LyrArc Article Gist
Republicans win at least 7 new seats in the U.S. Senate to take control of the Senate and both houses of Congress in the 2014 midterm elections. Republicans had a 9 seat gain in the House to be close to 245 seats. Republicans won Senate seats in Colorado, Georgia, Arkansas, Kansas, and in West Virgina for the first time since 1956. Democrats had one of their few wins in the New Hampshire Senate election. About $4 billion were spent on the election with both parties evenly matched.

LyrArc Article Gist
The 2011 State of the Union address by President Obama. A calculated effort to move the debates that will frame the future election to a different place. He emphasizes the importance of investing in the future, in global competitiveness, through spending on education, infrastructure, alternative energy and other projects. But there was little in the way of specifics for reducing the high jobless rate which stands at 9.4%. And little in the way of specifics of how the investments in the future for global competitiveness and infrastructure spending are to be achieved. Especially when the fiscal imbalances are growing after the compromise on the Bush tax cuts and the passage of health care legislation. The Washington Post says that a majority of Americans approve of his overall performance, yet they are generally negative in their evaluation of how the Obama administration and President Obama has handled key issues relating to the economy. And this is more so among independent voters who will be crucial in the 2012 elections....

LyrArc Article Gist
The Bipartisan Debt Agreement passes the US House of Representatives with 149 Republicans supporting Speaker and Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and 165 Democrats. It passed the House 314 to 117 votes. It also asserts Speaker McCarthy's leadership in the House and Mitch McConnell's in the Senate for Republicans seeking a bipartisan approach to bring Americans together on vital issues.

LyrArc Article Gist
Paul Krugman in NYT outlines the options president Biden faces if Republicans decide not to increase the debt ceiling in the House of Representatives. All the alternatives are better than defaulting on the national debt. All options also create some short term volatility in financial markets before things stabilize. Biden and Democrats refuse to allow a repeat of negotiations of the kind Mr. Obama made with Republicans on the debt ceiling. The cuts a small faction in the Republican party is asking for come from spending that has already been approved by the House. It is also spending that meets the needs of the American people during a cost of living crisis, and for national priorities in fighting climate change, health and defense. Krugman also points out that cuts to welfare spending won't put more people to work as the unemployment rate is at a new low, and the theory behind it in this situation only deprives the neediest from getting help during a cost of living crisis. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The situation for the day before the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1, 2016, with voter turnout playing a key part in the election primary.

LyrArc Article Gist
The title says this but Biden has not blown it by conducting discussions on the debt ceiling with Kevin McCarthy, Republican leader in the House of Representatives. Krugman presents MAGA Republicans as controlling the House. The situation is a bit more complicated than that as the Republican margin is only 222-213 with moderates who could move in Biden's direction if a default is impending. Previous articles in the NYT and WSJ have shown how the president has his own set of options including  simply ignoring the ceiling or citing a part of the Constitution of the US that gives the president the authority to conduct the business of the country in such a situation. Mr. Biden is taking the situation as calmly as possible, as the midterms have also given the president a situation where he sees the country on his side with Democrats needing only a few moderates in the Republican party to support him. Mr. McCarthy has his own reasons to support Biden as he supports president Biden in the task of backing up NATO and Ukraine. Having discussions with McCarthy keeps the country together at a time when Ukraine has a planned counter offensive to defend the country. Biden was able to achieve legislative achievements that are comparable to FDR and Lyndon Johnson because of his calm and patient approach. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
WSJ looks at the situation for the Republican party in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and places like Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2023. It says Republicans face problems in the suburbs and that this has not changed.

LyrArc Article Gist
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense, William Cohen, on what the automatic spending cuts from the sequester- after the failure of the Supercommittee in Congress to reach agreement- will mean for the Defense Department and defense preparedness.

LyrArc Article Gist
S.o far in Feb 2026 12 seats added for Democrats and 12 for Republicans in redrawing seats for Congress. 

LyrArc Article Gist
Republicans held onto 4 of 6 seats in recall elections following Governor Walker's spending cuts and restrictions on the collective bargaining rights of public sector unions.

LyrArc Article Gist
The 7.1 million Venezuelan refugees who have settled in other Latin American nations puts a great burden on the region and its resources. This NYT report shows how it is affecting Mexico today. Shown are migrants who are by the rail tracks trying to board a freight train north in Mexico. It is an endless dilemma for Americans, for Democrat states facing Republican opposition, and has been a problem for both Republican and Democratic administrations. How do you deport Venezuelans as US has no diplomatic relations with Venezuela? The Biden administration is pursuing legal immigration channels by taking in a specified number and cutting the dangerous migrant flow over the Mexican border, the only policy open to Republicans also in this situation. At some future date the Venezuelans absorbed into the US can fill worker shortages, in the present it is creating some chaos for many nations including Mexico and the US and other latin American nations, and neither party Democrat or Republican has easy answers. As the Democrats are deporting nearly as many as the Republicans. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Early warnings that the cost cutting of Musk DOGE was a lot of PR and controversy, where instead Republicans are disciplined and persevering. Could Musk and DOGE controversies have done more harm than good by not having disciplined cost cutting that people respect as needed. One should remember that it is not on party lines- all parties should be disciplined about federal spending to preserve the strength of the US dollar and the economy. Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1976 proposed Planning Programming Budgeting Systems where every year last year's budget is irrelevant, the budget for the new year is built from scratch and offers discipline to avoid unnecessary costs in the budget, items from previous years simply pushing up deficits. PPBS courses were taught at Northwestern Business School and I took it at the time- not offered now. Once a bureaucrat has a budget no matter what his politics he wants to keep it. Democrat Harry Truman in 1940 went on the shipyards and into factories to supervise firsthand the federal spending in the war making hime known for the first time in Congress. Prudence in spending is everyone's responsibility.   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Republicans wanted to see money spent in the states on the idea that states best knew where needs were. Democrat Clinton called it "ending welfare as we know it," and signed the bill for TANF where $16 billion was sent to states in anti poverty programs and $15 billion added to this by the states. This is how TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) started under Clinton in 1996. It was put under Department of Health and Human Services. A lot of latitude was given to states on how to spend the money. In 2026 much of this money is not spent wisely. GAO government agency audits show 37 states had 56 severe deficiencies with "opaque accounting practices." This includes Florida, Louisiana, and Connecticut. The Government Accountability Foundation calls the lack of accountability "fraud by design," saying that one fifth of the $31 billion never reaches the people it was intended to benefit. Both Republican and Democratic states are not using the funds the way they were meant to be used. Needy families getting help have come down from 1.9 million in 2010 to 850,000 in 2025.  ...

LyrArc Article Gist
This report in The Guardian explains what a split Congress means in the US as the Republicans control the House and Democrats control the Senate in the midterms of 2022. This means legislative logjam says The Guardian.  The narrow majority also means there will be difficulty for the Republican Speaker to control the House with 3 newcomers from New York and others as moderates, and a mix of views within Republicans.

LyrArc Article Gist
Super Tuesday happens on March 5 as Republicans vote in 15 state primaries including Texas and California. A Senate seat in California vacated by Diane Feinstein and a Republican house seat in the Central Valley of California will also hold Democratic candidate selection.

LyrArc Article Gist
This report in the WSJ says Reince Preibus, Republican National Committee chairman, has told party officials on Oct. 8, 2016, to redirect party funds away from nominee Trump to down-ballot candidates. This means the Republican party will try to get Clinton supporters to vote who are likely to vote for candidates like Rubio in Florida and Portman in Ohio. Republican Portman has joined Senator McCain in withdrawing support for Trump. This is the result of a video showing Trump making lewd comments about women in a conversation with Billy Bush of NBC. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, immediately disinvited Trump from a rally in Wisconsin and withdrew his support leading to a big outflow of support from Congressman and Republican leaders. A former chairman of the Republican party in California describes this as the biggest crisis for Republicans since Watergate. The Republican party now stops its mail program to voters that supported Trump and redirects it to down-ballot candidates. It also comes as the Republican party funds and party infrastructure are a necessary and vital  part of any Republican nominee's effort to get elected. The Republican strategy may now be to try and preserve its control of Congress, as a loss in Wisconsin, Illinois or Missouri, could give the Democrats control of the Senate and other losses reduce its House majority. This appears to be the backup strategy of Paul Ryan as Speaker, and the leading Republican after his overwhelming win in his Senate seat against a Trump supported candidate. ...