IT ALL COMES DOWN TO GEORGIA
Those of us who want to frustrate Obama’s radical agenda are one election away from political impotence. Ted Stevens has just fallen 800 votes behind in the Alaska recount (hard to make up in a tiny state) and Coleman is clinging to just a 200 vote margin in Minnesota (tiny in a huge state) with the recount not yet even begun. So if we lose Alaska and Minnesota, Saxby Chambliss’ seat in Georgia is the 60th vote to stop a filibuster. It all comes down to Georgia.
DEMOCRATS CLOSE IN ON 60 VOTES
With the election a week old, Norm Coleman’s lead in Minnesota keeps dropping with each day. And now, for the first time, the official recount is underway. Is the left stealing votes? One get suspicious when every day brings new ballots that favor Franken over Coleman.
There is nothing we can do about Minnesota (or Alaska, where Stevens’ margin is under attack as well) but there is a great deal we can — and must — do to protect the 60th Republican seat in Georgia.
SARAH PALIN SAVED GOP FROM LANDSLIDE DEFEAT
Published on TheHill.com on November 11, 2006
As Richard Nixon wrote, “history is written by liberals,” but the story of the 2008 campaign is too important to cede to them the analysis of what happened. A close analysis of the returns indicates several key realities:
THE ELECTION IS NOT OVER
Obama is elected but the Senate has not been fully chosen. Hanging in the balance is, perhaps, the fate of the center-right free market system that has brought America decades of success and prosperity. The Democrats now have 57 Senators, having gained open seats in New Mexico, Colorado, and Virginia and having defeated Republican incumbents in New Hampshire (Sununu), North Carolina (Dole), and Oregon (Smith). But races in Minnesota and Alaska will be decided by recounts. Republicans are leading in both but, particularly in Minnesota, the margin is too thin for comfort. And, in Georgia, Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss was forced into a runoff against his Democratic opponent, Jim Martin.
OBAMA MUST FORSAKE CAP GAINS TAX HIKE TO STABILIZE MARKETS
Published November 10, 2008
Wall Street is engaged in a test of wills with President-elect Barack Obama. The market, which dropped one thousand points last week, is not going to recover until the next president forswears his plans to raise the capital gains tax. In our book Fleeced we predicted that the Dow would crash after an Obama election because of fears that he will raise taxes, particularly the tax on capital gains.
OBAMA’S ‘CHANGE’: BACK TO THE DEMOCRATIC WASHINGTON INSIDERS
What’s with Obama’s choice of old-time Clinton cronies and recycled Washington insiders to run the transition to his new politics of change?
Can’t the anti-Washington insiders President-elect find anyone who isn’t a Beltway has-been?
Judging by the appointments to his transition committee and leaks about possible top staff and Cabinet choices, Obama appears to be practicing the politics of status quo, not the politics of change.
AN ELECTION THAT THE REPUBLICANS NEEDED TO LOSE – GOOD LUCK OBAMA
Published on TheHill.com on October 5, 2008
If ever there was an election that was not worth winning, it was the contest of 2008. While it was hard-fought on both sides, had McCain won, it might have spelled the end of the Republican Party. As it is, the party is well-situated to come back in 2010 and in 2012, if it learns the lessons of this year.
Simply put, all hell is about to break loose in the markets and the economy. The mortgage crisis will likely be followed by defaults in credit card debt, student loans and car loans. We will probably be set for two years of zero growth, according to economists with whom I talk. And the federal efforts to protect the nation from the worst of the recession will probably lead to huge budget deficits and resulting inflation. We are in for stagflation that could last for years.
OBAMA: CONSERVATOR IN CHIEF
Publish in the New York Post on November 5, 2008
While the Democrats and Barack Obama won big yesterday, even coming close to a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, Obama will find their options substantially constrained by reality.
Their handicap is the financial condition of the nation they’ll inherit. Think of a trustee or conservator of a bankrupt company.
