"Wall Street was blackmailing us," says Robert Scheer of the bank bailouts, "And we got nothing in return." It's not news to any viewers of GRITtv that Wall Street's tentacles ran throughout our election, but now that the election is over, we turn again to the running of government.

We've talked a lot here about the influence of Citizens United on our elections, but now that the election is over most of that corporate cash will be going to influence Congress through lobbyists--there are an average of 26 of them per member of Congress! With the cost of elections skyrocketing, Francis Megahy's documentary The Best Government Money Can Buy, an investigation into the secret world of Washington lobbyists. This look at the influence of lobbyists on the decisions the government makes couldn't be more timely.

"Wall Street was blackmailing us," says Robert Scheer of the bank bailouts, "And we got nothing in return." It's not news to any viewers of GRITtv that Wall Street's tentacles ran throughout our election, but now that the election is over, we turn again to the running of government.

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Elections come down to Get Out The Vote efforts--everyone knows that, right? Election 2010 was more a referendum on whose base was more energized than a massive shift in ideology. Registering, mobilizing, and educating voters are vital parts of the effort, just as much as television advertising--and those efforts need to keep up even when there isn't an election looming.

In the wake of the Republican election victories Tuesday night, Christian conservatives like Ralph Reed have been quick to declare victory for the "Teavangelicals," evangelical Christian politicians who embraced the Tea Party movement and claim to speak for it. Jeff Sharlet, author of C Street, notes that Jim DeMint and others are actually Washington insiders, not representatives of an insurgent new movement.

In the wake of the Republican election victories Tuesday night, Christian conservatives like Ralph Reed have been quick to declare victory for the "Teavangelicals," evangelical Christian politicians who embraced the Tea Party movement and claim to speak for it. Jeff Sharlet, author of C Street, notes that Jim DeMint and others are actually Washington insiders, not representatives of an insurgent new movement.

Democracy is so inconvenient when you’re trying to get something done—say, bag a trophy for your administration. In its pursuit of short-term goals, the Obama administration has undermined basic democratic tenets. Meaning that we, as a country, have lost something regardless of the election results.

"If there was ever a case of voting for something that is going to make the problem worse, this is it," says Thomas Frank of the 2010 midterms. We've gone from voting for Democrats to fix the economy to kicking them out in favor of Republicans calling for more of the policies that created the crisis: deregulation, tax cuts, and nebulously-defined "freedom." With those people in charge of the House, what's going to happen next?

Was it Obama that caused Democrats' major midterm losses? Racism? The economy? Why was the Democratic base demoralized--failure to take on Wall Street or immigration reform? And which constituencies did come out to vote? These are all questions worth answering the morning after the Republicans take back the House with little more than inchoate rage and promises of "smaller government."