Democrats Win - Big Deal

Democrats win control of Congress By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 47 minutes ago WASHINGTON - In a rout once considered almost inconceivable, Democrats won a 51st seat in the Senate and regained total control of Congress after 12 years of near-domination by the Republican Party. (Yahoo News)

While it is nice to see change, I am not holding my breath that there will be any substantive change. No, I am not expecting the Democrats to rush into impeachment hearings (not that this President should be let off, but it might be simpler to arrest him once his term of office is up) but I do expect to see some work out of the next Congress.

It is an expectation that is more of a pipe dream. For the last eight odd years, the Congress of the United States has done little for the country. In fact, almost nothing. Real wages continue to fall while corporations continue to make record profits. Real security is still an issue, despite six chaotic years of a push for homeland security. Immigration is an issue that needs sensible reform and support. Critical infrastructure is close to collapse and will require billions of non-existant dollars to fix. Education is a joke, with most jurisdictions more worried about test results and funding than actual learning. The environment is a mess even if you do not subscribe to the theories of global warming. The trade imbalance, along with the high costs of energy will shortly result in a need for local (US based) manufacturing and there is not much of a base for it left.

In the meantime, what has the Congress done? Appropriated billions for a war that should not have been entered into in the first place (democracy only comes after economic stability - thousands of years of history have taught us this, but the Bush administration failed history it seems) which has resulted in a demoralized under supplied military force and funneled the money away from domestic support. Appropriated billions for a security model that does not function and contines to pour good money after bad, only to have local jurisdictions spend man-hours on paperwork rather than the job of protecting the citzens they work for. Instituted medical coverage for the elderly (a necessary thing) that is so complicated and expensive, most experts cannot see the benefit, other than the increase in yearly revenue for the drug companies. Instituted several unfunded mandates, with good intentions but poor execution, where the end game is still without a definition and the results will be less valuable than if they had not been instituted. RealID, No Child Left Behind, Migration to IPv6, HSPD-12, RFID Passports. All noble goaled ideas but without any follow through in thinking.

The Congress of the United States has the opportunity to make some difference in the months and years to come. Repealing sensless mandates and laws would be a good start, but not likely to happen (can you remember the last failed Federal effort?). So we are in for more of the same, only then names will be changed to protect the guilty. I look forward to being amazed, but you may have to restart my heart if it happens.