Government by Susan Collins

Susan Collins has become the most powerful person in Washington, D.C.

Why should the junior Senator from Maine possess such power? President Obama’s strategy of peace, love, and bipartisanship has made it so. The Republican minority in the U.S. Senate, for better or worse depending on your political perspective, is sticking to its ideological roots: low taxes, suspiscion of giant government outlays, and respect for unborn life.

President Obama can’t pass a stimulus package without picking off two Republicans in a Senate chamber that is 58-41 (with Minnesota still undecided). Hence the recourse to Sens. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Sens. Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, the last North-eastern liberally minded Republicans remaining in Congress.

As an observer, I applaud this trend. The left is in apoplexy, but Obama’s conscious decision to restrain the reckless power of the Bush-Cheney executive branch and allow Republican values into the policy dialogue will only strengthen his hand in the end.

Susan Collins, unlike her head-in-the-sand Senate colleagues, is not reflexively opposed to any stimulus; she understands the basic macroeconomic truth that when neither people nor firms are willing to invest, the government must. When all’s said and done, isn’t this not so bad?

Outspoken Genesis

This is the first post of what I hope will be many. The mission of this blog is to provide an online presence for The Warrior’s opinion staff, and to raise awareness of important issues that our readers will be interested in.

Since The Warrior only comes out bi-weekly, the move to online content is important in keeping The Warrior relevant throughout the year, and especially in off-weeks.

In conjunction with this blog, we hope to give every section their own blog so that fans and readers of The Warrior can have online, up-to-date content to enjoy.