Here's a good piece on McCain's triumph and its repercussions.
http://newsisyphus.blogspot.com/
Bolton Feels The Deal
A mere two days after "moderate" Republicans broke ranks with a certain Senator Frist (who is supposed to be something called a "majority leader," yet commands and deserves neither title), Senate Democrats have already begun to flex the new and invigorated muscles the Republicans inexplicably gave them. They have announced that they plan to filibuster the President's appointment of John Bolton to be our ambassador to the United Nations and, as part of that obstructionism, they are also going to launch into yet another document war with the White House.
The result will be weeks more of humiliation and defeat for the President of the United States, who, along with an even-larger Republican majority in the Senate, was re-elected resoundingly a mere 6 months ago.
By refusing to act like a majority, by refusing the mandate they have been given to govern, the Senate Republicans have undermined both their President and their party. We see no good reason at this time to continue to vote for Republican candidates for the Senate or to support their calls for re-election.
When the President was elected, he was given the power to appoint (among other things) ambassadors and federal judges; this was one of the reasons we voted for him and not his opponent. Now, a faithless majority in the Senate has bought into the MSM and Democratic myths that they not only have a duty but a right to obstruct the President's appointment power whenever they feel like it. The result is nothing less than a willful minority holding the electoral will of the people of the United States hostage. Worse, people from our own party have helped bring about this turn of events.
The Democrats need to be defeated in the Senate, and soundly. They need to have appointment after appointment rightfully confirmed by the majority so that they understand that they are no longer in power.
If the Senate Republicans cannot handle the responsibilities inherent in the majority, they do not deserve that majority. Watch, listen, learn, and vote accordingly.
UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal's lead editorial this morning nails the issue:
Republicans at Bay
May 27, 2005; Page A12
Americans have learned to expect little from Congress, and by that standard the 109th version controlled by Republicans has met expectations. On the other hand, anyone who hoped that the GOP would make something of its historic governing opportunity is bound to be disappointed so far.
Five months in, Congress can point to the following achievements: a bankruptcy bill 10 years in the making, and a class-action reform watered down essentially to a jurisdictional change to federal from state courts. That's about it. Among the 2004 campaign promises that aren't close to being fulfilled are making the Bush tax cuts permanent, reforming Social Security and expanding the market for private health care. Instead of any of those big three, Congress next seems poised to pass a subsidy-laden energy bill and a highway bill with some 4,000 earmarks for individual Members. For this we elected Republicans?
The Democratic/media explanation for this performance is that Republicans are "overreaching" and trying to "govern from the right." We should be so lucky. The fact is that they are governing from nowhere at all. Far from pushing their agenda, they seem cowed by their opposition into playing it safe and attempting too little.
The House lost precious time recovering from its blunder of changing ethics rules to protect Tom DeLay, while the Senate wasted weeks tiptoeing to the edge of changing the filibuster rule only to back down this week as seven Republicans undercut Majority Leader Bill Frist. GOP Senators also created the messy distraction over John Bolton's nomination, preening their ambivalence for media applause rather than confirming their President's man.
It's true that Democrats seem determined to play the role of obstructionists, especially on Social Security and in the Senate where the rules give them leverage. But Republicans have only made it easier for Democrats on Social Security by caviling and whining that President Bush is making them face up to this problem, and declaring private accounts all but dead almost before they were proposed. Individual Democrats are not going to break with their party leadership when they can see that Republicans are divided.
Pre-emptive surrender has also been the order of the day on taxes, despite the manifest economic success of the 2003 tax cuts. It took a heroic, one-man lobbying effort by Arizona's Jon Kyl to persuade his Senate colleagues to extend the 15% dividend and capital-gains tax rate for a mere two years. Too many GOP Members are cowering in fear over "the deficit" -- except when it comes to spending. That they can still do. The Senate blew past Mr. Bush's already generous $284 billion limit on highways, and overall federal spending is growing by 7% this year.
Any majority party is going to have differences, and compromises are inevitable. But an effective majority, and one that hopes to stay around for a while, has to be able to unite around some governing principles and face up to genuine problems. We'd have thought that for Republicans this would mean a philosophy of limited but energetic government when energy is needed, as it is on national defense and law enforcement.
But what is "limited" about a House Financial Services Committee that wants to increase the moral hazard to taxpayers by raising federal deposit insurance to $130,000 from $100,000? Or that finds itself united with liberal Barney Frank on a bill to let Fannie Mae continue to rake in private profit while exploiting an implicit taxpayer bailout guarantee? Or a House that can't pass a free trade agreement with Central America, while the Senate votes by two-to-one to start a trade war with China? None of this is "radical" reform; it's Beltway business as usual.
The Congressional year has its natural rhythms, and there is still time for Republicans to recover. If Democrats won't budge on Social Security, a decision will have to be made on an exit strategy that defines the issue for 2006. Mr. Bush's tax reform commission report in July will be an opportunity to lead once again on economic policy. There are also smaller but still significant victories to be had on extending welfare reform, allowing the states more policy latitude on Medicaid and letting health insurance be sold nationwide on the Internet to reduce the number of uninsured.
Above all, the fight over Mr. Bush's Supreme Court nominations will determine whether the GOP's Senate majority counts for anything at all. The voters don't expect miracles, but they do expect better than what Republicans have so far been able to produce.
:banghead: ) <sarcasm>
