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During midterm elections the President’s party almost always loses Congressional seats in both houses of Congress. Nevertheless, with President Donald J. Trump in office Republicans have actually increased their Senate majority, including ousting the Democrat incumbent senator in Florida among other Republican pickups.
In the races for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, Republicans have lost less seats than analysts predicted and Democrats expected.
In gubernatorial races Republicans have surprisingly held unto governorships that the Democrats had anticipated winning. The Republicans started out playing defense as they already controlled the vast majority of governors before the election. Republicans won the gubernatorial races in the major swing states of Florida, Ohio and Georgia that Democrats thought they’d pocket.
In summation, the anticipated so-called “Blue Wave” has failed to materialize.
I don’t know. It looks a lot worse than what I thought. I never believed Republicans would lose the Senate, but I think most of us expected the Democrat success in the house to be less than the “analysts” and “pollsters” were predicting. These are probably the same analysts would told us Kasich would win the 2016 primary against Trump and that Hillary would win the 2016 election by a landslide.
This time, they were actually more correct, unfortunately. Seems like a pretty big victory for them. However, I don’t see how they could get in their beloved tax hikes or anything else they want to do while only controlling the house and nothing else.
Local government matters more and is worse.
I agree, but I mean whatever. New York was liberal before and now it’s liberal again. I don’t think anything is really going to change.
As for those posters who’s locality is Lakewood, there are already plenty of threads about their local government.
In New York, even the Republicans are liberal. But they still don’t win.
The anti-Trump media proclaimed a “blue wave”, which did not happen. The Republicans did as well as would normally be expected if one didn’t listen to the “Resistance” (and the “Resistance” generally only listens to itself). Given the excessive number of Democrats in the group of Senators running (due to the results in 2006 and 2012, both good years for Democrats), the Democrats should have had lower expectations to begin with.
The bottom line is the government may have to be more frugal since approval of both parties is needed to spend anything, or to change taxes – but that Trump can appoint people he likes to the courts with ease (meaning more originalists focusing on the text of the law, rather than on policy issues).
Joey’s analysis is generally correct although I’d say there was definitely a pushback against the Trumpkpof’s policies. What it really highlighted is the growing cultural divide in the country between urban/suburban and rural districts which are more polarized than ever. If the Trumpkopf follows course, as I expect he will do in his news conference this AM, he will use rhetoric designed to further inflame the divide and talk only to his chassidim living in the red districts and demonize everyone else.
Neville: With the Dems in control of the State Senate, New York will now be more liberal than ever. Compounding that shift is the unfortunate fact that the Democrat caucus is more liberal than ever since several conservative Democrats were defeated in the Democrat primaries by far left challengers.
Gadol: When you use the word “Trumpkopf” in all of your posts it makes them sound really intelligent and well thought-out. Keep it up, buddy.
But, what you said about urban vs. rural voters is very true. Even though the democrats gained a bunch of seats, if you look at a map for the congressional vote, it’s like 90% red. There’s just these few major cities that end up controlling the fate of the country.
Joseph,
The Republican talking point was that they were not going to lose the house. So Losing the House is a Major Loss and a sign that the Blue Wave has begun.
“Republican National Committee (RNC) spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said last Thursday that she believes the GOP will likely lose House seats in November’s midterm elections.
“I do think we’ll lose seats in the House. I think we’ll end up keeping it,” McEnany told Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti on “Rising.”The Democrat’s won the House and also 6 (so far) Governor’s mansions.
The Blue Wave has changed the dynamics of this administration.
Trump is no longer going to be able to do whatever he wants with a complicit House rubber stamping everything.
Investigations are going to be real and get to the truth.
The checks and balance system that this country was founded on will finally be back in place.Together with the liberal wave is the trashing of things that we hold near and dear – moral values. The garbage that will result from this will affect every Yid. We still have tefilos that HKB”H should direct the operations of government – לב מלך ושרים ביד ה.
Here in CT
All Satewide offices went to Dems
The Dems took back the State Senate with a commanding majority and increased majority in the house. Many long time Republican legislators lost
All Congress Members and Senator…DEMHow is this worse than expected?
To Know Little…if you regard this President as the paradigm of the “moral values” you hold near and dear (I’ll spare the details on a family-oriented website) than we have to truly wonder what moral compass you are operating from. Even the most pro-Trumpkopf Christian Evangelical leaders have been honest about having to hold their noses, put their moral values on hold and support the President simply because they value his judicial appointments more than anything else. In their view, and perhaps yours, the ends justify the means.
The Little I know:
Republican’s have a monopoly on morality ?
Do they show concern for healthcare for all ? Even with pre-existing conditions ?
Do they want to take care of people needing SS, Medicaid and Medicare? Or take away their benefits?
Did they lower taxes for the rich and drive up the deficit?
Are AR-15’s in the hands of mass murders a good idea ?
My Torah has a lot of laws that deal with a moral code – not dealing exclusively with the toevah part.A little closer to home (for those who live in New York) – how does the Democratic takeover of the NYS Senate impact Simcha Felder? He single-handedly gave the Republicans control of the Senate over the past several months, even though he’s officially a Democrat. Now that the Democrats are in control and don’t need him, how likely are they to take revenge?
Not good for the Frum community.
an Israeli Yid
The ability to speak the language of working-class people even if it makes the preppy, ivory-tower-dwellers gag does not show low moral character. I find blue collar people to generally be morally superior even if their language is more coarse sometimes.
Keeping people employed, making sure they keep more of their money, treating our allies better than our enemies, and making sure the hammer of justice comes down hard of law-breakers are all inherently moral traits if you ask me. And, they’re all things the liberals hate about President Trump. There’s a special defensiveness that comes with knowing you’re wrong.
But, no matter, you guys won the day. I agree with jackk and CTL. Conservatives shouldn’t refuse to admit defeat; that’s exactly what we’ve been accusing the liberals of doing since 2016.
Base Republicans did better than mods; moderate dems did better than base dems
jackk
Judaism is a pyramid
So while you do have a valid point certain things are much closer to the Pinnacle than othersNeville….I agree entirely if it was just “coarseness” but you confuse “coarseness” with lies, vulgarity and personal deprecation . Even in the times of Chazal, we knew that different rabbonim had their own literary style and some would make a mashol on a very high and stately level and others would bring down a more “earthy’ analogy to make their point but I don’t recall ever reading words of deprecation about physical characteristics, racial/ethnic attributes etc. Same throughout our history. I doubt many poishete (aka blue collar) yidden are confused with respect to the moral differences between simply using “coarse language” versus vulgarity, acknowledged adultery, multiple allegations of abusive behavior towards women, rationalizing the behavior of white nationalists etc. If moving the Embassy from Tel Aviv to Yerushalayim is all that matters, than Neville is 100 percent correct.
Neville,
The late William F. Buckley Jr’s famous quip ‘he would rather trust the first 200[rural]
people in a phonebook than 200 members of the faculty of Harvard’ comes to mindanIsraeliYid
Judaism in America still revolves around those in the state of New York
Is more to worry here about than most comprehend
(paying attention as most are to national results )This is the first time in half century! Democrats control all three governorship Senate and assembly
This might just be beginning of the end
Sure, the numbers will continue to increase,
but the vitality the spiritIt is time for Truth :
Who told you the pyramid for America ?
Murder is one of the big 3. How good are the NRA and the Republican’s at preventing it?
Avoda Zara is also one of the big 3. Any laws preventing it ?The Republican platform does not punish or even make illegal the toevah behaviors! They are not more moral. It is a bluff.
In truth, Democrats and Republicans are similar in that both have representatives with strong family values and some are sewers.
Do not hold up the Republican party as a paragon of morality.It is time for Truth,
Please tell me the end of this posuk and the next posuk in Yechezkel.
Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned …The Democrats don’t have a good solution for the healthcare problem.
@ jack,
You’ve injected chunks of misinformation into your comments , but let’s focus on this :“……Do they show concern for healthcare for all ? Even with pre-existing conditions ?
Do they want to take care of people needing SS, Medicaid and Medicare? Or take away their benefits?….”You don’t think you’re getting away with this one, do you?
President Trump in every single one of his rallies clearly emphasized the pre-condition insurance….. Said it very s-l-o-w–l-y, in fact.. The thousands who lined up at 4:00 at the arenas heard it loud and clear.
Same with SS, Medicaid, Medicare…. Spoke endlessly during the 2016 about the broken Obama health system
( Nancy Pelosi……Pass it even if we don’t know what’s in it) and it was John McCain who
spoiled it…. Take away benefits? Where’dje hear that one?But your style of questioning is eerily similar to:
Did you stop beating your wife ??
When did you last stop robbing banks?
Are you still sneaking vodka into the office?ZionGate:
You have never heard of a rhetorical question?
I use them to open your eyes to the truth of the Republican party.The Democrats.passed the ACA bill. The Republicans voted 100% against it.
They get zero credit for pre-existing conditionsThe Republian’s recently tried to repeal the ACA without replacing it. If you repeal the ACA- the law on pre-existing conditions is gone.
I do agree that the Republican’s realized after the Democrats passed the ACA that American’s love parts of it like the provision on pre-existing conditions and also the provision on insurance including dependents under 26.
The Graham-Cassidy bill got the closest to the new Republican view on the two. It kept the under 26 provision but allowed states the ability to opt-out of requirements that insurers charge the same premiums for healthy and sick customers.Medicare and Medicaid were also passed by the Democrats. Once the Democrats passed them, the Republican’s realized their value.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell recently said that to get the federal budget deficit under control — the deficit grew to $779 billion in fiscal year 2018, the largest since 2012 — Congress needs to reform entitlements such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
In laymen’s terms That means that they are spending too much on them and there have to be cuts.My point is that a major amount of the chesed that the malchus shel chesed does is because of laws that the Democrats have passed – not the Republicans.
The elephant in the room is that the pre-existing conditions clause is one of the reasons everyone else’s healthcare prices are skyrocketing. If it were so simple, why wouldn’t someone have done it a long time ago? Getting rid of the individual mandate would actually make things worse in this regard, so there isn’t a simple solution there, but I’m not hearing on from you jackk. You seem to be just wanting us to feel indebted to the Democrats as though they’ve made insurance problems go away. Millions of people are a lot poorer now thanks to the ACA and your party seems to have no concern or plan to fix it.
Also, Medicare and Medicaid have existed since before a lot of us here were born. I have no idea why you’re talking like today’s Democrat politicians just got them passed.
.Neville: …”Millions of people are a lot poorer now thanks to the ACA and your party seems to have no concern or plan to fix it.”
Source….daf XXX, amud YY???
Neither HHS nor the CBO has been able to demonstrate any direct correlation between enactment of the ACA and various measures of income or wealth either among directly affected rating groups (i.e. those entitled to ACA subsidies based on income, those ineligible or the larger pool of insureds who purchase in the regular group, individual insurance or COBRA markets). Heritage Foundation actually did some really good emperical work but the income effects were so small, they never published it widely although I think its still available on their website (data is stale from 2015).Jackk………………..
Medicare and Social Security are NOT entitlements…please stop repeating that lie.
They are self funded through workers’ and employers’ contributions.
The Congress has raided the Social Security of Trillions of dollars, now McConnell and company want to complete the theft instead of repaying the loan by reducing benefits not paid by the government.CTLAWYER,
I don’t remember calling them entitlements. Thanks for the explanation of how the 2 systems were set up. My point was that the benefit that American’s enjoy from the 2 systems was legislated by Democrats.
Neville,
Many Jews are under the false impression that the Republicans are the only party that represents the Torah’s moral values. My point is that Democrats represent many of the Torah’s moral values.
I do understand if people are of the opinion that the anti-toevah stance of the Republican’s trumps the Democrat’s assist all humanity stance. I just politely disagree.
That was actually a good catch by CTL, which is ironic because he’s a Democrat also, I think.
It’s certain old-guard-type republicans who want to turn those programs into something more like entitlements. Chris Chistie even said in the first primary debate in 2016 that he would have made SS “needs-based,” like welfare. That means those who saved up responsibly for retirement would have been robbed by the government.
Gadol: It’s pretty easy to find articles about ACA causing premiums to rise all over the place. I think Democrats even admitted it in the 2016 election when they were still interested in discussing real solutions. I find it hard to believe that you’ve never met a single person who had their premiums go up after the ACA, and telling people their problems are all mythical is not a good way to get votes (although I realize this does seem to be the Democratic party’s main strategy and it worked in this midterm election somehow).
It’s curious how people think it’s the Dems that are taking care of pre-existing conditions.
In fact it’s the opposite the Dems are really dangerous for the medical care of the entire USA.You see I have a pre-existing condition. A really serious one that at first required a 3 week hospitilaztion and yearly follow ups and tests.
I was also misdiagnosed at first in a local hospital and it almost cost me my life.
After I was rushed to a major Manhattan hospital a team of really good Doctors figured out what my rare condition was and treated it. Boruch Hashem.However the one of the main Doctors called in to my case was recruited out of Israel.
He came here because in the socialized Israeli Healthcare system he could make nothing while in the USA he could.
That is how many of the top Doctors wind up here.My case is anecdotal but it reflects a reality that has been documented.
There is a Doctor shortage, a chief reason for it is because to become a top doctor is hard and requires over a decade of study.
It’s also expensive, one of my Doctors graduated Columbia over 1 million dollars in debt!
He told me very frankly he works hard making life or death decisions every day . His love of medicine is enough to compensate for the fact he is making less then Wall Street tycoons, but only because he is still making a nice amount of money doing what he does.
If he started making what Doctors in socialized medicine were making he is out.
That is the reality of socialized medicine it is cheap. It is equal.
It’s like Communism.
Communism ensured everyone was equal .
They were all equally poor.I also for the life of me do not understand how Donald Trump is called a liar and Barack Obama is simply glossed over.
Barack Obama campaigned hard for the ACA he claimed if it passed you could keep your Doctor
That was false as everyone who had an inkling of economics knew and repeatedly pointed out.
Instead of admitting it he accused them of fear mongering.He stated that the ACA would cut the average cost of Health Insurance by 2400$.
That was falseAgain it was pointed out that it was impossible.
Again he accused Republicans of fear mongering rather then admitting to his repeated falsehoods.His falsehoods passed a bill that cost Americans thousands of dollars a year.
Di he ever apologize?THe Dems now keep claiming falsly that only the ACA ensures coverage for pre-existing conditions.
That is also blatantly false.I know because I was diagnosed and hospitalized before passage of the bill.
If one can prove to have had continuous coverage it was illegal for Insurance companies to deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
That was true before the bill passed.
What the bill does allow is that someone could not have had coverage can go to the Doctor be diagnosed with a horrible illness walk outside call a health insurance provider and get coverage.
The same coverage as a healthy person.
There is not even a penalty involved.Ben – why should he apologize when his supporters are happy to tell you it never happened!
Now I can understand how as a country there can be a moral imperative to ensure coverage availability for all.
However I cannot understand how my Health Insurance is the same as a Healthy person?
I can understand why it cannot be the “full cost” of my continued care.
That would be simply out of reach for all but the wealthiest person who gets sick.
But why can it not be that Insurance companies are allowed to charge more, say up to 25% ,based on a sliding income scale, for those who have serious pre-existing conditions?Yes it would be greater costs for the 5% of Americans who consume 50% of the health care in this country.
But guess what.
Doctors cost money.
Medicine cost money.And it is simply unaffordable for the vast majority of Americans to subsidize others Health Care in it’s entirety.
And such a income scale would ensure that all could afford Health Care.
And it would bring down the cost of Insurance for those in the middle class who are healthy and currently cannot afford Health insurance at all.Ben L,
BH , you are healthy now.
Obama’s lie is not glossed over and he acknowledged it and did apologize exactly 5 years ago- “I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me,” he told NBC News in an exclusive interview.
Hi
That is not the apology I would expect.
Rather I would expect an apology that goes something like this.
I apologize to the Republican conference and the many conservative pundits.
It was wrong of me to constantly demonize them and accuse them of fear mongering.
In fact they were simply telling the truth about the inevitable consequences of this bill.
It was not the “politics of fear”.
Rather the politics of realityThank you for you comment about my recovery.
However I am not healthy now it the conventional sense.
I have ongoing side effects and require constant monitoring.
So for me this Health Care debate is very very real with real world consequences.
It is precisely my first hand experiences with the US health system that forces me to vote Republican because the democratic health care proposals are dangerous int he extreme.
That is not politics of fear, it is simply acknowledgment of reality.Jackk,
That was supposed to be a serious response!?
sure there are Mavericks .
I tacitly supported the conservative Democrat van Drew in South Jersey
but those are exceptions that almost prove the rule these daysMany people act inappropriately ?
But do they realign the whole world to fit with their indiscretions and flaunt it ?!
Or do they attempt to realign their indiscretions or at least their children’s to fit a better world?As the old french proverb” hypocrisy is the tribute that Vice pays to virtue”
Go ahead ask any educated Foreigner and what each party stands for and what are their goals
People should only have real health insurance, not all-encompassing “health plans”.
Ben L,
Everybody, including Republicans, want to reign in healthcare costs.
It is time for truth:
I do not understand your response.
Please quote what I said and your response to it.Jackk, I agree with your point that it’s a mistake to vote Republican because you think they’re inherently more moral. That is not why I vote how I do. I will say, I don’t think it’s quite as simple as people liking the Republicans’ stance on abortion and such. There’s a clear pattern of liberals (not necessarily democrat politicians) who seem to want to support anything that was once considered wrong. It’s just change for the purposes of change. I think this is more what people are reacting to. However, I admit it’s more liberal journalists pushing these things than it is politicians.
I also concede that you are right about Obama admitting to some of the flaws of the ACA. When Hillary was running, she said she wanted to make changes to it; Bernie wanted to throw it out altogether. The question is, what happened to the Democratic party’s ability to criticize itself? Why are they now talking like all these things are a godsend and have no flaws?
Obama’s lie is not glossed over and he acknowledged it and did apologize exactly 5 years ago- “I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me,” he told NBC News in an exclusive interview.
Obama passed HealthCare “reform” by lying not about more then a single component.
Rather he lied about the entirety of the Bill.Lie 1: He claimed pre-existing conditions were not covered.
That is patently false, as I wrote above. Even before the ACA as long as one could prove continuous coverage the provider could not deny them coverage.That in fact is what happened to me.
I had switched health plans shortly before I got sick and my provider had me prove that i had continuos coverage. When I did they actually paid out over a million dollars for my care.
Lie 2: Republicans were unjustly promoting fear and lying about the bill.
They were not.
Virtually all claims from it’s opponents were proven correct.Lie 3: The ACA will cut the costs of health care by 2400 dollars
That was proven laughable, the real costs ballooned for everybody to the point that Middle Class Americans who make to much to qualify for government programs simply cannot afford insurance at all.Lie 4: If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor.
Again laughably false and the one untruth that Obama copped to once.So Obama lied and demonized to pass a partisan bill that actually had bi-partisan opposition in the House of Representatives and made life significantly worse for millions of Americans and yet it is President Trump who the media says is a liar?
Ben L,
“Pre-existing conditions” was understood by all to mean existing before you were covered with health insurance. That was never a lie.
The ACA has been the law for 8 years. Republicans were forecasting that it would die on its own accord. It hasn’t. It is still healthy and robust and working. That is why the Republican’s are no longer running to repeal or replace it.
Lie 3. I agree that was a lie. But healthcare costs were going up anyway. So what it your point ?Are you saying that since Obama lied about the ACA so Trump gets a pass whenever he wants to lie ?
Actually not.
The overwhelming majority of people with pre-existing conditions are people such as myself I had insurance and then was diagnosed.
I was protected before the ACA and would continue to be protected if it was re-pealed.The !30 million people that Nancy Pelosi talked about protecting during her Victory speech are a bald faced lie.
There were a small amount of people who never had coverage and were diagnosed.
The ACA forces insurance companies to offer them coverage at exact same price as a customer who had continuous coverage for years.Those people have no penalty, no fine and no added cost.
That is what is one of the main drivers of cost and is patently ridiculous as. well as is the cause of millions of healthy Americans not being able to purchase insurance
jackk, I wouldn’t call that a defense for Trump lying either, but at least he gave an example of Obama possibly lying. You have yet to give one example of Trump lying to the people. You, like the media, just keep repeating it over and over like it’s common knowledge that needs no evidence.
The results appear to be alot worse for the GOP than originally seemed
The Dems look to gain 35 house seats, if all hold up as it seems
And now it seems the Arizona Senate seat will flip to the Dems (The democrat is now leading) and the Florida seat is up in the air with the GOP Leading
If Florida remains as a Dem , then the GOP will only gain 1 Senate seat and if Florida flips to the GOP then the GOP only got 2 Senate seats and the next 2 elections are more favorable to the Dems
ZD; They didn’t finish counting all the votes in Arizona let alone a recount. Just because the Dem took a slight lead yesterday doesn’t mean she’ll win. The numbers may seesaw back and forth until the final numbers are in.
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