New Leadership, new ideas?

Congratulations to the Republican Party. They have regained the House of Representatives majority and will receive the benefits including Committee Chairmenships and Majority Leader ( who is third behind the President) and a whole set of things they want to change/repeal. Almost immediately, they are going after allowing the tax cut on those over $250,000 to be extended and it appears that Mr.Obama is going to go along, as long as no one else has taxes applied. This will be a reprieve for the very wealthy as their tax cut was running out December 31, 2010, as it is predicted, it may be extended 2 or 3 years. No politican wants to raise taxes in this economy, immigration is going on the backburner, a possible trade war is brewing world-wide, currency changes in America and China are also possibilities, cuts to the budget are being directed at sacred cows--a sacred cow is an untouchable item in the budget. An example, defense budget is usually never touched,however, there is discussion about a possible 30% cut, pulling troops out of countries, an example would be pulling troops out of Japan, South Korea, and Europe, think of the possible savings. But, social security benefits are not going to be touched, in fact, there is talk of a $250 across the board, one-time check in January. Why won't they touch the biggest "sacred cow", social security? Social security benefits for the most part, go to elderly people. They are the people who study the elections and VOTE more than any other group. I hope I have whetted your appetite for items to investigate in Congess. This when you start studying for the 2012 election. The stakes will be bigger. The President will be re-elected/elected, all House of Represenatives, and 1/3 rd of the Senate. Depending what the Democrats do, or the Republican do, that election may set the tone for the next four years.

Power Shift--The headline in the AZ Republic Nov 3rd

Thank you all for voting. This turnout was very high for a mid-term election. It showed that people wanted to get their message out to the world.
The big winners were the Republicans. They took the House majority back, as well as help from Tea Party winners. The loser, the Democrats, losing the majority in the House of Representatives, but retaining the majority in the Senate.
Majority means a great deal in either house. First, the majority party gets to set the agenda, they get the
Chairperson of the active committees.
That Chairperson sets the agenda for the committee. If you are a House member and you want your bill to be considered by a certain committee, you must place
bill in the "hopper" and that bill is then doled out to the various committees that would have oversight on that specific bill. The committee would look into
the possibility of passage and would have hearings to gather evidence to support the passage of the bill.  But, if you are not the majority party,
or have made an enemy of the chairman, or the chairman needs a "favor", etc. your bill may end up at the bottom of the agenda and may never see the light of day.  All bills must start over each legislative session.  A legislative session is two years.  If your bill never gets discussed, it may never get voted on, thus is the "game" of politics.  Commonly known as "you scratch my back, I scratch your back." 
What exactly is going to get done this coming legislative session?  Well, the Republicans have an agenda that is completely the opposite of the agenda the Democrats have, but the Republicans do not have any power to get bills passed the Senate, nor passed the President. And, the Democrats do not have the power, nor the votes to get things passed in the House of Representatives and  the President has the power of the veto.  That means he can stop a bill by refusing to sign it.  Now Congress can "override" a veto with a 2/3rds majority--commonly known as a "super-majority", in both houses, which is very difficult to obtain.  In reality, there will be a STALEMATE for the next two years, where virtually NOTHING will get done!!

Put it all together--NOW

In the United States of America, November 2, 2010, elections are going to take place for elected positions. This election has had more advertising dollars spent than any other election year. That is the result of the recent 5-4 decision in the Supreme Court in the Citizen United case, allowing corporations the privilege of the 1st Amendment, of free speech by being able to spend money on political candidates with unlimited funds and anonymity. The political right has used this new twist very heavily.
If you have been following this blog and using the tips to prepare for your vote, you should be ready with your decisions on the candidates and various other ballot votes.  Please remember to take the practice ballot and fill it out with your decisions, so it will not be a fearful event, but a triumphal event.  You will have looked at the candidates and issues over a period of time and made reasoned decisions.  If your candidates or issues don't all win, at least you know why you voted the way you did and can feel good about it.  Next time, you might have to work a little harder trying to get others to support your candidate and issues.  A small tip:  voting absentee ballot is becoming more attractive to voters.  They can sit down at a table at home figure everything out, place their responses on he actual ballot and mail it to the County Recorder.  The entire state of Oregon now only uses the mail-in ballot.  Good Luck.

Readers read Blog worldwide

This blog was intended for United States citizens, however, a check of who is reading the blog shows, yes, the majority of the people are from the United States, however nine other countries have been reading the content. People in the following countries are reading the content of this blog: Netherlands, Germany, China, Canada, Latvia, France, Moldova, Russia and Brazil.
It is good to see people in other countries desire to find out what it takes to be an educated citizen.
If you desire to make comments, go to the bottom of the blog to the comments section. Type in your comment, or as the case may be a request for a topic that needs explanation, or a request for a new topic. A return comment is written in response to your request.

Mid-term elections

Mid-term elections are those elections, primarily of all representatives, and one third of the senators. These elections can turn the fate of a newly elected president. If a newly elected president has had the majority support of Congress until this point, this election will be a referendum upon his first two years of service. If the people like what has been accomplished to date, they will vote for his party again, placing the Congress back under his party's control, if they are not pleased, it could swing the power pendulum to the other party, or worse, make it a draw, when nothing gets accomplished.
At the local levels, this election may have governors, state legislatures, referendums, initiatives, city, education votes, and any other miscellaneous elections. Usually a phamphlet is sent out to voters on these local issues. It is up to the voter to peruse these items and select the ones they can support. Usually money is involved or something to do with changing the state constitution. It is up to the voter to read, select what they can support, then either take in a list of your selections with you to the voting booth, or place them on your absentee ballot and mail it in. Please do not allow these selections to be only in your brain, take something in writing . That speeds up the voting process and insures that you will be happy with your selection. Of course, if you feel compelled to spread your decisions to friends or relatives, prior to the election, that is your choice.

Educated Citizenry: Will History repeat itself with the mid-term election?

Educated Citizenry: Will History repeat itself with the mid-term election?
See March 27,2009 Blog, Frame of Reference II

Will History repeat itself with the mid-term election?

When George W. Bush was running for his second term, intelligent, voters could not conceive his re-election. But, he was re-elected to his second term as our President. Carol Simpson, a newscaster , found that people who voted for G.W.B. were not current with news, legislation, war-items, local news, they just voted, without doing their due diligence.
Will this next mid-term election coming up in November be a re-run? Current news, many pundits, think the Republicans will win as many as 47 house seats and regain control of the House of Representatives, and perhaps the Senate. Again, is history headed to repeat itself?
Evidence: The Democrats have been selling HOPE, in the form of passed legislation, say, the Health Care Reform, Financial reform, the Republicans have been selling the politics of "No" , as an example they stretched out the health care reform legislation so long, this Congress could not address Immigration, perhaps THE most important legislation that needs passage NOW. They have not been bi-partisan in just about everything except an occasional meeting. They have not been for the Greater Good. The Republicans have been selling "No", why would any person in his right mind vote for a group of people that is only looking for the return of GWB politics? Is the only reason Republicans are saying no really about politics or is it about the fact that a black man is President ?