The Holiday Season has begun! I wish all The Mesa Paper readers a terrific season. It’s often the time we focus on family, indoor activities, cooking smells, cool mornings, bright days, early dusks, and fiery sunsets. There are other reasons for optimism this year.
The height of the pandemic seems behind us, although caution remains the watchword and vaccinated is safer than not. Regardless, as a society we are better educated and better prepared to deal with covid/influenza/RSV this winter. Many people have new jobs, some better paying. That has caused inflation to rise – blunting the purchasing power of recent pay raises – but it seems to be moderating. We’ve had a couple of good rains that ended our fire season. Not everything is rosy, but I’m always reminded, I could be having these same problems and live somewhere not named Santa Barbara.
It’s been more than a month now since the midterm elections with what passed for drama among Americans interested in politics. Pundits – backed by decades of history – anticipated a huge reversal for the party in power. Since the Democrats currently hold the presidency, a slim majority in the House, and only a technical tiebreaker in the Senate, the conventional wisdom was for a Republican tsunami at the polls.
For perspective, in the 2006 midterm elections by his own account, president George W. Bush got “thumped” when his party lost 31 House seats and 6 Senate seats. In the 2010 midterms, president Barack Obama got “shellacked” with a loss of 63 seats in the House and 6 more in the Senate. True to personality, The Former Guy (TFG) claimed a “big victory” in the 2018 midterms despite losing 41 House seats and control of that chamber.
This year, Democrats had a surprisingly not-bad showing. Control of the House shifted, setting up divided government that often is unproductive. Republicans underperformed expectations and eked out a single digit majority. But there are energetic factions within their conference that may offer bipartisan opportunities for successful legislation in the 118th Congress.
House Democrats chose a new generation of leaders for their new minority status. Gen Xers Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8th district, 52 years old), Katherine Clark (MA-5, 59), and Pete Aguilar (CA-31, 43) will replace Post War octogenarians Nancy Pelosi, Stenny Hoyer, and James Clyburn.
I’m hoping Senate Democrats picked up a 51st member by the reelection of Sen. Rafael Warnock in George, creating a true chamber majority with important consequences. Readers will know by now, with the runoff election coming after our print deadline.
For the past 2 years with neither party holding a true majority, i.e., a 50/50 split, Senate committees were composed of equal numbers from each party. Each committee had a Democratic Chair due only to the “51st vote” of vice president Kamala Harris, who presided as President of the Senate. In addition, that allowed Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to preside as the Senate Majority Leader, setting chamber agendas and deciding which bills come up for votes.
Having a 51st Democratic Senator (not the vice president) would allow a majority of each committee’s members – as well as the Chair – to be of the majority party. More important, a 51-vote Senate majority would allow that party to confirm judicial nominations with a unanimous vote of their own caucus. There are currently 89 vacancies on the federal bench and it has been a trademark of Republicans to slow or prevent Democratic presidents’ nominations to judgeships.
Recent legislative sledding was tough enough with one party holding only slim majorities in both houses. Divided government – with each party controlling one house of Congress – has historically been a period of legislative stagnation with little progress in any direction. We’ll see what happens.
– 0 – 0 – 0 –
Months ago, The Mesa Paper’s editor-writer-photographer-publisher-archivist-publicist-deliverer-all-everything Ms. Alice San Andres-Calleja hinted she might step back from her frenetic schedule running the only broadsheet devoted to the interests of Santa Barbara’s special Mesa neighborhood. Her iron-woman devotion to The Mesa Paper has been remarkable and probably unparalleled during the last decade-plus, while other news publications have failed or morphed online. Truly remarkable. The full story of her final decision is hers to tell.
Alice’s thoughts about pulling back gave me the opportunity to think the same, but in more concrete terms. I will sign off with this final column. I wish Mesa neighborhood readers all the best in the future and I expect The Mesa Paper will continue to inform, stimulate, and entertain you at whatever frequency editor San Andres-Calleja decides. Thank you, Mesa readers, for the opportunity to write my one-sided viewpoint and, maybe, line your birdcages. If you want to follow the opinions of Indivisible Santa Barbara, just point your smartphone at the QR code in the header, or visit www.indivisiblesb.org.