What does this election mean?

[shesulsa]

Believe it or not, there’s been an election going on, and Simon Cowell isn’t involved. For those of you who have spent more time mulling whether Betty really is Ugly, here’s a helpful talking point, so you won’t be as shocked by Tuesday’s results as you were when they killed off Mr. Eko on “Lost” last week:

There are still Democrats around.


...

So you’ll sound like you’ve been paying attention, here’s a quick summary:

“In the House, it would take a miracle for the GOP to hold onto their majority,” says Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report ...

Why it’s important: If the Democrats do take over, they will likely elect the first female speaker of the House in the nation’s history, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, and they will be in a position to torpedo much of President Bush’s remaining agenda.

FULL ARTICLE

 

[michaeledward]

Interesting choice of words in that article.

"torpedo"

I guess this begs the question ... What is Bush's agenda? Seems to me that policy has been lacking throughout this last session of Congress.

But, further, it seems to suggest that Congress should be, if not actually is, subservient to the Executive. When I learned about the United States Government, there were three co-equal branches of government; each providing something called 'checks and balances' on the others.

I guess now, they are new synonyms; torpedo = checks and balances.

What is truly at stake in this election, is 'domestic policy'. The Congress has control over the bill submitted to the President to become laws. The Congress provides oversight on the actions the Executive takes in Domestic Policy; such as the suspension of Habeaus Corpus (Show me the body), and wiretapping of United States Citizens (to whomever is on the other end of the phone). This is the domain of Congress.

Foreign Policy is largely controlled in the Executive Branch. The President will still have both hands on the levers of the Iraq situation. Ditto Afghanistan. At best, Congress can begin to limit funding for the execution of the President's wars. But that, of course, is risky business for a Congressperson.

Regardless of who you vote for ...
the Republicans will spin the tax cuts as the Democrats fault. But, tax cuts are coming. Because you can not spend more than you take in for long.
the Republicans will spin the next terrorism attack as the Democrats fault. But, an attack will happen. You can't fight a war against Islam with bombs and guns and not create zealots.
the Republicans will spin the immigrants and gays as the Democrats fault. But, the immigrants and gays will be more visible in our society. You can't build a free country and expect the oppressed to stay away.

And ... I am not convinced that the democrats will gain even one seat in Congress ... (well, maybe three - Santorum, Dewine & Harris) ... Having recently seen 'Hacking Democracy' on HBO, I was brought to tears at the loss of our society behind the Black Box.

Votes going in: 6 No - 2 Yes
Votes coming out: 7 Yes - 1 No