As Usual...It's Politics as Usual.

As the dust of last week's mid-term election sets over the American political landscape, the outline of what we can expect over the next two years begins to emerge. To the chagrin of most observers, myself included, the landscape remains very much unchanged. Sure there are some new faces on the field, and the voting public on the rails of the Tea Party train sent a clear, if not deafening, message back to Washington, DC that it demands real change.

However, just like the unfulfilled promises of change and transparency that were seemingly ubiquitous during the Presidential campaigns back in 2008; The prospects for this new congress to bring forth any real change are dubious at best.  Although the arrival of a few new players like Rand Paul or Marco Rubio may prove to be influential over a long senatorial term, it will take some time to build up the kind of clout that can get things done in Washington. With the "Old Lions" like Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid steering the dialogue, these abecedarian politicians will have to overcome a few hindrances but their potential is kicky for many sideline observers.

This may all sound like a familiar rambling full of cynical overtones made popular by cable news shows, but to quote an anonymous author; "Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows". We have yet to set a precedent to usher us away from the cynicism regarding Congress and its lethargic process of  governing. As usual, we can expect "Politics as Usual" from our elected officials. Yet for the first time in my conscience existence there is a reason to be optimistic about our government.

Even though the political landscape remains the same, the "air" around us has changed dramatically.  We are are figuratively scrapping the "bottom of the barrel" in terms of our economy. Unemployment remains steady at 9.5 percent. Foreign economies are on a competitive run with countries like India and China emerging as power players over the last decade. Our government is printing money like its a Hallmark card factory during Christmas season. There is the $700 billion dollar stimulus bill which provided meager results and the $300 billion dollar Health Care bill that was rammed through last March and remains unpopular to most of the country with the exception of the ruling party in government.

This "air" has left a bad taste in the mouths of voters

This "air" has left a bad taste in the mouths of voters, evidenced by the turn-around in voter sentiment that halted the Liberal cavalry charge in Washington.  The question that remains is; What can we expect from the new session of congress? Well most of us are crossing our fingers and hoping for the best, but the "air" that hovers over our political landscape may drive the agenda more so than the politicians themselves. The Democrats have reset an long lost practice in governing when they picked up momentum in 2008. They played the game with a "one-term" strategy and they were successful in advancing their agenda.

There are certain areas that have been historically untouchable when the discussion of budget cuts arises. Defense spending, Social Security, Medicare are at the top of that list, but like I've stated earlier, voters have demanded change and they expect it to come in the form of reductions in government spending.  This means that these previous untouchable programs no longer carry that protective label.  They are all up for grabs.

Republicans now find themselves in new territory. They can choose to go on the counter-offensive and seek to repeal the health care bill and fight to make Bush's tax cuts permanent, further entrenching themselves in the ages-old battle between the left and right, or they can steer the discourse in a new direction. The problem with the former is that Democrats appealed to the social conscience of our country when drafting the health care bill.

They sandwiched provisions like, preventing doctors from investing or owning interest in health care companies and the requirement that insurance companies accept individuals with pre-existing conditions.  There are many more provisions, some noble, some not, that will make the repeal of this bill almost impossible and convert it into another seemingly untouchable entitlement program. By passing this bill, Democrats put it all on the table and risked any longevity in control of the government but they made great strides in advancing their agenda.

It didn't matter that their policies were unpopular or that they lacked a single shred of bi-partisan support. If passing the health care bill and financial reform by brute force blitz attack is the measure by which the work of Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leadership will be gauged, then we all have to admit that they were surprisingly efficient in getting their job done. Liberals understood that having an unstoppable majority in congress was an extremely rare occurrence and not only did they capitalize on the opportunity but they did so in an irreversible manner.  They lost their overpowering control of congress but not their ability to influence decision making during the next session.

For Republicans all of this means that any talk about turning back the clock is simply wasted breath. Folks are tired of politicians and all their childish bickering.  Most people are prepared to face the future like real adults.  We simply want our elected officials to make the right decisions, not just the popular ones. Yesterday, President Obama's fiscal commission released their preliminary proposals to help the country climb out of the giant debt hole it is currently in.

The proposal offers some pretty drastic suggestions that total $4 trillion dollars in deficit cuts. Suggestions like cutting $100 billion in defense spending, increasing the retirement age, freezing salaries for federal employees, reducing increments in Social Security benefits, reducing pension benefits for federal employees, cutting overhead expenditures by reducing government contractors and even raising taxes. The proposal no longer considers many of these programs untouchable.  Republicans along with Democrats may now be forced to make some tough decisions.

My hopes are that they will play the game with no eyes on re-election.  That they will sacrifice longevity in order to achieve correct results now. This of course would need to come at a price. For the elected officials it may be a one shot deal. For us, it may mean a tightening of our belts, perhaps higher taxes, continued unemployment trouble, and longer recovery time.  But if we have learned anything during this economic crisis it's that uncontrollable growth is not always a good thing over a long period of time. That scaling back and living within our means may not be the most attractive option but it is usually the most prudent.

My message to the GOP is:  You have an opportunity to be heroes.  You can transform a country of "teenagers with credit cards" into a country of responsible adults.  If you accomplish this, you will not receive recognition, at least not right away, but history will look back upon the 112th Session of Congress with kind eyes. You can be the group that gets our economy back on track and increases the distance between us and the emerging economies.  Yours can be a legacy of truly moving across the isle and putting a kibosh on the stalemate of idealism that is the sludge in the cog-wheels of government. Yes, all this can be yours if you choose not to fall into old habits and, as usual, play "Politics as Usual".