The stock market is at a new all-time high and America 's 401K's are back.
A new direction from there means, what?
Making sure that prosperity trickles down to those who don't own stocks, maybe?
Unemployment is at 25 year lows.
A new direction from there means, what?
Ever heard of underemployment? I know people with engineering and CS degrees working at Target or waiting tables. Unemployment numbers don't tell the whole story.
Oil prices are plummeting.
A new direction from there means, what?
Trying to break our dependence on foreign oil in the first place? Reducing our fossil fuel usage? Nothing brings prices down faster than reducing demand.
Taxes are at 20 year lows.
A new direction from there means, what?
Not reducing taxes at the expense of the budget? Attempting to reign in our debt? That's great your taxes are low, I don't want my children to have to foot the bill.
Federal tax revenues are at all-time highs.
A new direction from there means, what?
Reducing spending (or raising taxes) so that the two actually meet?
The Federal deficit is down almost 50%, just as predicted over last year.
A new direction from there means. what?
I'm a fan of surpluses. Or at least much smaller deficits. We used to have the former. That ended sometime between Bush taking office and 9/11.
Home valuations are up 200% over the past 3.5 years.
A new direction from there means, what?
Making sure that either A) this bubble doesn't burst, or B) owning a home is actually within reach of the middle class, which it isn't in some areas.
Inflation is in check, hovering at 20 year lows.
A new direction from there means, what?
They didn't say they'd change everything.
Not a single terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11/01.
A new direction from there means, what?
Post hoc ergo propter hoc. We've had plenty of 5 year (or much, much longer) spans without terrorist attacks on US soil. A new direction might mean continuing this trend while honoring the Constitution, both in word and spirit (except the 2nd, of course...they always
do forget about that one).
Anyway, this whole idea that not having any terrorist attacks on our soil since 9/11 thing is either A) the result of any of the current Administration/Congress's actions or B) will necessarily change if we were to alter any of those actions is, at best, flawed logic. At worst, outright stupidity.
Osama bin Laden is living under a rock in a dark cave, having not surfaced
in years, if he's alive at all, while 95% of Al Queda's top dogs are
either dead or in custody, cooperating with US Intel.
A new direction from there means, what?
It
could mean taking the 150K people in Iraq and putting them in Afghanistan, scouring those caves, and finding Osama. Of course, it's probably too late for that now.
Several major terrorist attacks already thwarted by US and British
Intel, including the recent planned attack involving 10 Jumbo Jets being
exploded in mid-air over major US cities in order to celebrate the
anniversary of the 9/11/01 attacks.
A new direction from there means, what?
Again, they didn't say they'd change everything.
Just as President Bush foretold us on a number of occasions, Iraq was
to be made "ground zero" for the war on terrorism -- and just as President
Bush said they would, terrorist cells from all over the region are arriving
from the shadows of their hiding places and flooding into Iraq in order to
get their faces blown off by US Marines rather than boarding planes and
heading to the United States to wage war on us here.
A new direction from there means, what?
Finding a way to thwart terror attacks
without using our servicemen and women as bomb bait? I'm not a fan of that plan, as I'm one of the ones to be used as bait. Or do you not realize that they're blowing
our faces (and legs, and arms) off too?
....and the Outlaw Firearm Ownership By Law Abiding American Citizens Plan and Re-Write The Second
Amendment Plan.
As compared to the "Rewrite the First and Fourth (and some others) Amendment Plan?"
Yes, we ought to have some worries with the new regime, especially as far as firearm ownership goes. But you seem to be painting this perfectly rosy picture of how things are here, which in no way reflects the country I've been looking around at over the last few years. Granted, we aren't exactly living in Crapistan, but that doesn't mean everything is perfect or there's no room for positive change.
EDIT: Also note that I'm not necessarily saying the new batch will actually
do all of the above...just that in many of the things you mentioned as though they were "perfection" there is definitely room for improvement. I mean sure, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"...then again, unlike cars, it's very possible for things to seem to be working fine for
you and be very broken for somebody else.
...