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Republicans Win Control of Both Houses - What does this mean?

13:37 / 06.11.02

Republicans now control the congress, senate and presidency.

Does this mean things are going to get worse a lot faster? It seems foreboding, but does it really matter? Does it just mean more of the same?

13:55 / 06.11.02

You may think the Bush admin are evil, shortsighted and...well, evil, but it would be a huge mistake to misunderestimate their intelligence. Or, I suppose, if you would prefer to reserve the word "intelligence" for progressive, intellectual type things, you shouldn't underestimate their cunning.

Knowing that the election results, whatever they would be, would certainly trump any other news stories, the Bushies took the time Tuesday to axe SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt. Officially, it was a "resignation", but any durn fool know that's just a face-saving device for Bush's team, which, on the whole, has held together remarkably well for the first 2 years. no cabinet defections, I mean.

Oh, and three of the US Navy's largest cargo ships have embarked for "parts unknown" (also known as "Qatar", which if you believe the Christian Science Monitor, just fended off a coup attempt) ladened with - who knows. According to the article "the vessels are capable of carrying 58 Abrams battle tanks, 48 track vehicles, such as armored vehicles, and 900 other trucks. "

What's next on the Republican agenda? Bush's judiciary nominations will be pushed through, the tax cut will be made permanent, more tax cuts, social security privatization (excuse me, "personal accounts for younger workers"), and a push to move welfare-esque assistance to the needy from the government to "faith-based organizations." That's if we're lucky.

Expect the stock market to go bananas today on the news of the election results, and also as Greenspan and buddies lower interest rates again.

13:59 / 06.11.02

With Republicans being in control of both the Executive and Legislative branches and conservatives controlling the Judiciary the theory of checks and balances goes right out the window. We all know that every Republican is going to follow whatever the GOP demands.

I blame the Democrats for this one. It seems like they didn't put forth the half the effort that the Republicans did.

15:16 / 06.11.02

Do the democrats even *have* half the money that The reps spent on campaigning in the key constuencies?

08:58 / 07.11.02

Well, look on the bright side. We've got a maximum of six more years of Dubya in the White House. That's not so bad, right guys?

Guys?

Damn. I forgot about Jeb. And you just know he's thinking about it....

Our Lady of The Two Towers

16:24 / 07.11.02

Surely by the end of the second term, if Dubya wins it, they are going to want to let the Democrats win so that they can sort out the economy and stuff for the country and then get people voting them out, bitter with the austerity measures they had to introduce to sort out the mess the Republicans made.
Vote Jeb 2012 or 2016?

Goodness Gracious Meme

19:58 / 07.11.02

An American friend pointed me in the direction of this SFGate this article. From my blog:

"No longer constrained by Democratic control of the Senate, Republican leaders offered an ambitious domestic agenda Wednesday that includes new tax cuts, drilling for oil in the Alaska wilderness and a new push for conservative judges"

and...

"There's no question that last night's results increased the likelihood of getting things done for the American people," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. "There are so many initiatives that could have and should have been done in the last Congress that got bottled up and stopped, that now have a much stronger chance of getting done."

'Bottled up and stopped' - er, that would be the old democratic process, wouldn't it? Least we don't have to worry about that. Now we can Get Things Done.

And best of all:

"A Department of Homeland Security that exempts 170,000 federal workers from civil service rules*, Bush's faith-based initiative, an energy plan emphasizing production rather than conservation, a plan to provide terrorism insurance to businesses and a prescription drug plan that health maintenance organizations favor are among the proposals that have been bottled up in the Senate."

(my emphases)

* which, as my Oakland-bred friend comments, basically means the creation of '170,000 stormtroopers'.

And check that name: Homeland Security. Do a word association on it.

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

02:35 / 08.11.02

What does it all mean?

We don't need Hall Nash and Hogan for a New World Order....

04:01 / 08.11.02

To be honest I'm trying not to think about the consequences of this right now. It just seems too pessimistic and...yeah.

As horrible as it would be, it would at least be a bit better if 'They' took this election victory as:
"hey! we can do whatever we want in the US now!"
instead as:
"hey! we can do whatever we want to whoever we want now!"

11:15 / 08.11.02

This has got to be one of teh most depressing pieces of news in a long time. I'd be interested to hear more from people in the US about this - Why did people vote for Bush/Republicican)? How is he popularly percieved? What consequences do you anticiapte?

11:33 / 08.11.02

This could bode well for Dems in the presidential election in two years if the Republicans keep to character and overplay their hand (witness public backlash against the Gingrich revolution). It's worth noticing, too, that the media is presenting this as a Republican landslide with a tacit mandate from the people, which is at odds with how narrow many of the "victories" were. The voting US is still evenly divided between left and right, and if voter turnout is any indication, considerably more Americans don't believe either party speaks for them. The leadership here, as always, is not representative.

11:52 / 08.11.02

A new department of homeland security, rather than creating "170,000 stormtroopers," will most likely be yet another bloated bureuacracy that in most cases prevents intelligence work from being done, rather than facilitate it. "exempt from civil services rules" simply means (in this case) that the executive branch will have more leeway to hire and fire people in this new department than they would in any other civil organization. Union rules are the thing that's being superceded here.

Homeland security is going to be a farce, but not a particularly happy one. Any undocumented immigrant (and probably documented ones as well) will now have a new blackhole to disappear into.

12:45 / 08.11.02

From salon today RE Bush's potential judicial nominees/appointees:

'According to Bill Marshall, deputy White House counsel during the Clinton administration, in the next few years we'll see changes in three main areas: "a softening of establishment-clause restrictions [which mandate separation of church and state]; weakening of reproductive rights; and a strengthening of rights of moneyed interests, particularly property rights and the speech rights of corporate entities." And because of Bush's penchant for choosing young judges like 41-year-old Miguel Estrada, considered a favorite for the Supreme Court, these changes are likely to last decades. "We're talking about the entire reproductive life of my 9-year-old daughter," says Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women.'

13:37 / 08.11.02

LLB: I hope you're right re. the elections and I hope the Democrats get their act together and field some strong candidates. I just wondered how Bush is percieved over there, is it just a war vote or is his presidency viewed as more legitmate now? - Over here he's widely seen as a warmonger, representing corporate interests and pretty thick to boot (can't be that dumb though, bearing all this in mind).

I know there was a lot of difference between views of Reagen on both sides of the Atlantic, is it the same with Bush?

14:02 / 08.11.02

Thanks for cheering me up, outvix

Our Lady of The Two Towers

14:02 / 08.11.02

Oh god, we are soooooo fucked right now.

Are there voter-turnout figures available. I have to believe this is the result of damn stupid voter-apathy than a majority of Americans thinking that voting away their rights is a good idea.

14:30 / 08.11.02

Some people will use this interim election to claim legitimacy for Bush, but it's still common to run into people who view him as a false president. Gore did win the popular vote, after all.

15:08 / 08.11.02

Found this here RE voter turnout on Tuesday:

'Voter Turnout Rises Slightly
WILL LESTER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - This year's midterm congressional election apparently attracted more voters than the last one, in 1998, according to a survey on voter turnout.

Curtis Gans, director of the independent Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, estimated Tuesday's turnout at 78.5 million, more than 39 percent of voting-age citizens.'

39%! And that whole 'Gore won the popular vote' thing just gets funnier and funnier as time goes by. This stuff is only depressing if you think about it.

15:46 / 08.11.02

wow. that means that there's 61% of Americans who don't believe their interests are represented by either party...

wouldn't it be great if they actually had an alternative to the current system to vote for?

17:25 / 08.11.02

One of the biggest problems is the Democrats. They have no real leadership and their platform is a modified clone of the Republicans. In addition, the only "leader" of the Dems to even question Bush's policy is Gore. Another part of the problem is that we are at what seems to be an inter-war period, the whole "rally round the flag" syndrome is in effect.
What the Dems need to do is find a bunch of major, not petty issues to run hard on. Some issues might include the war before diplomacy of international affairs, universal health care, corporate accountability, economic security, federalization of voting systems, reforming of South American foreign policy, and increased cooperation with the world (United Nations). They also need to make a strong case for them and attack viciously. The Dems act to civil in comparison to the Republicans, this needs to end. If the Dems are unwilling to fight then they should step aside and let the Greens fight. Of course this will and can not happen but most of the Dems are just taking up space in the political continuum.

17:51 / 08.11.02

that means that there's 61% of Americans who don't believe their interests are represented by either party...

actually up to 61%. Or, up to 61% who believe that their interests are serverd by both parties equally well. Or, up to 61% who aren't willing to risk jury duty to excercise the franchise. etc.

Professor Silly

20:24 / 08.11.02

Age plays a major role too

old folk tend to vote more consistantly than young folk. The democrats vied for the elderly vote, through the prescription drug/medicare issues. The republicans on the other hand focused on issues that people of all ages can rally around, through fear/patriotism. The middle aged especially have a very conservative mindset, and I know my parents vote strictly republican. The thing that kills a part of me is seeing how they were duped by the "tax cut" talk allowing them to secure their rich friends' banks. Bastards!

As for the young, most don't seem to care. Some vote libertarian, some green, some reform party...some democrat, and some republican. I think if this generation can get some focus, they could help sway those percentages a bit better. Without a visible leader of the young adults, this focus will probably come slowly.

21:30 / 08.11.02

Well, the other thing about young voters is a disturbing trend towards the right wing recently. How the hell did that happen?

23:14 / 08.11.02

As for the young, most don't seem to care. Some vote libertarian, some green, some reform party...some democrat, and some republican. I think if this generation can get some focus, they could help sway those percentages a bit better. Without a visible leader of the young adults, this focus will probably come slowly.

See, I'd say that this is more likely to indicate that the two main parties aren't actually addressing the concerns of the young electorate - rather than indicating that the young electorate lacks focus...

Tryphena Absent

01:54 / 09.11.02

In the UK at the age of 16 you put your name down on a form that comes through the door. You're then registered at that address and you're on the system as a voter from 18 onwards. I was wondering if its the same in the US, do you have to be a voter? Legally you have to send the form back in this country with the correct information. It's very easy and a requirement, you gotta love the system (well that part).

13:14 / 09.11.02

No, you do not have to register to vote in the US. Voting is also tied to geography here, so if you move and forget to register in your new city, you won't be able to vote when the time comes.

18:07 / 09.11.02

Clarification: You are not required to register to vote in the US, but if you want to vote, you must register. My previous explanation was confusing...

16:19 / 10.11.02

Another problem with low voter turnout is institutional or social. When do we vote, last time was on a Tuesday. Who has the time to vote, who works, when are the polls open? I say we vote on a Sunday and/or have the day be a holiday, "Vote Day." Registration is also a problem in most states. Wisconsin has an excellent same day registration model but is not made public enough by the candidates and the media to inform the public. Of course, whether this is there responsibility is questionable. The Motor Voter bill would have helped with registration, to a small extent at least. In addition, we have a two political party system for better or for worse. However, what this often does is disenfranchise many that do not associate themselves with either party. Thus a party they could associate with rarely comes about; parliamentary democracy could help but would require nearly impossible changes in the American democratic institution and the minds of the American people.

10:04 / 12.11.02

George Monbiot on this subject.