Election Results

Just a few quick thoughts on a politics. I do not claim to be an expert. In fact, I claim to be quite ignorant. I am mostly posting questions here, even if not phrased that way, and would much appreciate your input.

Listening to the pundits talk about elections last night drove me a bit crazy. However, I was definitely happy to hear that the Democrats were going more moderate overall. With a country this big, how can anyone not agree that we need constant compromise?

The fact the longest serving Senator just got convicted of a felony is maybe one of the scariest things I've heard.

I am happy that the Democrats do not have a super-majority, if for no other reason than that the system of checks and balances would become woefully out of whack.
There are problems with the two-party system, but I think there is little reason why any new potential member of Congress would go alone.

Republicans are already looking to 2010 as a possible repeat of 1994. Personally, I thought 1994 was the start of a pretty good time in the USA, but I was only 12. As they say, correlation is not causation.

Not that I am an expert, but I've been thinking about the structure of our government. Specifically, the relationships between states and the feds. The comparison to our major corporations that are called 'too big to manage' is very apt. The value of a state being in the union with another is that if one has a major disaster, they can count on the other to help bail them out of it. That could mean one state may be supporting others in most years. Very similar to a large corporation where one division is a cash cow funding everything else (e.g., Google with AdSense funding YouTube, etc.).

Not every issue needs to be a national issue. Some issues can be dealt with at the state, county or city level.

Also, I think this election (and coming recession) may have at least a short term impact on the personal accountability of Americans. I believe that sometimes things go wrong. I believe that by trying to legislate wrong-ness out of existence we are trying to pass on accountability.

All of these thoughts deserve a lot more conversation. I almost wish I hadn't started thinking about them. Any pointers to already written papers on these topics would be appreciated (please don't suggest the Federalist Papers)