The takeover of the House and most likely the Senate has changed the political landscape dramatically. While many (very many) conservatives have been disappointed in the Republicans in Congress, the Democrats will be much (very much) worse. Right off the bat, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld resigns. This can't be a good thing for the War on Terror. Rumsfeld was one of the few in the Bush administration who would speak forcefully in defense of our troops and the job they are doing in Iraq. He understood the war is not a game with rules each team agrees on, or a set time limit for when the game's over. President Bush has chosen Robert Gates to replace him. I know next to nothing about Robert Gates, except he's a university president and was the Director of the CIA. And he was a member of the Iraq Study Group . The one headed by James Baker that, according to leaked reports, rules out victory in Iraq. Here is more information, (h/t Michelle).
And now this:
President George W. Bush on Wednesday said increasing the national minimum wage is likely an issue on which he could cooperate with Democratic leaders in Congress.
"I believe in a lot of issues we can find common ground and there's a significant difference between common ground and abandoning principles," the president said in a news conference a day after mid-term elections in which Democrats gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Democrats gained about 30 seats in the House in Tuesday's voting and picked up five of the six Republican Senate seats they need for a majority. They led in the other one, Virginia, putting them near control of both chambers of Congress for the first time in 12 years.
Hiking the minimum wage, which is now $5.15 per hour and has not been raised since September 1997, is a key initiative identified by Democrats. The president said he would be meeting with Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who is poised to be the next speaker of the House when the new Congress convenes in January.
Michelle is trying to keep her spirits (and ours) up. But I'll have to agree with her, this ain't helping.
The position of another star in the Bush administration, UN Ambassador John Bolton, is up in the air. Allahpundit thinks it's bye-bye Bolton. Maybe President Bush will at least get something for the minimum wage cave-in. How about trading it for Bolton?
And then there's illegal immigration. The Republicans in the House saved us from the disastrous Immigration Reform Bill and now it's a whole new ball game. At least four three of the Republican Senators who voted against it are gone, too. I haven't gone down the list, but off the top of my head, Alexander (TN) oops, sorry Senator, I was thinking about Frist! Burns (MT), Santorum (PA) and Talent (MO) all voted no.
Again, I agree with Michelle, amnesty is on the way. As an aside, I've seen speculation on who would take over as Majority/Minority Leader in the Senate. Several posters at Lucianne suggested Mitch McConnell (KY) would be a good choice. I disagree completely. He voted FOR the Immigration Reform Bill and we don't need another amnesty advocate as leader in the Senate. I'm not sure how or when this will come about, but now is the time to write our Senators, for what it's worth. The vote on the bill can be found at Thomas, type in S.2611 in the search bar.
You win some, you lose some, and some get rained out, but you gotta suit up for them all........ J. Askenberg
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