so far, not too awful bad... SO FAR

here's a first... and something you can be sure you wont see much more of here... a political post. yesterday i was set to go with this little masterpiece i put together at some sign generator site...
... but i decided against it. dont get me wrong... seeing nancy pelosi on tv yesterday in her first appearance as speaker of the house, looking for all the world like she'd just won an academy award, gave me a VERY uneasy feeling. but reading the online news this morning, i was rather impressed with a few things that have happened so far (the supremely arrogant charles rangel booting dick cheney out of his office notwithstanding).

for starters, the house voted 430-1 to ban lawmakers from accepting gifts and free trips from lobbyists (republican dan burton of indiana was the "1"... whats his deal??)

then there's the PAYGO rule, which requires tax cuts to have corresponding cuts in government spending or tax increases elsewhere to pay for them (personally i prefer the former). i'm no economist, but just from working the ol' household budget i know enough to know if you're going to decrease the income source, you better decrease the spending too, or else find another source of income. that aint rocket science, yet republicans, who are supposed to be for smaller government, managed to run up record deficits since the '94 GOP takever (and more specifically, since bush took office). for democrats, the downside to PAYGO is that it endangers their efforts to cut student loan rates and increase medicare benefits.

also, on a somewhat related note, the house passed a rule-change that requires congressmen to publicy disclose their support for pet projects (now referred to as "earmarks" although i've always been rather partial to the term PORK ). according to folks whose job it is to keep track of these things, pork barrel projects have been the main culprit in runaway spending and the resulting deficits we're saddled with today.

so, i'm somewhat encouraged by these two developments, and even more encouraged by the fact that a number of republican voted for the rule-changes as well. suddenly it seems that democrats are becoming fiscal conservatives. but the other shoe hasnt dropped yet. dems are traditionally tax-and-spend, and i suspect that even though they seem to want to curb spending right now, there's still the matter of president bush's tax cuts which are due to expire in 2010. dont look for a democrat-led congress to renew those, and dont be surprised if at some point they even try to repeal them before that time. and dont say i didnt tell you so if they actually increase taxes at some point.

of course, there's also the matter of their social and ethical agenda, which is horrific. from abortion rights to embryonic stem cell research to their interpretation of the establishment clause to entitlement programs, the democratic party is a disaster.

so maybe they're just riding the wave right now. i remember when republicans took control of congress in '94, it was euphoric... the "contract with america"! but you know what they say (actually "they" would be lord acton in this case)... "power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely." back then, democrats joked that it was more like the "contract ON america" and in the end, it sort of turned out that way to some extent. it took roughly 40 years for the country to finally get fed up with the way the democrats were running the show, yet it only took 12 years for voters to get sick of republican leadership... not very encouraging. and with another possible supreme court vacancy to fill in the next few years, i'm not the least bit optimistic that we'll keep the slim conservative majority there... so much for overturning roe v. wade.

these things run in cycles though, and the country's love affair with democrats will wane over time, and one of these days the tide will turn again. i hope we'll have learned some lessons in that time. of course it was the unpopularity of the war in iraq that got the republicans in a bind, but ethics violations, moral failures and just plain ARROGANCE were a part of the problem too.

jeff noble often espouses community involvement over at monticello live, and that's one of the things that makes this country great... ANYONE can have influence, whether on the local level or the national stage. after watching the promise of the '94 republican revolution turn just plain revolting, the need for more Christians to get involved in government is more urgent than ever. at the very least, GET OUT AND VOTE YOUR CONVICTIONS! voter turnout among Christians is traditionally very low, despite the fact that the Christian vote is often credited with putting president bush, and republicans in general, in office to beging with. dont lose faith in the system. we still have the best form of government of any country in the world... its just a matter of getting the right person for the job, regardless of party loyalty.

IF YOU'RE NOT REGISTERED TO VOTE, GET OUT THERE AND DO IT! IF YOU ARE REGISTERED, DO YOUR HOMEWORK, RESEARCH THE CANDIDATES AND GO VOTE YOUR CONVICTIONS!! after all, its the only way to earn the right to complain...