GW Bush's TARP Cost $25 Billion

While there's many things about GW Bush that I disagreed with (namely I didn't think he was ever a true conservative), I think he's gotten a bum rap on spending. First, at the end of 2007, the federal deficit was only $160 billion. (1.1% of GDP). Throughout 2008, he did spend some money on stupid things like a one-off tax rebate to lower income Americans ($170 billion) and a $25 billion dollar loan to GM. But to top it off, he spent $700 billion on TARP. What most people don't realize is that TARP has been mostly paid off by now. Was it spending? I'd say it was more of an investment that people believed would be eventually paid off.

Anyway my point is that Bush spent - yes he did, but it's nowhere near what most people are saying. If you assume that TARP cost $25 Billion then, my best estimate is that Bush created a deficit of about $300 billion. Bad yes, but not as bad as most say, and nowhere near the trillion that Obama talks about. That trillion belongs to Obama. Let's not put them in the same league.

Obama's Making Friends Internationally Again

Wait - I thought Obama was going to mend all of our damaged international relationships and that the US was again going to be everyone's friend. Sounds like most of Obama's people have been either criticizing most of the world's leaders, including our allies, or they've been ordered by Hillary to spy on them. I would ask: is anyone surprised?

Many of the revelations are harmless - like calling the Russian Premier "Robin." But many others, may mean that world leaders will not trust the US to keep a secret, like in the case of the Saudi diplomat who begged the US to attack Iran. Well - this guy has been "outed."

Anyone remember when Hillary had taken all those FBI files illegally on prominent Republican leaders when Bill was Prez? Shouldn't be surprised here either.

Somewhere GW Bush might be smiling: Miss me yet?

Obama Yet to Learn Bradford's Thanksgiving Lesson

John Stossel reminds us of William Bradford's important Thanksgiving lesson. Shortly after the Pilgrims landed, they lived in a commune, ie. they practiced communism where everyone shared in the fruits of labor regardless of efforts. As many settlers realized they received no benefit from producing more or working harder, the system collapsed. Bradford realized this and instilled property rights and an incentive-based system where one's labor was rewarded by allowing him to keep his own fruits. The results were dramatic.

Unfortunately, Obama still prefers the first days of the Pilgrims, where they shared in their misery together, even if they starved to death.

Huckabee Gets Joy Behar Endorsement

Joy Behar says that Mike Huckabee is her favorite Republican. Do conservatives need to say anything else about him?

Obama Mandates Higher Medical Loss Ratios

With the stroke of a pen, Obama mandated via executive fiat that health insurers spend at least 85% of all revenue on medical costs (or 80% for smaller plans). This means that the remaining 15% is all that's left for overhead and administrative costs, as well as profits.

Of course, it's "for our own good". But what happens when prices are restricted? We already know - there will be much fewer insurers every year.

And then, finally, only the government will be around. Obama's communist remaking of the economy is well under way.

GOP Oversight To Call Up "Consumer Protection Agency"

As one of its first oversight procedures, it appears that the GOP will have some serious questions for the new all-powerful "Consumer Protection Agency," which has so far been put together by an appointed Left-wing zealot (Elizabeth Warren) who did not even go through the Senate confirmation process.

One of the most important factors in economic recovery is the performance of banks and the availability of credit. This agency is seriously threatening both of those items with its soon to be policies. Seems like a perfect place for the GOP to start.

Gore: Ethanol Was a Bad Idea

Al Gore admits that U.S. ethanol production was a bad idea. No kidding - just like every one of the Left's policies.

Reducing Deficit With Higher Taxes is "Sucker's Bet"

Stephen Moore and Richard Vedder explain why a plan to reduce the deficit through higher taxation is nothing more than a "sucker's bet." Every time it's tried, Congressional spending goes up by even more.

Using standard statistical analyses that introduce variables to control for business-cycle fluctuations, wars and inflation, we found that over the entire post World War II era through 2009 each dollar of new tax revenue was associated with $1.17 of new spending. Politicians spend the money as fast as it comes in—and a little bit more.

...Erskine Bowles, co-chairman of the president's deficit reduction commission, suggested at a briefing several months ago that there will be $3 of spending cuts for every $1 of tax increases. Sound familiar? Reagan used to complain that he waited his entire presidency for the $3 of spending cuts that Congress promised for every dollar of new taxes he agreed to in 1982. The cuts never came.

...The only era in modern times that the budget has been in balance was in the late 1990s, when Republicans were in control of Congress. Taxes were not raised, and the capital gains tax rate was cut in 1997. The growth rate of federal spending was dramatically reduced from 1995-99, and the economy roared.

Next on Obama's Lame Duck Agenda: Net Neutrality

I'd keep a close eye on anything that happens between now and January 20th. Anything that he's pushing now he's doing it for a reason: because he doesn't think he can get it through under the new congress. Looks like he's trying to sneak thru Net Neutrality. I'm not an expert on it myself, but Cass Sunstein, Obama Czar, explains it like this:

Sites of one point of view agree to provide links to other sites so that if you're reading a conservative magazine, they would provide a link to a liberal site, and vice-versa, just to make it easy for people to get access to competing views, or maybe a pop-up on your screen that would show an advertisement or maybe even a quick argument for a competing view. The best would be for this to be done voluntarily, but the word "voluntary" is a little complicated and sometimes people don't do what's best for our society unless Congress holds hearings or unless the public demands it. And the idea would be to have a legal mandate as the last resort and to make sure it's as neutral as possible if we have to get there, but to have that as, you know, an ultimate weapon designed to encourage people to do better.

Ok. So it's really for our own good.

Lame Duck Senate Approves Reparations for Blacks, Indians

In its typical reckless free spending ways, Harry Reid's lame duck Democrat-led Senate passed a $4.6 billion bill to pay money to black farmers and American Indians as reparations for "discrimination." Look for more of this garbage until the next Congress convenes.

Civilian Bombing Trial a Failure for Obama

Ahmed Ghailani was found not guilty on 284 of the 285 charges against him in the US embassy bombing case in Africa. I don't blame the prosecutors - I'm no expert in this trial, but from everything I've read, it's just extremely difficult to prosecute terrorists in a civilian court. He was still sentenced for 20 years. Interestingly, I saw on Fox that the prosecution called 46 witnesses to trial and took over a month to make their case. The defense? 1 witness and 20 minutes.

I don't know. Maybe this guy was really innocent. But if that's the case, why is he sentenced to 20 years? Maybe he's guilty. But if that's the case, why was he found not guilty on 99.7% of the charges against him. The bigger issue is what to do with the rest of them.

And here Obama is stuck. He jumped up and down in saying that terrorists should not and must not be tried in a military tribunal. Now it appears that his civil solution looks severely flawed. What will be his next move? My guess is he does nothing. Look at Khalid Shaik Mohammed. He's the mastermind of 9/11, and first Obama's administration wanted to try him in New York City. Then, after all sorts of pushback, they decided to bury the issue for the timebeing. These trials make Obama look bad, horrible in fact. If Obama decides to resort to "Bush's" military tribunals he looks like a hypocrit. But then again, if he continues his civilian trials, he looks incompetent. So what will he do?

My belief is that he will stall and ultimately do nothing, and this will force the next US President to decide. If this is the case, it will be one of his best decisions he has made as President. I fully support leaving more decisions to the next Commander in Chief.

Obama to Give Exemption to Muslim Women at Airports?

This would be fun to watch if they are really that stupid. Apparently Obama's Big Sis, Janet Napolitano, is considering giving Muslim women an exemption from airport security patdowns.

I suppose as long as we keep patting down 3 year-olds and grandmas, we should be safe, right?

Dems Delay, May Not Pass Vote To Keep Taxes From Increasing

I have said from the beginning that there is no reason to think Democrats will not raise taxes by tabling the issue until the next Congress. It seems as though this is becoming a real possibility, as both Obama and Democrats in Congress have delayed any vote on the matter until at least December.

Never mind that most companies use payroll processors to cut employee checks and therefore need a minimum of a few weeks notice, but the uncertainty is also a big economic risk that businesses (and consumers) hate.

Perhaps they really are believing their own hype that this election was just a fluke and not a mandate from the American voters. Tax and spend, baby.

Buffett Writes Thank You to US Government

There are lots of Warren's political opinions that I would disagree with, but interesting letter today in the New York Times. Warren chooses to thank a few people during the financial meltdown. Among those thanked: Bernanke, Geithner, Paulson, Bair, and President Bush:

And though I never voted for George W. Bush, I give him great credit for leading, even as Congress postured and squabbled.

The interesting point about this letter is who is not thanked.

Murkowski Wants Obama To Pass His Legislation

Two weeks after U.S. taxpayers repudiated Obama policies, Alaska Sen. Barbara Murkowski says she wants Obama to succeed in passing his legislation because that would mean the U.S. would succeed.

For me, I'm with Rush - the only way the U.S. succeeds is if Obama fails.

McConnell Agrees to Ban Earmarks

Sen. GOP Leader McConnell has agreed to the banning of earmarks.

Good for McConnell - I think it's the right thing to do and isn't worth a long fight. Plus, for those who really care just about politics, I think it's a easy political winner. After all, spending is the only reason why the GOP picked up 65 House seats. They better listen.

Political Correctness Run Amok: Pat Down 3-Year Olds

We are told that federal employees are so brilliant, experienced and skilled, which is why they make twice as much as their private sector counterparts on average.

Looking at this videotape of a crying 3-year old girl facing a TSA pat down at an airport, people have to be asking themselves where common sense has gone among federal employees.

It reminds me of a scene from a movie (can't remember which one) where Middle Easterners with guns, knives and grenades were walking through the screeners while little old ladies were getting frisked.

Average Federal Employee Pay Completely Out of Control

Instapundit has some interesting tidbits on the average salary and benefits of the federal worker vs. his private counterpart. It isn't even close. I know some people will question the quoted average of $120K, but I do know the average salary is about $77K. After throwing in benefits, I thought the number was closer to $100K, but I don't know for certain.

By the way, the argument that federal workers only hire "highly skilled employees" is a bunch of garbage. I have met hundreds, if not thousands of federal employees who couldn't survive a week in the private sector.

Inhofe: Earmark Issue Not the Problem

Sen. James Inhofe argues (rather well, in my opinion) that the earmark issue is not the fight conservatives should be having. I couldn't agree more. While I would love to see earmarks reduced or eliminated, even a complete elimination of earmarks would result in decrease in government spending by about 0.1-0.2%.

If conservatives can get earmark reform, great. If they prefer to spend their political capital by repealing Obamacare and reducing government spending to, say 18-19% of GDP, that is where the real fight should be. Even succeeding on a small number of initiatives to reduce federal government spending would make earmark reform nothing more than a rounding error.

US Postal Service Loss More Than Doubles to $8.5 Billion

The US Postal Service more than doubled its loss this year to a record $8.5 billion, despite postal rate increases and trimming staff. Of course, its generous retirement benefits have not been touched - and until they are, the Postal Service will never again approach break-even.

FedEx and UPS put the Postal Service to shame.

Despite lifting the ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf, Obama has found a silent way to ban it anyway - denying new permits. Since the BP explosion, not a single new deepwater drilling permit has been issued.

Germany: US Fiscal Policy "Clueless"

I think Germans are talking about Obama's ridiculous spending, combined with Bernanke's QE2.

I agree.

Earmarks in Massachusetts Threatened

The Boston Globe talks about $200 million in projects that may not occur if Republicans have their way and cut earmarks. Among the projects currently being supported by earmarks are: $10 million for the Edward Kennedy Institute (the government has already spent $38 million), $2 million to fund a new science building at UMass, and $400,000 to renovate Paul Revere's house.

Should we be worried about these projects being lost? No. If they're worthy projects, someone will fund them. Why does it have to be the tax payers? I'm no expert on the Kennedy Institute - it's nice to teach kids about the government, but in this economic environment, why should we be spending money on something that isn't absolutely essential. Same thing about the science building at UMass - if it's such a great idea, then prospective students will pay for the opportunity to study there. If not, they won't. But why should taxpayers from California to Florida pay for that.

Earmarks are controversial. Some Republicans don't want to ban them, like McConnell. Earmarks happen on both sides of the aisle, but more on the left side. For example, in Mass:

the list for Senator John F. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, contains $111.7 million in earmarks, while Senator Scott Brown, a Massachusetts Republican, has not sought any.

Time to ban them? YES.

Dems Win All Close Elections

Micky Kaus asks a very good question - why do Democrats win all of the close elections these days?

I think we already know the answer - a bag of ballots found two days after the election must be counted because it would disenfranchise [pick a minority group here]. Meanwhile, of course, many military service members still don't receive their ballots on time to vote in elections...

Obama's Debt Commission is NOT Bi-Partisan

President Obama like to create these faux bi-partisan commissions to advance his agenda. A true bi-partisan commission of 18 people would have allowed the republicans to choose 9 members and democrats choose 9. That clearly didn't happen. Republicans were allowed to select 6, Congressional democrats selected 6, and Obama selected 6. Obama also selected the chairman of the commission, who is a democrat. One of Obama's choices was the infamous Andrew Stern from the SEIU. Within Obama's 7 choices were 2 quoted Republicans - Alan Simpson, and Honeywell Ceo David Cote. David Cote is well-known for his political donations to Obama and in turn, Obama has rewarded him with billions of dollars of stimulus contracts. I truly do not think he's in favor of reducing debt.

So let's do a tally. There are 11 democrats, including the Chairman. Let's add David Cote to Obama's said for 12. So 12 democrats, 7 republicans. Some have questioned whether Alan Simpson is very conservative or not. I do not know so I group him with Republicans. So 12 out of 19 are on Obama's side, for 63%.

In the latest congressional elections Republicans won 65% of Senate Races, 68% of Governor Races, and 56% of House races. I think Republicans should have better represenatation on this partisan commission.

Obama's 60 Minutes Performance a Laugher

I can't take Obama seriously any more and since I also can't take 60 Minutes seriously anymore either, I obviously didn't tune in to Sunday's laugher. And it was a laugher. Here are 10 things Obama said that show his economic illiteracy and that his continuing denial.

Obama Touting 50,000 Jobs from India

Obama in India is talking about the "potential" of Indian companies creating up to 50,000 jobs for Americans. Of course every job is helpful, but 50,000 jobs, if the number is that high, is still a drop in the bucket. It's equivalent to Obama saying he saved $4 billion from our $13 trillion budget. Who cares? And besides, if Obama's policies were really saving and creating 4 million jobs, why not continue to focus on this? I think we know the answer.

Obama Making Friends in India

Earlier today Robert Gibbs threatened to end Obama's trip if Indian security did not let in all eight white house reporters instead of the five, which is what the Indians advocated. According to the Washington Post,

Gibbs announced loudly and persistently on steps of Hyberabad House that he would pull President Obama out of the meeting unless the White House 8 as we've come to be known, were all allowed in.

Gibbs became loud and increasingly animated and threatening, and eventually with this type of diplomacy, Indian officials let him have his way.

Sounds pretty amateurish and not very diplomatic to me. Hmmm.... thought Obama was going to smooth things over with our allies.

Obama's Chicago Boys Playing Their Corrupt Games

So Republican Mark Kirk won the election, but the democratically-controlled state legislation refuses to seat him until next month. Why? They say paperwork takes time. Interesting that West Virginians and Delawarians will be seating their senators right away (well they are democrats!). Also interesting that Obama is trying to compromise on the tax bill during his lame duck session, instead of waiting until 2011 when he would have to deal with more republicans. Nonetheless right now he'd probably prefer to deal with a Senate with 59 Dems than 58. (And this is preferable to dealing with a Senate of only 53 next year). Doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's a lot easier to peel off one Maine Republican to side with them, than it is to find two.

The trouble is that this is how Obama works. He did the same thing with healthcare reform. After Kennedy died, the MA senate changed their law from having an election to having a temporary three month appointment. Interestingly this MA appointee gave Obama the 60th vote that he needed to pass the monstrosity of a healthcare bill. Then when Brown was elected, it didn't matter as the bill had already been voted upon.

Any wonder why people have lost faith in Obama?

FERC's New Proposal to Hike Electric Prices

When Massachusetts' Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs describes a new cost sharing proposal of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as a "radical Soviet-style approach to transmission planning," you know there is something deeply troubling about it. From the WSJ:

How would you like to pay higher utility bills to finance expensive electricity from solar and wind power, which you would never use? That's the issue now before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and it deserves more public and political scrutiny before it becomes a reality.

FERC has a draft rule that could effectively socialize the costs of paying for multi-billion dollar transmission lines to connect remote wind and solar projects to the nation's electric power grid. If FERC rules in favor of Big Wind and Big Solar, the new policy would add billions of dollars onto the utility bills of residents of at least a dozen states—including California, Michigan, Oregon and New York—that will receive little or no benefit from the new power lines.

...Very big dollars are at stake in this fight. By some estimates the cost of building out new transmission lines to accommodate renewable energy and other new electric power sources could exceed $160 billion. Wind and solar proponents insist that renewable energy standards can only be reached if transmission costs are shared by everybody. This sounds like an admission that these energy sources are inefficient sources of power that can't compete in the marketplace without subsidies.

Let's hope this proposal gets stopped dead before Obama makes good on his promise to "necessarily hike the cost of electricity."

Establishment Republicans Didn't Endorse Rubio

Stephen Hayes from the Weekly Standard says Rubio is the most important newcomer to the Senate. He has an interesting piece on Rubio's senate run. But to me, the most interesting take from the article is what it says about establishment Republicans, and how they refused to endorse Rubio from the beginning. Even when Crist was prancing around with Barack Obama, selling his trillion dollar stimulus plan, the NRSC endorsed Charlie Crist. John Cornyn, John McCain, Mitch McConnell and Mel Martinez likewise jumped on the Crist bandwagon even as it was apparent that Crist might leave the party.

The only one who really had faith in Rubio was Jim DeMint.

I'm not saying Rubio is perfect and I don't know everything he stands for, but he appears to be humble, wants a smaller government, favors abolishing the IRS. (That said, I'm not sure why exactly he endorsed Mike Huckabee for President in 2008).

But my point is two-fold:

1. Republicans still need to weed out some of the long-time establishment guys from leadership positions before they can move forward - this includes guys like McCain and McConnell. Amazing that these guys like Cornyn are now taking the credit for the GOP after they backed the wrong guys.

2. When we hear people saying that the Tea Party was a failure, and saying they cost the GOP seats - I look at who the establishment GOP were backing (like Spector before he jumped the party), or like Crist and I think the GOP would already be dead if all the candidates had moved to the center which is what many of these establishment guys were favoring.

Reid Campaign Broke Election Laws to Win

From the Washington Examiner. Internal Reid campaign emails suggest that the campaign willingly violated campaign laws by directly contacting companies and unions to help get out the vote.

As former Federal Election Commissioner Hans A. von Spakovsky explained Friday in The Examiner, federal law makes it illegal for officials with a Senate campaign to coordinate with corporate or union officials: "Both the Reid campaign and Harrah's may have violated federal campaign finance law that prohibits in-kind corporate and union contributions to, and coordination with, political campaigns. Corporations and unions may spend money to run ads in support of or opposing a candidate, but they are not allowed to make direct or in-kind contributions to federal candidates. Federal criminal law also prohibits intimidation and coercion of a person exercising his or her right to vote (or not to vote)."

According to the e-mail, which was first made public by National Review Online's Elizabeth Crum, the Reid staffer pleaded with Marybel Batjer, Harrah's vice president for government relations, to do everything possible to get the firm's thousands of employees and their families in Nevada's largest county to the polls to vote for the Senate majority leader, including putting a "headlock" on recalcitrant supervisors "to get them to follow through." In response, Batjer instructed her fellow Harrah's executives that they were to "do whatever we need to do to get the supervisors to know that there is NOTHING more important than to get employees out to vote. Waking up to a defeat of Harry Reid Nov 3rd will be devastating for our industry's future."

Workers at the Reid campaign and executives at Harrah's should be prosecuted and thrown in jail. This overt Democrat election fraud needs to stop.

NC Dem Rep. Etheridge Trying to Steal Election in NC?

Democrats suddenly found some additional votes for Etheridge in NC, bringing his total to within 1 percent of the GOP candidate, meaning he can insist on a recount. No doubt about it - this guy is going to do everything possible to steal this election.

Should Boehner Be The Guy?

Should he be speaker of the house? In short, I think no, but believe there should be an election to determine who the next speaker will be. My reasons may not be the best, but I caught a glimpse of his interview with Bret Baier yesterday, and came away thinking that he's not the guy. He says all the right things, and is saying he'll hold his ground against President Obama's agenda. I kinda believe him, but will he be able to continue to hold his ground when the media is lambasting him every day for holding things up? Don't know.

The real reason I don't want him at the top is the same reason I didn't want Bob Dole to be the Republican nominee. I agree with most of their view points, but they don't sell themselves well. The type of guy we need is someone like Tony Snow who was smart, but also very smooth, and also really likeable, so much so that he became extremely effective, even though the media tried to catch him out. I know it's a little superficial, but Boehner comes across a little angry, and I think the media will find it easy to demonize him, even though it'll be unfounded.

In terms of Boehner's stance - I like the fact he wants to repeal healthcare, but I think finding an alternative to cut healthcare costs is the best way to repeal it. I also like extending Bush's tax cuts, but believe it'd be far better if we take this one step further and cut them more, as well as corporate tax rates.

Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Dems Find Magical "Bag of Ballots" in CT Race for Governor

Democrats found a "bag of ballots" from Bridgeport in CT. No doubt they will put the Dem over the top in the race for Governor there.

They are the best in the business at fraud.

Note to Elites: Tea Party Saved GOP This Year

Mort Kondracke, the wannabe "moderate" elitist and FoxNews contributor, says that Palin and DeMint were responsible for the Senate losses this year and went so far as to call Palin "a joke." Maybe he's just mad that his boy Obama's agenda is toast.

No one should be surprised by these statements, but they're simply not true. Sure, conservatives prevented a liberal Republican (Mike Castle) from winning in Delaware. But what good is "more of the same" just because he has an "R" next to his name? Perhaps they also fielded a poor candidate in Sharon Angle in Nevada. But it was the state GOP establishment that endorsed Harry Reid over Angle! And finally, in Colorado, it was another poor GOP gubernatorial candidate that forced conservatives to pick the independent Tom Tancredo instead of going with a straight GOP ticket. This inevitably hurt a potential win for Buck.

Regardless, the tea party conservatives and not the GOP establishment are responsible for winning 6 Senate seats and 65 House seats. That's pretty damn spectacular! (Remember what happened the last time we got the GOP establishment's dream candidate in McCain...)

Barney Shows His True Character

Barney shows his true character in his acceptance speech. For those that haven't seen the speech, I don't believe it shows Barney in a bad light, and he's not in a particularly bad mood - quite the contrary. But it does show normal demeanor and character, and even when feeling good, he can't help but be himself, which isn't very complimentary. I thought he might stop whining after the election ended and his victory, but he seems to be enjoy sticking the knife into his opponent, as well as Republicans in general, the Boston Herald, Fox News, and anyone else who disagrees with his views. One can see why most people see him as an arrogant obnoxious man.

Will Dems Steal Race in St. Louis?

When it comes to stealing races with fraudulent votes, Democrats are second to none. It appears they might just do it successfully in St. Louis, MO to give the election to Russ Carnahan.

Obama Still Doesn't Blame His Policies

Victor Davis Hanson isn't impressed with Obama's speech today, in which Obama claimed a lot of excuses, none of which were his actual policies that no one likes.

President Obama came close, but he still just cannot admit that his radical policies and their effects on the economy are the cause of his devastating political rebuke. For most of his press conference, an oddly depressed Obama voted present, as he all but said that the problems are mostly ours, not his — or at least not his agenda but perhaps an occasional inadequate communication.

Post Election Analysis

Ok - everyone is talking about what the big message was in 2010. First a couple of observations:

1. GOVERNOR RACES: GOP have taken 21 of 37 governorships so far, and look like they have a good chance of winning FL/OR/ME. So let's assume they take 24/37 and adding NJ and VA elections earlier in the year, that's 26/39 or 67% of the governor races. Wow!

2. HOUSE: Let's say that 240/435 went for the GOP - that's 55%, although it is likely to end up a bit higher than that. Wow!

3. SENATE: So far it's 23/37. Throw in AK for 24. Let's assume CO and WA remain dem. 24/37 is 65% - wow!

4. BALLOT INITIATIVES: Arizona and Oklahoma voted against forcing people on healthcare plans. AZ/UT/SC/SD all voted for secret ballots at union votes. AZ voted against affirmative action. Too many to mention, but a lot of decent stuff.

5. The Republicans that were elected are more conservative than before. First - we've cleaned out some dead wood - Crist, Spector. Also didn't let guys like Castle (Rino) in DE. Also some Dem's elected are more conservative (Manchin - WV). And the Republicans elected - many are VERY conservative - Paul, Toomey, Rubio, Johnson.

6. SPIN: As Richie mentions, we already were getting the spin before the election began. Post election, I've heard most TV commentators talk about the disappointment of the Tea Party results and that this would spell the end of their influence. I think the exact opposite is happening. Sure there were a couple of duds - O'Donnell, Angle, notably. But what about Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Ron Johnson, Nikki Haley, Pat Toomey - and the list goes on and on? This movement is just beginning. It's not ending.

7. OVERALL RESULT: Very positive. Biggest change since 1948. Sure some disappointments happened. And I'm not generally excited until I see follow-through. What's important now is to follow through with the cost cutting and tax cuts.

8. MESSAGE: Anti-Obama in most places. Pro-small government in most places. These trends will hopefully continue.

A Very Good Night Indeed

It's a little hard not to be slightly disappointed in a few seats (particularly in the Senate, MA, CT and CA), but overall it was a huge GOP win:

-probably 6-7 Senate seats, 65 House seats and 12 state legislatures flipped to GOP;
-and there's another likely pickup in both Houses in 2012 (8-10 seats due to redistricting alone).

And let's face it - the House is the chamber you want to own. It's a very conservative House now. Good start to overturning every last Obama law that's been passed.

Bielat Comes Up Short

Sean Bielat fought valiantly but came up short. I guess it was always going to be an uphill battle in a district where you have 75% democrats, but he still made it fairly close: 54% to 43%. In analyzing the result, Frank had 38% fewer votes than he did in 2008 - this was expected. Bielat also had 35% more than the Republican challenger in 2008. While 35% is a big jump from 2008, I thought he would get much more considering the profile of the race. Just seems like the Republicans didn't come out to vote - either that or in this district, there just aren't any republicans, which is also probably true. But still a strong effort in a near-impossible democratic-engineered district, especially considering Bielat is actually closer to a libertarian than a republican.

It actually looks like Bielat did great on a town by town basis, as he took 28 of 39 towns and was competitive in almost all of them except for 3: Newton, Brookline, and New Bedford. In these 3 towns, Bielat got 33,000 fewer votes than Frank (overall he lost by 24,000 votes).

Oh well. Rome wasn't built in a day. Gerry-mandered strongholds take a long time to dismantle. I'd love to see Bielat build upon his experience by running again in two years or even going after Senator Kerry next time.

Pelosi: Bitter Sore Loser Who Fails to Congratulate GOP

Sore loser Pelosi, in denial until the end, without graciousness to congratulate her GOP opponents as Bush did for her four years ago. What a wretch of a person.

Conservatives Smack Down Obamanomics in House

The great news tonight for conservatives is that Obamanomics has died in a landslide election in the House of Representatives. Fox News estimates that the GOP will pick up somewhere around 60 seats in the House. In the Senate, the results still are not in, but it's looking like a long shot. Regardless, both houses will become much more conservative.

The U.S. has spoken - NO MORE OBAMARXISM.

One interesting note tonight - the average of the polls seem on the whole to be pretty close to the final results, at least so far.

Barney Frank Out?

Just a rumor at this point, but I've heard (from a Democrat) that Barney Frank is finished. Obviously need to take with a grain (or pound) of salt though.

Barney Frank camp is worried.

GOP Sweep in Wisconsin Coming?

From NRO, things are looking good in Wisconsin...

Heavy Turnout in South Shore Mass - Good Omen for GOP

For those of you in Socialist Massachusetts, a good sign. Michael Graham says that turnout in the South Shore is very strong so far - and the South Shore is the best chance for Republicans to gain votes.

Recession? Obama To Spend $200MM Per Day in Mumbai

Obama's visit to Mumbai is going to cost U.S. taxpayers $200 million per day for security and other accommodations.

Can't we just buy the Obama's an island in the Caribbean or something?

FDR's Treasury Secretary: More Spending "Does Not Work"

Thomas Sowell is fantastic. He reminds us that we've been in this big-spending binge before:

Guess who said the following: "We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work." Was it Sarah Palin? Rush Limbaugh? Karl Rove?

Not even close. It was Henry Morgenthau, Secretary of the Treasury under Franklin D. Roosevelt and one of FDR's closest advisers. He added, "after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started. . . And an enormous debt to boot!"

Franklin D. Roosevelt blamed the country's woes on the problems he inherited from his predecessor, much as Barack Obama does today. But unemployment was 20 percent in the spring of 1939, six long years after Herbert Hoover had left the White House.

Unfortunately, this is what happens when students are taught that FDR saved us with his big government spending. We repeat the same mistakes.

Election Day Predictions

Today Democrats will be rewarded for the Pelosi-Reid Congress of the last 4 years.

...I think that at least two Leftist journalists cry on the air tonight, before telling us that Republicans now own the economy.
...I think that Obama and his wife tell us that the U.S. is once again too bitter and perhaps, too stupid to know what's good for us.
...I think that FoxNews beats all the big 3 networks in ratings.

And finally, I see 72 House seats and 10 Senate seats gained by the GOP (big numbers and things will have to break strong for the GOP).

One big question mark for the Senate is WV, where the Dem candidate, Manchin, a popular Governor, has done a good job of running strident anti-Obama ads (one where he shoots a bullet through Obama's cap-and-trade agenda). But it really doesn't matter - he will be up again in 2 years, so he should be a decently reliable conservative vote.

Intrade: Dem Senate Control Drops to 41.6

According to Intrade, people are betting against the Dems retaining control of the Senate; it now stands at just 41.6.

Pelosi's Favorable Rating Amoung Independents: 8%!

Nancy Pelosi's approval ratings among independents are at 8%!

Remember - this is the woman who has been in charge of all budgeting and national legislation for the past four years.

Delaware Public Access Station Refuses to Run O'Donnell Ad

Christine O'Donnell paid for ad time to broadcast a 30 minute documentary/commercial on a local Delaware public access channel. The only problem is that the station took the money but somehow "forgot" to run the ad.

When was the last time a tv station forgot to run a tv ad? With Obama in Delaware this past weekend and the tv station refusing to air ads, it seems like someone is afraid that O'Donnell might just have a chance.

Bielat vs Frank: What Happened This Weekend

Deb Becker from WBUR was with both campaigns this weekend and claims that the turn-out and tone of the rallies were completely different. Here's her take on Bielat's rally:

The largest draw was a Saturday morning rally in Foxborough where hundreds of people gathered to show support for the GOP ticket. It felt more like a concert than a political rally with Sen. Scott Brown the headliner, wearing his trademark barn jacket and trying to stoke the same anti-establishment spirit that propelled him to victory just 10 months ago. Bielat told the crowd that supporting him Tuesday is a vote for a traditional values.

Now her take on Frank's big shindig:

Much different, much quieter. Frank also campaigned with some high-profile Democrats. On Sunday, he addressed about 60 people at an apartment complex in Dartmouth where he appeared with Vicki Kennedy, the widow of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

Hmmm. A rock concert vs a quiet gathering.... I think Bielat will take it, regardless of all these polls that suggest Franks is 13 points ahead.

Is Virginia's Jim Moran in Trouble?

Jim Geraghty has some anecdotal evidence that Patrick Murray, the GOP candidate for the House against the Far-Left nutcase but entrenched Jim Moran, might be in a position to give Moran a tough election day.

Unfortunately, Moran won his politically liberal wacko district in the DC suburbs by 38 points. If he wins by less than 15, I'd be shocked, but you never know - especially this year.

Obama Campaigns in Ohio - Another Bust!

Last night, Obama campaigned at the Wolfstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio. In a 13,000 seat capacity stadium, he managed to fill only 8,000. Compare this with 2008, when a couple days before the election, 80,000 people showed up. A decline of 90%! I'd say this is pretty representative of how many Americans are currently feeling about the President.

Nonetheless, he continues campaigning, and in Cleveland last night, he shouted out how things would be different under Republicans:

You don't have a job? Tough luck, you're on your own. You don't have health care? Too bad, you're on your own. You're a young person who can't afford to go to college? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, you're on your own...

Ummm... this is what Obama just doesn't get! This is precisely what most Americans want! They want to be left on their own. They like pulling themselves up by their bootstraps, and the feeling of accomplishment when they do something on their own.

More government is not the answer, Mr. President. Some people in your party will begin to understand this on Wednesday.