02:03:10 pm on
Monday 04 Nov 2024

Eventually
AJ Robinson

The election is fast approaching and I hear all kinds of pundits and pollsters making predictions. Some are sure the Republicans will take the Senate and hold the House. Others think the Democrats will control the Senate. Some even think the Democrats can get the House back. The way I look at it, there are many possible outcomes all leading to one result.

Let’s look at how things are shaping up and where they might lead. The worst-case scenario is the GOP getting the House and the Senate. If that happens, we can count on a long list of stupid bills sent to the president for him to veto. Of course, even putting the Dems in the minority, they can still filibuster and stop some of the dumber bills from getting through. That is if the GOP Senators don’t change the rules of the Senate, which they might. Politics could be bleak for the next two years.


I’m not worried.

Now, in the unlikely event that the Dems hold the Senate and get the House back, then we’ll see some action taken, Washington. All of the important critical issues and more addressed, argued and voted. That is truly the best-case scenario, but I’m not optimistic.


If it doesn’t happen, I’m not too worried.

Another scenario is for the Dems to keep the Senate and the GOP the House, which I think is far more likely. In that case, we’ll get more of what we’ve had for the last few years. Shall I run down the list? Let’s see: no effort on raising the minimum wage, women’s issues will be ignored or even pushed back, they’ll be still more meaningless votes on repealing the Affordable Care Act and they’ll be nothing done on infrastructure. Here are few more will-not-get-done items: no funding of education or relief for student debt, but much talk about cutting the taxes of the rich. Voting rights and dealing with Citizens United ignored, as will dealing with immigration and there’ll be absolutely nothing done regarding Climate Change. Massive cuts implemented to education, Food Stamps, veterans’ affairs and so on. Of course, when these cuts lead to hardships, the GOP will blame Obama.

This Congress was the least productive in the nation’s history, which explains why its approval rating ranks somewhere between getting a root canal without anesthesia and a barium enema! Well, the GOP will see to it that we look back on this Congress fondly. We’ll just limp along, with the economy slowly improving, the deficit going down and more women and men getting healthcare. Things will be tough for the poor, the Middle Class, hungry children, teachers and union workers, while the rich will get even richer. In other words, it’s more of a GOP paradise.


I’m not worried.

My reason for not worrying comes from yet another saying: This too shall pass. Yes, the GOP might cause trouble for the next two years, but time marches on and the 2016 election will eventually take place. When that happens, some changes will occur.

I truly think that a presidential election is just the impetus people need to get out and vote, especially if they must endure another two years of the GOP doing nothing. I think that’ll be the final straw that breaks their camel’s back.

That means that the next democrat president, oh, and it will be a democrat that goes into the White House in 2016, likely with a solid Senate and maybe even a House on his or her side. Though Obama might have a lackluster final two years in office, the next democrat president will be able to get some things done.

That’s why I’m not worried. Yes, there are many possible outcomes to the coming election, but they all lead to one result: government finally getting down to the business of governing.

Combining the gimlet-eye of Philip Roth with the precisive mind of Lionel Trilling, AJ Robinson writes about what goes bump in the mind, of 21st century adults. Raised in Boston, with summers on Martha's Vineyard, AJ now lives in Florida. Working, again, as an engineeer, after years out of the field due to 2009 recession and slow recovery, Robinson finds time to write. His liberal, note the small "l," sensibilities often lead to bouts of righteous indignation, well focused and true. His teen vampire adventure novel, "Vampire Vendetta," will publish in 2020. Robinson continues to write books, screenplays and teleplays and keeps hoping for that big break.

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