dirty
EOG Master
BIG NIGHT FOR DEMS? HARDLYMuch is being made about last night's Democratic victories in New Jersey in Virginia.....as if it's some sort of referendum on George Bush and his parties' chances in the 2006. But really, as much as it was somewhat of a Republican defeat, it doesn't really matter too much in the larger scheme of things.
First of all, the victories in New Jersey and Virginia do not represent a loss of Republican power. Corzine is replacing the Democratic stand-in who took over after former Democratic Governor James McGreevey came out of the closet and resigned. Kaine wins in Virginia replacing another Democrat. The press is hailing the Kaine win as some sort of embarrassment to the president, since he campaigned for the Republican opponent, Jerry Kilgore. But as you will find in today's reading assignments, Kilgore ran an extremely inept campaign and essentially defeated himself.
<TABLE style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="33%" align=right border=1><TBODY><TR><TD width="100%" bgColor=#c0c0c0><FORM name=pollForm action=/cgi-bin/vpolls/pollVote.cgi method=post target=pollpopup><TABLE border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2>Do Republicans deserve to lose control of the Congress in 2006?</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left width="4%"><INPUT type=radio value=1 name=answer></TD><TD halign="left">Yes</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left width="4%"><INPUT type=radio value=2 name=answer></TD><TD halign="left">No</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><INPUT type=hidden value=8614 name=poll> <INPUT onclick="pollSubPop('','pollpopup','toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=no,width=510,height=430'); this.pollForm.submit();" type=submit value=Vote> <INPUT onclick="pollSubPop('','pollpopup','toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=no,width=510,height=430'); this.pollForm.submit();" type=submit value="See Results" name=disabled> </FORM><SCRIPT language=JavaScript><!--// this will open a new window, submit the poll form,// and send the results to the popup windowfunction pollSubPop (url, name, widgets, specialsURL){popupWin = window.open(url, name, widgets);popupWin.focus();}// --></SCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>So...the Democrats retain two governorships...BFD. The Democrats did not "clean up big," as the Associated Press is declaring today. In fact, according the AP's own poll, President Bush wasn't a factor in voters' choices yesterday. We are a political eternity away from the mid-term elections next year, and the left is going to have to do a lot more to try and fulfill their goal of winning back the House and the Senate.
Now .. having said that, let's also point out that the Republicans in congress have been a huge disappointment of late. Today they're engaging in that anti-capitalistic exercise of browbeating oil company executives. The Republican chairman of the Senate Finance Committee has introduced a new version of profit sharing, where corporations bow to government and political pressure and "donate" huge chunks of their profits to government spending programs -- as if they didn't pay enough taxes in the first place. Then there's the spending. Republicans have shown absolutely no desire whatsoever to curtail spending.
Frankly, if they lose control of the Congress in the midterm elections next year I won't be all that upset. They deserve it.
First of all, the victories in New Jersey and Virginia do not represent a loss of Republican power. Corzine is replacing the Democratic stand-in who took over after former Democratic Governor James McGreevey came out of the closet and resigned. Kaine wins in Virginia replacing another Democrat. The press is hailing the Kaine win as some sort of embarrassment to the president, since he campaigned for the Republican opponent, Jerry Kilgore. But as you will find in today's reading assignments, Kilgore ran an extremely inept campaign and essentially defeated himself.
<TABLE style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="33%" align=right border=1><TBODY><TR><TD width="100%" bgColor=#c0c0c0><FORM name=pollForm action=/cgi-bin/vpolls/pollVote.cgi method=post target=pollpopup><TABLE border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2>Do Republicans deserve to lose control of the Congress in 2006?</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left width="4%"><INPUT type=radio value=1 name=answer></TD><TD halign="left">Yes</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left width="4%"><INPUT type=radio value=2 name=answer></TD><TD halign="left">No</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><INPUT type=hidden value=8614 name=poll> <INPUT onclick="pollSubPop('','pollpopup','toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=no,width=510,height=430'); this.pollForm.submit();" type=submit value=Vote> <INPUT onclick="pollSubPop('','pollpopup','toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=no,width=510,height=430'); this.pollForm.submit();" type=submit value="See Results" name=disabled> </FORM><SCRIPT language=JavaScript><!--// this will open a new window, submit the poll form,// and send the results to the popup windowfunction pollSubPop (url, name, widgets, specialsURL){popupWin = window.open(url, name, widgets);popupWin.focus();}// --></SCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>So...the Democrats retain two governorships...BFD. The Democrats did not "clean up big," as the Associated Press is declaring today. In fact, according the AP's own poll, President Bush wasn't a factor in voters' choices yesterday. We are a political eternity away from the mid-term elections next year, and the left is going to have to do a lot more to try and fulfill their goal of winning back the House and the Senate.
Now .. having said that, let's also point out that the Republicans in congress have been a huge disappointment of late. Today they're engaging in that anti-capitalistic exercise of browbeating oil company executives. The Republican chairman of the Senate Finance Committee has introduced a new version of profit sharing, where corporations bow to government and political pressure and "donate" huge chunks of their profits to government spending programs -- as if they didn't pay enough taxes in the first place. Then there's the spending. Republicans have shown absolutely no desire whatsoever to curtail spending.
Frankly, if they lose control of the Congress in the midterm elections next year I won't be all that upset. They deserve it.