WSWS: US Election Notes

[NeoConsSuck]

It's worse than what we think. Not only did we lose more democratic senators, but look at the repuke winners. This is one hell of a scary bunch:

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/nov2004/note-n06.shtml

The new Republican senators represent a further shift to the right within the Republican delegation. Five of the six are from southern states and personify various factions of the ultra-right forces that dominate the Republican Party. They include:

Tom Coburn of Oklahoma: A former congressman who once tried to lead a coup against the Republican House leadership because he regarded Newt Gingrich as too “soft,” Coburn has publicly supported the death penalty for abortion providers. He complained of “rampant lesbianism” in Oklahoma middle schools, called a group of state legislators (Republicans from Oklahoma City) “crapheads,” and called for cuts in federal assistance to native Americans—in a state with one of the largest American Indian populations. A physician, Coburn was sued during the campaign by a former patient who said he had sterilized her without her permission.

Jim DeMint of South Carolina: A three-term congressman and flat tax enthusiast, DeMint has called for replacing the US income tax with a sales tax, which would have a devastating impact on the population of South Carolina, one of the poorest in the US. During the campaign, DeMint called for the firing of gay teachers in the public schools, and said the same action should be taken against single women teachers who became pregnant.

Richard Burr of North Carolina: The son of a Presbyterian minister, Burr was a small businessman before winning a congressional seat in 1994. A leading supporter of banning abortion, he supported the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 and co-sponsored the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004. His advocacy of the “right to life” did not stop him from doing the bidding of the tobacco companies—among North Carolina’s most powerful corporate lobbies—in blocking legislation to begin federal Food and Drug Administration regulation of tobacco as a dangerous drug. Half a million people die of tobacco-related diseases each year in the US, and millions more overseas.