Pelosi to be new Speaker of the House!

In what was apparently a unanimous vote behind closed doors, Democrats elected the current Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi (D. CA) to be the new Speaker of the House when the Democrats formally take control of the US House of Representatives in January. However that apparently was where the unanimity ceased. For much of Thursday the rancor continued as Dem's remained divided over whom to elect as the new Majority Leader. Would it be John Murtha, whom Nancy Pelosi was personally supporting and engaging in a lot of "arm twisiting" to get elected, or would it be Steny Hoyer, the moderate from Maryland who has had a contentious relationship with Pelosi in the past and has opposed her on more than one occasion. As it turned out, Steny Hoyer got the nod by a vote margin of 149-86 and this despite Pelosi all but threatening the incoming freshmen Democrats with the committee assignments that they were requesting, which she as Speaker exclusively controls (Quote from Time.com article "Dems tell Pelosi she needs to follow, not just lead": Congressman Steny Hoyer, the man what had waited in line for the job, gave Pelosi's candidate John Murtha a thumpin', as the President might have put it. That there was even a fight at all, however, is because of Pelosi. Against all precedent and good sense, she stepped into the election with not only an endorsement of her longtime ally, but a shocking strong-arm campaign to win the job for him. She all but told incoming freshmen: "That's a nice little committee assignment you're asking for. It would be a shame if anything happened to it."). Murtha is the hawkish Pennsylvania Democrat who supported the Iraq Invasion in 2003 and then in 2005 did a complete 180 and called for the swift "redeployment" (call it retreat) of our troops and him a former Marine. He is also, unfortunately for him, still tied to the Abscam Sting of 1980 in which he was the only Congressman not charged for taking a bribe (which he turned down by the way) from undercover FBI agents posing as agents for a Saudi Sheik seeking investment opportunities and to live in the US. He was offered $50,000 and was recorded as saying: "I am not interested ... at this time". A Grand Jury declined to indict him and a House Ethics panel took no action against him. He is also one of the few Democrats that is Pro Life and Pro Gun (much to his credit). In the end, this probably worked against him as many of the more liberal elements of the Democrats in the House and the incoming Freshmen Class of newly elected Democrats found this aspect of him uncomfortable and supported Hoyer.

Now I am kind of torn. I blasted Murtha in my previous post because on the one hand he denounced Pelosi's and the Democrats Ethic's Reform proposal as "total crap" and yet said that he would support it any way because that is what Pelosi wanted, making him look like a suck-up, and an "ass kisser" just to get elected as Majority Leader. On the other hand while he is far to the left of me on a lot of issues, at least he is generally pro-military (as a veteran myself I appreciate that), and he is solidly pro-life and apparently opposed to gun control - issues that are near and dear to my heart. However, he is still a "Master Politician" who apparently will play loose and free when it comes to ethics (even though he was never indicted or sanctioned by the House for Abscam), he apparently will support whoever will be the most supportive of him even if he does not agree with them, even when it may not be the right thing to do (his support of the Ethics Reform proposal despite his denunciation of it) and he will without hesitation sling mud and hurl invectives at his opponents just to get the votes he needs to win (his accusation against Hoyer as being in lockstep with Bush since the beginning on Iraq). The problem is that most of the politicians we elected and re-elected in the Midterm on all levels of government (local, State and Federal) are just like John Murtha, Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi. If you ask them why, they will most likely respond "Well, that's the nature of the game". I don't think of it as a game. In the next election lets elect some people that really care about the United States, its people, and their individual constituents. Throw da bums out!

It has already started!

In my previous post I alluded to how good it was that the midterm elections were over at least for the next 14 to 18 months until the next campaign cycle commenced. Guess I was wrong for it looks like it has already started with the next campaign cycle. Four Republicans (so far) have already announced or are expected to announce their intentions to form "Exploratory Committee's". This is the first legal step before officially announcing that they are throwing their "hats into the ring" to seek the nomination for President of the United States. These four Republicans are Senator John McCain of Arizona, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R. CA), and former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson. Who else will jump into the mix only time will tell. On the Democrat side I am not sure if there have been any formal announcements yet, but I would wager that it is a safe bet that Hillary Clinton will be one of the Democratic nominee's for 2008.

Meanwhile Nancy Pelosi is wasting no time in preparing for her hostile takeover of the United States House of Representatives. She has thrown her support solidly behind John Murtha (D. PA) for the position of House Majority Leader. This is the same former Marine who voted for the Iraq invasion and then did a complete 180 degree turn and called for the swift withdrawl of all our troops from Iraq before the job is even finished. His bitter rival for the position is current House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland. A CNN article posted 11/14/2006 says;

"Murtha said Tuesday, "The Pelosi-Murtha position on the war is the reason the Democrats are in the majority today. Congressman Hoyer's position has been to stay the course with President Bush from the very beginning and, like Sen. John McCain, he advocates sending in more troops."Asked about Murtha's remarks, Hoyer said, "That's not accurate.""

Breakout your slicker's and your umbrella's! Here comes the mudslinging again and this time it is Democrat vs Democrat. According to CNN the number one issue for Democrats in the exit polls were ethics and the aura of corruption that appears to permeate Washington and Congress. Speaker Presumptive Nancy Pelosi has therefore made Ethics Reform one of her "so called" top priorities. Now there is a Washington Watchdog group that is calling into question the Democrats sincerity since they allege that John Murtha steered Pentagon contracts to businesses that hired his brother as a lobbyist. John Murtha even called the Democrats proposed ethics reform legislation "total crap", but he said that he would support it anyway because the presumptive Speaker, Nancy Pelosi was behind it. In a quote from CNN:

"One member told CNN that Murtha, referring to the lobbying reform bill Pelosi has advocated, said "even though it's total crap I'll vote for it and pass it because that's what Nancy wants.""

My God, Murtha! Why don't you just get down on your knees and kiss her ass! Why does he think its "total crap"?!?! I have not seen the proposed legislation so I can't comment on it. If he believes something is not worth the paper it is written on why can't he stand up for his beliefs?!? Is he so afraid that Pelosi will revoke her support of him for House Majority Leader and hand the election to Hoyer that he does not have any cajones to speak out against something that is wrong, if indeed it is wrong? This is who the Democrats want as their next Majority Leader, 2nd only to the Speaker of the House? This is precisely what I was talking about in my first post. We need Statesmen, not "Bootlickers" to represent us in Congress. We need fresh blood to revitalize a staid and corrupt legislature back to the grandeur it once had. We need people who will articulate their positions on the issues, not sling mud and hurl invectives back and forth at their opponents just to make themselves look good. We need elected officials who will stand up for what they truly believe in, not go whichever way the political wind blows. When the next election comes around lets take back what belongs to us - We The People. THROW ALL THE BUMS OUT!

The Midterm Election: "As Expected" or "What A Surprise?"

The election cycle is now over (halleluiah). Well at least for the next 14 to 18 months before it all begins again with the next Presidential Elections at which point we will once more be inundated with negative campaign advertisements, more shallow and hollow promises and lest I forget, more political scandal. The Democrats finally succeeded in doing something that they have been waiting twelve long years to accomplish - retake control of both houses of Congress. Something they have not had since 1994 and the "Republican Revolution" and the "Contract with America". Is it just me or does anyone else feel that nothing will really change. Oh sure we will have a new Speaker of the House. It will be a historic day at that. The first time that we will have had a female Speaker - Nancy Pelosi no less. Possibly the most liberal member of the House even though she tries to portray herself as a moderate. Make no mistake about it. Even though some or many of the new faces to be elected came off as moderates or even ran as conservatives, the Democrats will try to roll back many of Bush's tax cuts and impose new restrictions on gun ownership. But the Republicans are still a force to be reckoned with as they are a large minority in both houses and hold enough votes to block any attempt to overide a Presidential veto. There will still be many dubious and shady deals cut in back rooms of Capital Hill and the House and Senate Office buildings. Pork Barrel spending will remain if not increase under the Democrats. Why? Because there are too many members of Congress concerned only with the Special Interests and how much they can contribute to their campaigns war chests, and also because too many American voters don't care enough to go to the polls to exercise their constitional right to vote for the candidates that will do the most good. It is long past time to get some new blood in these stolid old seats of Congress. Let's throw all the bums out and start over with a clean slate. Then maybe, just maybe, we can get something meaningfull done. Wishfull thinking? Perhaps, but at least it is a place to start.