Posts Tagged ‘election 2010’

Year in Review: 2010

December 10, 2010

Your membership in — and activism with — Gun Owners of America has made a world of difference over the past several months.

The past couple of years were supposed to be the worst on record, as far as gun rights are concerned.  With the election of Barack Hussein Obama, Americans went rushing to gun stores and generated a buying spree that created shortages of firearms and ammunition around the country.

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid were in charge of the legislative branch, and with the election of Obama, everyone was bracing themselves for the worst.

But even with the deck stacked against us, Gun Owners of America began working with friendly congressmen to get good legislation passed… and to defeat most of the anti-gun bills that were thrown our way.

What follows here is a record of what ALL OF US were able to accomplish by working together.  As you read about the amazing success that gun rights activists achieved, please also consider joining Gun Owners of America if you have not yet renewed your membership for next year.

For your convenience, you can go to http://www.gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm to update your membership.

We thank you for your support, which makes this e-mail and web service possible.

And now for this year’s highlights. The following paragraphs review some of the major achievements that we accomplished together in 2010.

January

* The year begins with GOA taking the offensive in the battle against the anti-gun ObamaCare legislation.  While both houses of Congress have passed different versions of the bill, the fight against this legislation is far from over.  A conference committee will most likely have to iron out differences between the two bills and then send the finalized version to each chamber for another vote.

* Gun Owners of America gets involved in the Scott Brown race in Massachusetts.  Even though a month earlier, Brown was about 30 points down in his run for the U.S. Senate, GOA is hoping that a win in the Bay State will kill ObamaCare for the year.

After all, replacing the late Sen. Ted Kennedy with someone who opposes ObamaCare will give Republicans the exact number of votes to filibuster the health care bill.  Amazingly, Brown pulls off a dramatic come-from-behind win, and political pundits are declaring ObamaCare is now on life-support — if not dead for the year.

* In a case where GOA has submitted an amicus brief, the U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of free speech rights in the Citizens United case.  The Court ruled unconstitutional huge portions of the McCain-Feingold law, which means that GOA will have greater freedom to hold legislators accountable for their anti-gun voting records.

* GOA begins rallying the grassroots in several different states to pass Firearms Freedom Act legislation.  These laws stipulate that a firearm which is made in a state — and stays in the state — is immune from federal gun laws that rely on the Interstate Commerce Clause for their justification.

February – March

* GOA continues its campaign to enact good Firearms Freedom Acts (FFAs).  Of special note, GOA works with the sponsor of the Wyoming bill to put “teeth” in his bill, thus making it the toughest FFA in the nation.  The Wyoming act criminalizes any federal official who attempts to impose a federal gun ban in contravention to The Cowboy State’s law.

* The National Parks gun ban finally expires!  GOA worked with Senator John Ensign (R-NV) to get a repeal added as an amendment to a must-pass bill in 2009.  This effort succeeded, and the repeal of the Reagan-era gun ban takes effect on February 22.

* The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in a very important gun-related case known as McDonald v. Chicago.  As Gun Owners of America submits a hard-hitting amicus brief in this case, USA Today asks Gun Owners to submit the Opposing View editorial taking aim at Chicago’s gun ban.

* House Speaker Nancy Pelosi cajoles enough “Blue Dog” Democrats to walk the political plank and vote for ObamaCare.  Because the House voted for an identical version of the legislation that passed in the Senate last year, Congressional leaders can send the anti-gun bill straight to the President’s desk, thus avoiding a Senate filibuster (now that Scott Brown is in the Senate).

GOA was able to gain modest protections for gun owners in ObamaCare.  Nevertheless, GOA is committed to repealing this law at the federal level.

* In Virginia, GOA works to successfully pass anti-ObamaCare legislation in the state that will prevent citizens in the Old Dominion from being forced to comply with the insidious federal mandates in the new anti-gun health care law.  Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) signs the legislation.

April – May

* One of GOA’s top priorities is getting permitless carry passed in states around the country.  To this end, GOA helps lobby for new legislation in Arizona (allowing concealed carry on one’s person) and in Virginia (allowing concealed carry in one’s car or boat) — without having to jump through government hoops.  Both bills are signed by the respective governors of each state.

* GOA begins a fierce lobbying campaign against Elena Kagan as the next Justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.  Of special note, GOA targets Senator Jon Kyl in his home state of Arizona.  Kyl, the Senate Minority Whip, goes on record saying that Republicans will probably not filibuster Kagan’s nomination.

* By the end of the state legislative season, several states have passed Firearms Freedom Act laws, including Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.

June – July (Part One)

* The Supreme Court hands down the McDonald decision, stating that Fourteenth Amendment applies the right to keep and bear arms (in the Second Amendment) to all 50 states.  GOA uses this opportunity to discuss the impact of the McDonald decision in dozens upon dozens of media outlets.

* Gun Owners of America is the only national gun group on Capitol Hill lobbying to defeat the DISCLOSE Act, which would hinder our ability to expose congressmen’s records around election time.  As the first battle is fought in the House, DISCLOSE narrowly passes by a mere seven votes.

* Erick Erickson of RedState.com thanks GOA for taking a strong stand against DISCLOSE, stating:  “I support Gun Owners of America, which is a consistent and uncompromising defender of the Second Amendment, not a weak little girl of an organization protecting itself while throwing everyone else under the bus.”

June – July (Part Two)

* The fight against DISCLOSE moves to the Senate, where GOA marshals the grassroots to inundate Senate offices with opposition to the bill.  Thankfully, there are enough votes to filibuster the anti-free speech legislation, as it dies on a party line vote.  (Scott Brown’s earlier victory is now paying tremendous dividends.)

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) congratulates GOA for its hard work against the bill, saying that, “Gun Owners of America has been one of the key players in opposing the DISCLOSE Act.”

* GOA attorney Bill Olson testifies before Congress against Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, telling Senators that, “If [Kagan] were to go on the Court, with what we know about her now, she could be the most anti-gun justice on that Court.”

August

* The U.S. Senate debates the nomination of Elena Kagan.  Senator John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, uses GOA testimony to underscore the problems with Kagan:  “After reviewing Ms. Kagan’s record and testimony at her confirmation hearing, the Gun Owners of America concluded that, ‘The available evidence portrays her as a forceful advocate of restrictive gun laws and driven by political considerations rather than rule of law.'”

* The Senate votes 63-37 to confirm Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court.  While this was very disappointing, it is important to note that we got more votes against Kagan than we have ever gotten against a Supreme Court Justice that we’ve opposed — more than we garnered against Justices Sotomayor or Ginsburg.  (On Justice Gingsburg’s nomination, there were only three negative votes.)

Bottom line:  we gained tremendous ground in our fight against Kagan.  There were Senators who voted against Kagan in August who had never before voted against a Supreme Court Justice.  And by the way, Senator Kyl was one of the Senators who supported the filibuster against her (see “April – May”).

September – November

* GOA’s Political Victory Fund has been busy all year long, working to get good candidates elected.  Some of the more notable highlights include knocking off long-time compromisers such as Sen. Bob Bennett in Utah, while helping many good candidates get their party’s nomination — like Kentucky’s Rand Paul in May and Florida’s Marco Rubio in August.

* In October, GOA publishes its biannual Congressional Voter Guide.  For 20 years, GOA has been the only gun group publishing an open-source national rating for gun owners to use.  Our rating has been so devastating in smoking out the anti-gun bias of phony politicians that the Brady Campaign even took us before an administrative court three years ago to try and silence us.  They lost.

* On November 2, scores of candidates backed by Gun Owners of America won tremendous victories.  In many cases, GOA was the ONLY national pro-gun organization to actively oppose Nancy Pelosi’s “Blue Dogs” Democrats.  Our aggressive opposition to these Representatives — who are mistakenly considered to be somewhat conservative — was well worth the effort as Pelosi was reduced to minority status.

December

* GOA, having spearheaded the victorious lobbying campaign against the Amtrak gun ban, celebrates its demise this month.  The repeal language was authored by Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi.  The Wicker language takes effect December 15, 2010, and enforces a policy similar to airlines, so that firearms can be transported in checked bags on the trains so long as they are declared and carried in a prescribed manner.

Stand with Gun Owners of America!

As you can see, your activism helped us to accomplish many great things this year.  And this should encourage you and anyone you know who is concerned about Second Amendment rights.

. We are going to be fighting a lot of battles in the next Congress, and it’s good for gun owners all across the country to go into these skirmishes with a reminder that we can accomplish much together (and that we have done so in the past).

As you know, we were able to get two gun bans repealed this past year — the National Parks ban and the one on Amtrak trains.  Now we are going to be lobbying to shut down the BATFE (or to put a straitjacket on them, at a minimum); to liberalize concealed carry (so good people aren’t registered like sex offenders before exercising their rights); to block UN gun control; to pass Firearms Freedom Acts (which allow states to imprison any federal official who tries to enforce unconstitutional gun control laws); and much, much more.

Thanks for standing with us. You can go to http://www.gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm to make sure that your support remains current.

 

California: Stuck on stupid!

November 24, 2010

Thank God that I got out of there in 1978. It was bad enough back then…

“In the future, historians may likely mark the 2010 midterm elections as the end of the California era and the beginning of the Texas one. In one stunning stroke, amid a national conservative tide, California voters essentially ratified a political and regulatory regime that has left much of the state unemployed and many others looking for the exits. … This state of crisis is likely to become the norm for the Golden State. In contrast to other hard-hit states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Nevada, which all opted for pro-business, fiscally responsible candidates, California voters decisively handed virtually total power to a motley coalition of Democratic-machine politicians, public employee unions, green activists and rent-seeking special interests. In the new year, the once and again Gov. Jerry Brown, who has some conservative fiscal instincts, will be hard-pressed to convince Democratic legislators who get much of their funding from public-sector unions to trim spending. Perhaps more troubling, Brown’s own extremism on climate change policy — backed by rent-seeking Silicon Valley investors with big bets on renewable fuels — virtually assures a further tightening of a regulatory regime that will slow an economic recovery in every industry from manufacturing and agriculture to home-building.” –columnist Joel Kotkin

And then these words of wisdom;

“In 1920, when the top tax rate was 73 percent, for people making over $100,000 a year, the federal government collected just over $700 million in income taxes — and 30 percent of that was paid by people making over $100,000. After a series of tax cuts brought the top rate down to 24 percent, the federal government collected more than a billion dollars in income tax revenue — and people making over $100,000 a year now paid 65 percent of the taxes. How could that be? The answer is simple: People behave differently when tax rates are high as compared to when they are low. With low tax rates, they take their money out of tax shelters and put it to work in the economy, benefitting themselves, the economy and government, which collects more money in taxes because incomes rise. High tax rates, which very few people are actually paying, because of tax shelters, do not bring in as much revenue as lower tax rates that people are paying. It was much the same story after tax cuts during the Kennedy administration, the Reagan administration and the Bush Administration. The New York Times reported in 2006: ‘An unexpectedly steep rise in tax revenues from corporations and the wealthy is driving down the projected budget deficit this year.’ Expectations are in the eyes of the beholder — and in the rhetoric of the demagogues. If class warfare is more important to some politicians than collecting more revenue when there is a deficit, then let the voters know that. And spare us so-called ‘deficit reduction commissions.'” –columnist Thomas Sowell

SOURCE

‘death panels and sales taxes’ : Whose money is it?

November 18, 2010

More leftest idiocy…

A new level of budget cutting: “I said something deliberately provocative on This Week, so I think I’d better clarify what I meant (which I did on the show, but it can’t hurt to say it again.) So, what I said is that the eventual resolution of the deficit problem both will and should rely on ‘death panels and sales taxes’. What I meant is that (a) health care costs will have to be controlled, which will surely require having Medicare and Medicaid decide what they’re willing to pay for — not really death panels, of course, but consideration of medical effectiveness and, at some point, how much we’re willing to spend for extreme care.” –New York Times columnist Paul Krugman

Whose money is it? “You know while you’re making these proposals, the Congress is about to come back and talk about whether to extend the tax cuts first passed under President Bush. By extending them, that’s going to cost about $4 trillion, about the amount that you save. Couldn’t some of this be avoided by keeping the tax rates where they are? I mean, by letting them go back to where they were in 1998 when you were White House chief of staff?” –ABC’s George Stephanopoulos to former Clinton chief of staff Erskine Bowles

Denial: “You wrote a book last year, I believe, that predicted 40 more years of Democratic dominance in Washington. Given what happened not long ago in those elections, do you stand by that prediction?” –ABC’s Dan Harris to former Clintonista James Carville, who responded in the affirmative

Historic defeat: “Nancy Pelosi did two things for which she will go down in history. She was an incredibly effective majority leader when, and speaker, there was an opposition president. She helped make the majority. And when she was in the majority, she was the hammer that got through President Obama’s agenda and sent it to the Senate. However, that is a completely different role than what she wants to do now. For which, I think she’s kind of like Winston Churchill. I mean, she accomplished historic things for the Democrats, and they should be sending her off in a blaze of glory and adjusting for this new regime.” –Fox News Sunday and NPR’s Mara Liasson (Her greatest accomplishment was that she turned the majority into the minority.)

SOURCE

World’s Smallest Violin: democrats in denial

November 18, 2010

Right out of the stupid is as stupid does model we have…

Election rewrite: “Campaigning is different than governing. [Republicans] are flush with victory after a campaign of just saying ‘No.’ But I’m sure the American people did not vote for more gridlock.” –Barack Obama

“We didn’t lose the election because of me. Our members do not accept that. So, I’m not looking back on this. They asked me to run, I’m running. We don’t let the Republicans choose our leaders, and again, our members understand, they made me a target because I’m effective, politically and policy-wise.” –soon-to-be-former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

“The election was no ringing endorsement of Republicans. We do not accept their version of what this election means. It’s not about rejecting what President Obama has done. It didn’t go fast enough to create jobs. That’s what it’s about.” –Nancy Pelosi

Stimulus rewrite: “[T]he stimulus prevented bad things from happening. There are about 10 million people probably who are working now who would not have been had we not passed those laws but they don’t know who they are.” –Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

“From everything I can see, this decision was not one designed to have an impact on the currency, on the dollar.” –Barack Obama on the Fed’s decision to devalue the dollar

“We’re trying to make sure we’re building bridges and expanding our interactions with Muslim countries so they’re not solely focused on security issues.” –Barack Obama

World’s Smallest Violin: “I am being denied the right to have a lawyer right now because I don’t have the opportunity to have a legal defense fund set up. And because I don’t have a million dollars to pay my counsel. … All I am asking for is fairness. … Can you tell me under what theory of fairness would dictate that I be denied due process, that I be denied an attorney, because it’s going to be the end of the session? … My reputation, 50 years of public service, has to suffer because you have concluded that this matter has to end before this Congress ends.” –Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), who was found guilty on 11 of 13 counts of ethics violations

SOURCE

The haughty, elitist arrogance…

November 12, 2010

“No matter how many ways they try to analyze last week’s election, the American left will forever reject the most obvious explanation of all: for the first time since Jimmy Carter, Americans got a long, hard look at progressivism. Not the progressivism cloaked in the mainstream media- and Democrat-concocted facade of high-minded reasonableness. The haughty, elitist arrogance of those who truly believe they are the only lights shining across a darkened landscape populated by misguided misfits — misguided misfits who thoroughly rejected their enlightened benevolence.” –columnist Arnold Ahlert

“Here’s Barack Obama’s problem when it comes to dealing with newly elected Republican members of Congress. They are convinced they won because voters rejected Obama’s agenda of national health care, spending and bailouts. But Obama cannot admit that his agenda — his legacy — is fundamentally flawed and that voters repudiated it. The result will be irreconcilable conflict.” –columnist Byron York

“Unlike the Democrats today, [John F.] Kennedy never pretended he was poor or even middle class; he let us know he was upper crust. And if you doubted it for a second, he’d put Jackie on display with her very expensive designer fashions. Today, kazillionaire politicians like Boxer, Feinstein, Bloomberg, Kerry, Clinton, and even a schmuck named Rockefeller, want us to believe they’re just a bunch of regular folks who carry their lunch in a paper bag and shop at Walmart.” –columnist Burt Prelutsky

“Whenever the party that controls the White House does not also control Capitol Hill, political pundits worry that there will be ‘gridlock’ in Washington, so that the government cannot solve the nation’s problems. Almost never is that fear based on what actually happens when there is divided government, compared to what happens when one party has a monopoly of both legislative and executive branches. The last time the federal government had a budget surplus, instead of its usual deficits, there was divided government. … By the same token, some of the worst laws ever passed were passed when one party had overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress, as well as being led by their own President of the United States.” –columnist Thomas Sowell

“As to whether the president ‘gets it’ about the midterms, it doesn’t matter. As Bill Kristol has observed, Obama is not in the same position as President Clinton was in 1994. Hillarycare was defeated. President Clinton was thus free to let voters know that he had gotten the message and would never try anything like that again. And he didn’t.” –columnist Mona Charen

SOURCE

When is the federal government going to assume responsibility for the deficit spending?

November 10, 2010

“Can we solve the problems confronting us? Well, the answer is an unequivocal and emphatic ‘yes.’ To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I have just taken with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world’s strongest economy. In the days ahead I will propose removing the roadblocks that have slowed our economy and reduced productivity. Steps will be taken aimed at restoring the balance between the various levels of government. Progress may be slow — measured in inches and feet, not miles — but we will progress. It is time to reawaken this industrial giant, to get government back within its means, and to lighten our punitive tax burden. And these will be our first priorities, and on these principles, there will be no compromise.” —Ronald Reagan

“While ‘hope’ and ‘change’ were the mantras of yesterday’s elitists, ‘freedom’ and ‘truth’ are the rallying cries of today’s ordinary Americans. John Adams wrote, ‘Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.’ That statement reminds us who we are called to be. That ‘faith’ is a verb — an ‘action word’. Our Constitution is the finest governing document of any country. And as voters, we need to work to make certain that our government protects our constitutional freedoms, whether they be economic, religious, or speech. We must demand that we remain free to associate with whom we choose, to travel where we wish, to work in the fields in which we feel called, and to teach our children in the manner we think is best. As citizens, we need to renew our commitment to live up to the moral and religious ideals that make it all work. Ordinary Americans need to continue to step forward and take charge.” –columnist Rebecca Hagelin

“We should never despair, our Situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth new Exertions and proportion our Efforts to the exigency of the times.” –George Washington

“The public is in the mood for repairing America’s crumbling financial house. Democrats will have a more difficult time demagoguing spending cuts when they have been primarily (though not entirely) responsible for the ocean of red ink. The Debt Commission will issue its report on Dec. 1. Many conservatives suspect it will include a call for tax increases. Republicans should say ‘no’ to any tax hikes and focus entirely on government overspending and misspending. Many of us are ready for strong medicine. ‘We can’t afford it’ still rings in the ears of those old enough to remember what parents or grandparents said when we asked for an expensive toy as a child, or a car at 16. That Puritan ethic remains in the DNA of many Americans. It is now up to Republicans to get it out and remind us of what fiscal and personal responsibility can do to restore financial solvency. It may take a while and there will be some discomfort and even pain involved. But in the end, we will all be better off than we are now and much better off than we will be if we fail to reduce our unsustainable debt.” –columnist Cal Thomas

“[W]here [does] all this talk of rich equaling $250,000 a year, a million a year … start? What right does Obama have to sit there and proclaim that people who earn X are gonna be punished with Y, people who earn less than X won’t be punished with Y? … Looked at within the prism of liberty and freedom, as our founding documents spell out, the Declaration, the Constitution, in nowhere in any of our founding documents was it ever said that people earning X would be punished for it. It was never said in our founding documents that people earning X would share a greater burden of funding the government than people who didn’t. … [A]ll this is nothing more than a direct attack on liberty, a direct attack on freedom and it creates class envy and resentment and anger between the classes, between people of different income groups. So all of a sudden we’re faced with a possibility here of the Bush tax cuts ending for people who earn $250,000 a year or more. Well, why are we even discussing it in the first place? What did those people do? What is the magic? Who sets arbitrarily this figure of $250,000 a year? Why are they targeted? And look how easily people fall into the trap of debating the premise, when the real question is when is the federal government going to assume responsibility for the deficit spending, for the irresponsible position they put this country in? When are they going to be forced to reduce the behavior, to limit the behavior they are engaging in that is causing a usurpation of our liberty and freedom?” –radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh

SOURCE

Right To Hunt And Fish Amendments Adopted In Three States

November 7, 2010

 

Voters in Tennessee, Arkansas, and South Carolina made a powerful statement on Tuesday by overwhelmingly voting to include National Rifle Association-backed constitutional amendments to protect America’s great, ages-old heritage of hunting and fishing as state constitutional rights.

“The voters have spoken and they have sent a very clear message to anti-hunting groups like the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and PETA: You and your extremist agendas are not welcome in my state,” said NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox. “NRA will continue to lead efforts to pass these amendments across the nation. We must be vigilant because even as we get more sportsmen’s groups to join us in the fight, extremists are pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into anti-hunting campaigns.”

Tennessee’s Amendment received 90 percent of the vote, followed by South Carolina with 89 percent and Arkansas with 82 percent. The voters in these states appreciate that sportsmen are today’s true conservationists, as their license fees and excise taxes paid on equipment fund the vast majority of wildlife and conservation efforts in the country. Both sportsmen and wildlife were undisputed winners on election night.

Right to Hunt and Fish constitutional amendments are a state-by-state priority for the NRA and will continue at a rapid pace, especially with more pro-Second Amendment and pro-hunting legislators being elected around the country. NRA’s model Right to Hunt and Fish constitutional language, developed over the past five years, has become the standard from which to negotiate with legislators and game and fish professionals. Thirteen states now have these important constitutional protections: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.

“Hunting is in America’s DNA. Indeed, it is as old as civilization itself,” concluded Cox. “NRA has long assumed a leadership role but we must all work together to ensure that every resident in every state is able to rest, knowing that their hunting heritage will be there for future generations.”

SOURCE

A great night for the Second Amendment: Or was it really?

November 5, 2010

The Second Amendment had a great night on Tuesday. Across the nation, the right to arms is stronger than ever, and the stage has been set for constructive reforms in 2011.

U.S. Senate: The net result of Tuesday was a gain of +6 votes on Second Amendment issues.

In not a single U.S. Senate seat did the gun control lobby gain ground. Three open seats switched from anti-gun to pro-gun: Ohio (Rob Portman replacing George Voinovich), West Virginia (Joe Manchin taking the seat of the late Robert Byrd), North Dakota (John Hoeven replacing Byron Dorgan). In Arkansas, John Boozman’s victory over Blanche Lincoln is a significant gain.

Full Story

It just so happens that I agree with Dave Kopel about 99% of the time. Now, having said that..? Just how many of these new kids on the block will take on Lautenberg and Schumer. Two men devoted to the destruction of the Constitution and Bill of Rights? How many will put forth legislation doing away with GCA 1968? Or the ex post facto law portion, if not the entire Lautenberg Domestic Violence Act? The abortion known as obamacare? With it’s hidden as well as blatant un Constitutional mandates..? I myself, am sick of hearing how this or that “D” is pro Second Amendment then all they do is pay lip service… Unless it’s election time, and that goes for RINO’s like McCain as well!

HERE is another good read that, especially if you read the comments. Shows to what extremes some people will go to for the sole purpose of “Lording it over” you and I.

Will the hoplophobia continue on. It is, after all, politically correct mental illness.

Zero tolerance at election time

November 4, 2010

“I think that the message is unmistakable that the Obama agenda is dead. … [N]ow it will depend on how Obama proceeds. He has now tried a two-year experiment in hyper-liberalism, and the country has said no.” –columnist Charles Krauthammer

“Democrats will spin Harry Reid’s victory and cling to it like the American people allegedly cling to their Bibles and guns, but I see a huge silver lining here for conservatives. … Yes, Reid would have made a great trophy on the GOP’s mantle. But cheer up: He’s even better as a leader of Senate Democrats — depending on your point of view.” –columnist Stephen Spruiell

“I so want to believe that the tea party marks the beginning of a comeback for small government. But I’m probably deluding myself. I know that big government usually wins. Remember the last time the Republicans took power? They promised fiscal responsibility, and for six of George W. Bush’s eight years, his party controlled Congress. What did we have to show for it? Federal spending increased by 54 percent. That’s more than any president in the last 50 years.” –columnist John Stossel

“[T]he GOP still faces significant challenges. Heck, an electoral bonanza notwithstanding, Republicans are still fairly unpopular. But if the first half of the Obama presidency proves anything, it is that straight-line predictions lead to political hubris. Events change and attitudes change with them, for every demographic.” –columnist Jonah Goldberg

“The Constitution cannot protect us and our freedoms as a self-governing people unless we protect the Constitution. That means zero tolerance at election time for people who circumvent the letter and the spirit of the Constitution. Freedom is too precious to give it up in exchange for brassy words from arrogant elites.” –economist Thomas Sowell

“America, its founding principles, its Constitution, its robust liberty tradition and its strength are being stolen out from under us by a man who has no appreciation for America’s greatness and who has contempt for ordinary Americans (we’re ‘enemies’), whom he considers beneath him and unworthy of their sovereign prerogative to preserve this nation. The people have had enough. Consequently, absent unimaginable, comprehensive voter fraud … we’re going to see an unprecedented housecleaning.” –columnist David Limbaugh

SOURCE

We’re Enemies…

November 4, 2010

“I think that the message is unmistakable that the Obama agenda is dead. … [N]ow it will depend on how Obama proceeds. He has now tried a two-year experiment in hyper-liberalism, and the country has said no.” –columnist Charles Krauthammer

“Democrats will spin Harry Reid’s victory and cling to it like the American people allegedly cling to their Bibles and guns, but I see a huge silver lining here for conservatives. … Yes, Reid would have made a great trophy on the GOP’s mantle. But cheer up: He’s even better as a leader of Senate Democrats — depending on your point of view.” –columnist Stephen Spruiell

“I so want to believe that the tea party marks the beginning of a comeback for small government. But I’m probably deluding myself. I know that big government usually wins. Remember the last time the Republicans took power? They promised fiscal responsibility, and for six of George W. Bush’s eight years, his party controlled Congress. What did we have to show for it? Federal spending increased by 54 percent. That’s more than any president in the last 50 years.” –columnist John Stossel

“[T]he GOP still faces significant challenges. Heck, an electoral bonanza notwithstanding, Republicans are still fairly unpopular. But if the first half of the Obama presidency proves anything, it is that straight-line predictions lead to political hubris. Events change and attitudes change with them, for every demographic.” –columnist Jonah Goldberg

“The Constitution cannot protect us and our freedoms as a self-governing people unless we protect the Constitution. That means zero tolerance at election time for people who circumvent the letter and the spirit of the Constitution. Freedom is too precious to give it up in exchange for brassy words from arrogant elites.” –economist Thomas Sowell

“America, its founding principles, its Constitution, its robust liberty tradition and its strength are being stolen out from under us by a man who has no appreciation for America’s greatness and who has contempt for ordinary Americans (we’re ‘enemies’), whom he considers beneath him and unworthy of their sovereign prerogative to preserve this nation. The people have had enough. Consequently, absent unimaginable, comprehensive voter fraud … we’re going to see an unprecedented housecleaning.” –columnist David Limbaugh

“Well, the big difference here and in ’94 was you’ve got me.” So said Barack Obama earlier this year on the campaign trail. He made a difference alright, just not the one Democrats were hoping to see.

As of this writing, Republicans are expected to pick up between 60 and 70 House seats. They needed 39 to gain control of the chamber and oust Nancy Pelosi from the speakership. In the Senate, the GOP picked up at least six seats, with three races too close to call. Democrats will hold onto the Senate, however, with at least 51 seats.

Republicans also picked up at least 10 governorships from Democrat control: Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Along with numerous state house pickups, Republicans are now in position to control redistricting after the 2010 census.

Here are a few highlights (and lowlights) from congressional races. Republicans picked up Barack Obama’s former Senate seat in Illinois, but lost Joe Biden’s in Delaware. Marco Rubio easily won Florida’s Senate seat over two challengers, while Republicans ousted Democrat incumbents in Wisconsin (Russ Feingold) and Arkansas (Blanche Lincoln).

Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the night was that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid beat Tea Party-backed challenger Sharron Angle. Then again, on the bright side, inept Harry Reid is still the Democrat leader.

On the House side, half of the Blue-Dog caucus of so-called “conservative” Democrats lost, dropping their numbers from 54 to 26. Of course, only 24 of those 54 voted against ObamaCare, which gives us an idea of just how “conservative” the caucus is. Numerous other Democrats went down in defeat, including longtime incumbents and even some committee chairmen.

We’ll have more as the week unfolds, but to be clear, yesterday was not an embrace of the Republican Party. Far from it. But it was certainly a repudiation of Barack Obama, who personalized the election around his cult of personality. He even told Latinos that they should be inspired to “punish” their “enemies” on Election Day. More important, it was a rebuke of Democrats’ hard push to the left with ObamaCare, cap and trade, financial regulation, looming tax increases for all Americans and massive deficit spending.

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