Response to Woodward Book

The White House Senior Advisor in responding to Woodward’s book said “We’ve worked with the Republicans in Congress when they’re willing, we’ve cut taxes for the middle class, we’ve cut over $1 trillion in spending, more than what’s called for in the Bowles-Simpson Plan, we’ve helped our entrepreneurs and things like that, so we’ve worked with them.” Now I’m going to address Woodward’s comments about the Reagan and Clinton administration. 

During Reagan’s tenure the House was controlled by the Democrats and the Senate with the exception of 1987-1989 was controlled by the Republicans; thus Reagan ran into real Democratic opposition during his last 2 years. During Clinton’s 2 terms both the House and Senate were controlled by Democrats from 1993-1995 and then the House and Senate were controlled by Republicans from 1995-2001. The House of Representatives has 435 members and the Senate has 100. To pass a bill in the House you need a simple majority; in other words 218 votes (217 can vote no). To pass a bill in the Senate requires 60 votes, not a simple majority. The Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader are to serve as the chief representative of his or her party. During Obama’s first 2 years the House and Senate were controlled by Democrats so like Clinton he didn’t run into Republican opposition and we didn’t hear of budget or other breakdowns. The 2011-2013 House got 85 new members and control switched to the Republicans; 193 Democrats and 242 Republicans (61 Tea Party). The Senate has 51 Democrats, 47 Republicans (4 Tea Party) and 2 Liberals but without 60 Democrats they don’t effectively control legislation. Unlike Speakers of the past, John Boehner couldn’t control his Republicans/Tea Party which is why I think the Democrats and Republicans that were in Congress during Reagan’s and Clinton’s eras were not as unwavering as today’s Tea Party. As evident by voting records and constant attempts to undo what has been enacted, the Tea Party has continually stalled our economy. Over and over again they voted against job bills, the most recent was a September 19, 2012 (58-40) vote on a Senate bill to put unemployed veterans to work tending federal lands and bolstering local police and fire departments. Politifact.com said Obama kept 37% of his 500 promises and broke 16.6%. The book only talks of the 2011 fiasco; overall, I’m surprised Obama managed to get as much done as he did.