Election emboldens opponents of the Republican Right

Happily, the right wing of the Republican party has lost some influence over the direction in which the country is going. Moderate House Republicans may already be exercising a bit of muscle in the wake of Tuesday's election outcomes.

"There is a clear message from the election results all over the country," said Representative Sherwood Boehlert, Republican of New York, an influential moderate. "The American people, by and large as a body politic, are looking for a more centrist approach."

At the urging of this group of 14, the proposal to open drilling for oil in the Alaskan wilderness area has been dropped from the current budget bill. Compromises with moderates have also includes dropping measures for coastal oil exploration and reducing the cuts in food stamps for legal immigrants. The budget bill includes more than $50 billion in spending cuts, incuding reductions in spending on Medicaid and food stamps. The bill will get a vote today.
DNC chairman Howard Dean says the Democrats stand ready to lead in light of their widespread victories on Tuesday. And Congressional Democrats are also exercising some muscle. From The Hill an article (written on November 8) outlines ideas from a number of Democrats who were planning to highlight the heavy budget cuts with some planned activities of their own. At a mock hearing, quoting The Hill,
"Democrats plan to argue that the spending cuts will be used to fund tax cuts rather than reduce the deficit; that the cuts will threaten vital services such as Medicaid, student loans, child support and food stamps, some of which benefit hurricane victims; and that the budget resolution will still increase the deficit even after these cuts are taken into account. Aside from the mock hearing, other members are heading up separate events this week.
Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and possibly the Congressional Black Caucus will hold an event on the Capitol steps to talk about “Republicans’ misplaced priorities,” according to a House Democratic aide.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and members of the caucus’s 30-Something Working Group are planning to serve lunch at a school in Washington to call attention to Republicans’ planned cuts in the school-lunch program.
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) will host a conference call for reporters with a Wisconsin college student who is poised to lose student financial aid under the GOP plan.
On the floor, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) plans to coordinate a series of one-minute and special-order speeches throughout the week lambasting the budget plan.
Democrats will likely criticize the cuts using variations on internal talking points distributed last week.
According to Pelosi’s Morning Message Points from last Thursday, Democrats will tie the budget cuts to the plight of Hurricane Katrina survivors.
“Republicans are moving forward to impose even greater sacrifice on Katrina families with a fiscally irresponsible budget that cuts student loans, healthcare and rural programs,” read one bullet point.
The Emergency Campaign for America’s Priorities, a labor-funded group aligned with Democrats, continues to pursue moderate Republicans in their districts, targeting 38 lawmakers in 16 states with press conferences and ads."
You go Dems!