After a LONG night, and a EARLY morning, we're all tired. Pre-election volunteering in Ohio and Nebraska, busy work schedules, and still some recovery from the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" in DC last weekend have sapped us all just a bit.
There were a few surprises last night - and a lot of unsurprising results too. As we also predicted, today it still looks like there is some legal wrangling, some arguing, and of course, an enormous number of highly biased politicos and pundits claiming some kind of a blanket mandate for their specific issue or candidate that doesn't actually exist.
We also predicted the sun would come out today, and it has - although it's more sunny in some places than others. Regardless of the results, the American people still think there is a LOT of work that needs to be done.
Thankfully, the last twenty-one months have seen a HUGE number of problems successfully tackled by President Obama and the 11th Congress.
The Lilly Ledbetter Act helped equalize pay for women. The Credit Card Reform Act reined in many of the corrupt and parasitic practices of the credit industry. That was part of the Financial Regulatory Reform Law - the Wall Street reform that was necessary after the deregulation frenzy of the Republican Congress and George W. Bush years. There were all kinds of laws passed to improve our health too, including increased cigarette manufacturing regulations, S-CHIP (The Children's Healthcare program George W. Bush had tried - and failed - to pass), and the landmark Health Care Insurance Reform law.
The Economic Stimulus Bill worked to stop the hemorrhaging of the economy, and the Auto Industry Bailout measures, including 'Cash for Clunkers', which also worked. The Stimulus also included the single largest investment in education by the Federal government EVER, the single largest investment in clean alternative energy EVER, and the single largest tax cut in history - even larger than the ones George W. Bush and the Republicans passed in the early 2000s. And unlike his predecessor, Mr. Obama's tax cut was paid for.
Speaking of which, the 111th Democratic-led Congress under Mr. Obama brought back PAYGO, the budget balancing procedure that originated under the first President Bush and President Clinton. And we haven't even gotten to the Hate Crimes Bill that was passed, Student Loan Reform which fixed a broken system, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act which grew Americorps, or the start of removing active combat personnel from Iraq.
All of this was accomplished while shrinking the Federal Deficit.
No matter what the makeup of our government is this morning, the American people STILL agree on a few things, one of which is that there is still a great deal of work to be done in order to get the American people moving forward again.
For the 112th Congress? You have VERY large shoes to fill.
We suggest you learn the art of compromise quickly, if you expect to keep your jobs past the next election.
You have about 18 months. The clock begins in January.
Tick... tick... tick...
