Well, the press would have you believe that's what happened. But wait...the same election ushered in bans on gay marriage in eight out of nine states...tax caps and public control over tax increases. The liberal crazies were carried to power on the backs of conservative candidates. Maybe this wasn't the "Once and Future King" of liberalism come back to reclaim his throne. No, it was a deserved "throw the bums out" fit of rage that felt good the night we all pulled the levers in our voting booths. Unfortunately, it's going to feel like a real bad one night stand when we sober up, take the bags off our heads and see who we just crawled into bed with. This is not a sour grapes thought...I was mad at 'em too. I was focused on the war effort and what a change of power would mean to the troops in the field. You know, the stupid ones who voted overwhelmingly Republican and have begged for the chance to finish the job?
So where does that leave us? We seem guaranteed to get a raise in the minimum wage. If you can read this column up to this point, you should be earning more than the minimum wage, but no matter. Now, you won't have to read to earn a few bucks more per hour. The market doesn't work so the Federal Government will have to intervene to make it work...after all, they know better. To hell with all the studies that have proven that raising the minimum wage puts small businesses out of work and costs jobs...jobs that ultimately get shipped overseas, let's feel good about ourselves and raise the minimum wage! This is an area, after all, that the Federal Government belongs...let's get to work!
While we are at it, let's save future car wreck victims and sufferers of Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and the like from their horrible fates by investing billions of Federal dollars in stem cell research...consider this from Reason Online:
The National Institutes of Health spent $24.3 million dollars on human embryonic stem-cell research last year. Critics of President Bush's policy of limiting federal funding to only those stem-cell lines derived before August 2001 worry that this amount—relative to NIH's annual $30 billion budget—is not enough. Persuaded of the importance of this research, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in May to lift President Bush's funding restrictions. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announced this summer that he supported that legislation. The Senate is poised to vote on the issue later this fall.
But do stem-cell researchers really need the feds? Already there is nearly $4 billion in private and state monies committed to stem-cell research over the next decade, with another three-quarters of a billion dollars under active consideration.
What was that? $4 BILLION in private investment already????? But we need to offend tax payers who actually believe life begins at conception and that embryos should not be "farmed" and "harvested." Further, the results from embryonic stem cells have been less than promising. And there are so many other promising avenues. Look at the progress being made with RNA receptors and nono-bot technology - all in the private sector. I sat in on a talk by Ray Kurzweil a couple of weeks ago in Denver...this guy is the modern Edison. He invented the technology behind digital scanning and photography and is working on devices for the blind. He shed light on the whole emerging bio-engineering field that will leave stem cell research in the dust.
But what business is it of the Federal Government to be involved with either of these two medical advances? Where is that in the Constitution? Is that what we just approved of this past week?
OK, maybe what we wanted to make sure was that coastal owners, threatened by future hurricanes who are irritated at the cost of increase in insurance, receive Federal "backstop" insurance. That will make their premiums more affordable...again, why is this a Federal program?
The good news in all this is that the mask will come off sooner rather than later. Maybe a two year dose of liberalism is what this country needs to shake the dust off of our sandals. They won't be able to help themselves...even as I write this, a news flash comes over the e-mail firewall declaring that "Pelosi supports Murtha" for House Majority Leader. This is going to be a fun two years!A couple of closing thoughts...
1. Where are the lawyers???? Most of these elections were by razor thin margins. Where are the lawyers to contest the results and demand the recounts? Republicans in their magnaminity conceded elections with grace and without demanding recounts. Al Gore, where are you?
2. God bless the turnout! Regardless of the outcome, the fact that such a huge number of people were willing to turn out was remarkable. Our system is working very well.
For me, I am energized by this. I am disappointed, but not overly so...Republicans had lost their bearings. It's time for them to take a hike in the woods and reflect upon what got them there in the first place. I hope to continue to be part of that and to engage more frequently, the lunacy of the left.