I don’t need to say that it’s a good day to be a Democrat.
As it stands currently, the Democrats gained 28 seats in the House of Representatives, giving them a majority in the House for the first time since 1994.
The Senate, which most Democrats considered a big long shot, is neck-and-neck at 49 seats apiece, and Democrats stand to take that over too, as they hold on to slim leads in Virginia and Montana.
But even if Democrats don’t take control of the Senate, this is a big victory for the Democrats, and a slap in the face to President Bush and the Republicans.
Some interesting facts about the results:
- Nancy Pelosi stands to be the first female Speaker of the House.
- Jim Webb, if elected in Virginia, would be the only member of the Senate with a child currently serving in the military in Iraq.
- Minnesota has elected the first Muslim member of Congress, Keith Ellison. (Way to go, Sammy G!)
MN’s 5th
MN’s 5th Congressional district elected the first Muslim member of Congress, not the state of MN. There is a big difference between the Twin Cities and the rest of the state. I live in the 5th; the September primary was the real excitement since the 5th is a Democratic stronghold and the Democratic party endorsee was the foregone winner.
Pretty exciting election. At the state level, the Democratic party took back majority control of the state house, expanded its margin in the state senate, and then captured every major state office, except Governor. I actually feel it a positive to have a Republican Governor, because complete control of the legislature and administration by one party is not a good thing, in my opinion. What happened in everyone else’s state?
Interesting to witness the smackdown South Dakotan voters gave that abortion ban.
Overall: Bush policies, personnel and priorities got the harshness.
Status-quo in Utah
The elections went to the status-quo in Utah, with overwhelming support for the war, George W. Bush, Orrin Hatch (barf! barf! gag!), and the current Republican congress. I have to admit, though, Pete Ashdown (the contender for Orrin Hatch’s seat) ran a very weak campaign not focussed on issues, but on personality. Hatch just had to put up billboards with definitions for “courage”, “bravery”, and “integrity” with his picture on it to win.
The one continuing highlight was that, despite the gerrymandering of his district to remove many of his staunchest supporters, Jim Matheson (D-Utah) was reelected. Über-conservatives Bob Bishop and Chris Cannon held onto their seats, though Cannon by a much narrower margin than in previous years.
I’m a Republican, but I voted almost straight Democrat this election principally for balance-of-power reasons. I think that when all three chambers (President, Senate, and House) are dominated by a single party, that’s when our nation indulges in its greatest stupidities.
—
Matthew P. Barnson
In other news
Rumsfeld resigns.
If this day gets any better, I’ll expect chocolate to fall from the sky.
— Ben
Maryland the Blue
I can understand how the Congressional seats could be affected by Bush and Iraq, but I’m dumbfounded how Martin O’Malley won the governor’s race in MD. He couldn’t run Baltimore effectively, so give him the keys to the state? That makes sense.
I’m frankly quite apprehensive about how Maryland will turn out after the Democrats take back what has traditionally theirs. As if we’re not currently taxed enough.
If you look at the election results, you’ll see that Ehrlich won the majority of counties by far. However, he didn’t win the urban/populous ones. But it’s a popular vote, and the masses speak.
So, if he follows past Democratic practices, O’Malley will raise taxes across the state and use that money for programs to benefits Baltimore and the population centers. Yea! I love subsidizing other areas that can’t support themselves.
Maybe the Democrats in Maryland will learn from their past mistakes which allowed a Republican to become Governor in a deep blue state, and behave with our money. I’m not holding my breath, tho.
I hope I hope I hope a Republican wins the presidency in 2008, or the Republicans get back control of at least one side of Congress, because I agree with Sammy: it’s never good when one party has total control. Actually, my dream situation would be the rise of a third party to shake things up. And it’s just that: a dream.
Oh well, have fun gloating, Ben. Hope you can smile when the Dems reach into your wallet.
My $.02 Weed
You know, they say a
You know, they say a spoonful of sugar can help the vitriole go down a lot smoother.
You know, they also say
Supercalifragilisticexpealidotious, even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious. Not to mention my favorite: Chim-chiminy, chim-chiminey, chim-chim, cher-eee. Let’s go fly a kite as they take my tuppence from me!
I’m not bitter so much about Democrats winning as I am that Martin O’Malley won. Screw up a city, get the state. I guess I can move to Montana if I don’t like it, eh? Or I can step in time!
My $.02 Weed
reaching into my wallet
What most people don’t realize is that we’re paying anyway. Either the Democrats can take more of my money in taxes to subsidize health insurance for the poor, or else the insurance companies can take more of my money in premiums to pay for the unpaid emergency room visits by poor people who don’t have health insurance. And that’s just one example.
But that’s another conversation. As for O’Malley, while I don’t think he was the ideal candidate, I think that the stories of his “failure” in Baltimore City are largely overblown. Crime has dropped, education has improved, and infrastructure is improving. Sure, it’s not a dramatic improvement, but Baltimore faces the same problems as any urban center, caused largely by poverty and high population density. Ehrlich, in my opinion, was too eager to turn the state’s interests over to corporations at the expense of the working poor.
— Ben
I respectfully disagree
O’Malley’s crime numbers are the topic of many conversations debating their veracity. When you tell officers not to report crimes, then I bet they’ll drop. I guess dropping from #2 to #3 as the most dangerous large city in America is an improvement. Our new slogan: “Come to Balimore, it’s better than DC and Detroit!!”
Education has improved, but it’s still last in the state by far. When you’re at rock bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up.
Infrastructure is improving…in what way? They’re been re-developing parts of Baltimore since the 70s. It’s just a continuation. I wouldn’t say O’Malley done anything extraordinary there. Maybe give him kudos for not getting in the way.
How was Ehrlich “turing over the state’s interests over to corporations at the expense of the working poor”? As opposed to Glendening, who was spending it out his a$$ and left Ehrlich with a big debt. If you gave me the choice of have a corporation running the state’s interests or a politician runnin the state’s interest, I’ll take the corp 101 times out of 100. Especially if the corp has to turn a profit.
There’s a lot of cities out there. You lived in NY, which is way bigger than Bmore, and NY seems to be doing a much better job of handling urban issues. O’Malley may be photogenic, but he’s no Guliani (or Ehrich, IMHO).
My $.02 Weed
debate
I’m going to try to address each of your points in turn. I don’t think Ehrlich is the devil or anything, and I can respect that there were good reasons for voting for him. So that’s where I’m coming from. Now…
“I guess dropping from #2 to #3 as the most dangerous large city in America is an improvement.”
Actually yeah, I do consider that an improvement. I certainly don’t think that everything is peachy keen now, but it’s definitely an improvement.
“Education has improved, but it’s still last in the state by far. When you’re at rock bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up.”
That’s typical of urban centers around the country. Education is, by and large, funded by property taxes. Urban centers, by and large, have greater percentages of poor people, and greater percentages of renters, so urban areas have fewer resources to devote to more people.
“How was Ehrlich “turing over the state’s interests over to corporations at the expense of the working poor”? As opposed to Glendening, who was spending it out his a$$ and left Ehrlich with a big debt. If you gave me the choice of have a corporation running the state’s interests or a politician runnin the state’s interest, I’ll take the corp 101 times out of 100. Especially if the corp has to turn a profit.”
I won’t disagree that Glendening was a horrible governor, no question. But O’Malley shows no signs of being a tax-and-spend liberal. Ehrlich turned over the PSC to energy industry cronies, and vetoed the Wal-Mart bill.
“There’s a lot of cities out there. You lived in NY, which is way bigger than Bmore, and NY seems to be doing a much better job of handling urban issues. O’Malley may be photogenic, but he’s no Guliani (or Ehrich, IMHO).”
NYC is entirely unique. For one thing, they have a large number of obscenely rich people living in Manhattan. Therefore, high revenue from property taxes, to devote to all sorts of improvement projects. Baltimore is much more similar to DC, where all the rich people live in the suburbs. Also, while Giuliani did wonderful things for NYC in terms of cleaning up the streets and keeping things safe, he did it by ruling the city with an iron fist. I think that there must be a better way to accomplish it.
That said, I’m a bit out of my element. I’m more familiar with national politics than local politics, and since I only came back to Maryland two years ago, most of what I know is second-hand. — Ben
Counter-Point
Yes, it’s an improvement, but nothing to be happy about. If your child came home and said, “Look Daddy, I’m third from last in the class now! I’m still failing, but I’m moving up”, would you be happy? My personal opinion is that O’Malley had a lot of time and only recently showed any improvement. Throw in the debate about how his police force counts crime, and it doesn’t look like he’s done much at all.
Similarly with education, other areas have done more with less. Baltimore City pays more to the middle management of its education system than any other county. You need someone to cut that out and redistribute the money to the schools. O’Malley’s not doing that. Ehrlich wanted to, but O’Malley and the City Council blocked him.
What did the PSC do wrong? The Maryland State Assembly, a Democrat-controlled body, voted to cap rates until energy competition took effect. Except, when the rate cap expired, the competition still hadn’t materialized. So when the rate cap expires, the rates return to normal market rates. Ehrlich and the PSC’s plan actually would have saved you money over the plan the State Assembly forced through (only from $1-5 dollars), but now, you HAVE to pay less now and pay interest on the difference. And, since the State Assmebly was trying to use the potential merger of Constellation Energy and FPL to get a good rate deal, the merger was called off and now the Assembly has no bargaining power whatsoever.
As for Walmart, why should they be forced to offer health plans? Do you think mom and pop hardware stores offer health plans? Why shouldn’t ALL employers be forced to offer health plans? Why pick on Walmart? Why shouldn’t Accompany Publishing be forced to offer health care?
I’d reform the insurance industry to bring insurance rates under control. Then I’d cap damage amounts to a reasonable amount. Then I’d make sure drug companies weren’t shirking us. Maybe if we didn’t sue every time anyone got hurt, the FDA wouldn’t have to have such restrictive drug policies. I’m not saying we shouldn’t make sure our drugs are safe, but under the current drug-approval procedures, aspirin, acenometaphin, and ibuprofin would NEVER get approved. Just label them as they are: this drug hasn’t been fully tested because that takes 30-50 years. If you take it, unforseen things might happen to you. You might be cured. You might grow another head. You do this at your own risk.
Then maybe drug prices come down, insurance costs come down, and health care could become reasonable for everyone. Instead of trying to make health care coverage mandatory, why not make it affordable to all?
Why you have a city like Baltimore that has been run by the Democrats for so long, it’s inevitable that corruption and inefficiency takes root. The same thing would happen in the Republicans has control that long. Human nature is bipartisan. Yes, Guliani rules with an iron fist, but he did so effectively. O’Malley tried to, but he couldn’t get along with Ehrlich and his policies were inept. I’m not saying Ehrlich was O’Malley’s boss, but money and control flows from Fed to state to local. O’Malley was more concerned with making Ehrlich look bad for O’Malley’s inevitable run for the governor’s office that he didn’t take care of his job as mayor. With Baltimore as bad as it is, I think an iron fist to rule an effective plan is necessary. O’Malley couldn’t do it for Baltimore, so why should I think he do it for Maryland?
One last point: NYC doesn’t get all its $$$ from rich Manhattenites. They also get it from the surrounding counties. Those people are fleeing in droves to cheaper living arrangements. Why should they subsidize NYC. Similarly, why should I, up here in Ceciltopia, subsidize Beltimore City? Let the city fix its own problems. Use my money to make Ceciltopia better.
My $.02 Weed
Glad of it.
As one of the registered republicans on the board.. I’m ready to tear up my card. Yup. Its official. I voted for GW two times. I really trusted him to follow through the first time. The second time I chose the lesser of two evils, I thought.
I am kind of anti-ACLU and pro-life, and so republican was always my way to go.
Now, as the Iraq quagmire descends slowly into an unquenchable fire.. as the rest of the world hates us.. as there are republican scandals after republican scandals.. as christians get lumped in with this administration (and we dont want to be).. as censorship gets stronger and stronger.. as Osama Bin Laden remains free.. as Afghanistan begins to look like its going to go bad.. as Iran prepares for nukes.. as N. Korea prepares for nukes.. as WMDs are not found.. as pensions go away.. as cost of living rises with no raise in pay.. as the bush backers, the oil companies have huge profits while gas prices soar.. as the defecit grows..
yeah.. it may indeed be time to rethink my voting.
See ya Rummy.. see ya republican congress.. maybe now we can get some work done.. (and bring on the backlashing conservatives, please.. cuz I want to be able to go back to the republican party I joined)
Visit the Official Justin Timpane Website Music, Acting, and More! http://www.timpane.com
Meida Bias
Justin,
It seems to me like most of the ills you attributeto the Republican Party are either not as bad as you make them out or are not specific to the GOP.
I do believe Bush screwed up getting us into Iraq. However, we’ve lost 2,839 soldiers in Iraq as of Nov 9th. That;s over the course of about 5 years. As a point of reference, the US lost 6,821 men in the battle of Iwo Jima over the course of 2 months. And then there’s Antietam, where we lost 23,000 in one day!. So we’re not even close to the 58,209 we lost in the Vietnam War. I think we should pull out, but it’s not the horror everyone makes it out to be. At least for the Americans…the Iraqis may think different.
If the rest of the world hates us, why are we building fences to keep them out?
I bet if you tally the number of Republic scandals versus the number of Democratic scandals, the numbers will be close.
I think your extremist Christians are the ones getting lumped in. And they want to be.
Actually, the FCC is starting to back down.
Osama Bin Laden may be alive, but a lot of his generals aren’t.
Afghanistan is a problem, but that’s only because we got involved in Iraq, where we didn’t belong. Had we concentrated on Afghanistan, we’d be better off right now.
You think Iran and North Korea wouldn’t be looking for nukes if John Kerry had won?
WMDs weren’t found in Iraq. Iraq has already been mentioned before as a bad move.
Pensions being taken away from people is horrible. Is that the GOP’s fault? The GOP has made it a lot easier to invest. It’s just a paradigm shift from your company handling your pension to you handling your pension. I think a company who has to reduce or cut a pension should recoup some of that money from their board members if their board members made exorbitant salaries. You shouldn’t be making 7 or 8 figures if you cutting people’s retirements.
Cost of living goes up every year. GOP or Dem. And my pay has gone up every year with it. Perhaps a new line of work is in order?
So now we pay closer to what the rest of the world pays in gas? Sorry, but we need to reduce demand, and then prices will drop. Seems like prices haven’t been that bad since the summer ended. If we didn’t buy it so much, the oil companies wouldn’t make so much money. If we tax the oil companies on their earnings, what do you think will happen next? They’ll raise prices.
Think about this for a second. To get a gallon of milk, you feed a cow, then milk it, pasteurize the milk, package it, and send it on its way. To get oil, you drill deep into the earth’s crust, suck it up, ship it across the ocean, refine it, then send it across the country. Compare the price of a gallon gas of and the price of a gallon of milk, and tell me we’re not making a deal on oil. How about a gallon of WATER versus a gallon of gas.
The deficit grows because of Iraq, which was already covered.
So I don’t see much fault in the GOP except for Iraq. Take Bush’s tunnel vision about Iraq from his terms and he didn’t do half a bad job. But he really effed up Iraq, and that’s his legacy.
Btw, I’m independent. So I can approve of the ALCU and being pro-life at the same time. Hee hee.
Justin, I don’;t want you to think I’m attacking you. I’m attacking the state of the world you’re presented by the media.
My $.02 Weed
Bias or Apt Coverage?
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/061105/13wars.htm
Ken Walsh, USN&WR’s leading political reporter, wrote in this week’s issue a feature story about the similarities between Vietnam and Iraq.
My Point Exactly
I thought I said that I thought Iraq was a total failure and a bad idea from the beginning. We shouldn’t be there. I said that. This article says that, because we all see how Vietnam ended. So you’re providing evidence for my statements now? 🙂
However, in terms of human life, Iraq is nothing compared to Vietnam. In terms of cost, Iraq is nothing compared to Vietnam. However, that money would have been much better spent here than in Iraq. Because we bombed them to hell, now we feel we have to rebuild. Had we never bombed them, and instead dropeed $80 bil into non-fossil fuel innovation, we’d be better off.
However, I stand by my other points that media bias is overly negative.
My $.02 Weed
You wrote ‘media bias’
Weed, you wrote, “I’m attacking the state of the world you’re presented by the media.”
I was presenting an article from mass media.
I don’t believe that the media was the reason behind Democratic victory. I think the Republicans did it to themselves.
MIsread
I;m not saying the media has anything to do with the Dems victory. I’m saying the media had a part in Justin thinking all those things were the fault of the GOP, and that they’re as bad as they’re made out. But GWB and Iraq (and his swift reaction to Katrina) ruined it for the GOP.
My $.02 Weed
Pelosi sounds whacked in the head
Oh, no. Oh, no she didn’t.
Nancy Pelosi, after the decision by Dems to select Hoyer over Murtha as the House Majority leader, was quoted: “We’ve had our differences…and now that is over…As we say in church, let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with us. Let the healing begin.”
Dear Nancy: what in the name of all that is sane are you talking about?
You sound ridiculous.
Oh dear..
Sounds like Nancy’s pollsters have told her that Americans are religious people who like for you to pepper your speeches with Scripture.
Of course, misquoting a Christmas carol probably isn’t what they had in mind.
— Ben
On peppering speeches…
While this particular quote does sound more than a little awkward, I’m actually heavily in favor of a liberal dose of scriptural/religious/spiritual pepper in the Democrats’ vocabulary.
But don’t just stop at the layer-cake frosting “peace on Earth” stuff. Focus on the real meat and potatoes:
“If you have two cloaks, take one and give it to he who has none.”
“And God will say to them: get you from my sight. For I was poor and you did not clothe me, I was sick and you did not heal me, I was hungry and you did not feed me. Any time that you refused to do this for even the least of these, you did not do it for me.”
“Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.”
And why keep it just Christian?
“The root of suffering is desire.” (Buddhism)
“An it harm none, love and do as ye will.” (Wicca)
“He who sleeps on a full stomach whilst his neighbour goes hungry is not one of us.” (Islam)
It’s long past time that religious folk woke up and realized that the liberal agenda has a lot to do with what their religion is saying. But how will they ever know that, if the liberals don’t help point it out?
And it’s also time that the non-religious folk woke up and realized that just because a man speaks about how his own religion influences his liberal agenda, he’s not saying that everybody has to get religion. If as a public servant I actually admit that my faith in Jesus/Buddha/Allah has helped make me a better person that doesn’t mean I’m trying to do away with the seperation of church and state.
But I definitely agree with y’all in this: stay away from the Hallmark cards. Give us the real deal or nothing at all.
A Study In Contrast
Rowan,
Pelosi’s “peace on Earth” comment would best be suited for the 1) genocide in Darfur or 2) war in Iraq, not the minor fracas in the House/Senate leadership vote.
I didn’t point it out to be a religious issue.
My Bad
Rowan, sorry amigo, I just realized you were responding to Ben, not me.
Agreed
Although, use of religious language in Democratic speeches is only effective if it is a) sincere, and b) correctly quoted. Pelosi’s comment was just odd.
The one who I think is especially good at this is Barack Obama. He’s sincerely religious, and it shows, and he also has the inspiring speaking style of a preacher.
— Ben
Seconded heartily
I very much agree with you there. I just finished reading the man’s latest book, and I actually need to start a seperate thread about it. Suffice it to say that as one who’s very idealistic about people but very cyncial about people in politics, I was surprised and somewhat elated by finding a politician who I could throw myself behind with genuine enthusiasm and hope.