Christmas comes a little early

From American Thinker:

The Tea Parties have had their first major victory, as Harry Reid pulled the pork-laden omnibus spending bill from Senate consideration, in the face of Republican opposition capable of winning at least 41 votes to sustain a filibuster. GOP senators like McConnell who had helped put pork into the bill woke up and realized the electorate was serious when it rejected earmarks. McConnell, aware of the changed mood of the country, worked hard to persuade GOP senators. Robert Costa and Andrew Stiles of NPR report:


[. . .]

The Democrats had planned to cram the bill down the nation's fiscal throat using the threat of a government shutdown. Now, facing serious opposition to this trick, they will have to settle for a simple continuing resolution, keeping spending at current levels instead of nearly 2000 pages of complexity with no time for scrutiny. The new Congress, where the GOP controls the House of Representatives, where spending bills must originate, will craft next year's budget.


Good news indeed.  It is possible to change the way things are done in Washington as long as the public is willing to stay engaged.

And that will be the challenge, to keep a public that mostly doesn't enjoy involving itself in politics deeply and on a daily basis (the way bloggers and talk radio listeners do) engaged.