[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Mail]  [Sign-in]  [Setup]  [Help]  [Register] 

"The 2nd Impeachment: Trump’s Popularity Still Scares Them to Death"

"President Badass"

"Jasmine Crockett's Train Wreck Interview Was a Disaster"

"How Israel Used Spies, Smuggled Drones and AI to Stun and Hobble Iran"

There hasn’T been ... a single updaTe To This siTe --- since I joined.

"This Is Not What Authoritarianism Looks Like"

America Erupts… ICE Raids Takeover The Streets

AC/DC- Riff Raff + Go Down [VH1 Uncut, July 5, 1996]

Why is Peter Schiff calling Bitcoin a ‘giant cult’ and how does this impact market sentiment?

Esso Your Butt Buddy Horseshit jacks off to that shit

"The Addled Activist Mind"

"Don’t Stop with Harvard"

"Does the Biden Cover-Up Have Two Layers?"

"Pete Rose, 'Shoeless' Joe Reinstated by MLB, Eligible for HOF"

"'Major Breakthrough': Here Are the Details on the China Trade Deal"

Freepers Still Love war

Parody ... Jump / Trump --- van Halen jump

"The Democrat Meltdown Continues"

"Yes, We Need Deportations Without Due Process"

"Trump's Tariff Play Smart, Strategic, Working"

"Leftists Make Desperate Attempt to Discredit Photo of Abrego Garcia's MS-13 Tattoos. Here Are Receipts"

"Trump Administration Freezes $2 Billion After Harvard Refuses to Meet Demands"on After Harvard Refuses to Meet Demands

"Doctors Committing Insurance Fraud to Conceal Trans Procedures, Texas Children’s Whistleblower Testifies"

"Left Using '8647' Symbol for Violence Against Trump, Musk"

KawasakiÂ’s new rideable robohorse is straight out of a sci-fi novel

"Trade should work for America, not rule it"

"The Stakes Couldn’t Be Higher in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court Race – What’s at Risk for the GOP"

"How Trump caught big-government fans in their own trap"

‘Are You Prepared for Violence?’

Greek Orthodox Archbishop gives President Trump a Cross, tells him "Make America Invincible"

"Trump signs executive order eliminating the Department of Education!!!"

"If AOC Is the Democratic Future, the Party Is Even Worse Off Than We Think"

"Ending EPA Overreach"

Closest Look Ever at How Pyramids Were Built

Moment the SpaceX crew Meets Stranded ISS Crew

The Exodus Pharaoh EXPLAINED!

Did the Israelites Really Cross the Red Sea? Stunning Evidence of the Location of Red Sea Crossing!

Are we experiencing a Triumph of Orthodoxy?

Judge Napolitano with Konstantin Malofeev (Moscow, Russia)

"Trump Administration Cancels Most USAID Programs, Folds Others into State Department"

Introducing Manus: The General AI Agent

"Chinese Spies in Our Military? Straight to Jail"

Any suggestion that the USA and NATO are "Helping" or have ever helped Ukraine needs to be shot down instantly

"Real problem with the Palestinians: Nobody wants them"

ACDC & The Rolling Stones - Rock Me Baby

Magnus Carlsen gives a London System lesson!

"The Democrats Are Suffering Through a Drought of Generational Talent"

7 Tactics Of The Enemy To Weaken Your Faith

Strange And Biblical Events Are Happening

Every year ... BusiesT casino gambling day -- in Las Vegas


Status: Not Logged In; Sign In

United States News
See other United States News Articles

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: 22502
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.

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest

Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 34.

#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  


#15. To: jwpegler (#9)

In as much the GOPers have not responded enough to the many calls for dialog and to work together in a way that would produce suggestions from them, your words are just so much disingenuous nonsense.

Ferret Mike  posted on  2010-10-16   18:12:14 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#16. To: Ferret Mike (#15)

In as much the GOPers have not responded enough to the many calls for dialog and to work together in a way that would produce suggestions from them, your words are just so much disingenuous nonsense.

But necessary to play the victim card.

lucysmom  posted on  2010-10-16   18:16:41 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#18. To: lucysmom (#16)

Work with the democrats. Yeah right. We want to destroy the democrats. They are an evil bunch. You don't compromise with baby killers. You annihilate them.

A K A Stone  posted on  2010-10-16   18:38:15 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#19. To: A K A Stone (#18)

Then why don't they dig foxholes in the Capitol and put gun at all the desks in the Senate?

Stone, annihilation is no way to run a country with a constitution with checks and balances to share power to make everyone work together?

You don't 'annihilate' political opponents in a Republic like ours', you work to convince them they are wrong and they get a turn to try to do the same.

You make no sense here.

Ferret Mike  posted on  2010-10-16   18:45:30 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#20. To: Ferret Mike (#19)

Democrats are evil. They need to be destroyed as a party. Voted out of office. Annihilated. Tossed to the curb. They need their heads slammed. Tarred and feathered. Targeted for defeat. Aimed at. They need to go down in flames. They ignore the Constitution so there is no need to pretend to be their friends and work with them.

A K A Stone  posted on  2010-10-16   19:16:02 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#29. To: A K A Stone (#20)

They ignore the Constitution so there is no need to pretend to be their friends and work with them.

Honestly, you don't sound like a Christian or a supporter of the Constitution to me.

lucysmom  posted on  2010-10-16   22:44:47 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#32. To: lucysmom (#29)

Honestly, you don't sound like a Christian or a supporter of the Constitution to me.

He's one of those evangies who believes as long as he accepts Jesus no behaviors are considered too horrible to keep him out of heaven.

And Catholics are claiming ODonnell as one of their own too.

It's time for the popcorn.

mininggold  posted on  2010-10-16   23:50:30 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#34. To: mininggold (#32)

He's one of those evangies who believes as long as he accepts Jesus no behaviors are considered too horrible to keep him out of heaven.

I've heard "grace" defined as what God does within you, without you.

lucysmom  posted on  2010-10-17   10:51:38 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


Replies to Comment # 34.

#35. To: lucysmom (#34)

I've heard "grace" defined as what God does within you, without you.

Some evangies feel that by accepting Jesus they get a personal get out of jail free card.

mininggold  posted on  2010-10-17 10:59:05 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


End Trace Mode for Comment # 34.

TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest

[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Mail]  [Sign-in]  [Setup]  [Help]  [Register] 

Please report web page problems, questions and comments to webmaster@libertysflame.com