The House of Representatives met yesterday for the first time this year. It’s probably a good time to ask, “What can we expect to be accomplished in Washington this year?” Much as I hate to say it, the honest answer is probably – not much.
Why is that? First of all, the United States Senate is still under the control of – Harry Reid. This is the same Harry Reid who said we couldn’t possibly cut federal spending on such critical programs as a Cowboy Poetry Festival in his home state of Nevada. This is the same Harry Reid who had to apologize for making racist remarks about then-candidate Barack Obama. And this is the same Harry Reid who just a few days ago basically declared that “Tea Party extremism” is why Washington can’t get anything constructive done.
Another obvious roadblock to accomplishing anything worthwhile over the next year is the current occupant of the White House, Barack Obama. Now it might seem logical that it would be in Obama’s political best interest to work with Congress to accomplish something for the American people this year, as he’s actually up for re-election. However, he’s made it quite clear that he is totally in campaign mode, and rather than work WITH Congress, his intention is to run AGAINST Congress.
Harry Truman did it back in 1948, running against an alleged “Do Nothing Congress.” There is of course one huge difference between back then and the current situation. Today, rather than a Do Nothing Congress, we have a Do Nothing Harry Reid-led Senate.
The FACT is that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has passed bill after bill which would have cut spending, reduced the size of government, eliminated regulations, and gone a long way towards getting the economy moving again and getting Americans back to work, only to be blocked by Harry Reid’s Democratic-controlled Senate.
So what’s the answer? I would submit that it is absolutely critical that we break obstructionist Harry Reid’s stranglehold on the Senate by electing a minimum of 4 new Republican Senators this year, thus taking the Democrats out of the majority and Harry Reid out of running the place. Secondly, and equally important, is holding the House (and the First Congressional District of Ohio will be part of that effort.) And finally, and perhaps most importantly, Barack Obama must not be re-elected to a second term.
So there you have it. And even though there will be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth in Washington this year about everything from millionaires and billionaires allegedly not paying their fair share of taxes, to who wants to cut Medicare and Social Security and who wants to save them, and whether Congress should pass President Obama’s latest jobs plan or whether it would actually be nothing more than Stimulus II, the direction of this country will be determined by the decision the American people make this November.
It’s never been more important that they get it right.