Oct 30 2010
The Accidental Uniter – For Now
Soon to be Ex-Speaker Pelosi and soon to be Ex Majority Leader (and Senator) Reid and our young, inexperienced President have achieved something fairly impressive this election – they united the nation in common cause.
I say this because I disagree with what two very experienced Democrat pollsters have written in the WaPo this morning regarding the mood of the country coming into the final days of this historic election cycle:
President Obama’s post-partisan America has disappeared, replaced by the politics of polarization, resentment and division.
In a Univision interview on Monday, the president, who campaigned in 2008 by referring not to a “Red America” or a “Blue America” but a United States of America, urged Hispanic listeners to vote in this spirit: “We’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us.”
Recently, Obama suggested that if Republicans gain control of the House and/or Senate as forecast, he expects not reconciliation and unity but “hand-to-hand combat” on Capitol Hill.
What a change two years can bring.
The fact is this is simply a sign of where the unity and common cause is focused, and what it is aimed at eliminating. Once again a party his being thrown out of office for being too aloof, too outside the common ground of the center and too corrupt. The tea Party movement was a spark of gestalt realization that DC has too much power, too many incompetent bureaucrats and too much time on their hands. It created an alliance of agreement and unity that spans the left of center, right of center and some of the far right. There are still ‘true conservatives’ out their wailing it’s their turn to remake America in the social conservative image, but they don’t have the votes or support to take this country where it does not wish to go, any more than their far left liberal ‘enemies’ did. The nation is in a rare moment of post-partisan agreement.
Post partisanship is not hard to retain and hold. It simply means dropping the RINO and DINO crap and letting people express their views without retribution. That is the personal responsibility that must come out of the mess of the last two years. Neither party is respected right now – independents are the new power.
It is finally clear the power of DC, derived from its over interpretation of the Commerce Clause and its trillion dollar budgets, corrupts the minds and intentions of even the best. The path that is before us this November is one that curtails the government in a careful and managed manner. This new goal will take a decade to make happen and will require respectful dialogue and steps too small for the patience of some. There is too slow and too abrupt – and like a ‘true independent’ I am of the opinion there will be an optimum solution that will be different for each and every federal program and agency soon to be on the chopping block.
Some solutions have become obvious. Public Broadcasting can be completely cut from the budget. We have 5000 channels on cable, we don’t need to subsidize any of them. Keep and expand C-SPAN, allow more visibility into statewide government and panels and commissions. Take the money from PBS and expose government to the governed.
The Department of education can be basically gutted. This Nixon-Carter era disaster has done more to lower our education standards than anything else. It’s attempt to push one-size-fits-all solutions has proven the foolishness of this approach once again. It has also helped establish a bloated and unresponsive education system in every state. Dismantle it and provide a clearing house for new methods and successes to be communicated across the country. Let it be our repository of things that worked, lesson plans that succeeded and can be shared.
Allow it to be a pool of emergency funds for impoverished school districts – a very small pool with tight requirements. No more $578 million elementary school buildings as monuments to monumental egos. If LA & CA can waste that much of their tax payer’s money while being billions in debt, they sure as hell don’t need federal handouts – they need a list of priorities and a backbone. The DoEd should be a small national resource that has no authority to dictate anything to anyone (except who gets emergency funds).
The EPA needs an overhaul, while NASA, NOAA, USGS and the DOE need to be integrated and streamlined from a management stand point. There is a lot of overlap and conflict in the areas of national science and technology that can be made much more effective with a better partnership with the private sector, allowing the government to lead in areas too risky for corporate financing alone to tackle. We waste billions in overlapping efforts and agenda driven ‘science’. CO2 will not be pollutant nor will it be taxed or managed. Global warming will not be a niche science with low standards, it will have to prove itself the same as all other engineering and scientific concepts.
November 2nd is going to be a historic moment, and the results will be a mandate that cannot be fumbled by a few who want it all for themselves. The liberal debacle of the last two years has created a new, post partisan coalition. If handled right, it will center itself around solid and acceptable common ground and begin building momentum towards 2012 – and the hard work ahead. It took over 200 years for the government to grow out of control, many times out of the necessity of the time (e.g., the ridiculous national helium reserve from the days of blimps and WW I). It will take time, dialogue, debate and compromise to fix.
The energy of the wave hitting DC Tuesday is enormous because it comes from so many united in the rejection of Obama, Reid and Pelosi. It is not united in the details of going forward. We only have the general parameters to get started: lower taxes, lower spending through minimal government, more personal freedom and responsibility, more respect for diversity, no dictating behavior or preferential treatment of groups (unions, races, or religions). No government health care – ever. Get the lawyers out of our lives as well (tort reform everywhere). Unlock the individual initiative by removing regulations and laws meant to keep established companies in power.
And then there are things we know we must fix which are also political lightening rods: Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. First step to finally fixing this is to pass a law that freezes the current approach for everyone over 45 years old. Allow those up to 50 or so to participate in any new systems with their own money. Once these basic rules are set we can review options and look at the costs to support those grandfathered in the existing systems and those ready to go a new route. With those 45 and over guaranteed the current system not matter what, no one can use scare tactics to push off reform once again.
This wave is historic and exciting, but it is also a huge responsibility. Everyone who has stood up to reject the liberal madness now must step up and work to fix the problem. We have been united, but it cannot be a moment of petulant frustration, where it is thrown to others to take the risks and do the hard work. This is a monumental time in history, and we may not have a leader in the White House capable of grabbing hold of it and moving us back in the right direction. Enjoy the moment Tuesday, but be prepared for the tough work ahead.
If you start from the center in a negotiation and compromise from there you will not end up in the center. That is what is wrong with McCain and Grahams position. Politics is the art of compromise after all
Wow a powerful post and kudos for hitting the nail on the head!
I will agree with your article with a few exceptions. All federal depts should be downsized drastically except defense. The exceptions of this downsizing would be commerce and education which should be abolished and all laws enacted in their names repealed. The executive budget should be downsized to exclude all the czars Obama has on the books, Michelle’s ridiculous “food desers” program and a lot of the great giveaway programs both domdestic and foreign. We cannot save the whole world and should stop trying. All agencies should be investigated and eliminate the ones that overlap or work against each other.
Tort reform is a state issue and should be enacted by the states. Federal tort reform would be giving the federal government even more power and is not one of the actions defined in the Constitution for federal rule. The same goes for insurance across state lines. The states govern the insurance rules not the federal government. The biggie is to repeal Obamacare. This law is an infringment of states rights and is meant to bankrupt the states so as to bring them under the federal umbrella and eliminate their rights.
There needs to be investigtions aplenty by congress. None of this polite stuff of colleague courtesy. The dims have proven this is a fallacy and they do not respect it. They invedstigated the republicans to the max with phony show trials. Some of these dims need to go to jail for their crimes and civility should be out the window.
Recently, Obama suggested that if Republicans gain control of the House and/or Senate as forecast, he expects not reconciliation and unity but “hand-to-hand combat” on Capitol Hill.</i?
From my post “the bottom line” …
Blogger Robin of Berkeley, on the American Thinker blog site, nailed it in A Shrink Asks: What’s Wrong with Obama?…
“If my assessment is accurate, what does this mean?”
“It means that liberals need to wake up and spit out the Kool-Aid…and that conservatives should put aside differences, band together, and elect as many Republicans as possible.”
“Because Obama will not change. He will not learn from his mistakes. He will not grow and mature from on-the-job experience. In fact, over time, Obama will likely become a more ferocious version of who he is today.”
–
I’ll go one further. The Civil Rights Act should be revised to exclude the government paying for legal fees ala ACLU. Let the litigants pay these fees or let the ACLU work pro bono. Maybe that would stop these organizations filing their frivilous lawsuite that are destroying the American way of life.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Suhr Mesa, Free To Prosper. Free To Prosper said: The Accidental Uniter – For Now http://bit.ly/d50rcn :: Strata-sphere […]
Good post AJ.
[…] “hired guns threatened” talk show host – hotair.com 10/30/2010 Chilling. more… The Accidental Uniter – For Now – strata-sphere.com 10/30/2010 Soon to be Ex-Speaker Pelosi and soon to be Ex Majority Leader […]
I remember how you stuck up for Congressman Weldon whose daughter got 500,000 dollars from the Russian gas company Itera for “consulting.” Really they got that money because Weldon was a shill for Itera.
I am voting Democrat for the first time in 40 years.
Cuccinelli gets money from his dad, a gas lobbyist with “European” clients.
Cuccinelli’s office won’t tell me who these clients are, but I know who sells gas in Europe–Russia. I voted for Cuccinelli, but he is hiding his dad’s clients.
I also don’t believe you work for NASA. You just make propaganda against global warming.
US, European, and Russian businesses are buying our politicians just like the Russians already did in the Czech Republic.
“In Western Europe, Moscow has operated by making lucrative arrangements with foreign energy companies that become de facto lobbyists for the Kremlin within their own countries.”—“Why The Russia Spy Story Really Matters” (RFE/RL, 7-9-10)
“Lucrative arrangement” means the Russians pay their partners more than a deal is worth because the Russians want their foreign business partners to do double duty as Kremlin lobbyists.
In Soviet Studies they call that an agent of influence.
http://legendofpineridge.blogspot.com/2010/10/foreign-corporations-buying-american.html
snapple, you’re fighting a war that’s already lost. Cap and Trade is dead, and the whole “green jobs” thing was nothing but a fantasy that only foolish people bought into. Too bad that dealing with that reality seems to have sent you off into cloud-cuckoo land.
here, from the Guardian article you put so much stock in:
“The biggest single donor was the German pharmaceutical company Bayer, which gave $108,100 to senators. BP made $25,000 in campaign donations…”
Do you realize that HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of DOLLARS are being spent this campaign season? Do you understand that HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS is a lot bigger than one hundred thousand?
You are claiming that a contribution which is literally less than 1/10 of 1% of the money being contributed is somehow responsible for the entire Tea Party movement? I’m sorry, snapple, but you’re an idiot.
Question for the esteemed commenters here (Snapple is excused…).
Since we are on the cusp of the election, will all of the major pollsters (Rasmussen, Gallup, et al.) be giving us their “best” predictions tomorrow or Monday, given that they don’t want to be wrong (and lose credibility)? I suspect the direction of the final polls will indicate if we have just an OK/good wave or a super tsunami.
I’ll weigh in on your question, Archtop. I think they’ll definitely give us their “best” predictions – but if AJ’s thesis is right, their “best” predictions aren’t going to be very good since they have no way to calibrate their turnout models. This is because there are no comparables to this set of circumstances in their database.
To use an engineering analogy, if the instrument can’t be calibrated, the measurements cannot be trusted. The inability to accurately predict the actual turnout mix means that no one can accurately calculate their poll numbers.
This is still a thesis, of course, and we won’t know if it’s true until after the election results come in. But if the results show a wide disparity from the predicted results, this will be why.
Whew, lot’s to comment on.
first: AJ, excellent post.
I’ve done a lot of thinking about this issue lately and I’m convinced that we should quit having federal employees for most of the things that we now have them for.
let privately owned companies compete. Do away with the US postal service entirely, let private companies bid on delivering mail.
Get ALL federal regulation out of Education. Let the states set their standards.
Policemen should work for local, state or federal government.
Firefighting should be contracted with civilian companies. Government should strictly enforce standards.
Transportation (local) private companies
quit having government employees that are gonna retire on the taxpayers.
Next: Snapple? that’s a fruit drink, right?
Barbara S, right on. National defense is a US government function and should remain so. All law enforcement officers should enforce ALL laws. As it is, taken to it’s extreme, bank robbery is a Federal Crime so local law enforcement would not arrest bank robbers? ridiculous….
When you get right down to it, it now seems as if there are 3 parties, Dims, Repubs, and Indys. winning the indys are the goal of the other two. In the present case, the Dims and Obamaites seem to have conceded their positions and it will likely be a long time before they can win back very many from the Indy group. But, politics are fickle and you have to strike while the iron is hot. That’s what the present IN crowd tried to do only to learn that the iron hadn’t gotten hot yet. The result, they don’t get to plug it back in for a while.
I hope the blowout Tues is truly monumental. I’m still convinced O’Donnell will win.
Thanks WWS. My thought was that if the polls, in general, showed the GOP leads increasing, then we may be seeing a super tsunami on Tuesday due to the momentum the GOP has going in. The absolute numbers may not matter like you said (since we’ve never seen these conditions before), though they all seem to be projecting 60+ House seats and 7 – 9 Senate seats.
Regarding O’Donnell and Delaware…
Nobody saw her defeating Castle in the primary to the extent that she did (all polls had it close). My suspicion is that she has organized the grassroots GOTV to the extent that she will win the Southern (conservative) part of the state, and may indeed pull the upset IF (1) the indies come through, (2) the Democrat blue dogs and PUMAs come though. I’m certainly pulling for her to win…
The Gawker thing was really a dumb stunt on the part of the liberals and may have cost them this seat…
WWS, (being an engineer) I agree with that.
for example: Murkowski polls very close to Miller in Alaska, but it won’t be nearly as close as the polling because people will NOT ‘write in’ a candidate. That’s like having to fill in a password on line. that’s why all browser’s ‘remember’ them for you.
when ‘polling’ polls someone, they ‘tend’ to answer according to party line early on. but for this election, the dims are so unhappy that they’re not gonna vote. the indys are unhappy with what we have, so they are gonna vote, against the Dims. The Repubs are so unhappy, they’re gonna vote in huge numbers…against the Dims.
result? gooooood…….
Archtop:
All I can say is living here in Broward County Fla. (home of the chad) We went to vote yesterday and waited 2 hours, in my life I have never ever seen that many people openly discuss who they were voting for and why . The anger and intensity they exhibited was only muted when Allen West showed up (unannounced) the crowd that had waited in line to vote immediately started the chant of West, West, West.
If this is any indication of voter intensity through out the country then A J is correct and the wave is about to crash on Tuesday 🙂
ama055131:
Good to hear your report…I certainly hope Allen West is successful as he will make a wonderful representative for your state.
I’ve been noting that the RCP House average for GOP seats has been creeping up – now at 65 seats. It will be interesting to hear from other sources about the momentum going into Tuesday. Of course, many have already voted early, so I suppose the momentum has already begun :^)