself from the ever popular Slick Willy in the worst political strategy ever, the Republicans are already dropping the horse they rode in on and distancing themselves from the Tea Party. However, the Tea Party sees this election as a victory and it will continue to be an influence. If the Republicans don't want to suffer the same fate as the Dems, then they better get to work quickly on those campaign promises, and they better be careful of who their new allies in DC are.

Sadly, there will probably be a bunch of Republicans that get to DC and join the good ol' boys club and immediately forget their commitments and their constituents.

in my opinion the repubs will only have 1 hard thing to do if they want to keep reins on power they will have to explain over two years how government works to every american citizen if they dont want to get stuck in th blame game and i do not see fox news wanting to spend much of theyre airtime on it ; but we will have to wait and see sucks to be them

Originally posted by Rockpuck
reply to post by madnessinmysoul

 

Actually I think all they really have to do ... is nothing at all..

Block every bill that comes their way. Senate is still controlled by Dems, even if the House passed something Senate would kill it..

Effectively Obama is powerless now..

All I can hope for is now the Dems can't raise my taxes, albeit, perhaps just for a while....

Actually, they really cannot do anything of substance at all. They cannot get a bill to the floor anymore for a vote. They already had that problem for the most part before this election, now it is impossible. Because of the rules the Senate has put in place, 60 votes are needed to even bring something to the floor for a vote.

Back to the OP...."the republicans just made it alot harder for themselves"? Dont know how their position before the election could have been what easy? Yep should have just sat in the back of the room and took what was dished out. They couldnt do anything about it anyway.

Reminds me of some movie where the bad guy says just tell us everything and we will make it quick. Like brave heart just kiss the the royal seal and all the suffering will be over.

Now that we have what we have...its the old line from the bad guys "we are not so diffrent you and i batman" oh yes "we could work as a team think of it batman".

Obama said yeaterday that "we would be misreading the election if we beleived the voters wanted us to rehash old issues again" something like that. Yea right...you got to love it...already telling folks why and what really happened. "Ok batman so you are on top again. No need to go over old ground friend. All this talk about past issues just wont be productive. We'er not so diffrent you and I bat man".

Or Super man Lex Luther at the North Pole "I was with you all the time Superman".

Or Mad Max Road Warrior....the Great Humongous..."Just walk away and I will spare you lives. There has been enough hurting. Just walk away and the hurting will stop".

Just Walk Away

Yep, the Republicans got waht they wanted. It'll be skittles and sunshine from now on. It's funny to hear them all saying how the Democrats need to cooperate with them and work togther. Really? Why now? What about the last two years?

See, here's what people are missing:

It's been said before. The two-party system is a bust. The problem is that the entire two-party concpet has an inherent design flaw. It can only work when the primary motivation of those elected is to 'do the business of the people' and manage the government. Those considerations were swept aside a long time ago and, in recent years, utterly disregarded.

Consider this:

We have an imaginary country much like the United States with the same kind of government and a two-party system. An election cycle has just recently completed and Party-A has their person in the Presidency and controls both houses of the Congress. Now, Party-B wants, above all else, to be the party in-power. As the government readies itself to move legislation and manage the government, Party-B is faced with dilemma: if they act in good faith and do what is in the best interests of the country, come next election cycle Party-A will be able to point to all their successes making Party-B's liklihood of getting back into power even more slim. And remember, what's MOST important is regaining power. So instead of working in the best interests of The People, Party-B blocks Party-A's initiatives and legislation. When the next election cycle comes around they point out to The People how innefectual Party-A has been. For good measure they spin everything Party-A has attempted to do as bad and evil. The People, having extremely short memories and collectively not being the brightest bulb on the tree buy these arguments and elect Party-B into power. Now, the cycle repeats. Party-A has to decide whether to cooperate or to block. Naturally, they block everything. And so on, and so on...

In the meantime The Country goes down the crapper because their politicians and representatives are more interested in getting/holding power and getting their time 'at the trough' then doing the legitiamte business of The People.

We get what we deserve.

Gotta throw you a star for that one bubba.

Glad I'm not the only one who recognizes that the two party system is nothing but a corporately-funded pissing match between the muckity-muck caviar eaters, leaving We the peons""* scrambling unsuccessfully to scrape up enough sheckles to procure an umbrella.

The end result.

We get whizzed on, yet again.


""* - 28th Constitutional Amendment

meh, they and everyone will have to tow the line.


i'm talking about the voters, ya voters, not all americans.

if we want to get things straight, the voters have to do it.

sent a message this time round but let's see what happens with the newbie's.

term limits, no lobby is what i want to see.

i'd love to take 2-4yrs off my job to tell you chumps what to do!

After reading and paying attention to the elections, what all is going on and the issues of the day, there is a song that comes to mind, from Steven Sondheim’s musical: Into the Woods, it’s the last Midnight. Please let me paraphrase the one part: It's the last midnight. It's the last wish. It's the last midnight, Soon it will be boom-Squish!
Told a little lie, Stole a little gold, Broke a little vow, Did you? Had to get your Prince, Has to get your cow, Have to get your wish,
Doesn't matter how- Anyway, it doesn't matter now.

Kind of interesting bit from that song, as the questions are there, and what the trade off was. All of politics and the government in specific is a trade off, and they are the masters at it, as they have been doing it for years. The expression in DC, though it is spoken in hush tones, and please forgive me if I offend anyone with it, but: To get the retirement savings, focus on Abortion.
Think about it, while the country is focused, and the citizens are fully engaged in things of the day, and what all we are thinking about and the issues, think about what happens normally? There is a big hype over something, where the solution is simple, but then they throw a monkey wrench into it. Best example I can think of is Illegal Immigration. After hearing about the unsaid saying, it starts to become very clear, as I sit here and think about what and how DC operates, that is the one issue, the one thing that has been going on for years, and the federal government has done NOTHING, about. So this is not a new issue, but it is brought up at every election or in an election year? Why, cause they need a distraction, they need the people to turn their head, ignore the man behind the curtain and look the other way for a moment to slip something in. When it is something every one wants and agree on, then they go into the back rooms and try to hammer out a deal, but it is always a trade off. Sure you want health care for all, ok, but in return you have to pay a bit more in taxes. And when that does not work, they start pulling out the stops. Oh it is the same thing, what remains to be seen is if the people are awake to realize that if they do not take action, fail to vote, or even take a step to start sending strong messages to DC, things like getting the ability to recall their congressman home to explain himself, and demanding answers, things will never change. So it appears the Tea party may have won and the Republicans are now in office, what remains to be seen is how they are going to act, now having seen the people get so upset so pissed off, if they can do any better. The people are tired, and wanting to no longer wanting a government that is self serving, and needs to actually do something, anything, to show it has leadership and the ability to govern wisely, as well as play by the very same rules that everyone else plays. Too many more years of this, and it may go very ugly.

All the House Repubs have to do to be a success for me is not create new spending bills, push tax cuts of all kinds, and legitimately make attempts to repeal the crap that is Obamacare.

jtma508 - amen brother. star for that.

jjkenobi - with all the problems that we're in already, don't you think that a little more than that needs to happen? they can propose those things until they're blue in the face, but none of it will pass with a democratic senate and president.

Originally posted by shamsway
jjkenobi - with all the problems that we're in already, don't you think that a little more than that needs to happen? they can propose those things until they're blue in the face, but none of it will pass with a democratic senate and president.

But you see, you have just hit the nail on the head for the biggest key to a successful Republican controlled House. If the Republicans create bills that will help the American people and the economy and keep going at it with an honest agenda then the Democrats are going to look like the party of no when it either doesn't get out of the Senate or the President puts the big VETO stamp on it.
Republicans need to be on the offense for the next two years.

One more thing to consider; Obama really only has 1 more year to push his agenda before the campaign season begins.

Originally posted by jtma508
Yep, the Republicans got waht they wanted. It'll be skittles and sunshine from now on. It's funny to hear them all saying how the Democrats need to cooperate with them and work togther. Really? Why now? What about the last two years?

Well you will notice that many of those that didnt want to work with the republicans over the last few years.....are gone. Large public outcry over the health care what? 2000 pages bill was disregarded by the dems. And at town hall meetings oh the disrespect and condescention. Oh yes these people just dont like to be governed.

Almost every republican voted against it. What we are seeing now is directly related to this and has nothing to do with the ills of the two party system.

Besides, you really dont want a one party set up do you now?

Originally posted by Anjin

Originally posted by shamsway
jjkenobi - with all the problems that we're in already, don't you think that a little more than that needs to happen? they can propose those things until they're blue in the face, but none of it will pass with a democratic senate and president.

But you see, you have just hit the nail on the head for the biggest key to a successful Republican controlled House. If the Republicans create bills that will help the American people and the economy and keep going at it with an honest agenda then the Democrats are going to look like the party of no when it either doesn't get out of the Senate or the President puts the big VETO stamp on it.
Republicans need to be on the offense for the next two years.

Yes they will need to do this to show up what the dems are really all about all the more.

Originally posted by shamsway
jtma508 - amen brother. star for that.

jjkenobi - with all the problems that we're in already, don't you think that a little more than that needs to happen? they can propose those things until they're blue in the face, but none of it will pass with a democratic senate and president.

Yes but they will reap from these efforts in two more years.

reply to post by Anjin


Just to comment on your last line...it's frightfully true. We have one more year of policy before the campaign season begins anew.

That's the one thing I envy about the UK, they have a very short campaign season...but I can't really stand by it too much.

I honestly think it might be better to extend terms so that politicians can actually get something besides campaigning done...and public financing, if it's done properly.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
I honestly think it might be better to extend terms so that politicians can actually get something besides campaigning done...and public financing, if it's done properly.

I'd rather see regulations set up on campaigning that prevent them from starting their campaigns more than six months before the elections. With the behavior and attitudes of our senators and representatives over the last decade or so there's no way on earth I'd want them to be in office any longer than the current term limits without some way to remove them early if the people decided they should be tossed on their behinds.

Originally posted by Anjin

Originally posted by shamsway
jjkenobi - with all the problems that we're in already, don't you think that a little more than that needs to happen? they can propose those things until they're blue in the face, but none of it will pass with a democratic senate and president.

But you see, you have just hit the nail on the head for the biggest key to a successful Republican controlled House. If the Republicans create bills that will help the American people and the economy and keep going at it with an honest agenda then the Democrats are going to look like the party of no when it either doesn't get out of the Senate or the President puts the big VETO stamp on it.
Republicans need to be on the offense for the next two years.

One more thing to consider; Obama really only has 1 more year to push his agenda before the campaign season begins.

you are defining "successful" in a very political way. you are saying that they can be successful by playing political games and amassing more power. i wouldn't define this as success because it is two more years of dead lock and zero progress. In a perfect world, both parties would put aside their differences and come up with a compromise to address our economic situation. In the real world, they will continue to bicker and posture for power, but not complete anything substantive. I define that as failure, regardless of party.

reply to post by Jenna


Would it be a law the applies only to incumbents or to all who seek political office?

And I think I'd prefer to see Congress with 3 year term than 2 year terms. You get a lot more done before you're up for election again.