The 2010 mid-term elections in the United States of America are history and to some extent they made history. While congressional losses in the first mid-term elections for the party holding the White House are the norm, this year stands out in that the Republicans gained well over sixty seats in the House of Representatives and are taking control of that chamber. In the Senate, the Republicans gained six seats and are still in a minority, however by only a few seats. The gubernatorial elections and state houses saw also tremendous gains for the Republican Party. And yet, some States remain unchanged. A glaring example being California where they elected a very liberal Senator, Barbara Boxer for the fourth time and re-elected Jerry Brown as governor, his third term in that office. California is surely no longer the Golden State but has become the Granola State because it is filled with flakes, fruits and nuts. And they seem to be in a majority.
While the experts and pundits on all sides keep talking about what these election results mean or reflect, the only thing that matters is the shift in the power structure in one branch of government, namely Congress. The Republicans ran against the excessive government spending, the fast increasing debt of the country, the poor economic condition with nearly ten percent unemployment and the overreach by the Democrats by passing massive health care reform. They also benefited with the event of the Tea party movement across this land that helped greatly getting some truly conservative members elected.
The main question today is: What will the Republicans do to change these conditions for the better and also achieving their campaign promises? At the moment we are still in a so called lame-duck period until early January of next year (when the new Congress is sworn in) and there is urgent work to be done before this year ends. The number One issue is what to do about the year-end expiring tax rates for all Americans. While the President and the Democrats are favoring an extension on all rates for income earners below $250,000/year, the Republicans want to extend all tax rates, even for the high-income earners (those ‘evil’ rich people). It will be interesting to see what comes of it, whether there will be a compromise or not. We have to remember that the Democrats still have vast majorities in both houses of Congress until early January and could pretty well do what they want without one single Republican vote.
The time until January 2011 will be spent by the House Republicans getting organized and ready for being in the majority. This will involve Committee assignments, especially chairmanship assignments as well as agreeing on the legislative agenda and setting priorities. We should remember that the current Democrat-controlled Congress did not pass one appropriations bill for the current 2010/2011 fiscal year. This job will most likely fall on the shoulders of the Republicans and it will be their first real test of budget restraint and fiscal responsibility. They had promised to roll back discretionary spending to levels of the 2008 budget and only time will tell how successful they will and can be in convincing the President to agree and sign such legislation.
If we here at Common Sense University may offer a suggestion to the Republicans, it is just one minor thing: Stop talking to the media, instead get your act together so that you can hit the ground running in two months when you take over the House of Representatives. Do not be fooled by the media, they are still overwhelmingly liberal and will never be your friends but instead will do anything to undermine, ridicule and criticize you with anything they can find to do so.