Observations

Now that the election stuff has calmed down, I thought I would make a few observations.

First, congratulations to me for my predictions. Those of you who noticed my status on Facebook, I predicted 300+ electoral college votes for Obama and that Obama would win the popular vote by 5%. Both predictions were a bit low, hooray for me for being as close as I was.

Second, Isn't our country great? I don't get all patriotic very often. In fact, the only time I felt patriotic was this summer on Memorial Day. But isn't it amazing that every four years we are able to choose our leaders, and then have a peaceful transition? We've been doing this for over 200 years. Some countries can't even do it for 10. We went to the polls where we were not threatened if we voted a certain way, no bombs exploded, Bush did not outlaw opposition parties, the military did revolt. We have something very unique, and we should at least be thankful for that.

Third, this country is not going to fall apart under Obama. I have heard a lot of doomsday predictions this week from anti-Obama camps. I just don't buy them. Mainly because Obama will not be able to in act his change. He told Wolf Blitzer on CNN last Friday that withdrawal from Iraq may take more than 4 years. He also said the 12 billion dollars we are spending on that war won't automatically become available for social programs because we owe our veterans more. I agree, but without that 12 billion, how will he fund his new proposals. We all know about his tax proposal. I don't think it will fly. Besides, in recessions fewer tax dollars flow into the government anyway. So there has to be another source of funding.

That source can't be deficit spending. A lot of people think we are in for a bigger national debt. Over the past 8 years it has been the republicans that have decided to run a bigger debt (so much for fiscal responsibility). Our debt is now around 60% of our GDP. This matches many of the countries in Europe. For a healthy economy, we can't get much higher. This fact will make it difficult for Obama to do much of anything, well anything really big.

Let us not forget that while the democrats control both the executive and the legislative branches. They failed to get a cloture proof majority in the Senate. They are really close, but on big radical changes, Harry Reid will not be able to get the votes he needs to end debate. To get things done, Reid and Pelosi will have to become more moderate. I am not saying every proposal will get blocked, the democrats will pretty much have a free ride for two years.

The last point I want to bring up about the state of our government is this: Republicans will gain seats in the legislature in two years. Historically the opposition party has gained seats in both houses of Congress during the midterm elections. There are only two mid-term elections when this did not happen. Those were 2002, and one in the 1930's during FDRs administration. The republicans will gain seats in 2010. They may not regain the majority, but rest assured, if the democrats fail, they will be feeling it in 2010 just like they felt it in 1994.

The country is not falling apart. Obama will do just fine. He is a great salesperson, but he is also a smart person. Lets give him credit. You can be the greatest salesperson in the world, but if you are stupid, America won't buy it. Things will be different for the next while, but you know what, the republicans were failing. Don't you think it is only fair to give the democrats a shot? Before we start crying Armageddon lets wait and see what Obama does.

Ok, well those are my observations. I have more about Utah, but I'll spare you the details. Let me just say that Utah deserves the 1 party system we have, because that is what we have chosen. I think the republicans will do just fine. They may be a behaving in an ethical gray area but at least the sky isn't falling.