The Republicans Worked Hard For This Defeat

Neal Bortz on yesterdays election:

The voters gave the Republicans a well-earned kick in the gut yesterday.  They have taken control of the House of Representatives by an overwhelming margin.  They needed 15 seats to get control.  They have won at least 28.  As of this morning the Senate is still in play.  At best the Republicans will have a one-seat margin in the Senate. 

One thing is certain.  The Republicans worked very hard for this defeat.  They've earned every lost seat.  The Republican majority that was sent packing yesterday bore little resemblance to the Republican majority that rode to power 12 years ago.  In 1994 we were promised less government.  Over the next 12 years the Republicans more than doubled the size of the government.  We were promised control over runaway spending.  In the last six years discretionary spending has doubled.  We were promised fiscal responsibility.  We got a bridge to nowhere in Alaska.  We were promised the elimination of the Department of Education.  After all, educational achievement had been on a steady decline since education was federalized under this Department.  In no time at all the Republicans doubled funding for the Department of Education.  In the meanwhile America continues to slip on the international scorecard of educational achievement.

If the Republicans had maintained their power we would have faced two more years of business as usual.  Two more years of spending and government growth.  Now we have two years of Republicans figuring out how they can convince the American people that they deserve to lead again.