Post-mortem: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The election has passed and the Democrats are now firmly in power (at least in the House). I am deeply upset to see the country vote in the wrong direction. When in 2004, Bush was reelected after making the wrong decision to go to war in Iraq. And now in 2006, the Democrats were elected telling the politicians that they want out of Iraq at a time when Iraq needs us the most. It seems that the US electorate is always wrong. But here is the good, the bad, and the ugly...

The Good
-The Republicans will go back to what they should be: hard-nosed, true-blue fiscal conservatives. The fiscal spending is one of the reasons they were kicked out of office. The formation of a more fiscally conservative Republican caucus is one positive that will come out of this election.

-Pay-go - As long as this is on the spending side only, the Democrats can actually HELP reduce the deficit. However, if they include tax hikes in the pay-go plan then the economy could be headed for a recession.

-Oil subsidies - The Democrats are intent on killing these subsidies. HOORAY for this part of the agenda. Unfortunately, the subsidies will simply be passed to another industry that doesn't need them. Probably, the ethanol industry might get them which will make the ethanol industry even more regulated and less efficient. The end result - ethanol NEVER getting off the ground as a viable alternative to oil.

The Bad

-Minimum Wage Hike - The Democrats will pass it but hopefully Bush will veto it. This is another populist/leftist policy that is created to "help" poor people. However, the real result is less jobs for the least paid (companies will simply fire workers that don't merit $7.50 an hour) and could even create inflation.

The Ugly

-Speaker Pelosi - Her record below (very ugly)
* NO on the 1996 Welfare Reform Law (and NO on its reauthorization)
* NO on making the Republican tax cuts permanent
* NO on eliminating the marriage penalty
* NO on eliminating the death tax
* NO on creating Health Savings Accounts
* NO on CAFTA
* NO on US - Oman Free Trade Agreement
* NO on Fast Track Authority
* NO on Normal Trade Relations with China (goodbye cheap Wal-mart goods that make the poor better off)
* YES on Steel Tariffs
* YES on the Bloated Highway Bill
* NO on the Line Item Veto
* NO on DC Vouchers
* YES on No Child Left Behind

-Socialist Bernie Sanders is now a Senator. This man sponsored a bill that would make the US withdraw from the WTO. This man is economically incompetent. And he is a socialist!

In conclusion, I am no die-hard Republican. But they ARE the lesser of the two evils. They believe in Free Trade (more so than the Democrats), low taxes, limited government, etc.