qondio.com/prcM

The "Donkey" or the "Elephant"

By Frederick Corrigan

6:44 am, Jan. 19, 2010 and history will be made, by the voters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, starting in sixteen minutes. This was my first thought, as I looked at the clock, just before I rolled out of bed.

Today the people of Massachusetts will go to the polls and cast their votes in a “Special Election”. This election is between Republican Scott Brown and Democrat Martha Coakley. This election is required, due to the passing of the late Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

The outcome of this election could have a very dramatic effect on the balance of congress. Presently, the Democrats have the majority in the House of Representatives and also have a 60 seat super majority in the Senate. This, in addition to the fact that President Barack Obama is a democrat, means that the democrats are controlling America. A situation such as this has not happened in America for many years.

The biggest issue in congress right now is the National Healthcare Bill. If the democrats win the senate seat then the healthcare bill would stand an excellent chance of passing. However, if the republicans win, there is a very good possibility that the bill will not pass. The one republican vote would eliminate the democratic majority in the senate, and allow the republicans to force the democrats to ‘hold’, on passing the bill. Does the phrase,”Every Vote Counts”, have meaning? Could one vote stop millions of American citizens from receiving healthcare?

Special elections tend to draw relatively few voters, but republicans and democrats predict a high turnout today. A very close race is expected and the both candidate’s workers will be on the phones all day reminding citizens to vote. The polling places will be open from 7 AM to 8 Pm today.

My wife and I did all of our daily chores and duties and then drove to the polling place at our local school to cast our votes. We are part of history today, as one vote could change the balance of power, for the next 2 1/2 years, until the next national elections.

The entire country is watching and the future of democrats in congress could be affected in the next national elections in November, 2012.

The Elephant is the symbol of the Republican Party and the Donkey is the symbol of the Democratic Party.

It is now 3:30 pm and the polls close at 8 PM. Now we wait and then the votes will be counted.

TIME------% REPORTING-----------BROWN---------COAKLEY
8:13------------1%---------------56%------------43%
8:30------------4%---------------52%------------47%
8:55------------44%--------------52%------------47%
9:12------------65%--------------53%------------46%
9:27------------80%--------------52%------------47%
9:57------------94%--------------52%------------47%
10:15-----------97%--------------52%------------47%
The unofficial totals revealed: 1,168,107 votes for the Republican Scott Brown and 1,058,682 votes for the Democrat Martha Coakley.

You can see that the Republican “Elephant” tromped the Democratic “Donkey and now it looks like the National Healthcare Bill and the affordable health insurance for millions of uninsured citizens will go down the drain.

The 2004 count of registered voters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2004 was: 532,319 Republican, 1,526,711 Democrats and 2,000,062 non-declared Independents. This is a total of 4,098,634 registered voters.

To say the least, this was a major upset by the Republicans.

One MAN passes away and MILLIONS face continued medical hardships.

EVERY VOTE DOES COUNT

Contributor's Note

Remember our Troops that are fighting to keep us FREE!

PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE

dartsandsupplies.com
Offering a complete line of dart supplies
www.dartsandsupplies.com

It sounds like a conundrum, lol. As a Canadian, I'm very pleased with having medicare. I don't use it all that much but it is there if I need it and I can have extra insurance like "Blue Cross", if I might need more for traveling out of the country.
But in Canada, everything is taxed and it is too much. If we could find a happy mid-point between American and Canadian tax systems, perhaps we all could live better.

Thank you for visiting and your thoughtful comments, Wynn.
It's going to be gridlock and porkbarrel tradeoff again, which means we don't solve the issues.
Best wishes.
Frederick

As a Canadian, its not my business, but it saddens and puzzles me as to why our neighbors to the south resist a medicare system that would remove so much suffering and hardship.

It's called greed, June.
The big investers want big returns on their drugs,equipment and facilities.
It doesn't matter what is best for the people.
Thank you for your comments.
Frederick

Your thought, "The outcome of this election could have a very dramatic effect on the balance of congress." seems to be one held by many Democrats.

The fact is one man passing away would have made no difference in Health Care Reform if it was approached as a Bi-Partisan challenge from the start.

Bi-partisan seems to be an impossibility in our American me generation. The crooks used to be the minority, but have moved to the top of big business.
Thank you for your comments, Franklyn.
Frederick

Every vote does indeed count. There's a lot of heated debate over just what kind of health care reform would be best. The elephants and donkeys need to work together to get it right. They have different philosophies, however, on just what "right" means -- but both know that some kind of reform is needed.

They've known it since President Truman and haven't corrected it yet. Self greed is still ruling congress.
Thanks for your supportive comments, Jim.
Frederick

Health care is going down for the count. That much we can assume. However, President Obama is now taking aim at the big financial institutions with a huge sell off today because of this "surprise" announcement.

I'm thinking that now since he knows he can't get much through Congress because of a Republican Party united to "Just Say No" to anything he or the Democrats put on the table he will start to finally get tough and junk all this "bipartisan", we're all in the together rhetoric.

At least, that's what I think he should do. He namby pambyed his way through Year 1. Now, it's time to get tough and do what needs to be done which includes making sure that "too big to fail" institutions don't bring the economy to the edge of economic ruin, again.

His aim is one year late, Ken.
We bailed the greedy bankers out, then left a loophole in the repayment. They only have to repay part of the money before they can hand out their bonuses. We'll let's take the bonuses out of the tax deduction collumn for the banks and tax the recipients 60% on their bonus.
Thanks for your comments.
Best to you.
Frederick

America deffinitely needs prayer, Nora.
Thank you for your kind comments.
Best wishes.
Frederick

The Democrats need to drop the donkey mascot and start using a Great White shark.

I think their going to need something, Nick.
I have a feeling that the sleeping giant has awaken and some congressmen will be heading for the unemployment line.
Thank you for you comments.
Frederick

What can a Filipino say, good luck to the people of Massachusetts and the Americas!

We will indeed need some good luck and some stronger reins on the Horsesass-- at the top of our financial institutions.
Thank you for your comments.
Best wishes.
Frederick

You have to remember that Massachusetts has health care for everyone. Not that this should matter if we care about all. This was more of a vote against Coakley because she never asked people for their vote.

Thank you for your comments, Ruth.
I agree, Coakley complacency had a great deal to do with the outcome.
Best to you.
Frederick

Brilliant again Frederick, I do not pretend to understand American politics and I know that this was democracy as we know it. But the effect that one vote could have on a nation the size of America does not seem right somehow, especially with the resulting health care issue. Keep writing Frederick, you are always worth taking the time to read. Brian Parsons.

Thank you for your very kind comments, Brian.
This is a new world for me and I appreciate all the support that I have recieved.
Best wishes.
Frederick

More than 6 months later, that read as an important day in History. It was, though not as catastrophic as you predicted, thankfully.

Thank you for stopping by and for your comments, Andrew. The one part of the story that still holds true is that free people in America are irresponsible with their right to vote. We see it in local, state and national elections. Less then half of the people decide for the majority.
Best to you.
Frederick

The copyright for this content entitled "The "Donkey" or the "Elephant"" has been specified by the contributor as:

This content may be copied, distributed, and modified, as long as a) the original author is acknowledged with a link back to the content page, and b) if the work is modified, the result is distributed with this same license. If you use this content according to the license specified, you must link to the following URL: