It's all about taxes and that does not bode well for Obama. The success of his planned changes particularly in his domestic agenda all hinge on convincing the public that his plans are worth the expense and inevitable higher taxes. The two Republican victories, particularly the NJ race, were all about taxes and fiscal responsibility, but mostly taxes.

Not sure what you mean. The touted elections were for governor so there election doesn't really influence spending at the natural level. Also, most states are required to balance their budgets which means during economic downturns, state and local governments are forced into enacting some combination of spending cuts and tax increases regardless of the party in power.

As for fiscal responsibility. It's difficult for Republicans to claim the mantle of fiscal champions at the national level. Even with the stimulus the majority of the debt stems from either short falls created by Bush's budget coupled with a decrease in tax revenue brought about by the recession, or special appropriations like the those financing the war in Iraq or TARP being included in the budget deficit that were brought about under the Republican administration.

All politics are local and all taxesa are local. When my property taxes go up 3 years in a row while my property values go down by 20% I don't just blame the county auditor, I blame the entire government syatem. I look at every dollar spent, every stupid back road repaving, every study of the sex habits of earthworms as personally coming out of my escrow account.