What is the GOP going to do?

At this point, it's safe to say that the GOP will control the House of Representatives. Right now, I think the odds of a Senate takeover are 30/70 or 40/60 against (though it's more than a remote possibility). The following discussion is based on the assumption they take one house.

I suppose the question then becomes: What can they do? Before I get flamed, let me make a disclaimer: I am not trying to play the expectations game here, so don't even start with that. I'm interested in what's actually possible and likely.

From what I've read, they plan to propose $100B in cuts right off the top. They may also have weekly spending cut proposals. A discussion on an immediate return to 2008 spending levels has been discussed as well. By the time Congress comes into session, I expect that at least most of the Bush tax cuts will have been renewed--but if not, they'll push that as well.

The big pieces...repealing Obamacare, major tax reform, social security reform, etc...I don't see how they get done even if they have both houses. They will lack a veto proof majority either way. I suppose the caveat would be how upset the Blue Dog Dems are with Obama and the party. If they peel them off as well, they may end up having a big enough majority to overcome any veto by Obama. I don't think it's likely, however.

In the end, I see them being to slow down things (spending, quasi-nationalization) through controlling the purse strings and committee chairmanships. They still won't be able to do much about the "Czar Republic" that governs by regulatory fiat through the Obama Administration.

Unfortunately, I think that both Obama and the GOP are going to try to get into "who's got a bigger set" contest by blaming each other for obstruction. Obama will try to run on Republican legislative obstruction in 2012. The GOP will try to run on Obama obstructing the will of the people as expressed by Congress. Who wins is anyone's guess, but it's going to be ugly. My hope is that enough will happen (or heck...NOT happen) to get the economy back on track and get the debt situation under control.

Your thoughts...

IMO you're both demonstrating wishful thinking in your posts above.

I thought that might be the case a year or so ago. But now I don't see that happening (not that it won't....just that I don't see it right now). The Tea Party has aligned itself with the GOP. In fact, it seems to be helping to remake the GOP from the inside out. It's still possible, but right now the GOP seems to be cutting ties with wedge issues (god, guns, gays) and focusing exclusively on fiscal policy and national security. That is really what needs to happen with the party. At one point, it looked like the Tea Party folks might fracture the party. I think that has already happened to a degree, though...hence the primary victories. The GOP, for its part, was smart enough on the whole to embrace the tea party.

This is where you're really buying into the nonsense that the mainstream media has put out there. There is as much violence-inciting, racism and bigotry in the Tea Party as there is anywhere else. That is, it's out there...but it doesn't constitute the party itself (even though it's not really a "party" itself...more of a movement). In fact, there have been few if any confirmed incidents (supported by any evidence whatsoever) of that kind of behavior.

The media has put forth the notion that the Tea Party is racist, bigoted, angry, male and white. Of these, only the last is true. It seems to be a predominantly white movement, though not entirely so.

Huh? Which Neo-Nazi groups are "linking up" with the Tea Party. They might try to align themselves, but it's not a two way street. I'm sure there are some of these wackos in the TP, but there are some of them everywhere. I don't see who violence and extremism are guaranteed to come to the fore. If they are, why are they not also guaranteed to come to the fore with liberal groups?