Below The Beltway

One would have thought that the Republican Party would have learned something from its defeat on November 7th. Apparently, that is not the case.
Congress?s pork gravy train rolls on despite promises to slow or stop it. As Congress returns to finish the final 11 appropriations bills for fiscal year 2007, it will take up House [...]

In today’s Washington Post, Bob Novak tells why, once again, the GOP qualifies as the stupid party:
The depleted House Republican caucus, a minority in the next Congress, convenes in the Capitol at 8 a.m. Friday on the brink of committing an act of supreme irrationality. The House members blame their leadership for their tasting the [...]

The dead may vote in Chicago, but in some parts of the country they run for office, and win.
It happened in North Carolina:
MONROE, N.C. (AP) — A candidate for a county board who appeared in newspaper ads the weekend before the election sailed to victory with 12,000 votes - despite being dead for a [...]

This morning’s Washington Post profiles Stan Jones, the Montana Libertarian Party Senate candidate who may have cost Conrad Burns re-election:
BOZEMAN, Mont. — Stan Jones, a Montana libertarian widely known for his peculiar blue skin, can arguably be said to have recast the political complexion of the U.S. Senate, turning it from Republican red to the [...]

In an article published on Election Day, Reason Magazine asked Congressman Jeff Flake, a member of the Republican class of 1994 2000 and of the Republican Liberty Caucus, what happened to the Republican revolution that started in 1994. His response, was, in a word, depressing:
Reason: Whatever happened to the class of ?94?
Flake: I think Republicans [...]

Apparently, the public no longer considers the GOP the party of small government:
The Club for Growth today released new survey data that shows the Republican Party has completely lost its brand as the party of limited government and low spending. The poll is instructive since it surveyed voter attitudes in 15 battleground districts where neither [...]

This time from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei:
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday called U.S. President George W. Bush’s defeat in congressional elections a victory for Iran.
Bush has accused Iran of trying to make a nuclear bomb, being a state sponsor of terrorism and stoking sectarian conflict in Iraq, [...]

There may still be votes to count in the Buckeye State, but that doesn’t mean you have to count every day:
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — In a state chided by visiting comedian Jon Stewart last week for its football obsession, vote counting is being sidelined during the much-anticipated Ohio State-Michigan game.
The decision by county election officials [...]

This wasn’t supposed to have happened. Even before Virginia Democrats picked Senator-Elect Jim Webb as their nominee, the conventional wisdom was that the Democratic nominee would be a sacrificial lamb. Allen had been a popular Governor who became the only Republican to unseat a sitting Democratic Senator during the 2000 elections. His approval ratings were [...]

Much has been written, and much will continue to be written, about what happened on Tuesday and why the Republican Congressional majority that was created in the revolution of 1994 crumbled so quickly in 2006, but I don’t think anyone has said it better than the man who led that revolution twelve short years ago:
After [...]