The midterm elections did not deliver the widely expected repudiation of Democrats and their policies, and it is difficult for many Americans to understand why our nation’s voters refused to reverse the many shambolic disasters of the Biden administration.  Nonetheless, probable Republican control of the House of Representatives when the ballots are finally counted should facilitate efforts to rein in the worst Democratic excesses.  As for the continued split in the Senate, we are likely seeing a sad reflection of the ever deepening partisan divide in American politics and thought today.

Intelligent people can disagree about the most important first steps toward reversing the many blunders of Joe Biden, but I suggest three should be at the very top of the list for the new Republican House majority if and when they are able to take control.

First and foremost, the Biden administration’s misguided war against domestic fossil fuel production and use must end—immediately.  The skyrocketing costs of oil and gas as a result of policies that have strangled production and distribution are the foundation of the galloping price inflation that has been crushing Americans on a daily basis.

Second, America’s Southern Border must be controlled.  The free flow of illegal immigrants, gang members, and drugs into America—driven by the Biden administration’s un-Constitutional refusal to enforce our nation’s immigration laws—has been tantamount to encouraging a foreign army’s invasion, and this treason has eroded the security of our entire country.  Securing our borders should not be an issue where Democrats and Republicans find a consensus elusive, and the blind and disastrous open border policy of the Biden administration should end right now.

Finally, we need to face a simple fact as a nation: We can no longer spend money we do not have.  Ending our run of annual federal budget deficits—each over a trillion dollars—must be a priority for Republicans next year.  If a balanced budget can be more easily passed by clawing back money foolishly appropriated during the first two years of the Biden Spend-a-Thon, it would likely reduce the need for cuts in programs vital to America’s health, safety, and national security, so such an effort should be both encouraged and welcomed.

In addition to the policy priorities listed above, House Republicans should also launch immediate investigations into the most egregiously dysfunctional members of Joe Biden’s cabinet.  Top of the list should be Attorney General Merrick Garland, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.  All have exhibited both notable incompetence and demonstrable malfeasance in the performance of their Constitutional duties, and all should either resign or be removed from their offices as soon as possible.

Possible abuses of office by the President that have been identified on the now-infamous Hunter Biden laptop also demand scrutiny, and House Republicans must examine the available evidence in order to determine whether criminal referrals are warranted.

Moreover, in order to both re-establish faith with the American people and restore necessary accountability to a rogue agency, Republicans must strive to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate the operations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in order to determine whether abuses of power rising to the level of criminal conduct may have been committed in conjunction with the unprecedented and unwarranted response to the Coronavirus by public health authorities.  This final action might be the most important of all in terms of defining—or perhaps redefining—the appropriate and reasonable balance between governmental powers and individual freedoms.

Regardless of whatever else might occur during the next two years of the Biden administration, we can feel confident that the agenda of uncontrolled spending, outrageous governmental overreach, and a pigheaded refusal to enforce the laws of our nation is coming to an end.  The Bidenistas will, of course, use the time prior to the possible change of legislative control in January to push for a program of spending and legislation meant to obstruct and frustrate Republican goals in 2023 and beyond, but no matter what chicanery the next two or so months might bring, we can reasonably assume that a new direction for America is right around the corner.  

We can hope that a page is soon to be turned on a fantastically damaging administration that has reeled from one idiocy to another on a straight line from the shameful debacle in Afghanistan to having to drain our nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to cover up the catastrophic consequences of their own extremist energy policies.

This has been a historic election year for our country, and the ideologues who have driven America into a ditch over the past two years are certain to be upset by the restrictions soon to come on their unfettered powers.  However, despite the wails of Democrats throughout the course of this election, it must be remembered that that we are not seeing, as they love to claim, “the end of democracy” in America.  We have, in fact, seen the strength of our democracy in action as voters have delivered a divided government that will hopefully moderate the actions of the leftist lunatics now in power.  

Politicians and pundits who are disappointed with the election results should, unless they can point to evidence of fraud, accept them and begin to work toward bringing our country together because we have learned—again—that pushing fringe policies and extremist rhetoric in order to cling to political power and fantasies is a losing strategy.  Americans are, as they always have been, far more comfortable standing firmly in the middle of the road.  

It is clear that now is the time to roll up our sleeves and focus our energies on rebuilding our great and good nation.  While doing so we must remember that cooperation, however difficult and distasteful as it may be at times due to our many differences of morality and opinion, is always more successful that confrontations that thrill fanatics and fools—and leave the vast majority of Americans deeply dissatisfied.