Wednesday, October 20, 2010

October 20, 2010

     Listen up, voters!  The important off-year election is just days away.  Except maybe it isn't.  Isn't important, that is.
 
     I'm a retired reporter, so I've not been out this year talking to voters and candidates.  The consensus among those who have seems to be that the Republicans may well win control of the House and perhaps of the Senate too.  Will that matter much?
 
     It will certainly discourage President Obama from introducing major new legislation during the second two years of his term.  If he does introduce such proposals, he'll have a harder time getting a Republican Congress to approve them.
 
     Will it have any effect on the major laws passed during his first two years?  Probably not.  There's been
some talk about repealing the health care bill.  Very, very tough. Sure, a Republican Congress could vote for repeal-assuming they could get around the Senate rules which make it difficult for that body to do anything at all.  But then President Obama could veto their repeal.  It takes a two-thirds majority vote in both House and Senate to override a presidential veto. 
Republicans are very unlikely to have majorities that big.
 
     So health care, at least, is probably here to stay.

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