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Republicans Deal Stinging Rebuke to Obama
WASHINGTON - US voters handed Republicans a share of power and dealt a severe rebuke to President Barack Obama, as fear over the anemic economy crushed the hope of his historic election win two years ago.
House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio celebrates the GOP's victory that changes the balance of power in Congress.(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Resurgent Republicans, led by the ultra-conservative Tea Party insurgency, steamrolled Democrats by taking at least 50 seats in the House of Representatives, leaving broad Democratic control in tatters. And the widening mid-term election margin was closing on historic levels Wednesday.
Beleaguered Democrats clung onto the Senate, but the Republicans netted six seats, with two more battleground states yet to be declared. They had needed an unlikely 10 pickups to take the Senate as well.
In one ray of light for Obama, his top Senate ally Harry Reid survived.
Republicans needed 39 seats to capture the House, and force the first-ever woman speaker Nancy Pelosi from power -- a barrier they smashed soon after polls closed as the Democratic monopoly on power crumbled.
By early Wednesday, with a handful of the 435 House seats still up for grabs, several US media outlets were reporting a projected gain of at least 59 seats, the chamber's largest shift in power since 1938.
Ohio's John Boehner, almost certain to take the gavel from Pelosi in January and become Republican speaker, dissolved in tears in his moment of victory, but laced his speech with steel.
"We hope President Obama will now respect the will of the people, change course, and commit to making the changes that they are demanding," Boehner told a victory rally in Washington.
"To the extent he's willing to do that, we're ready to work with him. But make no mistake, the president will find in our new majority the voice of the American people as they've expressed it tonight."
Obama called Boehner at midnight, and said he was "looking forward to working with him and the Republicans to find common ground, move the country forward, and get things done for the American people," the White House said. Facts about US Congress
Democrats will hand over the House after amassing a historic legacy, including healthcare reform and a Wall Street overhaul over the last two years, and claiming they staved off a second Great Depression.
But they paid a heavy price for a sluggish economic recovery that has yet to be felt countrywide and unemployment pegged at a stubborn 9.6 percent.
In a true embarrassment for Obama, Republicans won his former US Senate seat, as Mark Kirk beat presidential friend Alexi Giannoulias in Illinois.
Democrats fared poorly at the state level as well, with eight governorships to Republicans as of early Wednesday, and nine governor posts still too close to call.
But Democrats reclaimed the governor's mansion in the most populous state California, as blast-from-the-past Jerry Brown -- governor from 1975 to 1983 -- defeated wealthy businesswoman Meg Whitman to replace outgoing "Governator" and Hollywood heavyweight Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Democrats kept the Senate after Joe Manchin won the firewall Senate seat of West Virginia, and Barbara Boxer fought off a tough challenge from former Hewlett-Packard boss Carly Fiorina in California.
But Republicans were jubilant at their House win.
"We've come to take our government back!" cried Rand Paul, a hero of the Tea Party movement, after winning a Senate seat in Kentucky.
"There's a Tea Party tidal wave," he said, in a coming-of-age moment for the movement set up to challenge what critics see as Obama's "big-government" takeover of American life.
Charismatic Florida Tea Party favorite and Cuban-American Marco Rubio also surged to victory in the Senate under the conservative group's banner.
Obama was scheduled to make his first public comments on the election in a White House news conference on Wednesday which could be crucial in setting the tone for a tough run up to his 2012 re-election campaign.
Under Boehner, Republicans are promising to reverse Obama's sweeping health reforms and promise a budget crunch and tax cuts which they claim will cut the deficit and ignite growth. Related article:Political gridlock spells bad news for economy
All year, voters have made clear that the sluggish rebound from the worst crisis since the Great Depression, with unemployment standing at 9.6 percent, was their major concern.
"I'm unemployed for almost one year," said Republican voter Tom Gutierrez, 41, in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. "I need to find a job and I'm sure I will not get it with the Democrats."
But Liberty, Missouri, schoolteacher Jane Boswell said she was switching her vote to Democratic because Obama needed more time to pursue his agenda and scolded voters who "think that change has to happen overnight."
Obama, who leaves Friday on a nine-day tour of Asia, must now launch a re-examination of his presidency, as he seeks to renew his bond with voters in the run-up to 2012.
132 Comments so far
Show AllThats what you get when you wishy wash and dilute everything you said you stood for before you got elected. The audacity of hype, and smothered hope.
Or as Roger D. Hodge notes in the title of his book, which critiques Obama from the left, Obama's reign has now become The Mendacity of Hope [subtitled Barack Obama and the Betrayal of American Liberalism].
Please excuse my ignorance, I am new here on this site and comments from this site/country confuse me. So, are you excited that the GOP took control of the house?
I can't speak for anyone else, but I can say for a fact that I am DISGUSTED by it. I will NEVER understand how the American people have become so incredibly BRAIN DEAD as to put the very idiots BACK IN POWER who put us in the situation we're in now. Damn, it took the republicans 30+ years to drive us this far down, and the IDIOTS in this country seem to think this is some kind of sitcom where everything will be fixed by the end of the half hour. It took 30+ years to do this to us, and the IDIOTS think this will be fixed by the next commercial break. It's gong to take the rest of my life to fix it, and that is with EVERYONE on the same side. This election has shown me once again that most people in this country are brain dead morons who can't remember a thing past last night's dinner. Most can't even remember that.
I am as excited about the GOP taking ANY seats as I would be about having my toenails pulled out with pliers.
Yep you are so right, and until we figure out how to elect 535 "Progressive" people to office, it will stay that way.
Miggy, I agree. And the commenter above yours. Those stupid people are just plain nuts. But the dems did bring this on by passing shitty HCR, letting the thugs go on a summer long death panel shrill with no out cry from either them or the WH. It is just a game to all of them anyway. I read somewhere that they actually take turns playing the villians. This country deserves what it gets for voting the thugs back in. Too bad the rest of us with a brain have to suffer for their stupidity.
WJM ..... I couldn't have said it better myself. HOW THE F*** do these idiots vote for a party that doesn't think you deserve healthcare, think corporate thieves don't need supervision, and judging by the guy in Tennessee who had his house burn down....while his Republican local officials watched. BRAIN DEAD is the only way to describe it. Get out of the country now folks the idiots are driving,,,,AGAIN!!
AND Democrats--don't forget NAFTA and Clinton.
He helped to dig this ditch too.
At Obama’s news conference after the election, he said he's willing to work with the Republican. The Republican in turn, said their first agenda is to repeal the Healthcare. Now, I see the compromise between DP. This is their finest hour Healthcare Industries and Obama. A final sellout to the America people. I just love to see the faces of Progressive who want to give the Dem. another chance. Too bad, you got screwed again! I told you so, did I?
The screwing it not over yet Baby! More good stuff coming our way.
PS: No offence please.
Yes, please REPEAL HEALTH CARE DEORM!
Sounds good to me!
www.pnhp.org/
John Boehner makes me sick. All these corprate whore wankers do. A rebuke of the current conditons does not equal support for your ideas Mr Boehner. Congratulations on your well deserved losses Democrats, you certainly earned it.
Define Freedom. I say it's Democracy. The Democrats deserved to lose. The Republicans didn't deserve to win. We need a new dynamic. We need Democracy.
I believe corporate funding of political campaigns is a form of bribery. I think bribery is treasonous. I believe Federally funded elections would end this kind of corruption. No corporate money, no private interest money allowed. Make politicians into public servants who owe no loyalty to anyone except the voters.
If we ask everyone to define Democracy, they will know we don't have one and why. Then we can take the kind of action necessary.
Citizens United made a case and won. I say corporations are licensed to sell products and services but they are not licensed to propagandize or use profits to buy political influence at no cost because of tax destructibility. We allow them to stack the deck against US. That's US as in USA us.
I say enforce the business licensing laws that specifically prohibit businesses from engaging in behavior for which they are not licensed. Let them work that one out in front of the Supreme Court. We can demand local authorities enforce the law. Shut them down. Fine them. Let's go to court. ACLU, where are you?
Let's cut taxes to create jobs. That always works.
I do not need a lengthy analysis of "what went wrong". In one sentence: too much war and a disastrous economic policy.
Got in one.
au contraire...
"...too much war..."
IF... the war were the only or central issue... he had karl rove... brit hume... AND billy kritol... ALL giving him accolades for his decisions since his election... i heard them say so my self... on the radio... their voices...
IF... the war were the only or central issue... dems would have 300 seats in the house and 75 in the senate...
ya think maybe the "misunderestimated" the economy... and the healthcare backlash... thought... we'll keep the war policy in our back pocket...
9.6% officially... 17% if you're on the ground... like the gas prices on every corner... people lived with this... regardless of WHO caused it... day in day out for twenty months... plus some longer than that... out of work... you're gonna do something... anything... and that "anything"... was cast a vote... against the guy running the country... who couldn't get your job back...
and it ran out... i work at a state agency that hired over 100 people directly w/ arra funds... 10% increase over 1000 workers... 6/30/2010... money ran out... those who didn't hire into existing vacancies were cut loose... they should had more "stimulus" people could "feel"... the small tax cut was negligible and not noticed or forgotten by most...
rememebr dubyah's $158B stimulus spring '08?... 300... 600... bucks... and a promotional flyer in the mail... "this here rebate is courtesy george w bush"...
dems gotta learn 2 things... ya gotte get in power to wield power... once in... ya gotta stay in... well they lernt how finally to get in in '06... but fergitted how to stay after... the "historic" '08....
the neo-lib zionists in DC and MSM used the tea party as the lightening rod for fear-mongering,
as they had nothing to run on otherwise.
they have succeeded to a great extent.
the tea party has turned out to be much weaker and smaller than they portrayed day after day, night after night (MSM knew that angel and odonnell, their stars, never had a chance, though lionized by MSM),
while the progressive elements in the dem party got purged quietly (grayson got persecuted by both parties, though the opportunistic Feingold got all the help: both got defeated).
so DC has moved even much closer to wall street and israel through this election cycle.
let history run its course. why muddle with it?
prepare yourselves and others around you to live OFF the crashing machine.
Let's also be clear that the T-baggers are another creation by the wealthy
elite -- this time the KOCH BROS -- and it's run out of a PR firm, guaranteeing
them press coverage!
Everything the right wing has or does is bought and paid for --
in 1980's GOP gave start-up funding for the Christian Coalition.
Richard Scaife financed Dobson's org and other wealthy Republicans financed
Bauer's org. Who but right wing fanatics have been financing the "pro-life
murderers"?
GOP's NRA over decades has targeted the less conservative in their own party
just as they targeted liberals and moderates in the Demcoratic Party.
Where you see the right wing, you see rising violence.
This is once again true with the GOP's T-baggers.
Vilolence continues to grow and to be pushed by the right in America --
violence in the image of patriarchy.
Patriarchy -- and its underpinning =
Organized patriarchal religion -- and its economic system =
Capitalism =
The Unholy Trinity
.
"According to all myth, the female - not the male -- gives life"
Indeed. But i suspect your points may be lost on previous poster.
peace.
i see my point lost on you. but i'm not surprised, as i have an informed guess why it got lost on you.
p.s. i hate the neo-nazies, under whatever cloak they may come, without apology.
Why would that be?
just curious,
rita
ask yourself.
Indeed the system is hopelessly broken by corporate money and starving the beast of money by living as much off the grid as possible and buying used if you have to buy at all may be the only leverage we have until enough people get angry enough for a general strike. I actually like John Stewart but fuck his call for civility and moderation in the face of the murderous military industrial complex.
Blame no one but ourselves! We created it and continue to feed them and now they may be too big to bring them down to size. Psssssh, (I won't tell anyone) who did you voted?
I so, so agree with this. A general strike is the way to go, but people in this country are too gullible and stupid to bring about class consciences right now. I'm not sure when it will EVER be, and I'm afraid it will take massive poverty and a few missed meals to bring out the rioting in the streets. I also think Americans are an authoritarian lot, and are looking for a good charismatic leader.
I think daily of running off to another country, leaving this rotting cesspool behind to go its own natural course. That however, takes money and time, and being married to a partner who has NO idea what's going on puts the kibosh on that.
Corporations once again won this election. I expect Obomber to move further to the right in response to this. This just solidifies my belief that Really Smart People can make really stupid decisions when placed in positions of power.
I was going to add something pithy and ironic.
But all I have is: 'Yup, you're pretty much screwed.'
Yep, I Agree. See my comment above.
Which is why I'm heading down to City Hall to join in the Giant's celebration.Bread and Circuses work for me.Also,the election came out okay in California, even if reefer didn't get legalized.Meg Whitman blew 140 mil on consultants and advertising, and got trounced.On the whole, we're feeling kind of smug and happy here in S.F. Go Giants!
As a native of California, I'm no longer waiting for the "big one". I'm praying for it (in my non-organized agnostic enthusiasm).
Californians have a secret; when the really big earthquake happens, Nevada will slip into the Atlantic.
Then our Indian Casinos will be our biggest tax payers. And it will be legal to smoke a joint at the top of Donner Pass. You'll be able to see France from there.
Bend over America, John has a Boehner!
With a few exceptions (thinking of Russ Feingold's loss) it was a very bad night for conservative Democrats. In Virginia the two progressive Democrats in office, both of whom have been part of the single-payer bill, held their seats easily. However, three conservative Democrats, including one who had been in Congress for almost 20 years, lost, and one race is too close to call.
I can't claim thorough analysis elsewhere, but that seems to be the trend across the country. Not necessarily a bad night for some Democrats but a bad night for the Blue Dogs? I won't miss them.
It was not a good night for Progressives. Fairly or not, the majority of the country perceives Obama as being very left wing. Perception is reality. Last night's election results do not bode well for a left-wing agenda.
From talkingpointsmemo.com:
The Democrats' freshman class included five progressives -- Alan Grayson, Tom Perriello, Carol Shea-Porter, Mary Jo Kilroy, and John Hall -- from competitive districts who didn't dart to the center at the first sign of danger. Their candidacies were litmus tests for whether conviction politics could help Democrats survive an anti-Democratic election. All of them lost.
"All of them lost." ...on electronic voting machines.
See the documentary "Hacking Democracy". Elections have become civil war by other means.
To paraphrase Chris Hedges, elections "will not make any difference until we revolt against the formal structures of power."
Exactly; the deluded masses are... still deluded ! Nothing; voting, throwing money at fat capitalists, will save amerika from its collapse as an imperialist empire ! Because nothing will be done by elitist amerika to stop its terrorist acts : invasion, occupation, torture, murder, drones, in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan ! World Peace cannot happen with fascist amerika in the way !
I don't like the word Revolt. I think it's the last vestige of them what has been out-thunk. We can do something within the system. We can return to democracy. We can demand the Green party run on a platform of ridding politics of corporate interest. We can demand elections be run strictly on Federal funds. Tax payer supported Democracy is what we really need.
If we need to revolt, let's revolt against those who have stolen democracy. Let's take away their ability to use money for privilege and access. No corporate or private interest money in any form should be used in politics. Make it a crime.
Disallowing corporate campaign financing isn't an infringement on their new status as human voter citizens or free speech. They'd just be prohibited from using their MONEY to support politicians. Seems fair.
Tom Periello is not a progressive. I live in the district next door and have watched him in action.
I can't speak for the others.
Apparently the Blue Dog caucus was cut in half yesterday.
Perception is not reality, and no left wing agenda was set back by the elections. Quite to the contrary. Obama and the Democrats are not left wing. The right wingers call them Socialists, but that does not make that true. The voters rejected Obama, they did not reject any left wing agenda, and while the Republicans will claim that this means that they rejected a left wing agenda, that does not make that true, either.
I agree that it was not a good night for Progressives. But that is not a rejection of any left wing agenda either.
What I am watching for is people whop call themselves Democrats who are happy thinking that the left wing agenda was repudiated. Does that describe you by any chance?
Are you a Democrat? Are you happy to think that the Left has been damaged?
Quite the contrary? Are you serious Two Americas? It wasn't just at the Federal level. What about all the Governorships and state legislatures that are now in Republican hands? Take one small example: the judges who passed gay marriage in Iowa were all defeated. Gay rights in general took a huge hit last night. As did the environmental movement, women's rights etc. Not to mention re-districting which, now that Republicans control the majority of Governorships, means they will redistrict to insure more Reps get in office.
Yes, Republicans claim Obama and/or the Democrats are too liberal and that message is working, which is my point. It doesn't matter whether it's correct or not. Of course it's not but if people believe it, that's what matters in terms of how people vote. You and I have had this debate before on other threads but I think it quite obvious that the majority of Americans are NOT progressive. No, this doesn't make me happy in the slightest but I think the first step to changing it is admitting it, which you don't seem to want to do, or want to believe.
Here in NC, the republicans took both the house and senate. Not a good foreboding.
Miggy....this is the one that no one is talking about. A. Grayson may have been the only HONEST politician in all of DC. And the IDIOTS FROM MY OWN DISTRICT!!! They do this to themselves, I live in NZ now. Now that I know in a state that is REALLY hurting from the recession obviously never ever heard anything grayson said. I have no words to describe how stupid people are who can vote Republican, no words. It would be like a cow buying McDonalds stock....I mean they vote for the people who want to slaughter all of us....and they can't see that?????? Dumb as a friggin cow.....the US is dooooooomed.
Grayson was not so "progressive" when he voted YES on Obamacare.
And then his scheme to have a Medicare "buy in" was pure BS.
What crap. Why didn't he just support expanding MEDICARE for ALL who want to enroll just as the elderly do--tax funded?
I never bought his "buy in" scheme.
Grayson was not a TRUE progressive--he just had a big mouth and was great
at theatrics.
First off, I must disagree with the title of this article. This is not a "rebuke" as much as it is the result of the indecent game-playing of the Obama administration.
The most troubling thing about this election is what it says about the vast majority of U.S. citizens.
In my state 94% of the votes in a U.S. Senate seat were for either a man who was shown to have lied (the winner) or a man who was connected to a failed, corrupt bank.
My votes were for Green candidates and they averaged around 4% state-wide.
My only hope is that this election might result in gridlock, but based on the strategizing of the democrats in recent years, I suspect they will continue to put their fingers up their asses (to see which which way the wind is blowing) and go with the flow of right-wing arrogant stupidity.
The majority chose Harry Reid, but rejected Russ Feingold.
Russ Feingold has been one of an extreme minority of the members of the Senate who had a clue while Harry Reid is vapid and only "won" because his opponent had worked so hard to prove she was ready to shoot herself.
So, this is the combination of arrogance, greed, and stupidity which will ensure the future of the United States of Global Domination. A future-reducing future.
War and pollution will probably increase because greed is "winning."
The cake is rotten with decaying flesh, so the majority want more sugar icing to cover it and make it more Palatable.
Feingold went down because many citizens of Wisconsin were disgusted with him due to his voting YES on Obama's health care DEFORM bill.
Feingold got what was coming to him.
Too bad Reid and Boxer, etc. didn't meet the same fate as Feingold.
Though Feingold has done some good, he deserved to go after the YES vote to mandate Americans to purchase a defective product--health insurance.
I have no pity for Feingold.
"In one ray of light for Obama, his top Senate ally Harry Reid survived."
Whew! Close call! Without Harry Reid's charismatic leadership, the democrats would have been in real trouble.
hehe
Too funny!!!!!!!!
The Dems message failed to gain traction. Wonder why?
"A Vote For Us Is A Vote For LOW-FAT IMPERIALISM!"
Thank you for calling PolitiChoice®
These are intended to sharpen the Dems' message, defining what they stand for and how they’re different from Republicans.
1. "We Surrender."
2. "Please don't yell at us, we're frightened."
3. "Would you like us to roll over on our backs now, or do you prefer that we remain on our knees?"
4. "Let's bomb Iran."
5. "We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the President."
6. "We stand for rule by a kinder, gentler military-industrial complex."
7. "What's good for MobilExxon, Citicorp, and Northrop-Grumman is good for America."
8. "If you like venal cowards and betrayal, vote for us!"
9. "Please don't ask us to stand up to the Republicans. They get very angry if anyone opposes them -- and it's really scary!!
Whonnnnnngk.
Click.
Beep.
(crackle) Thank you for calling PolitiChoice®. Your call is important to us, so please stay on the line.
...
If you would like to pursue reform from within the Democratic Party, press 1.
If you would like to effectively counter the DLC within an existing mainstream political party, press 2.
If you would like to help with DFA, press 3.
If you miss the seventies and want to join the DSOC/DSA discussion group, press 4.
If you would like to feel "underground" from the comfort of rightward-drifting centrism that calls itself "left," press 5.
If you don't know which button to press, press 6 and you'll be directed to the appropriate caucus.
...
Thank you for calling PolitiChoice®. Please bear in mind that internal reform is the only permissible focus...
only permissible focus...
only permissible...
-Thank you
... (crackle, click)The Dems have sharpened their message.
"A Vote For Us Is A Vote For LOW-FAT IMPERIALISM!"
Thank you for calling PolitiChoice®
These are intended to sharpen the Dems' message, defining what they stand for and how they’re different from Republicans.
1. "We Surrender."
2. "Please don't yell at us, we're frightened."
3. "Would you like us to roll over on our backs now, or do you prefer that we remain on our knees?"
4. "Let's bomb Iran."
5. "We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the President."
6. "We stand for rule by a kinder, gentler military-industrial complex."
7. "What's good for MobilExxon, Citicorp, and Northrop-Grumman is good for America."
8. "If you like venal cowards and betrayal, vote for us!"
9. "Please don't ask us to stand up to the Republicans. They get very angry if anyone opposes them -- and it's really scary!!
Whonnnnnngk.
Click.
Beep.
(crackle) Thank you for calling PolitiChoice®. Your call is important to us, so please stay on the line.
...
If you would like to pursue reform from within the Democratic Party, press 1.
If you would like to effectively counter the DLC within an existing mainstream political party, press 2.
If you would like to help with DFA, press 3.
If you miss the seventies and want to join the DSOC/DSA discussion group, press 4.
If you would like to feel "underground" from the comfort of rightward-drifting centrism that calls itself "left," press 5.
If you don't know which button to press, press 6 and you'll be directed to the appropriate caucus.
...
Thank you for calling PolitiChoice®. Please bear in mind that internal reform is the only permissible focus...
only permissible focus...
only permissible...
-Thank you
... (crackle, click)
the shameless right (gop) welcomed the lunatic far right (tea party),
while the lying right (neo-lib dems) purged the few progressives (grayson and a few more) out of the party (dem) and the system.
the real left had no horse in the race.
continue to work on the alternative ideas and practices, folks.
Good call, Curious Steve. Thanks. Alternative ideas are the answer. I don't know a lot of people who think Democrats have a remote concept of what to do. Most think the Republicans are corporate ghouls. I think they are two wings of the same buzzard as apparently you do.
We have just under two years to find and support candidates who's one agenda is to take back the election system from corporations. The ramifications would be huge. Federally fund elections and you take away corporate money and influence. You also have real Democracy. Votes need to count and office holders need to be held accountable. Corporations messing with elections is treasonous.
That's my message. I believe Americans are smart enough to get it. I have to believe that. Nobody I know is happy with the state of our government or either party. We are not powerless to change that. We really really need an alternate party and we need to support that party. Americans tried to send a message using smoke signals. We're sick of the same old elephant and donkey shit.
I'm buying Brand X next time.
When the Democrats won the House AND THE Senate in the 2006 midterms, the corporate controlled News didn't trumpet how the People had dealt a "stinging rebuke" to the Bush Administration. Instead, they suggested how a confused, frustrated electorate had now muddled things up, and gridlock would prevent "things from getting done in the next two years".
It's good to own The Media.