"Sure, I'm mad at the Democrats. I'm also mad at my cell phone company. But I don't throw away my cell phone cause I'm mad and then rub dog shit on my teeth." -Bill Maher 10/29/10
I finally voted for the first time here in Texas. First off, I'd like to say that Texas has a much better system for voting than California. No punching holes and worrying about "hanging chads." Their system was entirely electronic and very easy. You press some buttons, and then you have a chance to review all your choices before you make the vote official. Very nice.
Unfortunately, unlike California, everyone that I voted for lost. For Governor, I voted for Bill White, the democrat. He lost with only 42% of the vote compared to Rick Perry's 55%. Rick Perry is now entering his third term as Governor. I don't particularly like Perry. He comes off as a cocky cowboy, a GW Bush clone. But, this is not California, it's Texas, so I knew Perry would win before I even voted. If there is any consolation, at least the city of Austin overwhelmingly voted for Bill White (with over 60% of the vote here.)
Nationwide, things didn't look too good for the Democrats, with the Republicans taking back control of the House. I was also a bit disappointed to see the marijuana initiative fail in California. Had it won, marijuana would have become legal. This, in addition to passing the anti-gay marriage law, has started to make me lose hope about California being the hip, progressive state it once was. However, they did elect Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown as their governor, which is quite a welcome surprise. Meg Whitman would have been a very bad choice.
This election was pretty damaging for the Democrats, but it didn't seem to be the tidal wave that everyone was expecting. Harry Reid won, beating that tea party menace Sharon Angle, who once said that Medicare was "wicked", Social Security was "welfare", and opposed abortion even in the case of rape and incest. It's great to see that people aren't so angry at the Democrats that they're willing to vote for any right-wing extremist who's running against them. Christine "Witchiepoo" O'Donnell also lost, thankfully. I guess her "I'm not a witch" ad didn't work too well for her. The Democrats maintained control of the Senate, and most likely it's in part because of these wacky Tea Party candidates.
If things don't start to improve within the next two years, Obama will likely lose re-election, unless the GOP puts up some nutcase like Sarah Palin to run against him, then he will win easily. But, if the Republicans actually find someone of quality, they have a good chance. Unemployment is still very high nationwide, and of course we will blame our current leader. If you happen to mention that we were losing 700,000 jobs a month during the end of GW Bush's presidency, and are now losing much less under Obama, the Republicans don't want to hear it. They will just tell you to "Stop blaming Bush!" But the reality is that Bush totally decimated this economy to the point where it could easily take 8 years or more to fully recover. Sure, Obama could have delayed his unpopular health care program and focused exclusively on jobs, and that was probably his biggest mistake. I assume that now, after this election, he will do exactly that.
I finally voted for the first time here in Texas. First off, I'd like to say that Texas has a much better system for voting than California. No punching holes and worrying about "hanging chads." Their system was entirely electronic and very easy. You press some buttons, and then you have a chance to review all your choices before you make the vote official. Very nice.
Unfortunately, unlike California, everyone that I voted for lost. For Governor, I voted for Bill White, the democrat. He lost with only 42% of the vote compared to Rick Perry's 55%. Rick Perry is now entering his third term as Governor. I don't particularly like Perry. He comes off as a cocky cowboy, a GW Bush clone. But, this is not California, it's Texas, so I knew Perry would win before I even voted. If there is any consolation, at least the city of Austin overwhelmingly voted for Bill White (with over 60% of the vote here.)
Nationwide, things didn't look too good for the Democrats, with the Republicans taking back control of the House. I was also a bit disappointed to see the marijuana initiative fail in California. Had it won, marijuana would have become legal. This, in addition to passing the anti-gay marriage law, has started to make me lose hope about California being the hip, progressive state it once was. However, they did elect Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown as their governor, which is quite a welcome surprise. Meg Whitman would have been a very bad choice.
This election was pretty damaging for the Democrats, but it didn't seem to be the tidal wave that everyone was expecting. Harry Reid won, beating that tea party menace Sharon Angle, who once said that Medicare was "wicked", Social Security was "welfare", and opposed abortion even in the case of rape and incest. It's great to see that people aren't so angry at the Democrats that they're willing to vote for any right-wing extremist who's running against them. Christine "Witchiepoo" O'Donnell also lost, thankfully. I guess her "I'm not a witch" ad didn't work too well for her. The Democrats maintained control of the Senate, and most likely it's in part because of these wacky Tea Party candidates.
If things don't start to improve within the next two years, Obama will likely lose re-election, unless the GOP puts up some nutcase like Sarah Palin to run against him, then he will win easily. But, if the Republicans actually find someone of quality, they have a good chance. Unemployment is still very high nationwide, and of course we will blame our current leader. If you happen to mention that we were losing 700,000 jobs a month during the end of GW Bush's presidency, and are now losing much less under Obama, the Republicans don't want to hear it. They will just tell you to "Stop blaming Bush!" But the reality is that Bush totally decimated this economy to the point where it could easily take 8 years or more to fully recover. Sure, Obama could have delayed his unpopular health care program and focused exclusively on jobs, and that was probably his biggest mistake. I assume that now, after this election, he will do exactly that.
Yeah, Kansas voted overwhelmingly republican yesterday. It shocked me that even democrat incumbents lost. I don't think one democrat won here.
ReplyDeleteThis IS Kansas, so it didn't surprise me that it stayed a Republican state. But usually here if someone who is doing a good job is in office, even if they are a democrat, they get reelected.
Janet
I was wrong, some regional democrats did win, incumbents, no doubt. They just weren't in my region.
ReplyDeleteBut the big guys are now all republican, far as I can tell.
Janet
Bill Maher? Yeesh... talk about sour grapes twisting in the wind.
ReplyDeleteI agree the marijuana initiative not being passed in California is a disappointment. Even though I have never used drugs and am 100% anti-drug, de-criminalizing pot would take the wind out that part of the illicit drug trade and would make weed subject to taxes like any other product. That is revenue the state could use.
California is in the pickle it is in just because they made "hip" and "progressive" a higher priority than fiscal responsibility. I cannot see or understand why "Moonbeam" Brown would be a better choice than someone like Meg Whitman who actually knows how to run a business. Plus, she financed her own campaign - no special interest money to repay with political favors. Jerry Brown is a professional politician who is beholden to his unseen contributors. He will not even come close to solving California's problems. He simply doesn't know how. Watch and see.
The election in general is a merely a re-balancing of power, but it is certainly the mainstream coming back to it's senses. You are wholly mistaken to label the Tea Party as "wacky". What is so wacky about being in favor of limited government and a return to fiscal responsibiity? Not that there weren’t some whack-outs under the banner. Voters could see this and consequently, those candidates washed out anyhow.
Yes, I am one of those people who will tell you to stop blaming Bush. Jeez, the guy has been out of office for almost two years now. If the Office of the President has as much power as you insinuate, don't you think Obama (with the overwhelming Democrat majority he had in Congress!), would have at least begun to fix whatever was broken by now? Eight years to fix an economy is a very pessimistic prognosis. However, if the government keeps it’s nose in the private sector, it may take even longer. Yet, as I have said before, one man - even the POTUS, does not have the power to single-handedly "decimate" an economy. Congress always has a hand in it if there is a ounce of truth to it.
Remember, the congress is the real power in our country and that same (Democratic)congress approved many of the things Bush enacted in his term. With Obama and his now defunct Democratic congressional super-majority, the national debt rose 3 trillion dollars. And in only 18 months since the election! What did we get with that? A stimulus that did not work, government ownership of auto companies (bail-out of the unions), and a health-care scheme (scam)that will raise costs in the long run as well as putting our grandchildren in hock for it. This is progress?
I really think the "Bush is to blame" schtick is getting old... and silly. It smacks of ignorance and impotence.
I want to add that the American people are themselves partly the blame for the mess the country is in. People went on a spending spree, living far beyond their means on cheap credit... and taking loans out on homes they could not afford in the long run. Inevitably, the piper came to be paid and everyone was tapped out.
What we can hope for now is that the best of both the left and right can get together and get our fantastic country back to a common-sense reality.
Meg Whitman was her own worst enemy. As is the so-called tea party.
ReplyDeleteBush bent lower and middle class Americans over and fucked them long and hard up the ass. Any Republicans who try to spin around that are either too loyal to think clearly or just fucking stupid.
Obama is good speaker and impotent administrator. Even with his own spineless party in control of both houses he sat around with his fist up his ass and ignored what unemployed people care about most; jobs. Any Democrats who try to spin around that forget that excuses are like assholes.
I liked this election. Someone I voted for actually won.
C'mon, JesuitMonkeyFan....Tell us how you really feel!
ReplyDelete