I'd like to preface this post with a little description of my political affiliations. Technically, I'm a registered democrat - and I'd say for the most part I lean left. When it comes to social issues (as I'm sure is made evident by my historical blogs) I am a pretty hard core democrat. I'm very pro-choice, highly supportive of marriage equality and while I do not oppose guns, I support gun regulation. Fiscally I'm a little more moderate. My point in drawing attention to this is because I think it contradicts the fact that I am happy that Republicans took the Senate last night.
Let's face it, Washington has been at a stand-still for a number of years. Republicans have held the House, while democrats have held the Senate and the White House. Neither party agrees on anything and both parties have made it a point to completely oppose anything the other tries to pass. As a result the productivity in our Nation's capital, specifically in Congress, has stopped.
While President Obama (whom I support) still holds 1600 Pennsylvania Ave down, the Republicans are now in control of both segments of Congress. This means that very few potential laws to be will not make it to Obama's desk. He will be faced with two choices: 1) He can sign off on the bill, creating new laws; and 2) He will reject it. I think Barack is a rational human being. He understands how low his approval ratings sit and he knows that if he refuses to play ball, they will sink even lower. I therefore think that the majority of the time, he will choose option 1. If this ends up being the case, his last two years in office could be (from a domestic standpoint) his most productive stretch.
I'd like to end this by drawing attention to the fact that B.O. has really done a pretty good job thus far as our Chief. Our economy is one of really only two developed economies in the Western world that is experiencing decent, consistent growth. Our unemployment is the lowest its been since before the Great Recession. I believe the wage stagnation we are experiencing could become problematic, but that is no fault of Obama's, as he has actively sought to increase the minimum wage.
While I think his eight years in office have been solid, I do not disagree that a change of pace could be refreshing. I just hope that our President has the guts to grease the wheels in Washington... And kickstart our government once again.
