Tuesday, December 2, 2008

No supermajority for you!


GOP senator Saxby Chambliss won the runoff election in Georgia, so the Democrats can't get to 60 seats in the Senate....the filibuster lives. And, it is looking more likely that Norm Coleman will win by the tiniest of margins here in Minnesota, so the worst-case scenario for the GOP will not come to pass. That said, they still need to get their act together. I am thinking about what I think they need to do, and will probably post my thoughts on it as things proceed.
But, I am happy about this because I believe one-party rule is a bad thing, regardless of party. I think our government works best when there is a check on the worst impulses of a political party. We came really close to not having that.
UPDATE: Charlie Sykes had the same headline for his post about the Chambliss win (along with thousands of others, I am sure). But I beat him to it. Sykes 544,861,098, Stinger 1.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is good news and a great thing that has happened. I agree with you that one party rule has not worked, and will not work for us at all. It was bad enough when the Republicans held the House, Senate, and Oval Office. I am not old enough and did not pay close enough attention to the first two years of Clinton Administration when it was in the same position that Bush was in for his first six years. I do have to add that it seems like the American People get the shaft when they do decide to work with one another. That is how it has looked lately. I hope that the Republicans have received the second wake up call that they have had sent to them. They missed the first one in 2006. They may just wait and see how Obama does in his first year or so and decide if they need to really change or not. If he does try to do enough things that the people do not like, then they may take the Dem Control of Congress away in 2010.

Marge said...

Mike, I like you better than I like Charlie Sykes. And you are cooler than he is for coming up with "No Supermajority For You!" first. I certainly hadn't thought about it and laughed out loud when I saw it!

Mike said...

P - That's exactly how I feel about it...if there's too much agreement in government, that tends to be when our money and/or our rights get messed over. As for the GOP in 2010, I don't see them getting Congress back. I am not sure they deserve to be back in power yet. Like you said, they have to answer their wake-up call.

Marge, I am stunned. All this time I thought you were the president of the Charles Sykes Fan Club. Did I ever tell you I got onto his show? He was talking about bad 70s music, and I called in and got on the air.