This just occurred to me this morning. The surprising thing is not that Obama won. He ran a great campaign, and the macroeconomic/political deck was stacked against McCain (who ran a disappointing campaign). Rather, I'm surprised at the Democratic gains in the House and Senate. The polls say that a big majority of voters think the country's "on the wrong track", they're all concerned about the economy (domestic policy), so you reward the party that has controlled Congress for the last two years? Yes, I know, it's only been two years, but given the time horizon of most voters, that's forever. If nothing else, shouldn't there have been some ambivalence about the ability of the party to get anything done in two years? (Certainly that's what the Congress's abysmal approval ratings are said to reflect.) But I guess this is what riding coattails is all about.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
This is not a serious point, right? The Democratic controlled congress passed lots of legislation that got vetoed. Here's a list from wikipedia:
1. July 19, 2006: Vetoed H.R. 810, Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, a bill to ease restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Override attempt failed in House, 235-193 (286 needed).
2. May 1, 2007: Vetoed H.R. 1591, U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007. Override attempt failed in House, 222-203 (284 needed). A later version of the bill that excluded certain aspects of the initial legislation that the President disapproved of... H.R. 2206, was enacted as Pub.L. 110-28 with the President's approval.
3. June 20, 2007: Vetoed S. 5, Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007.
4. October 3, 2007: Vetoed H.R. 976, Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 ("SCHIP"). Override attempt failed in House, 273-156 (286 votes needed).
5. November 2, 2007: Vetoed H.R. 1495, Water Resources Development Act of 2007. Overridden by House, 361-54 (277 votes needed). Overridden by Senate, 79-14 (62 needed), and enacted as Pub.L. 110-114 over President's veto.
6. November 13, 2007: Vetoed H.R. 3043, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2008. Override attempt failed in House, 277-141 (279 votes needed).
7. December 12, 2007: Vetoed H.R. 3963, Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007.[18] Override attempt failed in House, 260-152 (275 votes needed).
8. December 28, 2007: Pocket Vetoed H.R. 1585, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008[19]. A later version of the bill that changed a minor provision of which the President disapproved was quickly passed by Congress (H.R. 4986) and was enacted with the President's approval as Pub.L. 110-181 on 28 January 2008.
9. March 8, 2008: Vetoed H.R. 2082, Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008.[20][21] Override attempt failed in House, 225-188.
10. May 21, 2008: Vetoed H.R. 2419, 2007 U.S. Farm Bill.[22][23] Overridden by House, 316-108 (283 votes needed). Overridden by Senate, 82-13 (64 votes needed). Enacted as Pub.L. 110-234 over the President's veto. Due to a clerical error, this act was repealed by Pub.L. 110-246.
11. 18 June 2008: Vetoed H.R. 6421, 2007 U.S. Farm Bill, re-passed by Congress to correct a clerical error in HR 2419.[24] Overridden by House, 317-109 (284 votes required). Overridden by Senate, 80-14 (63 votes needed). Enacted as Pub.L. 110-246 over the President's veto.
12. July 15, 2008: Vetoed H.R. 6331, Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act.[25] Overridden by House, 383-41 (283 votes required.) Overridden by Senate, 70-26 (64 votes required). Enacted as Pub.L. 110-275 over the President's veto.
[edit] See also
Congress's abysmal approval ratings and the subsequent well dserved election result reflect the public's reaction to the instransigence of Congressional GOP members in failing to join bipartisan efforts to:
*Support scientific research to cure disease
*Get us out of Iraq
*Provide health care to children
*Provide vaccines to children
*Stop CIA supervised torture
The Democratic congress also issues many subpoenas against an administration in a fruitless attempt to uncover the abuses of power by the Executive Branch.
Given the events of the last eight years and the last two years, it's hard to look at the GOP Caucus in congress as anything other than a malignant tumor on the country.
I'm surprised that more seats were not lost by the GOP, something I can only attribute to the overall weakness of the Congressional process in general.
Um, wow, I guess I touched a nerve.
I won't say this wasn't a serious point, but I'll admit that perhaps it wasn't well thought out.
I'll also admit to a bit of short-sightedness on my part, focusing on people's concerns about "the economy", recently elevated with the financial meltdown.
I think I'll go back to not posting.
Sorry about that, Trav. I guess I over-reacted. In a word: Yes, the GOP in Congress is a sore point for me.
While, I have a certain amount of sympathy for Bush, despite my position that he did some really terrible things, I don't think he is a bad person. That is to say that the bad choices he made were not in bad faith. The same has not head true for much the GOP congressional caucus.
I recognize that this leads to some beliefs that strain credibility but, for example, on SCHIP:
I believe that Bush was concerned about cost, while Congressional GOP actually do delight in sick children and ruinious liability for beleaugered working class parents. In my minds eye, I can envision an Oliver Twist like scene where Congressional Republicians are wallowing in the corpulence at a Gold-Plated liposuction facility while some urchin needing Penicillin is like "Please, sir, I'd like some medicine" only to get his filthy crutch kicked out from under him by the Jack-booted GOP thugs who them beat the urchin, toss him into the street, and then congratulate each other with a hearty round of "Serves him right, his parents probably stretched for a mortgage"
I am willing to admit that there may be some hyperbole in my vision.
Post a Comment