Election 2010: The Fork in the Road

[David Atlee]

from my blog at http://theatleeappeal.com/

There is no hiding this fact. The midterm elections of 2010 have been the most heated, the most energetic, and the most important elections this country has had in quite some time. There is one thing about this election though that I don’t think anyone saw coming. Democrats are fleeing from Obama. Not only are they fleeing Obama, but they are completely running away from any mention of the Democrat’s lifelong dream – a massive health care overhaul. We were told that “We must pass this bill before we know what is in it” by Queen Pelosi herself. Not only would we eventually know what is in it after it passed, but that we would learn to love it. Well, safe to say, that is not happening either.

Obama though, has become increasingly aggressive in his attacks against Republicans. This coming from the man who promised a new era of politics, where we are all one America. Oh, how those words looked so nice on a teleprompter. “We can’t have special interests sitting shotgun. We gotta have middle class families up in front. We don’t mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back.” So much for that promise of reaching across the isle. Goldman-Sachs donated nearly $1 Million toward Obama’s campaign in 08. According to the American Institute for Economic Research, labor unions spent $68.3 Million in contributions for Democrats in the 08 election – compared to $4.2 Million for Republicans. This same article stated that the stimulus had $90 Billion set aside to “cover the tax shortfalls for state and local governments…most of which will be used to save or increase jobs at these levels of government.” 52% of the public work force is unionized according to the Department of Labor. Look, there is nothing wrong with getting large campaign contributions from American companies or interest groups. Where the line is crossed, however, is when you cast stones at people for doing the exact same thing you do. Or, making accusations that Republicans are getting foreign contributions , without any evidence, and then demanding Republicans prove otherwise.

What do members of the media have to say about this election? Well, AOL had this interesting assessment of the elections:

“The real story in this election is not that America has no jobs, that the economy continues to falter or that the national debt continues to balloon. While all three are true and, more importantly, Obama has failed to fix them, it is also true that these conditions existed prior to Obama’s election. Yet somehow his personal charisma and captivating charm elevated the electorate.
The real story of campaign 2010 is how boring Obama has become.”

Oh, well of course an unemployment rate that has been hovering around 10% with no signs of improvement in the near future has nothing to do with Obama’s policies. Obama just isn’t as cool as he was in 2008! Yet somehow, nobody ever seems to mention that the Democrats have been in control of Congress since January of 2007. Interesting factoid – all spending bills originate in the House. Infamous last words from Speaker Nancy Pelosi when she took the gavel: “No new deficit spending!” Reminds you a little bit of the first George Bush and his “No new taxes!” pledge. The national debt was at $8.67 Trillion when she took office according to the Treasury Department. It is now at $13.6 Trillion – up $5 Trillion in just 4 years! Now look at the deficit: According to the Treasury, in January of 2007, Washington was running an average deficit of $162.3 Billion. It is now running an average deficit of $1.4 Trillion. And the “real story” about this election is how Obama has become boring?

So what is this election about? Is it strictly a referendum on Obama? Is it a referendum on Pelosi? Or, can we safely ask ourselves if it is a referendum on liberalism/big government? We can safely say that it is a referendum on big government. Democrats are not the only ones to blame though. Far from it. Republicans acted like Democrats when they were in power during the early to mid 2000s. The American people had enough of that, and thought that voting for Democrats in the 2006 midterm elections would help. Well, we’ve seen just what exactly big government policies are capable of doing. We want the American dream restored. We want optimism to return to American businesses. We want lower taxes. We want fiscal responsibility restored. We want to greatly reduce the size of entitlement programs. We want our borders secure. We want immigration laws enforced. We want the Constitution honored, not trounced on. We want politicians held accountable – which is why so many incumbents were defeated in the primaries. We don’t want to apologize to the world for being Americans. We don’t want to feel guilty for being successful. We want companies to make profits. We want to drill our own oil. We want to return to a land of the free, because we are currently slaves to the debts that our government has created. We believe whole heartedly, that if we are to clean out the Democratic control of Congress in this election, and then rid Obama from the White House in 2012, we will be get our country back on the path to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.