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Title: Obama Could Benefit From Divided Gov't: Reagan-Bush Official
Source: NPR
URL Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpoli ... -gov-t-ex-reagan-bush-official
Published: Oct 16, 2010
Author: Frank James
Post Date: 2010-10-16 01:14:44 by Ferret Mike
Keywords: None
Views: 22578
Comments: 46

A Republican-controlled House might be the best thing that could happen to President Obama.

So writes Bruce Bartlett, an official in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, in a piece in The Fiscal Times.

Bartlett makes several points. One, the Founders liked the idea of gridlock because it meant that, to be successful, legislation needed the support of coalitions and both chambers.

Two, when one party controls Congress and the White House, as Democrats do for the time being, or as Republicans did during George W. Bush's administration, excesses tend to occur.

He points to the massive spending on two wars and the expansion of social spending on the Medicate prescription drug program that occurred under the most recent unified Republican rule.

Three, a Republican-controlled House would give Obama a better foil for his anti-GOP arguments as he heads into his re-election campaign than he has had to date.

Republicans would have their hands on the wheel as well, making it easier for Obama's accusations to stick.

At this point, Americans’ well-documented fondness for gridlock, which has been confirmed in every poll ever taken on the subject, becomes Obama’s ally. They may be willing to elect a few crackpots to Congress, where they know they will have little influence individually, but take the election of a president much more seriously. And if they see a Republican Congress being excessively partisan — wasting time on witch hunts, extremely ideological measures that cannot be enacted over a presidential veto, an inability to perform the routine work of Congress such as passing annual appropriations bills or a debt limit increase, or even launching a Quixotic impeachment effort against Obama — then public opinion will change very, very fast.

The best thing for Republicans would be to work with Obama on issues where each has something potentially to gain, as Ronald Reagan did with tax reform in 1986 and Bill Clinton did with welfare reform in 1996. Entitlement reform might be the issue that brings them together — Obama may be willing to support reforms that Democrats in Congress wouldn’t dare touch and give political cover to Republicans for actions they would dare not take on their own, assuming they are serious about actually cutting spending .

Bartlett's thinking tracks with what reporters who cover the White House have reported hearing are hearing from people inside the administration.

The way things appear now, getting used to working within a divided government won't be an option for the Obama Administration.

If White House officials seem like they're warming to the idea, it's probably out of a sense of the inevitable.

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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 12.

#4. To: Ferret Mike (#0) (Edited)

The best thing for Republicans would be to work with Obama on issues where each has something potentially to gain, as Ronald Reagan did with tax reform in 1986 and Bill Clinton did with welfare reform in 1996. Entitlement reform might be the issue that brings them together — Obama may be willing to support reforms that Democrats in Congress wouldn’t dare touch and give political cover to Republicans for actions they would dare not take on their own, assuming they are serious about actually cutting spending .

This assumes two things:

A.) That Obama really isn't a hardened leftist ideologue and he would be willing to compromise. There is no evidence for that.

B.) The GOP is serious about cutting spending. Given their performance under Bush, there is even less evidence for this.

jwpegler  posted on  2010-10-16   12:51:37 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#6. To: jwpegler (#4)

"That Obama really isn't a hardened leftist ideologue and he would be willing to compromise. There is no evidence for that."

He has reached out to dialog with the fussbudgets in the GOP. Constantly.

It is they who have been unwilling to deal in a bipartisan manner.

Ferret Mike  posted on  2010-10-16   15:04:48 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#9. To: Ferret Mike (#6)

He has reached out to dialog with the fussbudgets in the GOP. Constantly.

Utter nonsense. He has never given consideration to any GOP suggestions, other than a few inconsequential ones that he thought would entice the three liberal GOP Senators from the New England to vote for his big spending plans.

jwpegler  posted on  2010-10-16   17:55:08 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#12. To: jwpegler, ferret mike (#9)

He has never given consideration to any GOP suggestions, other than a few inconsequential ones that he thought would entice the three liberal GOP Senators from the New England to vote for his big spending plans.

You can't be serious - compare Obama's health care plan with the GOP plan that they introduced in 1993 as an alternative to Hillarycare, they are almost identical. Obama's plan also borrowed the idea of regional buying exchanges from the Heritage Foundation. Remember that Obama rejected the liberal single-payer approach (which he had campaigned on) because he said he couldn't get it through Congress (he never tried).

And, let us not forget his decision to push for nearly $300 million in tax cuts as part of the stimulus as an effort to win Republican votes. What you should realize is that the main reason so many liberals are upset with Obama is because he tried so hard to make nice with Republicans.

go65  posted on  2010-10-16   18:08:11 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


Replies to Comment # 12.

#14. To: go65 (#12)

Sounds like the GOP is suffering from an oppositional disorder.

lucysmom  posted on  2010-10-16 18:10:53 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


End Trace Mode for Comment # 12.

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