I'll keep it short and sweet, I hope. Today is voting day! And, according to many opinions I have read, the GOP is going to win big. I tend to agree with them, but it doesn't really make me happy.
Obama was voted into office because people were tired of Bush and his policies. Obama then took the worst parts of Bush's policies and increased them a thousandfold. Big spending, big government, bad leadership in the wars, etc. Americans are rightfully ticked off by that, and today's votes will reflect that.
So, if the GOP wins, why won't I be happy? Because the GOP is as much of the problem as the Democrats. If the GOP wins big, they'll curtail the worst of Obama's policies, but they won't be able to do much more than that since Obama will just veto anything good. They'll then use that as an excuse to start compromising and return to the way it was under Bush. Any Tea Party candidates who don't go along with it will simply be marginalized and ignored.
So, I am a bit cynical about this, and hopefully I'm wrong. But, here's why I'm cynical:
Washington D.C. is full of 'The Establishment' and 'Special Interests.' My definition of 'The Establishment' is the network of good old boys and girls who have been in power for a while, they work together to maker sure that they stay in power. My definition of 'Special Interests' are the lobbyists and various groups who give money to 'The Establishment' in order to get favors. Until both of these power bloc's are broken, we will see no real change in our Federal Government.
Thus, for the 2012 elections, we need to be planning tactics to break them. I have a few ideas. I'm not political genius, so, I'm pretty much guessing, but hopefully there's something good in them.
First, break 'The Establishment' by instituting term limits on congressmen. If we keep kicking them out of Washington, then the networks of good old boys and girls will be much harder to form. We also will have a better chance of keeping congressmen who are idealistic in power. Those are type of people will will try to make real changes. Not to mention eliminating the need to pander to the powerful people back home in order to get reelected.
To break the 'Special Interests', one option is to elect congressmen who won't pander to them. the 'Special Interests' keep power by influencing congressmen with their money. If the congressmen stop giving favors out for money, and instead focus on what their voters need, then the 'Special Interests' will have to try to influence the voters. Which is how it should be.
Anyway, those are just some ideas. How viable, or effective, or good, they are, I don't know. What do you think? What are your ideas?
For some more reading, check out this link. It's long, but he makes some good points about some of what I've been thinking for a long time now. I don't necessarily agree with everything, but it's still worth a read.