Politics

[beautyfromashes]

Quite a few pundits seeing a repeat of '98. Clinton working with Congress to get things done. Obama gives in a little for his legacy, GOP gives in a little to show they can govern instead of being the party of NO.

No way Obama gives in on anything. He will go on a rant for two years and play into the whole angry black man persona. A Clinton will be elected again with a Republican Congress, there will be compromise again and the country will once again get back to work.

[KCMax]

Quite a few pundits seeing a repeat of '98. Clinton working with Congress to get things done. Obama gives in a little for his legacy, GOP gives in a little to show they can govern instead of being the party of NO.

I'll believe it when I see it. The political landscape has changed quite a bit in 16 years. The GOP was obviously not punished for being the party of NO, hard to see why they'd change.

[grovester]

I know I'm being over optimistic, but there were ideas that were historically supported by both parties, but the gop didn't want O to get credit. Perhaps if they feel like they will get the credit...

Also, an interesting take in Slate.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_ ... ing.2.html

Of course anyone can be "for" something, but never deliver.

[aknowledgeableperson]

That was one reason Bill Clinton was successful, co-opt the opposing side.

[beautyfromashes]

I'd vote for Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan. Just give me someone who's not an ideologue, portrays a positive & strong image to the rest of the world and is a problem solver/compromiser. Bush and Obama are the opposite sides of the same shitty coin.

[KCMax]

I know I'm being over optimistic, but there were ideas that were historically supported by both parties, but the gop didn't want O to get credit. Perhaps if they feel like they will get the credit...
.

Like, for example, the Affordable Care Act.

That was one reason Bill Clinton was successful, co-opt the opposing side.

And yet, Obama has been more successful not co-opting the other side, winning with more of the votes than Bubba did either time, and passing landmark heath care legislation, Clinton's biggest failure.

[aknowledgeableperson]

And yet, Obama has been more successful not co-opting the other side, winning with more of the votes than Bubba did either time, and passing landmark heath care legislation

Successful? Yeah, Obamacare was passed with the Dems in control of Congress but what has he accomplished since? Number of votes means nothing, it is what is accomplished when in office, that's success.

[grovester]

I don't know, this looks like a pretty good list. And in spite of the gop.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazi ... p?page=all

[KCMax]

And yet, Obama has been more successful not co-opting the other side, winning with more of the votes than Bubba did either time, and passing landmark heath care legislation

Successful? Yeah, Obamacare was passed with the Dems in control of Congress but what has he accomplished since? Number of votes means nothing, it is what is accomplished when in office, that's success.

Yep. What did Clinton accomplish in his second term?

[aknowledgeableperson]

What did Clinton accomplish in his second term?

Chemical Weapons Convention Ratified
Individuals With Disabilities Education Act Reauthorized
Balanced Budget Agreement Reached
Children's Health Insurance Program Created
HOPE Scholarships/Lifetime Learning Tax Credits
Adoption and Safe Families Act Passed
FDA Reform Legislation Signed
Workforce Investment Act
Head Start Expansion and Reauthorization
Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999
Education Flexibility Partnership Act Signed
Financial Modernization Legislation Enacted
Expanded Federal Investment in After-School and Summer School Programs
Work Incentives Improvement Act Signed
Enacted New Legislation to Help Young People Leaving Foster Care
Senior Citizen's Freedom to Work Act Passed
Africa Growth and Opportunity Act and the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act Signed
Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act Signed
Campaign Finance Disclosure Enacted
China-PNTR Enacted
Providing Health Insurance to Women With Breast Cancer
Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act of 2000
Reauthorizing the Older Americans Act
Passed $1.2 Billion for Emergency School Repairs
Passed the New Markets Initiative
Budget Includes Important Investments in Health Care

The Balanced Budget Agreement was probably the biggest part of his second term. This provides how widespread this piece of legislation was: naswdc.org/archives/advocacy/updates/1997/grbudget.htm

[KCMax]

Hard to see how that list is much more impressive than the list in grovester's link.

[aknowledgeableperson]

Most if not all items in my list was legislation - working with Congress - not items he did on his own, which was the case for many items in grovester's link. And my list was only for his second term.

[grovester]

I actually went with the smallest, most succinct list. If you want mind numbing detail...but why really? I would also point out that 6 years of O has changed the conversation even with out the associated legislation. See the previous link to slate. The R's are talking alot like D's.

[phuqueue]

akp is determined to see Obama as a failure for not overcoming an intransigent Congress through "leadership" magic. Because fifty years ago LBJ got the Civil Rights Act, or something. This is nothing new.

[beautyfromashes]

akp is determined to see Obama as a failure for not overcoming an intransigent Congress through "leadership" magic.

I don't understand what people really expected the Republicans to do. Obama came in with both houses of Congress and basically said, "Fuck compromise, no need!" and then when he didn't control both houses, he complains that the Republicans wouldn't compromise. Of course, it was totally Obamas right. The Dem's did control everything, but it sure wasn't the best long term solution and it's put us in this stupid entrenched place that we are now where nothing gets done and if someone pops their head up to compromise they get shot in the back.

[grovester]

Got you beat. Night of 2008 election, GOP leadership make a pact to stonewall any Obama initiatives.

[beautyfromashes]

Got you beat. Night of 2008 election, GOP leadership make a pact to stonewall any Obama initiatives.

Show me.

[KCMax]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/2 ... 52899.html

As President Barack Obama was celebrating his inauguration at various balls, top Republican lawmakers and strategists were conjuring up ways to submarine his presidency at a private dinner in Washington.

The event -- which provides a telling revelation for how quickly the post-election climate soured -- serves as the prologue of Robert Draper's much-discussed and heavily-reported new book, "Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives."

According to Draper, the guest list that night (which was just over 15 people in total) included Republican Reps. Eric Cantor (Va.), Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), Paul Ryan (Wis.), Pete Sessions (Texas), Jeb Hensarling (Texas), Pete Hoekstra (Mich.) and Dan Lungren (Calif.), along with Republican Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.), Jon Kyl (Ariz.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), John Ensign (Nev.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.). The non-lawmakers present included Newt Gingrich, several years removed from his presidential campaign, and Frank Luntz, the long-time Republican wordsmith. Notably absent were Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) -- who, Draper writes, had an acrimonious relationship with Luntz.

For several hours in the Caucus Room (a high-end D.C. establishment), the book says they plotted out ways to not just win back political power, but to also put the brakes on Obama's legislative platform.

"If you act like you're the minority, you're going to stay in the minority," Draper quotes McCarthy as saying. "We've gotta challenge them on every single bill and challenge them on every single campaign."

Its actually a really good book, it profiles a lot of the young new Republicans and shows their point of view, why they are the way they are, almost makes them seem human.

When you have the country split 50/50 ideologically, like we do, there is little incentive to compromise. Compromise was much more possible under Reagan, when Dems dominated Congress. Republicans will fail to compromise, America will get angry again and vote them out, the Dems will come to power, do the same thing, America will get angry and vote them out, lather, rinse, repeat.

[beautyfromashes]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yd0fVf5CsCc&autoplay=1
Gingrich admitted to being at the meeting but gives a different take on what the directive was.

[KCMax]

The other thing is, Republicans can't even agree among themselves on issues, much less with Obama. Boehner showed how little control he has over his Tea Party faction, how can he deliver the votes needed to pass anything even if Obama does compromise with him?