History repeats?

We're less than a month away from the 2010 midterms, and I've been thinking about where this is going.

Reagan lost a lot of ground in the Congress in '82, especially in the Senate. We all recall what happened in '94 (since we were all working in the same pit) to Clinton. I think that the gains that are going to be made against the Democrats are a foregone conclusion... the only real question is how big are they going to be? And... will this lead to a split vote in 2012?

Are enough of the GOP members in Congress ready to make the needed concessions to the Tea Party supporters to avoid another repeat of the '92 campaign, though? Or, for that matter, the '96 campaign? Could frustration and resentment over the GOP's inevitable inability to reduce the actual size and cost of government lead to a third party candidate that will help keep the White House in Obama's hands?

The Pledge to America says almost nothing about actually REDUCING the size of government. Cutting taxes, yes... cutting government programs (or worse yet, whole departments), not so much. The message has been fiscal control and responsibility is what is needed... but few in the GOP have called for anything more than a return to what was the status quo prior to Nov of 2006, and that simply isn't going to be good enough any more, is it? There aren't many in Washington that can defend the spending habits of Bush, are there?

In promising to address health care reform while eliminating what Obama and the Congress have done so far, the GOP has shown that it doesn't intend to remove the specter of massive government health and benefit programs... it only wants to keep the money flowing into SSI and Medicare, while leaving the rest to private industry, which equates to leaving the 40 million uninsured without coverage. Until the unemployment rate returns to less than 5%, that is going to remain a HUGE item on the average man's radar.

I guess I'm wondering if the GOP actually intends to rescind the prescription drug plan signed into law by Bush? Will it end the choke-hold that the ED has on national education funds by repealing No Child Left Behind? Will it end forever the bail-out plans began by Bush? Will it put back into place the Pay as you Go Act that was repealed within Bush's first 60 days in office? Obamacare was a joke of an experiment... no question there... but, so was No Child Left Behind and I still have major questions about Homeland Security and the prescription drug plan. Saying you are going to repeal the failed Obama programs is fine, but there are failed programs that AREN'T Obama's, too... what about them?

The GOP needs a clear plan... a real platform from which to campaign through the next 6 years... and it still doesn't have that, in my opinion.