House Republicans Set To Gain Seats In Next Congress

[Webster]

...only in America could a political party as dysfunctional as the GOP actually be on the cusp of gaining seats in next month's elections...

One year after plunging the country into what was then regarded as a near-apocalyptic 16-day shutdown of the federal government, House Republicans find themselves, improbably, in their strongest position politically since the earliest days of their majority in 2011.

With the shutdown fading against the backdrop of other domestic and global calamities, Speaker John A. Boehner’s gang has not only stabilized itself and patched up the self-inflicted wound that was the shutdown, but it also stands a good chance of expanding its majority in the Nov. 4 midterm elections. If all goes as Republicans hope, it could be the largest GOP majority since one of Boehner’s political heroes, Nicholas Longworth (R-Ohio), held the speaker’s gavel 85 years ago.

The long-embattled Boehner (R-Ohio) finds himself in this position due to a combination of luck and resilience, as well as some significant missteps by his Democratic adversaries. It also helped that, to some degree, the notoriously contentions GOP rank and file decided to retreat from the spotlight and let the public anger toward Washington settle on President Obama.

Democrats are doing their best to remind voters of Boehner’s first three years as speaker, which were marked by a repeated series of partisan faceoffs and showdowns that culminated in the shutdown that started Oct. 1, 2013.

To mark the anniversary, Democrats unleashed a slew of new advertisements trying to refocus attention on last October’s ordeal, hitting GOP incumbents for taking their pay during the shutdown and for closing everyday services such as national parks.

“There is one thing voters remember above all else about this Republican Congress: One year ago tonight, House Republicans shut down the government for the first time in 17 years,” Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Tuesday in a statement.

It’s hard to overstate just how much political damage Republicans appeared to be doing to themselves when they decided to force the government shutdown in a bid to compel Obama and congressional Democrats to delay funding for the implementation of their landmark health law, known as the Affordable Care Act.

Overall congressional approval sunk to 12 percent, according to a Washington Post-ABC New poll at the time, but the blame seemed to be falling overwhelmingly on Republicans. Almost 80 percent of voters disapproved of how Republicans conducted themselves during that budget showdown, including 59 percent who strongly disapproved.

Internally, GOP lawmakers pointed fingers at Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and a band of 20 to 30 House Republicans who aligned themselves with the most conservative activists. That group took control and drove the shutdown strategy, but the public seemed to be casting blame on the entire Republican establishment in Washington.

At that moment, Democrats appeared well positioned to maintain their Senate majority — especially since some of the GOP’s top recruits against a handful of incumbent Democrats were House Republicans who backed the shutdown strategy. Moreover, despite the historical trend of the presidential party losing seats in a president’s sixth year in office, House Democrats felt they had a real chance at winning the majority in 2014 because the Republicans had so faltered with the shutdown strategy.(Washington Post)

 

[DrLeftover]

One part or the other could take EVERY seat in the House.

It is more difficult to control the Senate, and without both houses, such as the Dems had for Mr Obama's first term, it is almost impossible to get anything done.

Oh, wait, even when one party had both houses and the Executive Office, they didn't get a whole lot done, like passing a budget.

Nevermind.

 

[Webster]

It is more difficult to control the Senate, and without both houses, such as the Dems had for Mr Obama's first term, it is almost impossible to get anything done.

Oh, wait, even when one party had both houses and the Executive Office, they didn't get a whole lot done, like passing a budget.

Nevermind.

...and you wonder why people sometimes refer to Congress as a goat rodeo...

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

The fake republicans and the democrats are both equally screwed up beyond belief. Now it more then likely might just continue that way unless the republicans get some really good candidates that win. Now for Webster that would be the worst of the worst winning.

 

[Webster]

The fake republicans and the democrats are both equally screwed up beyond belief. Now it more then likely might just continue that way unless the republicans get some really good candidates that win. Now for Webster that would be the worst of the worst winning.

Ha, ha, ha....good one, Liberty, but for me, the worst of the worst was watching Dubya wreck the country for eight years. Let me ask you this, Liberty: policy wise, should the GOP get both houses of Congress, what do you think their priorities should be?

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

The fake republicans and the democrats are both equally screwed up beyond belief. Now it more then likely might just continue that way unless the republicans get some really good candidates that win. Now for Webster that would be the worst of the worst winning.

Ha, ha, ha....good one, Liberty, but for me, the worst of the worst was watching Dubya wreck the country for eight years. Let me ask you this, Liberty: policy wise, should the GOP get both houses of Congress, what do you think their priorities should be?

Again no arguments with Bush who was just a liberal in republican skin. If he had Democrat in his title he would have been loved for all his waste in social program spending.

1. get rid of Obama care. And create some kind of incentive for a Healthcare savings account by lowering taxes for every American that starts one. Its just a idea I'm sure there are smarter people out there with a more complete idea.

2. Secure the border and make it impossible for illegals to stay here.

3. Close down hundreds of bases around the world.

4. shut homeland security and the Patriot Act.

5. Flat tax or a number of the other similar versions out there.

6. Reverse all the damage thats been done to the energy industry and make it profitable to start making more power plants and oil refineries instead of making it a burden from the EPA.

That is a good start before I go to work.

 

[DrLeftover]

One thing I would like to see is that the new president, on his way to the podium to make his speech, sign an executive order relieving all the various "czars" of their positions and firing all their staffs, and requesting a special prosecutor with subpena power to look into who they were and what they've done since Obama appointed them.

 

[Webster]

The fake republicans and the democrats are both equally screwed up beyond belief. Now it more then likely might just continue that way unless the republicans get some really good candidates that win. Now for Webster that would be the worst of the worst winning.

Ha, ha, ha....good one, Liberty, but for me, the worst of the worst was watching Dubya wreck the country for eight years. Let me ask you this, Liberty: policy wise, should the GOP get both houses of Congress, what do you think their priorities should be?

Again no arguments with Bush who was just a liberal in republican skin. If he had Democrat in his title he would have been loved for all his waste in social program spending.

1. get rid of Obama care. And create some kind of incentive for a Healthcare savings account by lowering taxes for every American that starts one. Its just a idea I'm sure there are smarter people out there with a more complete idea.

2. Secure the border and make it impossible for illegals to stay here.

3. Close down hundreds of bases around the world.

4. shut homeland security and the Patriot Act.

5. Flat tax or a number of the other similar versions out there.

6. Reverse all the damage thats been done to the energy industry and make it profitable to start making more power plants and oil refineries instead of making it a burden from the EPA.

That is a good start before I go to work.

*reads the 'Dubya was a liberal part* Wait...if Dubya's a liberal, what the hell's a conservative? Wait...don't answer that, Liberty...no offense, my friend, but by that logic Jesse Helms was a moderate...

But anyway, on the various points above:
-This might come as a surprise but on points three & four I tend to agree, especially on point #4: both DHS & the Patriot Act were the absolute worse things that we could've done following 9/11.. On point #3, I'm of two minds: part of me wishes the U.S. didn't have the footprint that it did around the world...on the other hand, given the numerous dangers around the world, part of me is actually glad that there's an American presence in most of the world, if not for any other reason that to show the flag and let everyone know that the Eagle, though peaceful to all, is still ever vigilant.

Let me think of opposing points-of-view on the other points and I'll continue this line of thought; having just logged on a little bit ago, I don't want to reply half-assed here, but I will my lines of thought here later on, alright?

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

other then being hawkish on military he is a liberal no different then Obama on spending and social issues.