Congress: Give Republicans What They Deserve
The NPR commentator says, “Why?” Why have Republicans suddenly decided to
abandon their support of Trump? Especially noting that those in ‘battleground
states’ who are running for Congress as Republicans are taking a very active
role in that abandonment.
Journalist 2 replies, saying, “That’s a real good question!”
Really? You think so?
And Paul Ryan? Showing up at a rally to say that, despite
the fact that he is not there to talk about Trump’s sexist comments, frankly he
is really disgusted personally – and he really wonders what the heck is not
right with a certain candidate for, you know, President.
Gee, I’m feeling a little clairvoyant then: I think I know
why. And Paul, I’m really disgusted with, well, your disingenuous disgust.
Because what is going on here is precision-driven. This party has had to – and has
been planning for a long while to - derail or split their support at the last
minute if Trump turned out to be the crazy candidate he always promised to be –
because, well, actual Republican Senators and real Republican House members,
are trying to be re-elected. Or elected.
So let’s GLOAT OVER the PEOPLE’S POWER to change the course
of Congress!
Who’s on the ballot? How
many Senators are affected? How many Representatives are involved? Standing Republicans
seeking re-election themselves or seeking to get another Republican elected to
their already-Republican state or district?
I have been saying (for years) that we must get rid of the
current Congress and get a new Congress, one that will actually do something. I
could say, instead, do something good.
So, just to be clear, these are the people who spent THE
LAST YEARS FAILING to coordinate politically with both the other side and our
President, Barack Obama, and did nothing (except for themselves, the NRA and
their own favorite pork projects) while holding high office.
These are the Republican Senators to VOTE AGAINST:
Kelly Ayotte (New Hampshire)
Roy Blunt (Missouri)John Boozman (Arkansas)
Richard Burr (North Carolina)
Dan Coat’s seat (Indiana) retiring in 2016
Mike Crapo (Idaho)
Chuck Grassley (Iowa)
John Hoeven (North Dakota)
Johnny Isakson (Georgia)
Ron Johnson (Wisconsin)
Mark Kirk (Illinois)
James Lankford (Oklahoma
)Mike Lee (Utah)
John McCain (Arizona)
Jerry Moran (Kansas)
Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)
Rand Paul (Kentucky)
Rob Portman (Ohio)
Marco Rubio (Florida)
Tim Scott (South Carolina)
Richard Shelby (Alabama)
John Thune (South Dakota)
Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania)
David Vitter’s seat (Louisiana) retiring in 2016
Again, in every one of these cases, vote for
the Democratic candidates. Let the elder statesmen retire now, and those younger incumbent Republicans pay big for their poorly delivered public service.
For those of you who are foreigners or did
not have Government in high school, there are two houses to Congress: the House
of Representatives and the Senate. In the House, the figures are even more dramatic:
Yes, it is hard to believe, but according to www.ballotpedia.org,
there are 19 Republicans who are actually retiring rather than run again.
Luckily, there are only 9 do-nothing Democrats retiring in this election.
Currently, 24 of the 435 House seats, of
those that are up for election this November, are expected to be competitive.
(Many go always to the party-in-power.) And the general feeling of those
reporting on such things is that there is doubt that the Democrats could become
a majority in the House.
The current make-up of the Congress is: 187
Democrats and 247 Republicans. This totals 434 and there are 435 seats (one is
empty pending a special election).
If ALL 24 seats classified as ‘truly
competitive’ were to go to the Democrats, the House would have 211 Democrats
and 223 Republicans. THAT WOULD BE AN
EXCELLENT RESULT! Vote for the Democrats and DO YOUR PART to balance the powers
of the two dominant parties in the House of Representatives.
In fact, in a long list of districts, the
House winner is expected to win by less than 5 percent! So be SURE to VOTE AGAINST any Republicans in
these Congressional races. If the Democrat is an incumbent, hard questions must
be answered to gain your vote. IF the Democrat is brand-new to the race, great –
go for it.
Representative races for 18 districts are
already called a “toss up.” Decide to
change that now – in a positive, Democratic direction. Then there are those
that are leaning Democratic, which already total more than those districts that
are leaning Republican. Hurray!
Should things get even closer, an additional
8 districts’ Representatives will be in danger. (www.ballotpedia.org)
As well, it’s going to be a very exciting
general election for Congress – an ‘open season’ in a way – since not many ‘incumbents’
were defeated in their own party primary races. So the boring old Congress
members are still carrying most of their ticket places on the ballots.
Back to the question that the national
journalist is asking: “Why?” are the Republicans playing a self-destructive
take-back, play-back dodge - and so near
the touchdown line? Because they want to do nothing to create a consistent
public policy while, at the same time, protect with evasive excuses their abuses
of their positions of public service. They want to NOT be sucked down with the
dross flowing from Trump’s campaign mouth, but also manage to evade losing
their privileges. The problem is that their privilege is, actually, to act - positively
and together - to take positions that HELP the health, safety and welfare of
the people in their states and districts. Along with guiding foreign policy in
positive and effective directions, this is the ONLY thing they are asked to do
while in Congress. And, for the most part, they have not been doing it.
So, welcome to the insanity! But be sure to
toss most of the Republicans’ back-pedaling bull into the garbage where it
belongs, by voting Democratic. And DO try to vote for someone with the public’s
good at heart when you make your choice for your Congressional Senators and
Representatives. You know what result I would like. I actually care about the
people of the United States of America. Make me happy.
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