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NEWS
The Daily Campus
WEDNESDAY n NOVEMBER 7, 2012 CONGRESS
ELECTOR ATE
Courtesy of AP
Speaker of the House John Boehner casts his vote in his home district in central Ohio.
Republicans ready to grasp renewed House control ASSOCIATED PRESS Republicans had renewed control of the House within their grasp early Wednesday as the two parties traded gains from the Eastern seaboard to the Southwest. Shortly past midnight in the East, Democrats had knocked off nine GOP House members — including six members of the huge tea party-backed House GOP freshman class of 2010. That included four Republican incumbents from Illinois and one each from Maryland, Florida, New York, New Hampshire and Texas. Republicans nearly matched that as their candidates defeated one Democratic incumbent apiece in Kentucky, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania and picked up an open seat each in Arkansas, Indiana, North Carolina, and Oklahoma held in this Congress by Democrats who retired or ran for another office. With almost two-thirds of the 435 House races called by The Associated Press, Republicans had won 209 seats and were leading in 28 more. A party needs 218 seats to control the House. It seemed likely the party mix in the new House would resemble the current one, which Republicans control 242-193, including two GOP and three Democratic vacancies. The pickups were so evenly divided that it was unclear if either party would add to its numbers overall. Democrats had taken 155 districts and led in 39 others. Even before renewed GOP control was clinched, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio — re-elected to his seat without opposition — claimed victory and laid down a marker for upcoming battles against President Barack Obama, who was re-elected to a second term in the White House. ‘‘The American people want solutions, and tonight they responded by renewing our
Courtesy of MCT Campus
House Republican majority,’’ he said at a gathering of Republicans in Washington. ‘‘The American people also made clear there’s no mandate for raising tax rates.’’ One of the top fights when Congress returns for a postelection session this month will be over the looming expiration of income tax cuts first enacted a decade ago under President George W. Bush. Republicans want to renew them all, while President Barack Obama wants the cuts to expire for the highest-earning Americans. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., refused to concede. She told Democrats rallying a few blocks away from the GOP rally where Boehner spoke that by evening’s end, Democrats would end up ‘‘exceeding everyone’s expectations and perhaps achieving 25,’’ the number of added seats Democrats would need to gain House control. Though seven GOP freshmen were defeated, 65 of them were re-elected by early Wednesday morning in the East. Six others were leading in their races, but four were trailing. An exit poll of voters showed that just 21 percent said they backed the tea party, which had fueled the big GOP House gains in 2010. The GOP’s seemingly inevitable victory in the House was a contrast to how the party was performing elsewhere on the national stage. Obama defeated Republican Mitt Romney for the presidency and Democrats hold onto control of the Senate. Democrats in Illinois controlled the redrawing of congressional districts after the latest Census, and the new lines proved too tough for several incumbent House Republicans. Conservative tea party freshmen Reps. Joe Walsh and Bobby Schilling lost, as did moderate freshman Robert Dold and seven-term veteran Judy Biggert, a social moderate. Other losing GOP freshmen were Rep. David Rivera of Florida, who was hurt by investigations into his past campaign financing; Ann Marie Buerkle of New York, who lost to the Democrat she defeated in 2010, Dan Maffei; and New Hampshire Republican Charlie Bass, ousted by Ann Kuster, the Democrat he defeated narrowly two years ago; and Francisco Canseco of Texas. In Maryland Democrats defeated 10-term GOP veteran Rep. Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland in a race that was preordained after Democrats controlling the state legislature added more Democratic suburbs near Washington to his western Maryland district. Embroiled in an unexpectedly tight re-election race was conservative Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. One victor was Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who was his party’s vice presidential nominee on the ticket with the losing presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Another winner was Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., the Chicago lawmaker who took medical leave from Congress in June and has been at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for treatment of bipolar disorder. His only campaigning has been by automated phone calls to voters. In Kentucky, GOP attorney Andy Barr defeated Democrat
Ben Chandler after losing to him by just 647 votes in 2010. Chandler, among a dwindling number of moderate Blue Dog Democrats, has represented the district in Kentucky horse country surrounding Lexington, since 2004 but faced voters who heavily favored Republican challenger Mitt Romney, who easily carried the state over Obama. Republicans also ousted Rep. Larry Kissell of North Carolina, a two-term veteran who was among several Democrats in the state who faced far tougher districts due to GOP-controlled redistricting. In Pennsylvania outside Pittsburgh, Republicans defeated Democrat Mark Critz in what was one of the year’s most expensive races, with both sides spending a combined $13.7 million. Also defeated was Democratic Rep. Kathy Hochul of New York, who won a 2011 special election to her seat by attacking Republicans for trying to revamp Medicare. There were 62 districts where no incumbents were running at all, either because they had retired or lost earlier party primaries or because the seats were newly created to reflect the census. When combined with losses by incumbents, the number of new House members in the next Congress was still below the 91 freshmen who started serving in 2011 — a number unmatched since 1993. Just weeks ago, Democrats had said they could win the 25 added seats they need to wrest control of the House. As Obama’s lead over GOP challenger Mitt Romney shrank as Election Day approached, Democrats’ expectations for coattails that would boost their House candidates shrunk as well. Republicans, building off their enhanced control of statehouses, also did a robust job of protecting their incumbents and weakening Democrats when congressional district lines were redrawn after the 2010 census, especially in states like Pennsylvania and North Carolina. In addition, out of a record $1.1 billion House candidates and their allies spent in this year’s races, more than 60 percent of it went to Republicans. The economy and jobs dominated the presidential campaign, but there was little evidence either party had harnessed those issues in a decisive way at the House level. Both sides agreed that this year’s election lacked a nationwide wave that would give either side sweeping strength — as occurred when Democrats seized control in 2006 and expanded their majority in 2008, and Republicans snatched the chamber back in 2010. Polls underscored the public sentiment that Democrats had hoped they could use to their advantage. A CBS News-New York Times poll late last month showed just 15 percent of Americans approved of how Congress was handling its job, near its historic lows. And an Associated PressGfK poll in August showed that 39 percent approved of congressional Democrats while just 31 percent were satisfied with congressional Republicans.
KEY Barack Obama Mitt Romney
Graphic by DC Production
PLATFORM: Obama gains second chance for reform continued from page 1
that immigration and a possible “combination of tax and entitlement reform” could be issues on which the two parties find “common ground.” “These are things that need to get done, but you wonder whether or not enough bipartisan goodwill exists to
accomplish [them],” Wilson said. It is now up to Obama yet again to commit to the country’s stability and recovery. The next four years will give Obama an opportunity to utlize his political capital to push through reform. “To the furniture worker’s child in
North Carolina who wants to become a doctor or a scientist, an engineer or an entrepreneur, a diplomat or even a president - that’s the future we hope for. That’s the vision we share. That’s where we need to go - forward,” Obamas said in his victory speech in Chicago.
ACTIVISM
Social media tackles dog overpopulation in Dallas LEILA MUSTAFA Chief Copy Editor lmustafa@smu.edu Ebony advocates for street dogs and currently works for Dallas CPR and First Aid. She also has roughly 270 likes on her Facebook page. Ebony is a Pit Bull-American Bulldog mix. Homeless people fed her after her owners dumped her in South Dallas six to eight months ago and drove away. When she was found, she was covered in so many fleas they appeared as black patches. Ebony ended up being fostered, and later adopted into a forever home. Her Facebook, titled “Ebony the Enduring,” serves as one of many examples of using social media to advocate for fostering, adopting and rescuing stray dogs. Ebony’s story touched many Facebook users, and now her page is used to share pictures and information about dogs in the Dallas area that need homes. “When people’s hearts get drawn into a story, that’s how you find a foster or adopter,” Beth Bowers, Ebony’s owner and foster coordinator for Duck Team 6, a local nonprofit dog rescue organization, said. Rescue groups, individuals, animal shelters and many more are using the Web and sites such as petfinder.com to find fosters and adopters while also utilizing the technology to spread information about the causes of dog overpopulation. Like other businesses, the animal rescue community is relying even more heavily on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. “With this page [Help & Rescue Animals Facebook page] we can reach people all over the world, we can educate people [and] we can find homes for animals,” McKenzie Yager, a social media user from Corsicana, said. The stories used on the pictures and blurbs on sites such as Yager’s often grab the hearts of those scanning the Web. There is an overpopulation of stray dogs nationwide, including in Dallas. The Oxford Lafayette Humane Society estimates that there are 70 million stray dogs and cats living in the U.S., and 6 to 8 million dogs and cats are brought into shelters each year. Dallas rescue group Duck Team 6 estimates that here are higher concentrations in Oak Cliff, East Dallas and Pleasant Grove according to JP Bonnelly, the group’s president. Causes include lack of neutering, spaying and puppy mills that decrease adoption of dogs from overpopulated shelters. Owner abandonment is a factor as well, as some owners can no longer afford the animals and drop them off at shelters, while others leave the dogs
on roadsides. Bowers fostered her dog Ebony after Duck Team 6 captured her. She wasn’t present when her co-ducks found Ebony, but the dog’s story and her “sad” picture on Facebook spoke to her. Bowers refers to her as a “foster failure” since she ended up loving Ebony enough to adopt her. “[With] her pictures and her stories that’s it. I was a goner,” Bowers said. Ebony is not only in a forever home, but is also a demo dog for Dallas CPR & First Aid and an advocate for Pit Bulls and stray dogs. Ebony lives with two Basset Hounds, a Siberian Husky and whoever Bowers’ “foster of the week” happens to be. Social media isn’t only utilized to attract potential fosters and adopters, although that trend is becoming increasingly common. Yager has a Facebook page titled “Help & Rescue Animals” that serves to educate on ways to reduce dog overpopulation in addition to advocating for fosters and adopters. She believes the stray problem in her town is “completely out of control.” “You cannot drive through our town without spotting multiple dogs or cats running in the streets,” Yager said. Yager also shares pictures of dogs that need fostering that reside within an hour and a half of Corsicana with the page’s fans, which may soon amount to 200. Just like Yager, Duck Team 6 uses the Web to reach out to its 2,000 and counting fan base. Duck Team 6 not only has fans in the Dallas area, but also fans overseas and in states such as Florida and California. The organization’s Facebook page posts “Look who got caught!” updates when the group rescues a stray. While the group also has a Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are the main social media tools the team uses. Since Duck Team 6 consists of only 12 people, the group’s efforts focus primarily on rescue, not fostering. That is where social media comes in: helping locate fosters for the dogs that are caught. Often, the stories and videos posted develop a fan base that can result in a foster before the dog is rescued. The Facebook page also allows the group to accept donations for veterinary care, boarding expenses and equipment. Many speculate that pets may be abandoned because owners can no longer afford them and that that is the main reason for the overpopulation of dogs. Bonnelly said the main reason dogs become strays is probably irresponsible owners and ignorance, possibly because many owners don’t spay and neuter their pets.
“Some just don’t care,” Bonnelly said. Refusing to spay and neuter pets is actually illegal for most pet owners in Dallas. As of Oct. 25, 2008, all dogs and cats in the city of Dallas are required to be neutered and spayed unless they obtain an intact animal permit, or fall under the exceptions, such as being under 6 months of age or for health reasons. Dallas Animal Services has partnered with Big Fix for Big D and offers $20 spaying, neutering and vaccination services for several South Dallas zip codes. However, there are still many owners who have not spayed or neutered their pets. To see what zip codes qualify, visit www.bigfixforbigd.com Sandra Mustafa, director of Dog & Kitty City, a Dallas animal shelter, agrees that the lack of spaying and neutering largely contributes to the overpopulation problem. Dog & Kitty City, a no-kill shelter, does not typically take in strays because of limited space. Mustafa said that the shelter typically has to redirect people to animal control centers two to three times a week. Still, the shelter often finds dogs dumped more often than it would like. Mustafa recently found three puppies on the rails of a DART railroad track. “It’s a really frustrating situation. They were going to be hit by a train,” she said. Although Dog & Kitty does use Facebook, social media is not what it relies on primarily. Its website, dogandkittycity.com, is mainly what the shelter uses to find fosters and adopters, as well as those who visit the shelter in person. The shelter’s website, http://www.dognkittycity. org, includes a Webcam where visitors can see the pets before going to the shelter. Bonnelly believes another large contributor to the overpopulation is store-purchased puppies. About 90 percent of puppies are estimated to come from puppy mills, according to paws.org. Puppy mills are often thought of as mass-producing, commercial dog breeding centers operated with an emphasis on profits, and with less of an emphasis on the best interests of the dogs. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), only 20 to 30 percent of dogs are adopted from shelters and homes. “If we can educate the public and crack down on the people trying to turn dogs and cats into cash crops we can begin to make a dent in the stray population,” Yager said. Whether it seeks to educate the public or attract dog lovers, social media provides animal advocates with tools to help address the overpopulation of dogs, both in Dallas and worldwide.