- The Washington Times - Monday, October 25, 2010

To be ready for Election Day, savvy shoppers already have stocked up on sympathy cards from the Capitol Gift Shop. Current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, will be most in need of cheering up, as she is unlikely to wield a gavel next year. The only question, according to the polls, is whether Republicans can defy the odds and sweep the tight races needed to wrest control of the Senate, too. Either way, it’s best to have a card prepared for current Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who’s trailing Republican challenger Sharron Angle in the most recent surveys.

That public sentiment has shifted away from Democrats is hardly surprising. The rhetoric of hope and change lifted spirits in the euphoric days of President Obama’s inauguration. Now the reality has sunk in that beneath the lofty words on the teleprompter were endless spending sprees. People have seen firsthand that the public sector expands only at the expense of private-sector growth. Voters intuitively realize this unsustainable path is going to cost them.

In fact, every American taxpayer will have to make the equivalent of a $1,035 monthly Obama payment solely to cover the cost of the president’s spending excess. That’s the monthly share, per taxpayer, of the $3 trillion in debt that Mr. Obama has accumulated since he moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. What are Americans receiving in return for their monthly Obama obligation of $1,035? Aside from shiny highway signs advertising the benefit of the so-called “stimulus,” not much. Crony capitalists on the “green” energy gravy train are better off, but most Americans see nothing but near double-digit unemployment and a stagnant economy on the horizon.

That’s why a Rasmussen Reports poll released yesterday found that an overwhelming 83 percent of Americans think that massive spending cuts, such as those announced last week in Britain, will happen in the United States. A Gallup survey released Friday concluded that 73 percent of Americans think business is more efficient than government. In removing Mrs. Pelosi from her post, the public is rejecting the Obama agenda of sacrificing the private-sector economy on the altar of Big Government.

The Tea Party movement has energized voters concerned about spending and the size and power of the bureaucracy. Regardless of the final outcome of their individual races on Nov. 2, these newcomers to the national stage can hold their heads high. So long as the issues of the day are spending and the economy, Democrats don’t stand a chance. Perhaps, then, it’s not too early to pick up a sympathy card for Mr. Obama.

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