[Vision2020] Democrats Control Senate

[Tom Hansen]

>From the front page of today's (November 9, 2006) Spokesman Review -

"Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who will succeed Dennis Hastert as speaker,
promised swift action early next year on a Democratic package including a
$2.10 an hour increase in the minimum wage, full implementation of the
recommendations of the bipartisan Sept. 11, 2001, commission, and making
some tuition payments tax deductible."

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Democrats control Senate 
With majorities in Congress, party demands sweeping changes
Inside

>From Wire Reports 
November 9, 2006

WASHINGTON - Democrats completed an improbable double-barreled election
sweep of Congress on Wednesday, taking control of the Senate with a victory
in Virginia as they padded their day-old majority in the House.

Savoring their return to power, congressional Democrats pledged Wednesday to
work closely with President Bush on a legislative agenda but demanded a
change in course on Iraq and new directions on policies from the minimum
wage to stem-cell research.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who will succeed Dennis Hastert as speaker,
promised swift action early next year on a Democratic package including a
$2.10 an hour increase in the minimum wage, full implementation of the
recommendations of the bipartisan Sept. 11, 2001, commission, and making
some tuition payments tax deductible.
 
Pelosi said she would not heed the calls of some activists on the left to
explore impeaching the president. But with subpoena power and committee
chairmanships, Democrats will ensure that Bush's anti-terrorism and war
policies receive tough scrutiny in the last two years of his presidency.

"Democrats are not about getting even, Democrats are about getting results,"
she said at a news conference. "I have said before and I say again:
Impeachment is off the table."

Voters on Tuesday handed Democrats control of the House for the first time
since 1994, giving the party a gain of 28 to 30 seats. In January, Pelosi
will become the first female House speaker in history. Hastert, of Illinois,
the longest-serving Republican speaker, announced he would step aside and
let a new generation of Republican leaders emerge after this week's losses. 

Jim Webb's victory over Sen. George Allen in Virginia assured Democrats of
51 seats when the Senate convenes in January. That marked a gain of six in
midterm elections in which the war in Iraq and President Bush were major
issues.

Earlier, state Sen. Jon Tester triumphed over Republican Sen. Conrad Burns
in a long, late count in Montana.

Allen's campaign issued a statement noting that state officials are
conducting a canvass of the votes cast in Tuesday's balloting. "At the
conclusion of those efforts, Senator George Allen plans to make a statement
regarding the outcome," it said.

The Senate had teetered at 50 Democrats, 49 Republicans for most of
Wednesday, with Virginia hanging in the balance. Webb's victory ended
Republican hopes of eking out a 50-50 split, with Vice President Dick Cheney
wielding tie-breaking authority.

The Associated Press contacted election officials in all 134 localities in
Virginia where voting occurred, obtaining updated numbers Wednesday. About
half the localities said they had completed their postelection canvassing
and nearly all had counted outstanding absentees. Most were expected to be
finished by Friday.

The new AP count showed Webb with 1,172,538 votes and Allen with 1,165,302,
a difference of 7,236. Virginia has had two statewide vote recounts in
modern history, but both resulted in vote changes of no more than a few
hundred votes.

In morning phone calls, Bush congratulated Pelosi, the House minority
leader, and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and invited them to a
White House lunch today. Bush and Pelosi pledged to put behind them a bitter
campaign in which the president had claimed that a Democratic victory would
be a victory for terrorists and Pelosi repeatedly questioned the president's
competence.

"I've been around politics a long time," Bush told reporters. "I understand
when campaigns end and when the governing begins."

But policy clashes are inevitable. Control of both houses of Congress would
ramp up pressure on Democrats to turn their calls for change into quick
legislative accomplishments.

Beyond the Democrats' planned 100-hour blitz to pass most of their
legislative agenda, Pelosi reiterated her pledge to restore fiscal
discipline to Congress. That could pit her promises of federal largesse
against Democratic desires not to roll back the president's tax cuts before
their scheduled 2011 expiration dates. She also vowed to enact the kind of
sweeping controls on lobbying and ethics that Republican leaders promised
this year but failed to deliver.

The Democratic victories also spell trouble for interim U.N. Ambassador John
Bolton's hopes for Senate confirmation, and greatly complicate Bush's
efforts to appoint conservatives to the federal bench. The administration is
virtually certain to face greater congressional scrutiny - and possibly new
legislative restrictions - on warrantless wiretaps, trade pacts,
interrogation techniques for detainees and other controversial policies.

Rep. Thomas Davis, R-Va., said in an interview on Washington Post Radio that
Bush will be "reacting to subpoenas flying, investigations."

"If we tended to underinvestigate, I think you'll see Democrats tend to
overinvestigate," Davis said.

Tuesday's election results could be a boon for backers of wide-ranging
changes to U.S. immigration laws, one of the few areas in which Bush
differed with House Republicans and sided with a bipartisan Senate approach.
Wednesday, Bush said of comprehensive changes to immigration laws: "I think
we have a good chance. ... It's an important issue, and I hope we can get
something done on it."

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Don't Stop Thinking About tomorrow"
http://www.tomandrodna.com/Songs/Dont_Stop.mp3