They missed one.

The Dems retook control of the Oregon House of Representative as well as the Colorado House, the New Hampshire House, and both houses of the legislatures in Maine and Minnesota.

The "victory" being celebrated may be a hollow one. A divided country is not a good thing. Do we want to be like the middle east where disagreement turns violent?

I won't take a side; my registration will remain"independent."

The fact is: both parties lost. The Republicans saw that they did. The Democrats don't know it yet.

Personally, I'd rather see a whole new party.

Goodbye Whigs and Tories.

Now, if Scott Brown could've just gotten past questioning "someone's" background because that person did not fit the criteria. My boss is half Native Alaskan, but you would never know it by looking at her. As far as Elizabeth Warren and her ability at compromise I would say that time will tell, but she strikes me as someone who will try to find common ground. I've not followed her as much as I would have liked, and I don't live in MA, I assume that you do, so I can't really speak to it. It is going to be interesting, nonetheless, to see what the "new kids on the block" bring to the table.

Yup. He inherited a terrible mess for his 2nd term. Who's he gonna blame this one on?

The way I see it is the Democrats won in a landslide, and the direction of the country should and will be as the President leads. The Republicans have to face the truth. And that is they lost and are Not the leaders in the countries direction. With that said,the Republican controlled Congress has maybe a year to not just be bipartisan,they will have to thoroughly impress the American public. Do that and they will survive. Do it not and they become a regional minority party with very little impact on the direction of the country.

Republicans have to give the office of the president respect. The people demand it and so does the president. He has now been elected TWICE,with TWO LANDSLIDE VOTES. So wake up and go to work!!!

TLT, while there are ALWAYS concerns about governance, I would have more respect for your post if you hadn't started it right off with the lie "more than all other Presidents combined." It's clear you want to jump straight to speaking points that aren't factual instead of actually looking at the issues.

ToxicChemist

Too bad that moderates (from both parties) aren't more prevalent in congress. Scott Brown is a perfect example. He was a Republican who could find common ground with Democrats and vote for what was best for the country, not necessarily what his party wanted. Too bad the people of Massachusetts voted him out in exchange for Elizabeth Warren, who will never find compromise with the opposing party.

Who do you think you are kidding? Scott Brown rolled in with the Tea Party and never had any intention what so ever to compromise with the Democrats. If you believe I'm wrong...give me an example.

How about the OBSTRUCTIONIST REPUBLICAN CONGRESS. Or how about the simple historical fact that you do not recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression in four years. Especially when one party (the aforementioned Republicans) are doing EVERYTHING they can to prevent it.

Or how about the REALITY that for 30+ years we have been following CONSERVATIVE economic policies of lowering taxes on the wealthy, deregulaton, privatize everything you can, demonize unions and middle class workers and make sure corporations run everything. And for 30+ years, America has been rapidly deteriorating.

You Leftists don't get it do you It's Bush's fault, the other guy did it, we need more time doesn't work anymore wake up Barry Soetoro AKA Barack Hussein Obama owns it.

He doesn't have a plan other than to tax the rich, not enforce the law and promise the 47% free Obamaphones.

It's good Americans didn't fall for Romney. Upper-level Mormons are kind of spooky, with their fancy secret handshakes and their secret upper-level revealed prophecies and all. It makes the Scientologists look like mere amateurs. Who knows what secret Mormon universal-truth Mitt was betting America's future on? But, Mormon chics are kind of hot, I have to admit. Wholesome and delicious. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqNZekTvzBU&feature=related

that right, wing nuts, keep the name calling the division going... I see it did an awsome job for the GOP... This is a first;

• A black President RE-elected despite to all effort of 1-termers.
• A President being relected with the higest gas prices in US history
• A President being relected being involved with the greated recession
• A President being relected given a straight talk that he has the fullest intention of raising taxes

The best GOP team can't even win their home states and their birth states... It is still amazing that the wing nuts are still whinning about President Obama when they haven't even analyzed how they lost the race... HATERS... It is always someone elese's fault. Keep it up or at the very least, I hope you wing nuts keep it up.

It looks like the right wing lunatic fringe is still dining on sour grapes and chain email lies. They don't seem to like it, either.

Thinking long term: What about you get your facts right?

I think that there are a number of Progressives which are hiding behind the cloak of "liberal" just as there are ultra conservatives who think being moderate is far left. If there is going to be consensus about anything, it should start with a clear definition of what constitutes Progressive, what constitutes Liberal, what constitutes Moderate, what constitutes Conservative, and what constitutes ultra Conservative. If you're fiscally moderate you're either far to the left, or far to the right, according to whatever pundit happens to be harping at the time. I really don't think there are a lot of people who know what Progressives stand for, just like they don't know what is the base of ultra Conservatives. On their own, neither has a strong numbers base, so must cloak this lacking by calling themselves other than which they are... but that's what the news sucks up on for headlines.

Alaska girl, the problem is Warren used her supposed background to get advantage over others for no apparent reason. She was never discriminated against because of her supposed heritage, she used it to step over others.

Rooster boy, Have much angst you show to things like you. I always love a liberal who is so hippo critical

Lulu, I want you, so badly. Let me lick your tears away. And, then I will make you a nice breakfast, because I am a nice guy and stuff.

I posted this on a different thread, but it's fitting for this one too.

Dear GOP,

You didn't lose because Americans are stupid. You didn't lose because Americans are lazy. You didn't lose because of voter fraud. You didn't lose because of Sandy. You didn't lose because we're Socialists, Communists or Marxists.

This is why you lost...

"Self deportation"

"Binders full of women"

"I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman"

"They're are 47%, who are dependent on government, who believe they are victims"

No, you lost because the term "Americans" encompasses more than rich, straight, white men. So if you're ready to acknowledge that and move forward with the rest of us, well great. If not, than yes, you will have nothing but gridlock. But it will be gridlock of your own making.

Oh, and WOW, it seems a lot of you woke up with psychic abilities today. That must have been creepy. So I guess we'll all be forced to get gay married and drive hybrid cars, right?

OK Ol_Doc, Here you go....I'm not trying to kid anyone.

Maybe you should try to get you information from more than just "The Obama News Network."

Brown, a Republican who is locked in a tough reelection battle with Democrat Elizabeth Warren, is pointing to an analysis that found that, when the parties have split in the Senate, he has voted with Democrats 53 percent of the time since January 2011.

The analysis found that Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, crossed party lines most frequently and voted with Democrats 55 percent of the time. Brown, who voted with Democrats 53 percent of the time, was second on the list, followed by Olympia Snowe, a Maine Republican who sided with Democrats 47 percent of the time, and Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican who sided with Democrats 34 percent of the time. The analysis, based on data from Bloomberg Government, is one of several surveys that have attempted to quantify how frequently Brown and others cross the aisle.

Brown has often cited a Congressional Quarterly study that found that, in the year 2011, he was the second-most bipartisan senator.

That study found Brown voted with his party 54 percent of the time and with President Obama’s stated positions 70 percent of the time.(The Boston Globe 10/16/2012)

www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/10/15/campaign.../story.html

www1.whdh.com/news/articles/politics/BO136295/

Another reason the GOP is continuing to lose it's grasp on America is that since 1928 there hasn't been a Republican Administration that hasn't had a Nixon or a Bush in the White House as POTUS or VP.

THAT says something about a political party that repeatedly puts people from the same 2 families in office who invariably adhere to the same old rhetoric and failed policies!

And you watch they will again with Jeb Bush (with a Mexican born wife - Hispanic Vote?) in 2016!!!

The GOP is the party of old attitudes and older ideas.

I agree with Steve in the to address the labels currently thrown across party-lines, within parties, and by political pundits. Party moderates are endangered species and they are the members of congress most likely to build coalitions. At present, if you seems that if want to remain in the Republican Party you have to be a conservative. Norquist's pledge has brought a certain kind of McCarthyism, one that will not serve the general public.

Additionally, it seems that all democrats are liberals, a more destructive force to our country than Soviet-cold war era nuclear missiles. Not every democrat is liberal, progressives are not always liberal, and if someone is liberal, it doesn't a bad thing. Democrats label people too, politically. Yet as the results of the election show, they are more generally more accepting of diversity.

We need to remove the labels and name-calling. We can ask political pundits across party lines to stop name-calling and insulting by turning off the message. We can write to our politicians, telling them compromise is a form of leadership too. We need to expect civility and respect to lead to progress.

Thinking long term is not Thinking Long Term-3675506's speciality:

Thinking Long Term-3675506

What about $4 a gallon gas and Obama’s war on Coal and Oil?

The reality is this: Oil and Coal are not RENEWABLE energy sources. You get that don't you? There is a finite amount in the ground. Furthermore, as we're seeing the burning of these fuels are making this planet very unpredictable. What you should have done is backed Jimmy Carter's Energy plan that he proposed 35 years ago to get us off our oil dependency. To have you here, in 2012 demanding that the president provide you with cheap gas proves what a completely uninformed person you truly are.

What about GM being on the verge of Bankruptcy again after a bailout of 50 plus billion?

We can bail out those industries we determine are vital to our national best interests; however, it is not our government's job to RUN these corporations after we give them a "leg up". What exactly is your point here, other than some infantile desire on your part to point a finger at Obama?

What about the De-stabilization of the Middle East through an inept foreign policy? What about the loss of an Ambassador because of that inept policy?

We were occupying Iran after World War II. The western powers had significant oil assets in Iran, and we welcomed back the reigning monarchy into Iran (on the condition that they leave our oil companies alone). In the early 50's the Prime Minister (Mohammad Mosaddegh) of this constitutional monarchy, through a nearly unanimous decision by this country's parliament, decided to nationalize the oil fields and make them the property of the Iranian people. The US and Great Britain didn't like it. We initiated a coup d'etat, ousted the Prime Minister, installed our own Prime Minister, Fazlollah Zahedi, and converted the country into an Authoritarian Dictatorship run by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Shah of Iran viciously ruled his country until he was overthrown in 1979.

So... "Thinking Long Term" what long term thoughts have you given to our history in the Middle East? Just what inept foreign policy are you referring to? The one I detailed above during Eisenhower's administration? I guess we could become a little more current and discuss the debacle in Iraq where we invaded a country on the pretenses of hunting Al-Queda and WMD's, but found nothing of the kind. In the end, we invaded Iraq because the Republican NeoCons wanted a little "Pay Back".

Frankly, I find our current foreign policy in the Middle East to be swerving out of the woods it was lost in, and is almost back on the right track. Suggesting otherwise would once again demonstrate you're complete lack of any reliable knowledge on the subject.

What about claiming Executive privilege to cover for his AG Eric Holder in the Fast and Furious scandal?

Want to know what I have to say to this: Americans want their cake and to eat it too. We are a nation of over 270 privately owned guns and rifles. Our Defense industry eats a quarter of our annual Federal Budget ($711 Billion dollars a year), and we outspend the next 15 countries in arming ourselves. Our Defense budget is 41% of the entire planet's expenditures on arms. We like weapons.

Another thing we like is going to war on things. War on Terrorism, War on Poverty, and the War on Drugs. Being the worlds arms factory, it should come as no surprise that we attempted to merge our love of guns with our War on Drugs.

Do bad things happen when you combine poor fiscal practices (excessive spending on weapons) with poor policies (War on Drugs)? Absolutely. Will governments attempt to cover up their screw ups? I think they do, and I think they get away with it all the time. Every President is probably guilty of this: Just during the last Bush administration we have the Halliburton Corruption scandal, the Abu Ghraib Prison Torture scandal, the CIA pre-9/11 Intelligence Failure scandal, Dick Cheney's secretive Energy Task Force scandal (still being investigated), and the list goes on.

It happens. All the time. For all administrations. What's your point here other than to just have something to use when you want to point fingers.

What about usurping the Legislative System of this Country using "Executive Orders"?

All President's use Executive Orders.

What about selective enforcement of immigration laws pandering for votes?

Again, look to Bush Jr. Directly following 9/11. When this country was ABSOLUTELY under terrorist attack. Bush Jr. could have put the clamp down on both our northern and southern borders. No one would have said ANYTHING. We were under ATTACK!!! What better time to institute a broad and wide ranging solution to illegal immigration. The world may have squawked a little bit, if Bush then proceeded to round up every illegal immigrant living in our country and sent them home, but still... We were under attack and THIS was doable too.

Your whine here (oh, and believe me, this is an absolute, sour-grapes whine) has no meaning. You had a Republican President in office, during a time of war where American was attacked on our own soil, and he left the southern border wide open as if this was "nothing to worry about".

You guys blew it.

What about cutting 700 billion from Medicare basically crippling the system to support Obamacare?
What about a predicted 525 billion in new taxes on the middle class by 2019 if Obamacare isn’t amended?
What about the Welfare roles swelling to unprecedented numbers?

All your points above are very nice Fox News talking points. They have the same validity as Karl Roves insistence that Romney's Presidential Victory was going to be a landslide and all the polls were biased and unfactual.

What about 23 million people being under or unemployed?

I just looked up the white house on the web (www.whitehouse.gov). I'm sorry, but where are the job boards on this website? Where are the postings that Obama is suppose to be making? Oh, you mean he's not responsible for hiring people. He's responsible for making the policies that help businesses hire more people.

You've raised an interesting point. From 2000 to 2008 Bush and his boys ran the economy. They believed in the same horse manure you seem to believe in, and that's what brought us to our current Recession. Of course after Obama took office in 2009, the GOP leaped into action. Bipartisan support of the new President to get the country working again? Nope. GOP blocking of just about every democratic initiative and then blaming the President for the lack of progress. Block and Blame, Block and Blame.

Why after 4 years of Obama are there more people on food stamps than any time in our nation’s history?

Block and Blame, Block and Blame does not get a country back on its feet after a recession. Instead of sitting here a few days after the election whining over your spilled milk, why don't you do something positive and get YOUR elected officials moving on fixing this country.

Obama owns it.

Own what? Romney? Yeah... Obama owned Romney. Made him his bitch. Nice.

The Republican/Tea Party have lost me (and many others I know) as they are operating in a time warp; have no awareness of the modern-day demographics of America to start with - or current actual problems we face in today's world.

This country is more of a "melting pot" now than ever before, full of wonderful diverse races and cultures -- who've inter-married over the last couple of generations. Children and young adults now abound of various "undefined" mixed races and cultures. "Families" today consist of a lot of different dynamics than they did 10, 20, 50 years ago.

We no longer fit into the "black", "white", "hispanic", "asian" boxes -- and for quite some time now!

Travel and communications have sped up to the degree that divisions between the old "north" and "south" and "foreigners" have long ceased to exist.

Women's reproductive and other rights, the civil rights movement, religious freedom, discrimination in the work place etc. etc. were ALL matters legally resolved a long, long time ago.

Like it or not, our economy is a global economy today. (Greece or Spain can have a "bad day" and our stock market crashes. And many other examples.) So, this needs to be taken into account when addressing our tax code reform and economic problems.

Trade sanctions were freed up for Asia (China especially) a while back, yet the FDA and other govt agencies have no control whatsoever over the quality of their imported goods. Thus, we have to read labels like crazy on virtually everything we buy in an effort to ensure our family's health and safety. In fact many of our companies now bolster many of their economies with manufacturing of our goods overseas in poorer countries, without tax or other penalty from the US.

"War" is also no longer about countries and their form of govt, but we still hang around for years afterwards in order to turn some of these places into democracies, based on old-time Pentagon "policies". Afghanistan's dynamics are just no comparison to Europe after WWII. (Afghan nomads and tribes have been at war with each other for thousands of years in that vast, barren, unforgiving landscape; very barbaric lifestyles and forms of communication; impossible for any govt sitting in a remote little city to "govern".) We were only there to remove the terrorists who attacked us, which we've done. We need to get the ____out of there before more of our bored, frustrated soldiers who've been there way too long in a combat zone go on any more murderous rampages.

I've gone on and on as our country and today's world has changed, but this Party is meanwhile regressing!

Guess I'm hoping I might help someone else to see that this Party and it's "tea party" has gone way off balance to the extreme right of the right; now fallen off the deep end and into some other time/spacial abyss --

-- to some place long before the Boston Tea Party! Victorian or older English rule perhaps?

I get it now -- they aren't talking about the BOSTON Tea Party at all! They are really about a much older tea-drinking England: Back when men ruled and women stayed indoors, did housework and had babies (or died trying); everyone attended only the Angelican Church (or were slaughtered for other ideas); slaves of "other" races were a good thing to have around the place; the royalty lived high off the taxed income of the poor; the only education, medical attention and best foods and art were reserved for the royalty...

- Nothing to do with America at all! These poor people are on the wrong continent entirely; got their "tea party" mixed up badly in space and time.

Obama won and america lost! soon all you democratic fools and gloaters will see the truth when the money runs out for all the welfare checks and cell phones and abortions etc.etc. If you want an abortion or birth control etc then pay for it yourself,why expect it on my dime.Just a bunch of idiots and freeloaders who think they are entitled to everything for free! well there is a price to pay for all the obama worship and it will probably be coming sooner than any of yous think.

Robert,

There will sadly always be people in every society who are freeloaders and want live off others. This is hardly a "democratic" view either; you are mis-informed.

One day when you're too ill or old to hold down a job and your savings have all gone to medical care, with social security gone (maybe you made some "bad investments" if this is what it becomes) and medicare no longer exists but is instead vouchers for a handful of items you don't need, I hope you remember what you've said here.

Not everyone fits into a box.

The last four years was a tremendous waste as a functioning government. Political head games have prevented the much greater level of financial recovery we should be experiencing today. They are directly responsible for our lowered credit rating and looming fiscal cliff.. Enough is enough. Go to work or get the hell out of the way so a better man can take your place tomorrow morning.

Your great importance as a statesmen exists only in your own mind. There are college graduates fresh out of school more capable than you. They are sure to love their country more than you have exhibited in recent years. Your legacy is as the legacy of maggots on a spoiled piece of meat.

I've got news for all of you. This recent election demonstrates the will of the American people. They will not be denied any longer. You WILL get off your lazy obstructionist butts to do the people's work or face the consequences in 2014 and 2016. I believe that impeachment is a viable alternative before then if you persist in your destructive ways.

This would be the memo lying on the desk of many in Congress if they were gainfully employed instead of sucking on the government teat. I think this should be the message to Congress from the American people. They have obviously forgotten who is the boss. A reminder with real teeth is the only way to get them back to work or send their self-righteous and worthless butts home immediately.

Important: look at the viners and their handles... Isn't it interesting that when the GOP Campaign funding are blocked, those supposed different viners suddenly disappear from the board?

Yes, I am saying it, those are the same people posing as multiple individules being paid by Campaigns... Disgusting??? I would think Newsvine can think of methods to discourage such behaviors.

rip republican party?

Sorry look at the overall county breakdown and which way it went. There is a vast majority of counties in the US that are red over blue. Im not saying that we lost, cause we did, but we are far from gone.

The Tea Party needs to dump the old tea and brew a whole new pot. Get off this fiscal austerity stuff. Nobody wants it. Even the talking heads of Fox News were saying that they don't have a very tasty brew. If the Tea Party would emphasize an American nationalism and combine that with a little FDR, they may have something.

Why not try a new brew of moral conservationism and economic liberalism?

Pass the cream and sugar please!

Agreed Jeremy. Although the democrats won the presidency via the electoral college, the Republicans can take solice in the fact that the difference wasn't nearly as big when looking at the popular vote. They do, however have to stop being so judgemental about moral issues and understand that not everybody is going to see issues in the same way as they do.

Perhaps, if the GOP wants to survive, they need to focus on fiscal conservatism and not religion/morality.

Empress... I think you have it exactly backwards. I think if the GOP could moderate itself on social issues while continuing to stand up to economic liberalism, that is where the majority of the country resides. The entire "War on Women" was the left attacking the right's moral conservativeness. It cost the GOP at least two senate seats, Missouri and Indiana.

There is a new bread of young republicans, myself being one, along with a majority of people I know from my age group (I'm 32) that

STLMike, wouldn't moral liberalism and economic conservatism make it too much like the new democrats? Obama is morally liberal, but his actions show a lot of budget tightfistedness (ex. sequester that he signed and according to Bob Woodward, actually had the sequester as his own idea.) To be the "other" party, wouldn't it have to be distinct from the democrats?

I noticed that the Republicans want to paint Obama as some Santa Claus bearing handouts, but his actions do not show this. I will willingly eat crow if in his second term he does differently.

Empress- nobody "wants" 16 trillion in debt, but we have it and it needs to be dealt with. We can't go on spending a trillion more than we take in every year. If it was you or me, we would be in jail for fraud.

oner

If you bought a new truck and house and car would you then change your employment status from full time to part-time??

That's what we did when we fought two wars and saved the country from a depression all with huge TAX CUTs. Cutting spending I don't have a problem with but we have to have revenue. We have to work full time which means we have to INCREASE TAXES,especially on those who can afford it most. These guys danced and now it's time to pay the fiddler so they can anti up,it's their patriotic duty to help pay for roads,bridges,electric,water infrastructure. Police,school teachers,firefighters,paramedics,nurses etc.

If tax cuts make jobs,these folks owe for 11 years of job creation. They didn't make the jobs so now they have to pay. If it were up to me they would pay back all the tax cuts because they didn't deliver the promised jobs. They are a sorry bunch of CROOKS just like Robmee!

Thank you Ken-201

the "job creators" have been making money hand over fist for (roughly) 2 decades in addition to enjoying Bush's tax cuts. That being said, we still have a (roughly) 9% unemployment rate. It sure seems that the "job creators" are not doing their jobs and therefore should pay back all of the money they "borrowed" from the rest of us.

If you want social liberalism and fiscal conservatism, look to the Libertarian party, but if Americans continue to vote D or R religiously, year after year, things will never change.

We've already seen the country is almost evenly split between liberal and conservative philosophies. Anyone who thinks either party has a mandate and can ignore the concerns of the other side is as much a part of the problem as those they profess to hate.

Empress,

The Tea Party cannot change its tea, becuase it is brewed from the MONEY bags of the Koch brothers and others. Do you honestly think that Jim Cramer's breakdown on the trading floor really sparked a nation-wide "spontaneous" movement, organized in two weeks? Local parties were already being organized under paid hacks. But as time went on, local leaders and local concerns were replaced with the national agenda that you are decrying.

The issues of immigration and gay rights/marriage are really a "smoke and mirrors" distraction from the real plans; shifting more taxes to lower incomes, eliminating "entitlement" programs for seniors, and removing the controls on business and industry. By raising emotions and tempers about social issues, and cloaking them in terms like "socialist"; many voters never hear the message about the true economic and government responsibility issues.

And the social split has advantages for some evangelic preachers and television and talk-radio commentators. Remember that these peoples' pay, even their very paychecks, depend on boosting their ratings week after week. The easiest way to do so is to continue or widen the dissention by taking a side, either side, and exaggerating the arguments. And then, of course, other preachers and commentators then must respond to the exaggerated claims with exaggerations of their own. And too many people believe it all. Even Karl Rove fell victim to too much self-belief on FOX News on Tuesday night.

Jeremy

You delineate the real gap. It's urban vs rural. The republicans won where there is more dirt than people and the democrats where there is more concrete than dirt. This gap is also a religious one and an intellectual one. The more education one gets the more one has the probability of being non-conservative. The conservative say it's because the "liberal education" is poisoning the minds of the students, but let's just say the real reason is that they know more and the more you know the less conservative you become (on average).

I am a scientist. I work with facts and reason, not myths and beliefs. Math and physics. It is REALLY difficult to find a strong conservative in our ranks. Not impossible, but difficult.

I doubt you will see this since its a day old..

but Ferrosynthesis.. Look at the exit polls. Specifically Education and $$ the person/family brings in. RIGHT here on NBC they had them. more people w/o a high school diploma said they were and voted Democrat then Republican.

More ppl who make less then 20k a year said they were democrat not republican.

The Latino vote PER THE Exit polls, are unskilled, uninformed voter block who Voted Democrat because the Dems say Dont worry the Gvmnt will take care of you instead of paying your own way.

our Facts you say you work with, are wrong. Liberalism is nothing more then Big Gvmnt taking care of you from Cradle to Grave. NOT what this country was founded on.

Urban vs Rural.. Take a guess who will still be standing when the Gvmtn collapses under their own weight. Its not going to be you " City Folks "

I was a bit off on my post. The Republicans will always be around. Conservatism might be dead, however. I can see, over the next twenty years, Republicans changing their platform and becoming Progressives. After all, the primary theme amongst Republicans is that Americans want "free stuff." So, if they continue to lose elections and power I can see that change coming. Power supersedes values, everytime. If that happens the democrats will have to become more conservative out of necessity. Just think in 2060 Americans could be choosing between big government democrats and even bigger government Republicans. It would be ironic.

I don't care about high school except as a preparation for college. High school only gets you to the level where you can read the misinformation. Take PhD level education and you will see that it is dominated by non-conservatives. Also, take the discipline. Science (where we are logical and fact based) is much more progressive/liberal than business where you are rewarded for being less than candid.

Of course those making less than 20K will not be republican. But, some of the smartest and richest aren't either. (Gates, Buffet, Jobs, Soros)

RIP Republican Party?

We can only wish. During my two or so decades as a Republican after High School, the Republican party was still a great party to be a member of. We had high standards. We believed in America, and we believed in doing what it took to get things done.

Hell, I remember Ronald Reagan calling the Soviet Union the "Evil Empire", but then he became life-long friends with Mikhail Gorbachev. The two of them, together, did incredible work to reduce the threat of Nuclear War between ourselves and the Soviets. It was a great time to be a Republican.

Nowadays, I can only shake my head in sadness at what the Republican party has become.

Those of intelligence are leaving the party in droves leaving uninformed, poor white trash to blindly follow the wealthy elitists who run the party for their corporate sponsors.

There's nothing noble about the Republican Party anymore. The party that once stood for Liberty, Freedom, and Individuality has now become a party of "No Liberties": Legalize cannabis? "No. We'll tell you what you can and can't put into your body". Protect Roe vs. Wade? "No. We have to force women to carry children they either won't or can't care for". Allow people who love each other to marry and share the same protections that regular married couples enjoy? "No. We're upholding the morals WE decide need to be upheld".

For a country that loves Freedom and Liberty, the Republicans sure want to put a clamp on everyone's use of it:

Want to see a great example of what I'm speaking about? Here's a series of interviews with Republicans at a Romney rally in Ohio. Marvel at how well informed they are (NOT):

youtu.be/nY0M7IdNl7U

You know, that pretty much covers it right now! The GOP's exclusionary tactics ensured their failure in this election. Unless they learn their lesson quickly and move further toward the center and abandon their headlong attempt to identify their party with the right wing lunatic fringe, they will marginalize the Republican Party into extinction.

I was under the impression that the Repubs were already bible thumping right wing nut jobs.

With billionaires split down the middle.

I thought the Florida demographics were interesting; more cuban americans are rebublicans while latinos were democrats. The point is that 47,000,000 americans did not vote for Obama so we all can't be bible thumpers and billionaires. We just happen to beleive that the government should not be the answer to everyones problems and engage in wasteful spending.

Yep, unless/until the GOP gets over trying to impose their 'morality' on everyone, things will only get worse for them.

Crazy Steve, do you not think that democrats aren't trying to impose their "morality" on everyone? If you think they aren't, then you are not looking at both sides of the coin.

Truth is, no one, on either side, should be imposing any morality upon anyone. The federal government should not be telling anyone they have to do anything outside of following our basic laws. Federal government should not force anyone to pay for something they don't want, fund anything that goes against their beliefs, or forever fund people on welfare that have no desire to better themselves. No one should be paying for anyone else's sex life. If you can't afford to pay for protection, you shouldn't be engaging in the activity. Period. These are just a few examples, by far, not all of them.

Please don't be so ignorantly biased. This is the time where people need to wake up and realize that if we don't work TOGETHER and solve our problems, no matter who is in "charge", our country is in severely deep poop.

TM -- I don't understand your comment: "The federal government should not be telling anyone they have to do anything outside of following our basic laws. Federal government should not force anyone to pay for something they don't want, fund anything that goes against their beliefs..."

Under our system of government, none of us get to specifically select where our tax dollars will and won't be spent. The defense budget is a perfect example of that. I happen to believe that it is bloated beyond belief, but I don't get to say that my tax dollars won't be spent there. Same goes for other agencies. I have my opinions on how to streamline the government and even have ideas on how to do away with some departments, but in a representative system, we pay into a collective pool and our elected leaders make those decisions. If we start parsing where our tax dollars go based on personal belief, the system will collapse of its own complexity, and NOTHING will be funded appropriately.

National security is a necessity. I understand people that are against war don't want to fund our military, but the reality is, without our military, we would be dust right now. Do you not value your life, or your family's life enough to contribute to the men and women who protect it?

Yes, I agree, we can't start picking and choosing what are tax dollars go for, but what we can do, is eliminate the frivolous stuff that is NOT necessary to ensure our tax dollars ARE going to essentials that EVERYONE must have, not just certain people. That is the point I was trying to make.

Too much special interest dig in to Washington. RepRESENTatives looking out for their backyard instead of what's good for the country. Case in point; 2000 M1 tanks sitting out in the desert waiting to be refurbished. Army says we need to cut our budget so we will wait on that. Senators and Representatives from OHIO say no because General Dynamics needs to stay open. So nobody in Washington has the balls to make the hard decisions that need to be made to cut our overbloated budget.

So TM you agree we should not be giving tax cuts to the Rich anymore?

As for your first post in this particular thread there is no "morality" being pushed by Democrats, only tolerance. Republicans were the ones who tried to push something onto the American people by using Government to dispense religious dogma. Democrats are only pushing back against using laws to keep people from marrying who they love when those laws clearly are based upon religion and are therefore Unconstitutional Via the Supreme Court interpretations of the First Amendment and the Establishment Clause.

You cannot tell Gays they cannot marry each other by law. This forces them to acquiesce to your particular ideology and thus limits their rights and liberties. The same goes with abortion. By outlawing it by law you are telling people who have no problem with it that their beliefs are worth less than yours are or that yours are correct and theirs are wrong.

This is also a problem between Islam and Christianity (not all practitioners but many of them), both ways. Both sides believe that one side is right and the other is wrong. The are not open to the possibility that they are both right or both wrong.

Chris Rhodes Scholar

I thought the Florida demographics were interesting; more cuban americans are rebublicans while latinos were democrats. The point is that 47,000,000 americans did not vote for Obama so we all can't be bible thumpers and billionaires. We just happen to beleive that the government should not be the answer to everyones problems and engage in wasteful spending.

The demographics are still against you. You are not attracting nearly enough Hispanic, African American, Native American or Asian people...at all. The rhetoric if not blatantly racist has certainly been exclusionary. But don't take my word for it...look at the demographic breakdown of the election. The tide is turning and unless the Republican Party wants to become an 19th Century anachronism, you better look at your platform, your beliefs and where you want to go.

You can certainly embrace religion but you should consider a more Christ-like message rather than coming across like the American Taliban.

Look, I'm not a fan of the Republican party but I also don't believe in a one party system. There must be a viable counter to the Democratic party. But you must find a way to become the "loyal opposition" again rather then the enemy.

Chris Rhodes Scholar

I thought the Florida demographics were interesting; more cuban americans are rebublicans while latinos were democrats. The point is that 47,000,000 americans did not vote for Obama so we all can't be bible thumpers and billionaires. We just happen to beleive that the government should not be the answer to everyones problems and engage in wasteful spending

Cubans and South Americans tend to be Republican, better educated and higher than national averages on income, degrees, etc.

Unfortunately most Hispanics in this country are Mexican and Puerto Rican (Dominicans as well) which struggle with education, and tend to be Democrat which gives the impression that Hispanics are Democrat.

We know our history and even though the basic fundamentals are the same (family, religion, etc) there are clear differences when it comes to things like learning English, the push to succeed in school, etc..

RV24,

you don't even know what you're talking about. Cubans came to this country with preferential treatment. The first ones were thrown out of the island by Fidel Castro and the following came over by crossing the sea in all types of floating devices. But all came here with preferential treatment. All it took was for them to step on american land and automatically they had green cards, student loans and business loans. The USA government just wanted to show up the American life standard to the communist Cuba.

And lastly, stop stereotyping other races, and citizenry. There are good, bad, liars, educated, and thieves in every community. Trust me, I live in the melting pot, NY. where all types (of people) live in harmony.

TM,

But the "small government" Republican party, at both the federal and state level, have an agenda to interfere with birth control and abortion rights of any woman. Based on the moral directives of one portion of our society. And that IS imposing a moral direction (from Rome and the back hills of Appalachia) that even a majority of their avowed followers neither profess nor follow in their own lives.

@ TM 689440

You said, "Federal government should not force anyone to pay for something they don't want, fund anything that goes against their beliefs, or forever fund people on welfare that have no desire to better themselves. No one should be paying for anyone else's sex life. If you can't afford to pay for protection, you shouldn't be engaging in the activity. Period. These are just a few examples, by far, not all of them."

Then you go on to say, "Please don't be so ignorantly biased. This is the time where people need to wake up and realize that if we don't work TOGETHER and solve our problems, no matter who is in "charge", our country is in severely deep poop."

Well? Which is it? Do you not see that you are contradicting yourself? Do you not see that you benefit from Defense Department protection when we all pay for it, whether you agree with that protection or not? Do you not see that you benefit when you pay taxes for condoms and birth control? Do you not see that by paying for these essential services, whether you choose to indulge in those behaviors or not, you are protecting yourself from sexually transmitted diseases? Do you not see that by spending $1 on a condom saves you $12 per meal for life for an unwanted pregnancy? Do you not see that unwanted pregnancies increase your cost in terms of crime, in support, in low-education, in low lifetime income? Do you not see that a $300 abortion saves you $30,000 in an unwanted lifetime of support?

If you can't see this, then it is you who is willfully ignorant.

Maybe you don't have kids and maybe you never will, but are you seriously arguing that you don't benefit from a well-educated populace, therefore you should not pay your fair share of taxes that go toward public education? Seriously?

How is allowing people to opt-out of things they don't actively-participate in, but directly benefit from, working together?

Excuse but the popular vote was nearly 50-50 Mr. Scientist; it was the effete Electoral College system giving rise to all the conclusions about reality. The single most disconcerting part is the breakdown by groups, especially 93% Black vote! How totally racist is that for a statistic. Then 71% Latino because they want entitlements and preferential treatment; then 60% unmarried women who just want to screw as irresponsibly as the guys they 'hook up' with; and finally don't forget the college students who never worked and have no real experience at life anyhow. Woo-hoo Dems! What a group of followers!

So winning by almost 3 million votes (at this point, since Florida has yet to be counted), is "nearly a 50-50" split? Interesting take, but I'm not buying it.

Ron,

There must be an educated electorate?

What about an intelligent electorate? A bunch of educated idiots, we already have. I honestly believe people in America have muddled the concept of Education.

Ron....nothing worse than an intelligence that is not humane. I know something about Washington. Each side didn't spend a billion dollars one their campaigns for nothing. I am sure there are some senators and congressmen/congresswomen who have good intentions, but its all about special interests. Do a little research on Harry Reed and how he got some property next to his in Nevada anexed into the city so the value of his property would go up. Do you think it was a coincidence that you had to use union labor on projects funded by the stimulus or that some of the people who started Solyndra were Obama donors.

I am not sure about the rest of your spiel, I will do the research, but I do know that you are wrong about Solyndra. Solyndra was actually due to be funded by the BUSH Administration, but there were a few application issues that needed to be completed. The application process was finalized after Obama came into office and the grant money was awarded to Solyndra, among other solar energy start ups.

Yes, started under Bush with many unanswered questions. It was Owebamas green jobs agenda that helped push it through.

It was already on the table is the point that I am trying to make to Chris. Yes, there were unanswered questions. It had nothing to do with Obama in so far as Solyndra being an Obama donor as Chris was stating. That has been a big misnomer about the whole Solyndra issue. And, for the record, innovation cannot go anywhere without there being failure. Solyndra's product was actually a very good idea and product. There were many mitigating circumstances as to why the company failed. And for the record, I really do believe that green energy alternatives are a very real and very viable solution to helping this country to become less dependent on foreign oil, and more self reliant as a nation, thus keeping more of our money here in this country.

Yes , but you need to do your homework on the feasibility BEFORE you throw 500 million down the toilet.

I understand that, but I really do not believe that the money was just thrown at them without the homework being done. The fact is that not all companies make it no matter how good their intentions, no matter how much homework is done, no matter how good it looks on paper. Does that mean that we should not try? The government is instrumental in providing the innovators capital with which to move this country forward so that we can become more globally competitive. As I have stated in previous posts where something like this is being discussed, inventors like The Wright Bros. and Henry Ford failed many times before they got it right. But, when they finally did, it changed the course of history and it changed the world, did it not?

Last I read...

Obama Green Energy Initiative failure rate: 8%.

Bain Capitol failure rate: 20%.

Of course, Bain is not always trying NOT to fail.

Solyndra was actually due to be funded by the BUSH Administration,

And subsequently rejected. Then resurrected by Barry and his cronies.

Your Spin is Bull.

No, it was not rejected by the Bush Admin.

You are Bull.

All the right wing lunatic fringe have left are sour grapes and tired, old lies.

do you know about solar technologies? do you know if Solyndra's technology was above the rest of the solar companies? do you know why Solyndra Fail?

Why people comment without any knowledge of the subject and instead resort to talking points is beyond my understanding !!!!

onermailliw AND Alaska Girl,

Your argument reminds me of a lesson from WWII. Most people believe that the Manhatten Project, which built the first atomic bombs, was the most expensive work undertaken during the war. In fact, it was not. The B-29 SuperFortress bomber was three times as expensive to develop as the atomic bomb.

However, the bomb without the B-29 was a futile exercise, as we did not have a plane large enough the carry the first bombs (due to weight AND size). But the early bombers were full of problems, with most crashing or burning due to unforeseen structural and engine weaknesses. Just as some questioned whether the bombs would be effective, others questioned if the B-29 could deliver them.

The two bombs that were dropped on Japan had to be winched into the bomb-bay from a pit because they were too big to fit under the plane. Once loaded, the bomb-bay doors could not be closed due to interference with the bulk of the bombs. And due to the catastrophic nature of these weapons, they could not be armed until the last leg of the flight, meaning a member of the crew leaned out over a 29000' drop, to complete assembling the bomb. But I suspect that 100-500k American troops that would have been killed or maimed thought that $1billion for the bomb and $3billion for the plane was cheap.

Mr. Day, have you ever really looked at the total dollars in the deficit and under whose adminstrations they came from? Hint - it's the Republicans that created the vast majority of the debt and deficit, not the Democrats.

http://zfacts.com/p/318.html

And did you ever consider that a large part of President Obama's deficit total is directly associated with the debt service on the deficit dollars created by administrations prior to him?

It's now all Obama's...economy, foreign policy, etc.

So if the turnaround continues and we get economically healthier are you going to give President Obama credit?

If Obama continues to "rule" by proclamation then he will be a failure as his past four years have been.

Mathew...if a real turnaround starts and can be maintained, yes I'll give Obama credit.

That is one way to put it. I think some would quantify it as rural = 20th Century and urban = 21st Century.

Hmmm, I could be self sufficient in a rural area with a gov. subsidy

Farmers are no longer being subsidized? Whoopeeee!!

Sane, those subsidies help bring plentiful and affordable food to the table so be very careful about what you wish for.

Ken

I understand the gambit.

I was responding to the fools who believe that rural areas are "self sufficient", and urban areas are not. They are NOT. Everybody plays their part in this dance.

The biggest "Divider" of the last 4 decades currently resides in the White House

oner,

umm, no the Tea Party has been the divisive force in Washington that you are looking for. They are so far Right that their only path is extinction if they do not come back to the middle. Look for the GOP echelons kicking out the Tea Party in the near future.

The biggest dividers in this nation are the idiots who insist that Obama is a Socialist/Communist/Muslim/Atheist/Kenyan/etc.

Hi Geowil: Yes, we might see some small surge in cooperative spirit from across the aisle - but it won't likely come from the Teaparty. I do have hope that some R's and D's will man (or woman) the oars and pull together - but we just found out who will be at the helm for the next four years and it sure as hell isn't the Teaparty.

Hi lynseypug: Yeah, the hysteria needs to be marginalized within the Republican party. No more stalling, no more unreasoned obstructionism, no more fear-mongering.

Except for Alabama the other states could probably get by without it. I can't see Alabama making it without federal aid.

Red stated get more fed aid than they pay in taxes.

Blue states pick up the tab.

That can work if the State government collects the taxes that the Fed does.

Nice fantasy world you have there. Is it furnished or do you have to sit on your hallucinations?

Oh wow the usual intellectual response we expect from the ignorant. I really hope the mental there is a mental health foundation that helps people like.

If any thing this election shows is how deeply divide we are. The tensions levels ae the highest I have seen in all of 55 years. Keep telling yourself everything is all rainbows and butterflies. Yo can't see the world from beyond your own couch. Yo have no clue what is happening around you or throughout the world. Anyone in the MSM that speaks up is silenced.

You are too involved with Jersey Shore and American Idol to educate yourself. However you might want to ask yourself about the meeting of the Finance Ministers in Singapore, yesterday, today and tomorrow? We we were not invited and what it has to do with the U.S. Dollar.

While obama is blaming everything on the GOP, BUSH and Europe.. Europe is leaning with Russia and China about abandoning the dollar as the base currency. The Middle East has already abandoned the dollar and wants to shore up the euro.

Guess that would not affect you would it?

Nope.. because Mexican Banks will not accept deposits in U.S. Currency.

@Navyvet, Ignorance is such bliss. You sound so ignorant. WE divide and conquer? Are you joking? Please be joking. You slime others who don't think like you. YOU are part of the reason the Republican Party is dying. You can slam anyone you want if it makes you feel better about yourself, please do so. That won't change the fact that demographics have changed. Your racism isn't 'cute' any more. Grow the eff up.

navyvet98 - first, thank you for your service.

Secondly, the finance ministers meeting in Singapore are there for a meeting of Euro Zone finance ministers. The US was not invitred because we are not in teh EU.

Also, the move to "abandon the dollar as base currency" started years ago as a UN movement. The proposed alternative was to create a valuation based on MANY world currencies in an effort to standardize and stabilize the world economic and banking systems. That way if a single currency involved in the combined "new base currency" crashed and burned, it wouldn't take the world with it. It's very similiar in theory to a mutual fund where invenstments are diversified to protect value.

Lastly sir, NY and NJ are still getting significant federal assistance. As conditions gradually improve resources in place are either redeployed or demobilized in accordance to situational requirements. You claim that NY and NJ have been abandoned since the election is over is a VERY incorrect and slanted perspective of logistics/resource management.

So now that you have blasted the poster. Do you have anything to say about the content of the post? I like how you uniters on the left operate. The south is full of flat earth people...lol...Unbelievable... All you republicans need to go back and read through all of the psots form the liberal uniters and learn how to do it... lol...In one sentence it's everyone on the south is a bible thumping idiot..and the next sentence is how awful it is the republicans aren't more tolerant like the democrats agenda and how they better learn to be more like a liberal...

hahahaha... forums after the elcetion are the best comedy show ever...

That is precious. A vet chastising people for their vote and mad because they are getting stuff from the government-in the vet's view. Of course, we all know, a vet never got anything from the government (end sarcasm). I do not hold it against any vet for getting stuff from the government- just wondering why no one else is allowed according to the navyvet.

However you might want to ask yourself about the meeting of the Finance Ministers in Singapore, yesterday, today and tomorrow?

You mean the EU meetings that do not involve the US? You mean those meetings, NavyVet? While you are rambling on about Jersey Shore and not being able to see the world from your couch, you might consider pulling your head from the dark, smelly orifice in which it is lodged and stop embarrassing yourself publicly with your ignorance.

Well, NavyVet, it is abundantly obvious that the collective IQ of any room you occupy goes up by several points when you leave. That is true even if the room is empty. Pull yourself together.

what a lie.. no you had to station the Black Panthers. election officials telling people they can only vote democrat, etc, etc.. then you had to gather up a bus load of blacks, promise them a carton of cigarettes and take them to the polls. Why don't you check the factual news?

Really Larry ? and did the little romney aliens threaten you with the anal probe too?

navyvet, that Black Panthers ordeal was debunked sooo loong ago, yet you still harp about it. Realize then that those guys were standing outside of a polling station in a predomitably black precinct, that has all of 35 white voters in it. Believe what you will. Facts just don't seem matter anymore. I guess it might be more relevant if all news outlets went back to having the journalistic standards that were met back when Walter Cronkite was doing the news. As long as there are no consequences for supplying fake news, then we as a whole will find it hard to become united in any fashion beyond when we are being attacked by foreigners. Sad really.

odd attempt at changing history. Work for Michael Moore or Oliver Stone. The South was largely democratic before the election of Lincoln. Thanks for trying though.

Not correct. The Republican Party as we know it was actually founded by Anti-slavery Democrat and the South has almost ALWAYS been much more conservative then liberal. This information is easy to find with minimal research.

The means and the methods are availiable. We have little will to see the possibility of how it will be used against us.

tradition is not a good thing what was good 100 years ago is not good now. Your using a computer for your logic to be right we'd have to go back to living how we did 100 years ago so STUFF YOU

Still we avocate new thinking: If lowering taxes for 30 years hasn't worked then ...

Why did Reagan boost the economy by spending on 'star wars technology'?

Then under Clinton thrived on a 'star wars technology'?

Then under Bush we exported 'star wars technology'?

Then under Obama Republicans blocked 'star wars technology'?

Since we managed to export jobs to 'star wars technology' producing countries for these years and more, what were we thinking?

Oh, yes a well-managed portfolio of equity shares in global 'star wars technology' corporations, returning investment money to all classes of Americans, so they could retire, and better still so that no Jobs were needed.

Oh, yes, wine induced insight, the global world would be viewed as one global capitalism factory, fully automated, no jobs except for some assembly.
The global factory would take resources, energy and materials and hammer (metaphor warning) them into iPhones, not just iPhone but the Ultimate iPhone.

The fictional product Ultimate iPhone, can for a subscriber fee, update its own hardware, renew its casing and gorilla glass screen, and instantly precipitate software advances from the cloud, and absorb energy from every source possible. All the world history, knowledge experience held in the sub Nano memory.

When we find problem 'insufficient government' revenues? We ask the Ultimate iPhone App for a poll to define the answer.

It, it, it, (dramatic appeal) says, well if 'Math you do as a Republican to make yourself feel better', then, then, then 'Raise the Taxes'.

Yes, yes, yes we have the answer, 'Raise the Taxes', and that does not work then lower them again, you can do it, it in you!

Not correct. He raised taxes 18 times. And your contention that "If we dont lower taxes AND spending, our economy will continue to be stagnant," is a crock. From approximately 1945 until 1980 we had high taxes and INCREASED government spending. And the economy was booming. And liberals have NO PROBLEM with lowering spending, contrary to the conservative myth you so obviously believe.

Now as for your Democratic controlled Congress BS.
"Starting in 1980 and again after the 1982 midterm elections, President Reagan worked with a split Congress with a Republican majority after the 1980 Senate elections and a Democratic majority after the 1980 House elections. The conservatives (whom Reagan backed) lost a substantial number of seats in Congress in 1982.^[101] By early 1983, however, the recession had ended and Reagan was re-elected President, in 1984, with a record-breaking 525 electoral votes.^[102] The Republicans' six-year control over the Senate ended in 1986.

So for six of the eight years it was a SPLIT Congress, not controlled by the Democrats. And also for the record, your Supply Side Economics have NEVER worked. And the ones who refused to lower spending were the REPUBLICANS for over 30 years. Along with Democrats who were equally responsible.