Reply #1: I seriously do not see the deal as a victory for us

[karynnj]

The fact is that we have lost many things people fought for for years. It actually reminds me of 2005, where between Alito and the bankruptcy bill, it seemed liked the our country had completely lost its bearings. (I will never forget Kennedy, debating amendment after amendment trying to temper the bankruptcy bill even a little - and losing every single battle.)

And these were just the hostages for the 2011 budget - there is still the 2012 budget and the debt ceiling - and I know they will take more "hostages".

I knew we lost a lost when we lost the House, but even though some people had suggested how bad it could be, I really am surprised too.

Like you, I am in a more affluent community than average, and I am scared what this will do to our schools. Here, the governor has put a cap on what districts themselves can spend - so even wealthy communities are limited in what they can do. My kids are all past high school, but this will destroy the future of the country.

It angers me that the extreme right has bought much of the mass media and they have brain washed so many to vote for things that will hurt their families. It startles me that somehow the John Birch Society has had its name rehabilitated - when just proving someone was in it labeled them too extreme 2 decades ago. It bothers me that the RW anti-Castro Cubans still are as reactionary as ever - and in bed with the Republicans.

Kerry's speech yesterday did not speak of any potential victory. He spoke of the things already being compromised as things that people got into public life to fight for. What is clear to me is that the Democrats really blew it last year - and the polls for at least 9 months predicted it. Though it seems weird when we have the Presidency and the Senate, we need to win this country back from the RW extremists. We need a genuine free press and we need fairness in the tax code - not cutting everything that benefits the poor and even the middle class.