U.S. Midterms:
Prepare for More War, More Spying, Rigged Trade (Rossiya Segodnya, Russia)
"The
Republican leadership will likely bury or heavily redact the report on CIA
torture, absolving American advocates of the practice, to say nothing of the foreign
governments who provided assistance and cover. … The most dangerous benefactor
of a Republican Congress is America's military-industrial complex. … More
defense spending means more war (and more war means more defense spending). … On
trade, a Republican majority will mean additional support for TTIP and TPP, which will provide
legal avenues for American corporations to ignore, overrule, and weaken labor
regulations, environmental protections, and tax laws implemented in the
European social democracies."
WASHINGTON: Republicans have claimed control of the Senate,
winning open seats in Montana, South Dakota, Iowa, and West Virginia, and
defeating Democratic incumbents in Colorado, Arkansas, and North Carolina; in
total they have added at least 13 seats to their majority in the House of Representatives.
Furthermore, the balance in the Senate is 52 Republicans to
46 Democrats, with two races, in Arkansas and Louisiana [and Alaska] yet to be
decided. In the House of Representatives, it is 243 Republicans to 179
Democrats. This gives Republicans control of the important Senate committees on
military affairs, intelligence, and foreign relations, and expands their
majorities on the equivalent committees in the House.
Among the losing Democrats is Colorado Senator Mark Udall,
who was a leading opponent of National Security Agency effort to expand and
codify its ability to spy on foreign governments and Americans, businesses,
politicians and ordinary citizens. Udall's loss will likely mean an expansion
of those efforts.
As a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence,
Udall was also fighting for the release of a report on the CIA's torture
program during the Bush presidency. Unless the report is released in the next
two months, the Republican leadership will likely bury or heavily redact the
report, absolving the American advocates of torture, to say nothing of the
foreign governments who provided assistance and cover.
Republican leadership on the Senate Armed Services and
Foreign Affairs Committees will mean that advocates of proxy wars in Ukraine
and Georgia will be able to set the agenda for hearings and legislation.
Two other areas where Republicans in the Senate may be able
to work with House Republicans and President Obama include the passage of free
trade agreements and oil pipelines.
On trade, a Republican majority will mean additional support
for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)
and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). These will
look to consolidate America's economic bloc and provide legal avenues for
American corporations to ignore, overrule, and weaken labor regulations,
environmental protections, and tax laws implemented in European social
democracies.
The Republican Senate's support for the Keystone XL pipeline
to bring Canadian crude oil to U.S. refineries in Texas (as well as drilling in
national parks and along America's coasts) is based on a stated desire to
reduce imports of Russian crude oil and increase American oil exports, which
have doubled since 2008, when President Obama took office.
The most dangerous benefactor of a Republican Congress is
America's military-industrial complex. The American defense budget continues to
outpace those of every other nation, and Republicans campaigned against the
modest cuts imposed by the 2013 sequester. More defense spending means more war
(and more war means more defense spending), so Republican leaders could expand
the war in Iraq and Syria and potentially look for larger targets.
The 2014 midterm elections were also the most expensive,
thanks to the decision by the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision to dismantle
campaign finance rules in the Citizens United case. American coal and oil
oligarchs spent upwards of $300 million to elect Republican candidates who will
be deferential to their causes.
The growing role of U.S. oligarchs in undermining an already
fragile system of representative democracy opens the door to increased military
and political adventurism on the part of the U.S. military-intelligence community
and their backers in military industrial corporations that are reaping huge
profits from war. Those profits turn into unlimited campaign spending, drowning
out the voices of the wider population that opposes war.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
The elections also represent a rapprochement between
Republican Party leaders and their grassroots "Tea Party." Republican
candidates espoused a Tea Party agenda but no longer felt the need to identify
with the group. When the "Republican" brand was unpopular after the
Bush presidency, another party was needed, but when that group became unpopular
after election failures in 2012, the Republican Party fully embraced an agenda
based on being anti-Obama and anti-Democratic. It is unlikely that they will play
a major role until the newly-elected Republicans become unpopular again.
The one area in which President Obama has the most leeway in
his last two years to act without Congress is also the area where he agrees
most with Republican leaders: foreign policy. In addition to appointing two
Republicans as his secretaries of defense, President Obama has used military
force against Yemen, Libya, and Syria and has continued action in Iraq, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, and Somalia. He has also pledged $1 billion to bolster America's
military presence in Eastern Europe.
Now that election day is over,
Democrats and Republicans are already counting down and ramping up for 2016:
Democrats in hope of retaking Congress and Republicans trying to put one of
their own into the White House.
Center for
International Journalism and Research, RossiyaSegodnya
