Mid Term Results

[Joseph27]

So after a bit of slap and the loss of majority in the House and a paper thin majority in the Senate, how is the 2nd half of Obama's first term going to pan out? Clinton went through the same hurdle in 94 and went on and smashed Dole in 96 - how does Obama come back from this to present a more compelling offer to the electorate in 2012?

The part of US elections I find most amusing is the amount of funds that get poured in.... tens of millions of dollars to get a job that pays you a couple of hundred grand and once there you are compelled to keep raising money for your next race. Crazy system that only really benefits big business, the super rich and cashed up single issue groups. Those politically engaged folk invested, passionate or angry enough to vote, do so to the promise of change in a system that is unable to move in any direction regardless of the amount or the intensity of platitudes that ooze out of orifices of all political leaders.

[Lili Von Shtupp]

I thought to share this article because it addressed a lot of burning questions I've had about the Tea Party's origins and agenda.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010 ... fact_mayer

My evil half secretly wishes Christine O'Donnell had won the race in Delaware so the world can watch her make a fool of herself (and be eaten alive) in DC.

[Oxo1]

Turns out when people heard “Yes we can” they had a timeframe in mind that wasn’t measured in geological terms .

Hats off to the republicans, they ran an effective campaign. If you had told me when we saw President Obama give those rousing post election speeches that public opinion could be swung so quickly I’d have thought you foolish, it should have been such a cakewalk. The republicans have been unrelenting in punishing democrats on every issue they have been ineffective. Outstanding victory and grass roots renewal from within in the form of the “Tea Party”, burning with the desire to change things.

The Democrats can turn things around though with a less high minded and more pragmatic performance. I love American democracy .

[slinky]

Interesting commentary from the NY Post:

Nobody cares what the GOP might want to enact. Instead, the voters want the GOP to oppose, block and prevent.

They want the GOP to oppose any further expansion of government, and block any new programs the president and his party might want. A major corollary to this is a general desire to see the size of government reduced, though how this is to be accomplished no one actually knows.

Full Article Here

[Tas]

looking at article about the amount spent on campaign for Governor in California, and similar campaigns. It's simply awful. Why doesn't someone have the political courage to put legislation around maximum audited spending. It's something I'd like to see in Australia (think there even may be some hint of discussion in the current hung parliament prior to forming govt)

[Joseph27]

Interesting commentary from the NY Post:

Nobody cares what the GOP might want to enact. Instead, the voters want the GOP to oppose, block and prevent.

They want the GOP to oppose any further expansion of government, and block any new programs the president and his party might want. A major corollary to this is a general desire to see the size of government reduced, though how this is to be accomplished no one actually knows.

Full Article Here

That’s a rather sad indictment isn’t it? You get super rich people spend mega amounts of money on some very questionable characters, a large percentage of whom are now elected.

Agree with you Tas – caps on what you can spend is a wise move though one that cannot be implemented because there is too much vested interest in the status quo. It would nice to hear Obama propose such a move however you would immediately have Fox News pundits label it as an attack on free speech.

US democracy is fundamentally flawed; it is a broken model that cannot be repaired. I always thought a Bill of Rights was essential but the US clearly demonstrates how such a seemingly valuable document can lock in an entire country to a bygone age. The narrative still claims America as the best place on earth, where you can say anything and everyone can make it if they try hard enough. This narrative is simply fantasy or if I was being a bit harsher – I may chose to replace that kind adjective with bullshit.

If you have a working class mom and dad, the reality is that you are probably Wal-Mart bound where you will contend with $5.50 an hour Mexican laborers and pray like hell that you don’t get sick. If you break out of that mold and do something wrong you can also join the worlds biggest prison population where you will housed like an animal and be trapped in a judicial system so anal about prosecuting victimless crimes.

Back to insurance – Obama is said to have helped by providing compulsory medical insurance but that simply means the federal government will subsidize the Mega Insurance companies with a $200 payout. You will still need to pay something like $500 a month. Now at $5.50 an hour, it means you need to work 90 hours to make your insurance commitment not to mention the house payment, transport food. Obama’s health care is another favorable line in the P&L statements of these corporate criminals.

So after your 90 hours of working for the insurance and the other 100 hours paying for the rest of your commitments, you’re dirt broke and working stupidly long hours to just to stay broke. “But only in America do you get the freedom”…. this is an absurd statement when you live Australia, or Canada, or New Zealand, most of Europe, lots of Asia. Only in America is a narrative that needs burying because the world is full of opportunities and we aren’t all fully controlled by corporate interest far more obsessed with profit than any King was with taxes

[slinky]

I agree with Tas on the election spending being way out of control and I said as much in the last presidential election numerous times. But, J27, you quote my post about the NY Post commentary and ramble on about stuff that really isn't in it - did you read it? What I got out of that article is that a majority aren't thrilled with what's been happening, so they've done the only thing they can, elect some new people. That's a fundamental part of what democracy is, the way I understand it.

Whether they have chosen the correct people or not remains to be seen, the same as in every other election that's ever been held.

[Joseph27]

I read it - the ramble was out of frustration that they guys there dont get it and the guys voted in still dont get it. The system is fundamentally broken - the tea party movement is the by product of a very focused campaign from certain very rich individuals and yet they get broke white people to think they are doing the right thing in voting in right wing assholes. Then again I understand their frustration because the Obama administration has been bloody useless at selling its achievements