Rare sight: Incumbent Democratic Congressman Ed Perlmutter does cartwheels onstage during his victory celebration in Denver, Colorado, after learning he had held on to his seat |
Editorial
The New York Times
Voters in Tuesday’s elections sent President Obama a loud message: They don’t like how he’s doing his job, they’re even angrier at Congressional Democrats and they gave the House back to the Republicans. The Republicans spent months fanning Americans’ anger over the economy and fear of “big government,” while offering few ideas of their own. Exit polls indicated that they had succeeded in turning out their base, and that the Democrats had failed to rally their own.
Americans who voted described themselves as far more conservative than they did in 2006 and 2008 — and than the population as a whole. More than 4 in 10 said that they supported the Tea Party movement. But more than half of the voters said they have an unfavorable view of the Republican Party.
The question is: Will either side draw the right lessons from this midterm election?
Mr. Obama, and his party, have to do a far better job of explaining their vision and their policies. Mr. Obama needs to break his habits of neglecting his base voters and of sitting on the sidelines and allowing others to shape the debate. He needs to do a much better job of stiffening the spines of his own party’s leaders.
He has made it far too easy for his opponents to spin and distort what Americans should see as genuine progress in very tough times: a historic health care reform, a stimulus that headed off an even deeper recession, financial reform to avoid another meltdown.
Mr. Obama has a lot of difficult work ahead of him. The politics in Washington will likely get even nastier. Before he can hope to build the minimal bipartisan consensus needed to move ahead, Mr. Obama will have to rally more Americans to the logic of his policies.
The question for the Republicans now is whether they are going to bask in triumphalism or get down to the real work of governing. It is one thing to pander and obstruct when you are out of power. With a divided government, it won’t take long for voters to demand that they explain their plans.
John Boehner, the likely speaker of the House, has not provided a clue of how his party will begin to cut the deficit, which Republicans say is their top priority. One of the few specific promises he has made would dig an even deeper hole: extending all of the Bush-era tax cuts.
And exit polls suggested that even these more conservative voters get what the Republican Party leadership still doesn’t: that there is no way to tackle the deficit and slash taxes at the same time. Only 19 percent said cutting taxes was the top priority for the next Congress.
Anticipating a big win on Tuesday, leading Republicans haven’t been talking about substance, only more obstructionism. Mr. Boehner said the other day that the president was welcome to support Republican programs. But as for Mr. Obama’s agenda, he said, “We’re going to do everything — and I mean everything we can do — to kill it, stop it, slow it down, whatever we can.”
Mike Pence, the No. 3 Republican, said there would be “no compromise” on repealing the health care reform law and permanently extending all Bush-era tax cuts, including for the wealthiest Americans.
A Republican majority in the House of Representatives should pursue Republican priorities. But what we have been hearing sounds disturbingly like what we heard after the 1994 election, when Newt Gingrich, then the speaker-to-be, announced that there would be no compromising on his agenda.
The result was gridlock. The Republicans shut down the government, which ultimately cost Mr. Gingrich his job and the Republicans their majority.
One thing is very clear from all the polls and all the voting: Americans are fed up with that sort of gamesmanship. It’s bad for the country.
19 comments:
Dear Brother K I 's,
Big Day for me as Cambodian Refugee but proud to be Republican .
Special Thanks to American Government and American People for granting political asylum to Cambodian Refugees.
May Lord Buddha bless America and KHMERS
Don't ever spit on the hand that reached out and helped you in times of need.
J
Khmer are beggars in US, they can't be vote, voting is not for Khmer dogs
If you think Lord Buddha blessed America you better go back and see if he has ever bless Cambodia?
American law was founded upon bible principles not mere man's philosophy. Therefore I believe what has made America so great until perverts wants to debase its true foundation to mere man's idealistic ideology.
May Lord Jesus and God bless the KHMER ROUGES since GOD and JESUS created the world and Human Beings including the Communists and SIHANOUK !
Down with Christian Bibles.
KHMER REFUGEE
Dear KHMER ISRAEL,
You sound like you are refugee as well or may be you have ralated yourself as JEWS.
How could you find yourself in ISRAEL why don't you go back to where you belong since you claimed yourself as KHMER born in where ?MEXICO ?
Please Respect people 's faith and belief , respect your aprents KID! since your parents are KHMER born Buddhist.
Come on KHMER ISRAEL !,
Please do not remain silent
American has bring back the "devils".
Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.
Insight from John Mcternan
The election was a crushing defeat for Obama, but his speech today was confrontational. He is not going to go with the will of the people. He is digging his heels in for a battle. The House now is left with Hard Core Democrats and newly elected Republicans, who are not going to compromise. This is a recipe for a political civil war that can soon turn into the real thing. All is in place for a great confrontation in America. This confrontation has been building for decades. The West Coast and New England are fully in the reprobate camp. Most of the people have nothing in common with the rest of the country.
If Obama pressures Israel to divide the land, watch the unity of America begin to melt down. The Hard Left will not take this defeat lying down. I see them unifying and ready for violence. This could get real ugly and real fast.
It was wonderful to see how far ahead of the curve Oklahoma is regarding the danger of Islam! There are many states watching this that are about to follow. Americans are not like the Europeans, who rolled over and played dead in front of Islam. All across America, the people are standing up to the Hard Left. I can sense the confrontation in the air. The Hard Left will not simply go away. They will use the Muslims as a wedge against the people. It is going to be interesting to watch the Hard Left regroup, and see what is their strategy against us.
Dear KHMER ISRAEL,
Sound like you know too well life in America , I thought you were in Middle East trying to survive the Muslim attacks and I could imagine the your HANUKA will not save you in ISRAEL
Dear KHMER ISRAEL,
Plaese pack your theory and bring it back to save Cambodia while HUN SEN is still welcoming you
Respect what?....
Muslims in Bangladesh Beat, Deprive Christians of Work
Obama to visit mosque in Indonesia, but avoid temple in India
He is in bed with the Muslims and will do nothing to offend them!
Don't be a fool- Muslim attacks are all over the glob. Why don't you see the sword ready to lop you head off?
Latest Offerings from the Religion of Peace
"He who fights that Islam should be superior fights in Allah's cause"
Muhammad, prophet of Islam
2010.11.03 (Helmand, Afghanistan) - Two children are among five civilians cut to pieces by machine-gun fire from religious fundamentalists.
2010.11.03 (Helmand, Afghanistan) - The Taliban murder three policemen with a roadside bomb.
2010.11.02 (Baghdad, Iraq) - At least 13 deadly bomb blasts set by Sunni extremists leave over one-hundred dead in Shia neighborhoods.
2010.11.01 (Helamand, Afghanistan) - Two female Afghan aid workers are kidnapped and riddled with bullets by Holy Warriors.
2010.11.01 (Mosul, Iraq) - An elderly man is among five victims of a series of terror attacks.
2010.11.01 (Khasavyurt, Dagestan) - A local imam is shot twice in the head by Religion of Peace rivals.
Please respect Islam!
Including your head as KHMER JEWISH,and I strongly believe your head will be the first to behead off since you claimed yourself as Muslim enemy
In 2007 Islam and Judaism's holiest holidays overlapped for 10 days.
Muslims racked up 397 dead bodies in 94 terror attacks across 10
countries during this time... while Jews worked on their 159th Nobel Prize.
Tell me, who is more honorable?
How many terrorist attacks had Jews and Christians incur? Too many to count that is why the Muslims hated Jews and Christians.
Dear KHMER ISRAEL,
What about Christians with bombs and nuclear weapons and what about JEWISHS taking the lands and control of other countries.
You Christians carried Bibles first and colonize later.
Dear KHMER ISRAEL,
Please wake up and do not give up your own point of views and faiths.
You must go back to Cambodia where you and your parents belong .
Dear KhmerIsrael,
The U.S. Founding Fathers knew that there would be fanatic like you that is why they insisted that there is a firm separation between state and religion.
The election was a crushing defeat for Obama?
What tea leaves from the Tea Party did you read? Midterm elections almost always an opportunity for American people to evaluate the direction of the country regardless of who is the president. Reagan, Clinton, and Bush W. (to a certain extent) suffered the same fate. People were frustrated because of the economic situation. The unemployment rate is in two digits. People simply send a signal to all politicians (not just Obama) that they are not happy with the current situation.
Yes, the GOP is taking over the House. They deserve our congratulations. That does not mean anything. If you understand how the legislation process works, you would not utter such words: the “Hard Core Democrats”, or the “ Hard Left” Every bill that passed in the House must go through the Senate. Without the Senate's approval the bill is dead. Democrats still controls the Senate. Even if a bill manages to pass both houses, the president can still veto it. By the way, the GOP does not have enough votes to override the president's veto.
The new speaker John Boehner will have a job cut out for him. Not only must he deal with members his party and the Democrats, but he has to reconcile his these new Tea Party members whose agenda are much difference for those of his and his party.
If the GOP chooses to remain as obstructionists as they have been in the last two years, they have to answer to the American people in 2012.
This election, if anything at all, will help Obama. Although the GOP has the rights to set political agenda in the House, they have to work with the president and the Democrats to move this country forward. Otherwise, you will see more people not from the GOP, Democratic Party, or Tea Party be elected in the next election.
There are checks and balance that designed to prevent anyone party or person from having too much people. A good citizen would understand this situation and would work to push this country forward.
Koun Khmer
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