DEMOCRATS TAKE HOUSE MAYBE SENATE

As the old saying goes, "give the devil his due, " they pulled it off you've got to hand it to the Dems the results are in and with the exception of the Montana and Virginia Senate seats and a handful of undecided House seats which have yet to be figured into the final results last night was a Democrat night. The Dems now have the House and unless there are a good number of remaining votes in Virginia and Montana that can shift either state the distinct possibility of taking the Senate also is within their grasp. Many are calling this a backlash against incumbants yet if that were the case then the Democrats would have suffered in the House as did the Republicans. So far all House Democrat incumbants have been re-elected. Actually I think that this election became a two fold turn around. First a general discontent with the GOP Congress and the slide over the past several years from the conservative platform that they were elected on and a general trend of a war weary America. Second a powerful Democrat spin machine headed by Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Howard Dean with the continual assistance of the liberal media that convinced much of the electorate that the war is lost, not just Iraq but in general, the economy has tanked inspite of numbers that show otherwise and that the President has lied since he first took office in January of 2001. I had thought that generally the country had not bought into this spin but last nights results show otherwise. I will be the first to admit that the GOP majority in both chambers were weak in following a conservative agenda and failed in holding the very principles of less government and spending that they were elected on as far back as 1994 and even to the Reagan years. I will also admit that mistakes have been made in the war but the continual negativity that has been portrayed by the media and the Democrats without showing any of the progress and played down victories has turned much of the country against the war and brought with it a false sense of security concerning the enemy whose goals of destruction have not changed.

What does the future hold ? Nancy Pelosi will become Speaker unless a rebellion among the incoming Democrats takes place but politically I do not think this likely. Those who have been elected to House majority are beholden to Pelosi for orchestrating this victory and this very savvy politician will not let them forget it which should bring about her election to Speaker. Though they try to attempt to preach a moderate game plan she holds the power and control of all House legislation and you can bet that she will use that power to her advantage. Democrats have already promised that one of their first orders of business is to increase the minimum wage by more than $2.00 which will slow the economy upon its implimentation. Employers who have people on their payroll who are on minimum wage, ( a starting wage and not a living wage as the Dems try to spin), will make cut backs and raise prices to pay for the payroll increases which will change the employment picture, slow job creation and quell consumer confidence as prices rise to meet payroll demands. The next order of business will be to follow Charlie Rangels promise as Ways and Means Chairman to repeal all Bush tax cuts. Which equates to this and I will give but one example. A family of four making $50, 000 dollars which is not rich by any means now pay $1300.00 in taxes without the Bush tax cut that same income will have to pay$3300.00. Though the tax cuts are in place until 2010 because they have not been made permenant the House does have the means to repeal them as Rangel has promised.

Concerning the war Democrats now have the capability of defunding the war if the President does not follow their direction on how to prosecute the war. Their redeployment ideas range from going to Okinawa to being station just outside of the borders of Iraq thus in truth pulling out of the country. The insurgents and the terrorists would then have a free hand against a still unstable Iraqi Defense Force and gain a strong foot hold before troops could be moved back into the theater thus costing more American lives trying to quell the promised actions by insurgents and terrorists. Senator Biden has also been pushing for a four fold Iraqi government with each tribal faction governing their own with four distinct governing bodies and not the centralized government with all factions participating which is what the Iraqis have voted for. This plan will cause tremendous division and anarchy in the governing process which will totally destabalize the country and much of the region. Far more than what is already happening.

These are just a few issues that I see changing with the House take over and a Democrat majority or evenly divided Senate as now seems the case. On the bright side for conservatives and the GOP, Republicans now have the opportunity to re-establish conservative ideas and leadership within the party and to eliminate those who have grown drunk on political power and cause the slide away from conservatism. This will enable the GOP to once again position themselves with the electorate as they did in 1994 and with what will be happening in the House especially under Democrat control usher in a truly conservative GOP leadership in 2008. The next two years will remind Americans why they ousted the Democrats in 1994 as they in thinking that this was a mandate for Pelosi, Reid and Dean legislate from the left and their true colors finally shine forth.

Ken Taylor