Isn’t it a fine morning? Don’t the colors and sounds seem a bit more intense? Didn’t your breakfast taste a little bit better?
Thanks to staggering arrogance fueling sustained disregard of the will of the electorate, the Democrats have suffered the worst reversal in the House of Representatives since 1938.
It was a bloodbath, dudes and dolls.
Though it was a glorious evening, I was disappointed in a few races. Senatress Boxer (ma’am) won reelection without much drama, as did the always sunny Harry Reid. However, the Senate was always a long shot anyway.
Our esteemed president can be expected to say at least some of the right things at his momentary presser (that’s what we new-media blogosphere types call press conferences). However, Obama does humility about as well as I play the bassoon, so we’ll have to see in the coming months whether the conciliatory tone he’s sure to (attempt to) strike is genuine.
(Anyone with two brain cells to rattle together sees that a massive run to the center is the only way to save his presidency, but the cloud of self-importance can be thick indeed. I’m still betting against it.)
As for the newly-elected Republican majority (and it’s huge; did I mention that?), they must do what they said they’d do. They got there on promises of restoring fiscal responsibility to the federal government, and they must do everything they can to make that happen. It’s a tricky road, though. Clearly they can’t be expected to get anything significant passed, because even flipping a couple of senators to get any new law out of Congress won’t be nearly enough against a presidential veto.
Getting drunk on Beltway power again would be disastrous. Give us substantive reform, Republicans. Show us what you’ll be able to pass with a Republican in the White House. Dictate the terms of debate.
Most importantly, remember your promises to the American people. We have unambiguously rejected the Obama administration. Show us an alternative we can embrace.
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I generally write off the left coast, anyway. But we’ll see … I want to see action before I get excited.
Huntsville will take a major financial hit if the Republicans do what many of us elected them to office to do. It will be interesting to see how much wailing and gnashing of teeth comes from the local masses busy suckling at the government teet when/if the budget cuts come. I’m guessing the cacophony will be deafening,
waiting for a little of my smug to wear off before fully commenting on the election results.
Kemtee, at the very least you can get excited that it won’t get any worse. If nothing else, this seems a reliable “stop the bleeding.”
Lee, perhaps, but I hope any cuts don’t rise to “major.” There have already been some significant defense installation cuts, but RSA has been a large BRAC recipient, not donor. Moreover, much—not all, but much—of RSA’s current work directly concerns fundamental military capability, as opposed to the nebulous future. A lot of the dreamy what-if stuff has already felt the scythe.
You do speak to something that still bothers me, though. It absolutely broke my heart when we lost the Volkswagen plant. That would have generated an awful lot of jobs beyond direct plant employment, and would have represented a major diversification of the kinds of jobs to be found here.
Marianne, they wouldn’t extend you that same courtesy, but just stick that in your “better than” list. 🙂
While it is possible that some of RSA’s current programs do indeed concern fundamental military capability, it is without question that many of the GS and contractor employees working on those programs provide little of actual value for the six-figure salary a majority of them enjoy. The waste and abuse occuring in local program/project offices is sinful and should be criminal.
Waste and abuse in a PO? Perish the thought! RSA will be fine and Shelby’s not about to let anything happen to the bell cow of the state. There might be some huffing from GAO every few years, but really, we are rocket scientists.
Was Carville wearing a paper bag on his head again last night?
As long and North Korea keeps lobbing missiles over Japan and Iran keeps up with their shenanigans, I think the missile defense industry in HSV is pretty safe. It is NASA I worry about. People just don’t seem to see how much space exploration has given us right here on earth.
My vote was to slaughter ALL the sacred cows. One man’s cradle-to-grave health care is another man’s NASA. Big Government IS Big Government.
HSV is gonna be just fine. Future Combat Systems and the like may suffer (as they already are), but the “bread & butter” will be okay.
I’m still smilin’…….