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When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; When the government fears the people, there is liberty.  ~ Thomas Jefferson

 

Entries Tagged as 'Voice of the People'

Unlikely battleground of Wisconsin reflects Democrats’ vulnerability in midterm elections

September 7th, 2010 · Accountability, Change of Power, Obama Exposed, Republicans, Wisconsin

By Karen Tumulty – Monday, September 6, 2010; 10:47 PM

MILWAUKEE – Democrats in Congress are no longer asking themselves whether this is going to be a bad election year for them and their party. They are asking whether it is going to be a disaster.

The answer will probably be found in states such as Wisconsin, one of a growing number of spots on the map where Democrats accustomed to winning reelection with ease – including Sen. Russell Feingold – are unexpectedly in trouble.

The GOP pushed deep into Democratic-held territory over the summer, to the point where the party is well within range of picking up the 39 seats it would need to take control of the House. Overall, as many as 80 House seats could be at risk, and fewer than a dozen of these are held by Republicans.

Political handicappers now say it is conceivable that the Republicans could also win the 10 seats they need to take back the Senate. Not since 1930 has the House changed hands without the Senate following suit.

“Given the races in play – six for Republicans and 13 for Democrats – a plausible case can now be made that those 10 seats are within their reach,” the nonpartisan Cook Political Report wrote last week. But it predicted that the GOP‘s gain will fall just short of that, at seven to nine seats.

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Republicans making gains against Democrats ahead of midterm elections

September 7th, 2010 · Accountability, Change of Power, Obama Exposed, Republicans

By Dan Balz and Jon Cohen Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, September 7, 2010; 12:04 AM

Republicans are heading into the final weeks of the midterm campaign with the political climate highly in their favor, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Americans are increasingly frustrated by a lack of economic progress, deeply dissatisfied with the federal government and critical of President Obama‘s leadership.

For the first time in more than four years, Republicans run about evenly with Democrats on the basic question of which party they trust to handle the nation’s biggest problems. Among registered voters, 40 percent say they have more confidence in Democrats and 38 percent say they have more trust in Republicans. Three months ago, Democrats had a 12-point advantage.

On the economy, 43 percent of voters side with Republicans when it comes to dealing with financial problems, while 39 percent favor Democrats. (Fifteen percent say they trust neither party more.) Although not a significant lead for Republicans, this marks the first time they have had any numerical edge on the economy dating to 2002. In recent years, Democrats have typically held double-digit advantages on the issue.

The principal obstacles to GOP electoral hopes continue to be doubts that Republicans have a clear plan for the country should they win control of the House or Senate in November. But overall, the poll shows that the party has made big gains in the public’s estimation since earlier this year.

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Gloom for Democrats as they look to November

September 1st, 2010 · Accountability, Change of Power, Congress, Obama Exposed, Republicans

By Dan Balz Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 31, 2010; 11:39 PM

The Gallup organization dropped a bomb on the political world this week. In shorthand, the pollsters said Monday that if the midterm elections were held now, Republicans would take control of the House – and probably by a comfortable margin.

On Tuesday, James Campbell, a professor of political science at the University of Buffalo, weighed in with a prediction based on his modeling of the political climate. He said that Republicans are poised to gain 51 or 52 House seats, at least 11 more than needed to depose the Democrats.

Election Day is still two months away, but the twin findings added to the fear among Democrats that their House majority – and possibly their Senate majority as well – is in jeopardy.

For decades, Gallup has asked voters the following question: “If the elections for Congress were being held today, which party’s candidate would you vote for in your congressional district?”

This week’s survey produced the largest lead for the Republicans in the history of asking that question: 51 percent to 41 percent. Ninety-six percent of Republicans said they would vote for the GOP candidate, while 88 percent of Democrats said they would support the Democrat. Independents, who helped power Democratic victories in 2006 and 2008, split 48 percent to 31 percent for Republicans.

This measurement (known as the generic ballot question) has sometimes been considered an imperfect or misleading indicator of House election results. Gallup begs to differ. Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup poll, said that Gallup’s final survey of likely voters before Election Day has been an accurate predictor of the two parties’ share of the national vote in House elections. The national vote, in turn, he added, is an excellent predictor of seats won or lost.

Four years ago, when Democrats won control of the House, the final Gallup survey of likely voters gave Democrats an advantage of seven percentage points over Republicans. Their actual share of the national two-party vote was eight points more.

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Indiana’s Ellsworth, onetime Democratic star, now a symbol of party’s struggles

August 30th, 2010 · Accountability, Change of Power, Democrats, Dissention, Obama Exposed

By Shailagh Murray Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 29, 2010; 10:16 PM

INDIANAPOLIS – When Brad Ellsworth won his U.S. House seat in Indiana four years ago, he was hailed by Democrats as the future of their party: a telegenic former sheriff with moderate instincts and an ability to appeal to a diverse electorate.

It was candidates such as Ellsworth who enabled the Democrats to conquer frontiers that mostly seemed beyond their reach, places such as Evansville and Terre Haute, which stuck with the party in 2008 and enabled President Obama to become the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Indiana in 44 years.

Today, those gains are in jeopardy, with Democratic prospects following the downward trend of the economy and Obama’s approval ratings. Ellsworth is running well behind in the race to replace Sen. Evan Bayh and has now become the face of the Democrats’ reversal of fortunes across the Midwest. The state’s two other vulnerable House Democrats, Reps. Joe Donnelly and Baron P. Hill, are battling to hold their seats, and Republicans could reclaim the district Ellsworth has represented for the past four years.

The dynamics raise a question larger than any one race – whether new Democrats have succeeded in expanding the political map in any sort of lasting way or whether candidates such as Ellsworth were just in the right place at the right time.

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In 2010, Obama’s poll numbers less of an asset for congressional Democrats

August 30th, 2010 · Accountability, Change of Power, Democrats, Dissention, Obama Exposed

By Chris Cillizza Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 30, 2010; 12:18 AM

Two years can change just about everything in politics.

In the 2008 campaign, Democrats running for the Senate did anything – and everything – to associate themselves with then-Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

With about two months remaining in the 2010 campaign season, however, Obama’s political fortunes have dipped in a handful of states holding competitive Senate races – complicating the winning math for Democratic candidates already struggling with a pessimistic electorate that remains deeply concerned about the country’s direction.

“In midterm elections, the presidential numbers serve like a weight on scale,” said one senior Democratic consultant who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid about the playing field. “The heavier [or worse] the numbers, the harder it is for any person in the party to get back to even keel.”

Recent polls on Obama conducted for many of the nation’s top Senate races show that those who disapprove of the job the president is doing outweigh those who approve.

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Beck, Palin tell thousands to ‘restore America’

August 29th, 2010 · Accountability, Change of Power, Dissention, Obama Exposed, Republicans

By Amy Gardner, Krissah Thompson and Philip Rucker – Sunday, August 29, 2010; 12:08 AM

Conservative commentator Glenn Beck on Saturday drew a sea of activists to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where he championed a religious brand of patriotism and called on the nation to recommit itself to traditional values he said were hallmarks of its exceptional past.

On the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, steps away from where it was delivered, Beck and fellow “tea party” icon Sarah Palin staked a claim to King’s legacy and to that of the Founding Fathers. They urged a crowd that stretched to the Washington Monument to concentrate on the nation’s accomplishments rather than on its psychological scars.

“Something that is beyond man is happening,” Beck said. “America today begins to turn back to God.”

The event was billed as “nonpolitical,” and Beck steered clear of the partisan commentary that has made him a hero to many conservatives and a nemesis to many on the left. But political overtones were unmistakable, and the rally drew an enormous crowd – including many who said they were new to activism – that was energized and motivated to act.

The effort by Beck and Palin to lay claim to the mantle of the civil rights movement drew protests from the Rev. Al Sharpton and others who marched in a separate and much smaller event, to the Mall from Dunbar High School in Northwest Washington, to commemorate King’s speech 47 years ago.

“The ‘March on Washington’ changed America,” Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said at the Sharpton rally, referring to King’s speech. “Our country reached to overcome the low points of our racial history. Glenn Beck’s march will change nothing.”

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The Death of Conservatism Was Greatly Exaggerated

August 28th, 2010 · Accountability, Change of Power, Deception, Democrats, Dissention, Federal Spending, Government, Government Control, Greed, Money Lost, Non-Transparency, Obama Exposed, Obama's Scheme, Tax Dollars, Taxes

In 2008 liberals proclaimed the collapse of Reaganism. Two years later the idea of limited government is back in vogue.

By Peter Berkowitz

Last August left little doubt that a conservative revival was underway. Constituents packed town-hall meetings across the country to confront Democratic House members and senators ill-prepared to explain why, in the teeth of a historic economic downturn and nearly 10% employment, President Obama and his party were pressing ahead with costly health-care legislation instead of reining in spending, cutting the deficit and spurring economic growth.

Still, whether that revival would have staying power was very much open to question. A year later—and notwithstanding the Democrats’ steadily declining poll numbers and the mounting electoral momentum that could well produce a Republican majority in the House and a substantial swing in the Senate—it still is.

Sustaining the revival depends on the ability of GOP leaders, office-holders and candidates to harness the extraordinary upsurge of popular opposition to Mr. Obama’s aggressive progressivism. Our constitutional tradition provides enduring principles that should guide them.

In late 2008 and early 2009, in the wake of Mr. Obama’s meteoric ascent, the idea that conservatism would enjoy any sort of revival in the summer of 2009 would have seemed to demoralized conservatives too much to hope for. To leading lights on the left, it would have appeared absolutely outlandish.

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How a Republican Congress could begin the process of repealing this unpopular law.

August 25th, 2010 · Change of Power, Healthcare, Obama Exposed, Obama's Scheme, Republicans

Putting the Brakes on ObamaCare

By Grace-Marie Turner

If Republicans take control of one or both houses of Congress this fall, many will have been elected with a promise to “repeal and replace” ObamaCare. But what are their options, really? There likely will be an initial showdown, but President Obama will surely veto any challenge to the law, and it would be hard to imagine mustering the votes to overturn it.

Information is the key weapon. Republicans can use congressional hearings to explain what ObamaCare is doing to the economy and the health sector. Their strongest cases would be built around jobs, the cost of health care, and the rising deficit.

If evidence shows that looming mandates on employers are crippling job-creation, they should be repealed. If health costs are rising, as they inevitably will be, Congress needs to hold hearings to investigate the causes and explain why the offending taxes and regulations must be repealed.

Here are six key strategies that a Republican Congress could employ to put on the brakes:

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Minority leader Boehner: Fire Obama’s economic team, extend tax cuts

August 24th, 2010 · Accountability, Corruption, Deception, Democrats, Federal Spending, Foreign Policy, Greed, Money Lost, Non-Transparency, Obama's Scheme, Selling Out the US, Tax Dollars, Taxes, Terrorism from Within, Treasury

By Paul Kane and Michael D. Shear – Tuesday, August 24, 2010; 12:21 PM

CLEVELAND — House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) called Tuesday for the mass firing of the Obama administration’s economic team, including Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and White House adviser Larry Summers, arguing that November’s midterm elections are shaping up as a referendum on sustained unemployment across the nation and saying the “writing is on the wall.”

Boehner said President Obama‘s team lacks “real-world, hands-on experience” in creating jobs that are needed for a full economic recovery. The Republican lawmaker cited reports that some senior aides complained of “exhaustion,” including the recently departed budget chief Peter Orszag.

“President Obama should ask for – and accept – the resignations of the remaining members of his economic team, starting with Secretary Geithner and Larry Summers, the head of the National Economic Council,” Boehner said in the morning speech to business leaders at the City Club of Cleveland. The mass dismissal, he added, would be “no substitute for a referendum on the president’s job-killing agenda. That question will be put before the American people in due time. But we do not have the luxury of waiting months for the president to pick scapegoats for his failing ‘stimulus’ policies.”

Vice President Biden lashed back at Boehner, called his “so-called” economic plan nothing but a list of what Republicans are against and devoid of innovative new ideas that can help move the country forward.

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The Blame Bush Strategy Won’t Work: Polls reveal voters are receptive to GOP ideas.

August 12th, 2010 · Accountability, Change of Power, Democrats, Obama Exposed, Obama's Scheme, Selling Out the US

By Karl Rove

To save themselves in the midterm elections, Democrats are counting on selling two themes: The state of the economy is all George W. Bush’s fault, and Republican policies will take us backwards. President Obama relished going to Texas this week to blame his predecessor for the current bad economy.

Nice try, but it won’t work. Don’t take my word. This is what Mr. Obama’s pollster, Joel Benenson, has found. The Benenson Strategy Group wasn’t exactly quite this blunt in its report for the “Third Way,” a centrist Democratic organization. But its data was.

In its poll released in July, Benenson asked, “Generally speaking, who is more responsible for the recent economic recession—President Barack Obama or President George W. Bush?” The answer was Mr. Bush 53%, Mr. Obama 26%, and “Don’t know” 21%.

But answers to important issues like who’s responsible for the recession are rarely binary. Buried in the “Third Way” data was a different answer that went unmentioned in its covering memo. The question of who’s responsible for the recession was asked a second way, with more possible culprits.

Here the biggest blame for the recession went to “big banks and Wall Street” (34%), followed by “American consumers who lived beyond their means” (24%). Thirteen percent blamed Mr. Obama, 20% blamed Mr. Bush, and 9% were still in the “don’t know category.” Put another way, at least 80% didn’t blame Mr. Bush, as Mr. Obama obsessively does.

More importantly, Americans simply won’t fall for Mr. Obama’s claim that if empowered, congressional Republicans would only return to “policies that crashed the economy . . . undercut the middle class . . . [and] mortgaged our future.”

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