Watch as the Take Over Begins - Live Stream of Day One of 112th Congress

You can go here to watch a live stream of the as the new Congress begins its work.  They also have set up a page for you to give feedback on what you saw and heard. 

I think that this a great idea for homeschooling moms and dads.  A great way to discuss civics and how the system should work and then compare to it how it has been working in the recent past. 

I will be going to a live viewing party, as you have to have major connections to get into the chamber, but I will be at GOP sponsored event.  I will also be attending a few parties in the afternoon and evening.  I will fill you in later.

So take a few minutes and watch John Boehner become the next speaker of the house.  What an accomplishment; working as a janitor to pay for college to two heartbeats away from the presidency of the United States.  Only in America!!!

The View on the "Weeper of the House"

The ladies of The View are at it again.  John Boehner is an emotional guy.  I will admit that it does make me a little uncomfortable, but I also like the fact that a man is very emotional about the things he believes in.  Joyless Behar, as usual, goes too far.  She says that he had no empathy, which if you even watch the clip that they show he does have empathy.  He was talking about school children having the opportunities to reach the American Dream. 

I have never met the man, so I can't say what type of person he is.  But, what I can say is that he is someone who worked his way up.  He is a one of 11 children born to parents who didn't have a great deal of money.  He took any job he could find in order to afford college.  One of which was a night janitor, he is no stranger to hard work.  He grew up a democrat from a democrat family.  Once finishing college he started his own business and then saw from himself how government regulation and taxation sucks away the ability to hire and invest.  In just a few short weeks he is going to be two heartbeats away from the presidency.  If that is not something to be emotional about I don't know what is. 

I have heard liberals say this is no different than how Hillary Clinton was treated when she cried before the New Hampshire primary.  If memory serves it wasn't that she got emotional, what many questioned was the authenticity of the emotion that was questioned.  Was she crying because she thought that America would "go backwards" if she didn't win or was she crying because she was watching her own dreams being shattered?  I also seem to remember that she was behind in the polls before that press conference and then ended up winning the primary.  So, obviously people didn't hold it against her, many think that it help soften her image as the ice queen. 

Be the Party of Know

The Republicans have had the moniker of the Party of No for the past two years.  The left has also characterized them as standing in the way of passing legislation.  While that meme is completely false, for the first year in office Obama's policy agenda needed not one republican vote to move forward.  That changed slightly after the election of Scott Brown, but since the senate contains quite a few moderate republicans, it was relatively easy to pick off Brown, Snowe, Collins, or Graham had they really wanted to. 

Moving forward, in January, the republicans will now have that same luxury to pass anything through the house; not one democrat will need to be on board to pass something.  In the senate, the dems will have to get at least one more republican senator and the list above in order to move forward with any legislation.  Compromise will be necessary on both sides of aisle.  Many are saying that their should be no comprise whatsoever or that republicans should show the same type of compromise that dems showed over the past two years. 

Is this really what is best for the nation?  Our unemployment still hovers at just under 10%, much higher in some states.  Entitlement spending is out of control, we have people who have been collecting unemployment for years and there doesn't seem to be an end to the continuation of these benefits.  One could argue that this just increases unemployment, but what do you do about the person who is really looking and can't find anything?  The foreclosures show no signs of leveling out and the housing market is probably years away from a substantial recovery.  The country is in need of solid policies that will create the environment that the private sector is willing to start investing, this will then spur growth.   

The republicans had better have a clear understanding that the country is expecting results.  I am not advocating going back on principle, because I am not.  What I am advocating is passing common sense legislation with very thorough explanations of what that legislation will accomplish.  If President Obama or the democratic run senate choose to stop the legislation, that is their choice.  But they must put actions to the words over the past two years. 

Americans want solutions to the very real problems that our country is facing.  We are not interested in the infighting that goes on between the political class inside the beltway.  We want economic stability, we want to see the foreclosure to go away, we want to see the local strip malls full of life again; instead of the windows that are full of Lease Available signs.  We want the government to stop printing money out of nowhere, as we understand that inflation is not far behind. 

The election results from the past few years were very clear, we are tired of the status quo.  If we don't get the change that is necessary we will kick you out too.  Many are already stating that Obama cannot get re-elected in two years.  Wasn't that said about Dubbya six years ago?  Wasn't that said about Clinton in 94?  It is very difficult to beat a sitting president.  Re-election happens more often than not. 

If the true goal is rid the country of a second Obama term, we need to realize that a willingness to make the tough choices is what is in order.  President Reagan once said that comprise doesn't mean letting go of your core principles.  A lesson that Boehner needs to embrace. 

Mr. Speaker - John Boehner

While I like the talk I have heard from him since Obama has taken office, I still want to remind people that Boehner voted for much of the out of control spending that Bush did.  So, an eye needs to be kept on him now that they are in the majority again. 

John Boehner's Election Night Speech

I did not get to see this until now, where I was election night we didn't have the sound on the televisions, we were just looking at the visuals and getting announced updates.  I am very happy with the speech.  It hit the right note, but I am waiting to see the words put into actions. 

And So it Begins - Republican Leadership Making Plans to Hire Washington Insiders for New Congressional Members

Election day has not even happened yet and the RNC is already in full swing to keep the status quo.  The existing "leadership" and the RNC has already gone into it's resume bank to help the new members of congress hire their chiefs of staff.  While I understand that experience is important, this is really kicking the tea party in the teeth.


This effort is being led by none other than Congressmen John Boehner and Eric Cantor, the two top republicans in The House of Representatives.  Rumor has it that there is no real opposition to Boehner becoming The Speaker of the House and third in line to the presidency.  While I give a great deal of credit to both Cantor and Boehner for keeping the republican herd together over the past two years, I still question their commitment to a return to limited constitutional government. 

“You want to be sure that the newbies, when they hit town, do not necessarily bring their campaign staff to run their Congressional offices, because in some cases they are totally ill-equipped,” one veteran Republican lobbyist said. “Winning an election is one thing, running a Congressional operation is another. A lot of these folks are really, really new to politics.”


A Republican strategist agreed, saying Members who come from swing districts benefit from having a staffer who already “knows the ropes” on the Hill to keep them from making mistakes.


GOP leaders are also expected to take an active role in making sure incoming committee chairmen have acceptable staff directors leading the panels. With the potential for new leadership at the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Appropriations panel, the Steering Committee is expected to vet potential chairmen’s choices for the most senior staff level, according to several Republican lobbyists.


“Those are very important committees,” one former GOP leadership aide said. “They do the lion’s share of the work in the House. There’s no doubt leadership would have an interest in who would be the staff director.”

The Tea Party has spent the better part of the last two years protesting, writing letters, sending e-mails, and making phone calls to limit the power of the federal government.  We have stood firm on the subject of limited government.  Had the tea party not been as vocal as it has been we would have much more damaging legislation passed; card check, cap and tax, and heavens knows what else.  The republicans were unable to stop anything, the tea party stopped it. 


This is the same tactic that was used by the Democrats in 2006 and 2008, not a good sign of things to come.  It seems that The Republican Party wrongly believes that we wanted a change of leadership.  What we want is a change of the culture in Washington.  We want them to take their constitutional responsibilites seriously.  If they will not, we will just go through this process of cleaning them out again in two years. 

Schieffer - Obama Why Are You Not Working with Boehner?

Can the dems still continue the charade that the republicans are the party of no? 




H/T to NewsBusters

John Boehner on Cutting Spending & George Stephanopoulos on his Tan

I am not sure why George felt the need to talk about his tan, but I guess it shouldn't come as a huge shock.