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March 17, 2006
DEMOCRATS COULD WIN SEATS....
The democrats are likely to make significant gains during the next congressional election. I say that only if they can shutup their extreme left membership for two minutes. Those extremists scare people and at times it looks like the whole democratic party has been hijacked by those on the wacky left fringe; look who they have for party Chairman!
But, if the democrats do gain seats, as I suspect they will, it won't be because of they are so wonderful at winning over voters; it will be because voters are mad at the GOP for not living up to their promises! Although, if you challenge them on this, the GOP will be quick to point to a robust economy, low inflation and lots of new jobs. However, the economy is an entity unto itself and it isn't controlled by government. Oh, sure, government can screw it up, but is "not screwing it up" something to take a bow for? If it is, we've lowered the bar once again.
Spending is going to be a big issue and we know Bush and Republicans in Congress have been spending like drunken sailors, a lot of it has been on feel good projects labeled "security."
Bush has been coming off like a big liberal on social spending and throwing money at Hurricane Katrina, despite spending huge amounts for PR, he hasn't bought himself one liberal vote. What a debacle that's been for him and conservatives. A lot of mistakes were made and a lot money wasted. Hardly the image you want going into a congressional race.
Here's an example of what I am talking about..."The government wasted millions of dollars in its award of post-Katrina Hurricane contracts for disaster relief, including at least $3 million for 4,000 beds that were never used, congressional auditors said yesterday.
The Government Accountability Office's review of 13 major contracts -- many of them awarded with limited or no competition after the Aug. 29 hurricane -- offers the first preliminary overview of their soundness. Waste and mismanagement were widespread due to poor planning and miscommunication, according to the five-page briefing paper released yesterday. That led to money being paid for services, such as housing or ice, that were never used."
The Iraq war has had a significant impact on the GOP too (I have a firm grasp of the obvious sometimes). The Bush administration has done a horrific job of communicating with the voters over so many key issues, I hardly know where to begin. Most recently it was the "ports sale." Pushed through with no public discussion, as if not one person in the Bush administration had a clue the public might not like it? Communications or the lack thereof has undermined so much of what might have been good, if only handled slightly more tactfully.
Bush II may go down in history as our worst communicator, ever!
Posted by Post Scripts at March 17, 2006 12:14 PM
Comments
I do not agree with you about Dems taking a bunch of power back. The big issue and the bottom line is going to be national security. The Dems have not shown they can be trusted to deal with the issue. They are going to get hammered over and over and over on that issue.
As far as spending goes, it costs big money to fight two wars and help rebuild two countries, while at the same time running the greatest democracy the world has ever known. We will see what happens but I think it wont be much of a change.
Posted by: Toby Stahler at March 19, 2006 09:19 PM