Election Reflection

I can recall when Newt Gingrich and Dick Army stood on the Capitol Steps with other republican congressmen and pledged a contract with America. The promise was to reduce the debt and to bring the federal bureaucracy under control. The contract took many of its promises from the State of the Union Speech, Ronald Reagan gave in 1985.

It was the mid-term election of Bill Clinton’s first term in the White House. They seemed to be what they presented themselves to be; they were Washington outsiders. They had witnessed abuse of power by the Democrats and were determined to clean house so to speak. This came on the heels of scandal with the speaker of the house Jim Wright and the house ways and means chairman Dan Rostenkowski.

Twelve years have come and gone and in that time, Tom Delay, Republican speaker of the house left his office because of scandal. The Republicans have participated in the same thing that they accused the Democrats of back in 1994.

I once again am reminded of the swinging pendulum. I have watched the pendulum swing in every facet of life. I have seen the pendulum phenomenon in corporate America. I have watched the pendulum swing within the public school systems. It seems that no one can ever stay on a middle course.

What will the change of power mean this time? Will it help the plight of the working poor? Will it bring control to the greed of the multinational corporations? Will wages go up? Will gasoline prices go down? Will the future be secure for our children and their children? Or, will the pendulum keep swinging eternally?