NEWS BLOG (WSAU) Take a deep breath.

The nation one day after Election Day is no different than one day before. Barack Obama is in the White House, Democrats control the U.S. Senate, Republicans control the House. Obama’s opponents have a buffer against higher taxes and big, new government programs. They won’t make it through Congress.

Most conservatives I know aren’t worried about the day after. They’re worried about the size of our government and the shape of our economy after four years. These are legitimate. What’s open for debate is whether they’re catastrophic or not. Unknown. What is known is this: the expensive health care mandate will move forward, and the person who authored it will be in office as it takes effect in 2014. Government spending will continue to rise. The debt will grow. (It would grow regardless of who won on Tuesday, the issue is the speed of that growth.)

Exit polls show us that the economy was the number-one issue. Those same polls also show that the ‘blame Bush’ drumbeat that’s been sounded by the President worked. Voters believed he inherited a bad situation; they’re betting that the small up tick we’ve seen in the last few months is something that can be built on and improved. There’s truth in that – a growing economy takes pressure off the federal budget and slows the rate of deficit spending.

Second-terms are about a President’s legacy. Barack Obama will not want his legacy to be presiding over an economic collapse. He’ll be motivated by self interest to keep the nation’s precarious financial ship from taking on more water. We’ve done what we’ve done for the last few decades: kick the can down the road for another four years. Here’s to hoping our nations problems only fester instead of explode.

Chris Conley
11/7/12