It seems all but certain with the 2010 election only 48 hours away that the Republicans are going to make substantial gains, likely retaking a majority in the House of Representatives, narrowing the Democratic advantage in the Senate to less than a handful of seats, adding many governorships to the red side of the political ledger, and picking up hundreds of state offices and legislative seats previously held by Democrats. In normal times, such an electoral outcome would be hailed as a great victory for the winners and a solid mandate from voters to carry out the successful party’s platform.
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But these are not normal times and Tuesday’s election results will be anything but an endorsement of either of the country’s two major parties or the professional politicians who lead them. That much ought to be clear by the responses received by pollster Scott Rasmussen when he asked 1,000 likely voters how they would vote if they had the option of getting rid of the entire current Congress and starting over. Two out of three, or 65 percent, said they would oust them all and start fresh. This should come as no surprise, as other pollsters are hearing similar messages, with congressional approval now at historic lows. And the situation is little better for President Obama, whose approval ratings have now dipped into the 30s and with solid majorities calling for repeal of Obamacare and declaring his economic stimulus program to be a failure.
Besides the intense public opposition to Obamacare and other signature Obama policies like “card check” and the failed cap-and-trade energy bill, it’s not hard to see why the public is so disgusted with business as usual in the nation’s capital. Consider the latest report by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who reviewed Government Accounting Office studies and found the federal government sending billions of tax dollars to dead people every year, including these examples:
* The Department of Agriculture sent $1.1 billion in farming subsidies to deceased farmers.
* The Social Security Administration sent $18 million in stimulus funds to 71,688 dead people and $40.3 million in questionable benefit payments to 1,760 dead people.
* The Department of Health and Human Services sent 11,000 dead people $3.9 million in assistance to pay heating and cooling costs.
* Medicare paid as much as $92 million in claims for medical supplies prescribed by dead doctors and $8.2 million for medical supplies prescribed for dead patients.
Such out-of-control Washington spending happens no matter which party is in power because the federal government long ago grew far beyond what America needs, much less its constitutional boundaries. Therein lies the message for the GOP: Voters seem willing to give you one more chance to do what you’ve promised for decades — cut federal spending, reform entitlements, and restore limited government. Don’t blow it.
