Obama may follow Clinton's model... A Return to 1994 and triangulation

[BrentWil]

Interesting. But at least Obama got something done in the first two years, unlike Clinton.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/30/AR2010103004388_pf.html

n the fall of 1994, Bill Clinton suffered a bruising defeat in his first midterm elections. He held a desultory news conference, then left the country for a whirlwind trip to Indonesia. Back home, the new Republican Congress set about changing the course of his presidency.

If Republicans repeat some version of that narrative on Tuesday, Obama may well follow a path similar to Clinton's - sometimes compromising, at the risk of angering his own base, and sometimes daring the GOP to oppose him, as Clinton did during the government shutdown of 1995.

[stray cat]

1. Someone will have to govern - the house and senate may leave no better option

[BrentWil]

3. I think we will be in better shape in the Senate...

But the GOP majority may be huge in the House. If it is, this will be hard. It will be great politically for us, but the GOP may not compromise on anything, given their base is now crazy.

[still_one]

2. If the repukes win both houses, everything that has been done, will be reversed /nt

[BrentWil]

4. Okay drama queen...

There is still this thing called about 50 Dem Senators and a Veto.

What was passed in the last two years will change America forever.

[still_one]

10. are you including the blue dogs who helped us so much the last two years? /nt

[BrentWil]

11. I am including the Veto

And the Senate. Things won't get reversed. Now, if we get our ass kicked in 2012, maybe. GOP could get up to 60 Senators and the Presidency.

[still_one]

18. If I am a "drama queen" so is obama, because on the campaign trail he has expressed the

same concerns. There are Democrats actively campaigning against HCR and financial reform. It all depends how accurate the polls are, but if we lose both house, I believe that as far as HCR and Financial reform, they will be in trouble, especially for HCR since most of the benefits for HCR do not kick in until 2014, coincidently, after the 2012 presidential election

[BrentWil]

20. Because he wants Dems to vote..

Not because he actually thinks the bill will get repealed. And the election of 2012 COULD result in the repeal. Just not 2010.

[still_one]

22. ok /nt

[RaleighNCDUer]

14. Like what? There were no structural changes, merely some tweaking

of the system as is. And a tweak can be un-tweaked. That's because, unlike Clinton, Obama did his triangulating BEFORE the midterms.

[still_one]

19. That is actually a good point, however, it could be argued that they laid a foundation for HCR

but the problem in the real substance of the tweaks do not take effect until 2014, and a lot can happen between then and now, especially if repukes take back both houses, and who knows what will happen in 2012

[BrentWil]

23. I disagree that there were not major changes

Coverage will expand to 30 million Americans, the market is more regulated, and the poor will have the resources to buy into the system. That is major.

[niceypoo]

41. The current corrupt system was institutionalized

That is what we got. Since it happened the insurers have gleefully raised premiums 30% - 50%. Oops, should have done something about price gouging....

Fail

[RaleighNCDUer]

44. I did not say there were no major changes - I said there were no

structural changes - and if you can't see the difference, that is 90% of the problem.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. How Are They Going To Override His Veto?

~

[denimgirly]

7. In some Cases they wont Have to -- Obama may give in.

I'm sure for most things (assumign this scenerio comes true) Obama will veto but for some he will likely compromise and give repubs what they want. It's just who he is.

[BrentWil]

9. That is the point of the article..

He will compromise on issues.

[still_one]

13. Based on the view of some Democrats, his veto could be overridden /nt

[BrentWil]

16. You really think

That there will be 67 votes in the Senate and 2/3th of the house to override a veto? Remember, the U.S constitution gives a 2/3 majority Congress the power to override the Presidential veto.

[still_one]

21. I am only basing it on the feeling that I have seen Democrats cave-in more than once under the 8

years we had bush, and if the media continues the misrepresentations that they have been doing the first two years of Obama's term, I see the Democrats caving in

I guess for those at DU who earlier this year wanted to get rid of the filibuster, may not be so inclined

Hopefully, as you said, I am full of it, and am misreading the mood entirely

[BrentWil]

24. Anyone who gets into power wants it gone..

Then when they are in the minority, they want to keep it.

[still_one]

27. Quite ironic /nt

[still_one]

12. You are assuming that the Democrats will stand as a unit. There are several Democrats against HCR

and the financial reform as part of their campaigns

Just because they have a D behind their name does NOT mean they will not side with the repukes, especially if the propaganda wars look like it will be to their political advantage

[BrentWil]

15. I am sure they will be able to pass a repeal bill in the House...

That is a long way from becoming law.

[Pirate Smile]

30. They can't override his veto. The big problem is them not funding HCR or FinReg - such as the

Consumer Protection Bureau that Elizabeth Warren is setting up.

They did this to Clinton too but they can make it worse with Obama because he did pass big, new legislation which now needs to be set up but needs $$$ to have that happen. Spending has to start in the House.

Obama Rebuilt the Regulatory State. Now, Republicans Are About To Destroy It.

It's The EPA and OSHA, Stupid!

Democrats are warning that if Republicans capture the House—and perhaps also the Senate—in this November’s election, they would abolish cabinet departments, repeal Obamacare, and privatize social security. They might want to do these things, but they won’t be able to overcome a Senate filibuster or a presidential veto. What they will be able to do, however, is undermine the work of regulatory agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The Obama administration has appointed good people to these agencies and increased their funding, and they are beginning to revive after being crippled during George W. Bush’s presidency. A Republican Congress wouldn’t be able to close them down, but it could make life very difficult for them to function by cutting their funding. That’s exactly what happened after the Republicans captured the Congress in November 1994 when Bill Clinton was president.

The newly minted Republican majority in the House, led by Georgia Rep. Newt Gingrich, immediately passed the Job Creation and Wage Enhancement Act, which contained sections specifically aimed at curbing regulatory agencies. The Private Property Reform Act forced the government to reimburse property owners for any loss suffered from regulations; the Regulatory Reform and Relief Act and the Risk Assessment and Cost Benefit Act created a labyrinth of appeals and studies that any new regulation would have to pass through. As the authors of a Contemporary Regulatory Policy put it, they “mired regulatory agencies in a procedural quagmire.”

In the Senate, Democrats killed the bill by threatening a filibuster, but the effort put the agencies on the defensive. In the budget that year, the Republicans—not constrained by a filibuster—were able to get their way. They cut the EPA’s overall budget by 25 percent and cut its critical enforcement budget by 40 percent and put 17 riders on the budget bill limiting the EPA’s ability to police industries. They cut OSHA’s already barebones budget by 16 percent and put a rider prohibiting OSHA from adopting new rules on ergonomic industries (like carpal tunnel syndrome) that had first been proposed in 1990 by George H.W. Bush’s administration.

When Clinton vetoed the Republican budget, the Republicans forced the government to shut down that fall. Clinton eventually won the political battle over the shutdown by demonstrating that Republican tax cuts for the rich were almost exactly equal to their proposed reductions in Medicare, but when the dust cleared from the budget battle, funding for the EPA and OSHA had been cut, and OSHA had been forced to suspend its attempt to enforce standards on ergonomic injuries. EPA director Carol Browner complained that from October 1995 to February 1996, EPA inspections had been reduced by 40 percent because of budget cuts. And there’s a clear lesson there. If you don’t have the people to enforce regulations on pollution or worker injury, it doesn’t matter how tough the rules are.

After Clinton easily won re-election in 1996, and the Democrats won back some of their seats (although not a majority) by running against the Republican leadership in Congress, the administration was able to get back some of the regulatory funding that had been lost, but even at the end of Clinton’s two terms, the agencies were not operating at full speed. In 2000, there were actually less people working in OSHA than there were in 1975. And an ergonomics rule had still not been adopted. (Clinton proposed it finally as a “midnight regulation” after the November election, but George W. Bush promptly threw it out.)

A similar tale could be told of what happened in other regulatory agencies after the Republicans won Congress in November 1994. And the same thing could happen next year if the Republicans win back the House—or the House and Senate—this November. That’s reason enough to worry about the outcome of the coming election.

http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-cohn/78586/epa-osha-fcc-republicans-congress-midterm-elections

[Doctor_J]

6. He's already triangulated severely

My guess will be that the Repukes will not make the same mistake they made when Clinton was prez - they will this time impeach during his first term instead of waiting until the 2nd

[BrentWil]

8. They won't...

And that would have been a mistake in 1994. If you can't remove someone it is stupid to Impeach him.

[still_one]

25. I would tend to agree with you, however, it depends if we lose the house, who becomes their majority

leader whether impeachment is on or off the table

You would think they would be smart enough not to. Not only because there are no grounds, but it would hurt them in a poltical sense

[BrentWil]

34. Then good...

We would LOVE for the house to do that.

[Exilednight]

17. They're not going to impeach Obama. It's a stupid move on their part if they try ..........

all they did during the Clinton impeachment is galvanize the base. Besides, if they don't have the seats in the Senate, then they aren't going to proceed in the House.

[still_one]

26. I agree it would be a stupid move, but the nomination of some of these tea party candidates I also

believe is a stupid move

Look at Nevada. They may vote out their Senator who is the majority leader for an totally incompetent person

I wouldn't put it past them, however, I would like to think that it would hurt the repukes, but you never know

When you have poll numbers that have 25% believe Obama isn't a citizen, we have real problems in this country

[niceypoo]

40. You expect sanity from them?

Of course they will try to impeach Obama if they take control. It will be Clinton all over again.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

28. Can't we just have some REAL "news"?!

instead of all of this "speculation news"? :eyes: We'll find out sooner or later what path President Obama will take- it hinges largely on what happens on Tuesday--- which hasn't even happened yet and the Republicans haven't even been declared winners, at least not officially.

[onehandle]

29. President Bill Clinton got plenty done over eight years --->

Even with six years of an opposition Congress.
_____________________

Clinton-Gore Administration Accomplishments

Progress By The Numbers

Jobs & The Economy:

Jobs

22.2 million new jobs created since 1993 -- the most jobs ever created under a single Administration,administration, and more jobs than Presidents Reagan and Bush created during their three terms. Under President Clinton, the economy has added an average of 245,000248,000 jobs per month, the highest of any President on record. This compares to 52,000 per month under President Bush and 167,000 per month under President Reagan.

Unemployment

Down from 7.5 percent in 1992 to 3.9 percent in September, the lowest in more than three decades. The unemployment rate has fallen for seven years in a row, and has remained below 5 percent for 37 months in a row -- over three full years.

Income

Median family income has increased from $42,612 in 1993 to $48,950 in 1999 - an $6,338 increase. In contrast, median family income fell from $44,354 in 1988 to $42,490 in 1992.

Wages

Real wages have risen 6.66.5 percent since 1993, compared to declining 4.3 percent during the Reagan and Bush years. Real wage growth in 1998 reached 2.6 percent -- the largest increase since 1972. Wages have increased five years in a row -- the longest consecutive increase since the 1960s. In the last 12 months, average hourly earnings have sustained growth since the early 1970s.increased 3.8 percent -- faster than the rate of inflation. 6/00]

Tax Cuts

15 million additional working families receive additional tax relief through the President’s expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit. In 1999, the EITC lifted 4.1 million out of poverty -- nearly double the number who were removed from poverty in 1993. Over half of the people removed from poverty by the EITC (2.3 million) were children under the age of 18.

$500 per-child
tax credit

27 million families with 45 million children receive the $500 per-child tax credit.

Minimum Wage

10 million Americans received an increase in wages thanks to the President’s leadership in raising the minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.15 per hour.

New Businesses

More than 5.9 million new businesses have been created since 1993.

National Debt

Paid off $360 billion of the national debt over three years, and public debt is on track to be $2.4 trillion lower in 2000 than was projected in 1993. There is $25,000 less debt for each family of four than in 1993. With the President's plan, we are on track to eliminate the nation's publicly held debt by at least 2012.

Home Ownership

Reached 67.2 percent in the second quarter of 2000 -- the highest ever recorded. Minority homeownership rates were also the highest ever recorded. In contrast, the homeownership rate fell from 65.6 percent in the first quarter of 1981 to 63.7 percent in the first quarter of 1993.

Expanding Educational Opportunity: Elementary and Secondary Schools


Teachers

Nearly 30,000 new, well-prepared teachers were hired for fall 1999 with funds from the first down payment on the President’s seven-year plan to reduce class size by hiring 100,000 teachers.

After School Programs

850,000 school-age children in rural and urban communities will have safe and educational after-school opportunities in 2000 because of the expanded 21st Century Community Learning Centers program -- 375,000 more than last year.

Education Technology

30 million children and up to 47,000 schools and libraries are being connected to the Internet though the E-rate. In the fall of 1998, 891999, 95 percent of public schools were connected to the Internet. In 1994, just 35 percent were connected. Internet -- up from 35 percent in 1994. In 1999, 63 percent of all public school classrooms were connected to the Internet -- up from 3 percent in 1994. Stats in Brief NCES 2000-086, 2/00]

Title I

1111 million low-income students in 13,000 school districts now benefit from higher expectations and a challenging curriculum geared to higher standards. And through better targeting of federal funds, Title I funds now reach 95 percent of highest poverty schools, up from 79 percent in 1993-94.

Charter Schools

Increased the number of charter schools from one in 1993 to 1,7002,000 today. More than 250,000 students nationwide are now enrolled in charter schools in 30 states and the District of Columbia. Won $145 million in the FY00 budget, to provide startup funding to as many as 2,400 charter schools. Charter schools help expand choice and accountability in public schools.

America Reads Challenge

1,400 colleges and universities joined the President's America Reads Challenge, and 26,700 college work-study students now serve as reading tutors to help every child to read well and independently by the third grade.

Mentoring

Won a 67 percent funding increase so that 482,000 middle school students will be prepared for college this year through expanded mentoring efforts as part of GEAR UP.

School-To-Work

516,000 high school students and nearly 178,000 employers participated in school-to-work programs in 1998.

Scores Are Up

Since 1992, average SAT scores have increased by 15 points. In 1998, students posted the highest math scores in 27 years on the SAT. And the number of high school students taking Advanced Placement exams tripled between 1984 and 1997.

Expanding Educational Opportunity: Postsecondary Education and Training

Tuition Tax Credits

In 1999, an estimated 10 million American families claimed the HOPE Scholarship and Lifetime Learning Tax Credits to help pay for college.

Pell Grants

3.9 million low-income students will receive a Pell Grant award to help them attend college. In the FY00 budget, the President increased the maximum Pell Grant award from $3,000 to $3,300 -- the largest maximum award ever. The maximum award has increased 43 percent since 1993.

Direct Loan Program

More than 5 million student and parent borrowers have received direct loans since the program began.

Reduced Loan Fees

Since 1993, students have saved $8.7 billion through lower student loan fees and interest rates.

Student Loan Default
Rate Declines

The student loan default rate declined from 22.4 percent in 1990 to 6.9 percent today, the lowest rate ever. Collections on defaulted student loans have tripled, from $1 billion in 1993 to $4 billion last year.

AmeriCorps

More than 150,000 volunteers have earned money for college by serving their communities and their country in the AmeriCorps program since the program began in 1994.

Work Study

One million students will be able to work their way through college this year thanks to the President’s expansion of the Work Study Program.

College Enrollment Up

67 percent of high school graduates went on to college in 1998, compared to 62 percent in 1992. The percentage of African American high school graduates enrolling in college increased from 48 percent in 1992 to 59 percent in 1997 -- the highest number ever.

Retrained Workers

An estimated 836,000 American workers will benefit this year from the dislocated worker program. President Clinton won a $190 million increase in FY 2000, bringing the total investment to $1.6 billion and allowing the program to serve more than three times as many dislocated workers.

Crime and Public Safety

Declining Crime Rates

Under the Clinton-Gore Administration, America has experienced the longest continuous drop in crime on record. The overall crime rate is the lowest in 25 years, and in 1999 crime fell for the eighth consecutive year nationwide. Violent crime rate fell 7 percent in 1999 and 27 percent since 1993. Since 1993, the murder rate is down more than 25 percent to its lowest point since 1967, and gun violence has declined by more than 35 percent.

Juvenile Arrests Down

In 1998, the nation saw an 8 percent drop in the juvenile violent crime arrests.

Community Policing

Reached the President’s goal of funding 100,000 more community police officers for our streets in May 1999 -- ahead of schedule and under budget. President Clinton won funding in the FY00 budget to begin hiring an additional 50,000 officers by 2005.

Brady Bill

More than 470,000536,000 felons, fugitives and stalkers have been stopped from buying guns since the Brady Law was enacted.

Improving Officer Safety

In its first year, the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act helped state and local law enforcement purchase 92,500 bulletproof vests.

"Zero-Tolerance" for Guns In Schools

Over 13,500 students have been expelled from public schools for bringing weapons to school under zero tolerance policies established by the Gun Free Schools Act, which was passed in 1994.

Domestic Violence Hotline

More than 458,000 calls have been received by the nationwide, 24-hour domestic violence hotline President Clinton established.

Strengthening Families

Family & Medical Leave

Nearly 91 million workers are covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act -- 71 percent of the American labor force. Millions of Americans have taken job-protected leave.

Welfare to Work

7.8 million fewer people are receiving welfare benefits today than in 1993, a 56 percent decrease. The percentage of Americans on welfare is the lowest since 1965, and millions of Americans have moved from welfare to work -- 1.3 million in 1998 alone. The percentage of adults on welfare who were working reached an all-time high of 33 percent in 1999, nearly five times the percent in 1992.

Head Start

Head Start will reach a total of 880,000 children in FY 2000 and will serve one million children and their families by the year 2002. The President and Vice President have expanded Head Start funding by 90 percent since 1993.

Child Care

Child care funding has increased by 80 percentmore than doubled under the Clinton-Gore Administration, helping parents pay for the care ofmore than one million children. An average of 1.25 million children were served by states under the child care block grant in FY 1997 -- a 25 percent increase from the estimated 1 million children served in FY 1996. The 1996 welfare1.5 million children and the1996 welfare reform law increased child care funding by $4 billion over six years to provide child care assistance to families moving from welfare to years. 59]

Child Poverty

The child poverty rate has dropped from 22.7 percent in 1993 to 16.9 percent in 1999 -- the biggest six-year drop in nearly 30 years, and the lowest child poverty rate since 1979.

Increasing Adoptions

In 1999, 46,000 foster care children were adopted – more than a 64 percent increase since 1996 and well on the way to meeting the President's goal of doubling the number of adoptions from 28,000 in 1996 to 56,000 by 2002.

Teen Pregnancy

The teen birth rate has fallen eight years in a row, dropping by 20 percent from 1991 to 1999 to the lowest rate ever recorded in the 60 years this data has been collected. The teen pregnancy rate is also at a record low.

Child Abuse

Child abuse has declined for five years in a row, down approximately 11 percent from a record 1,018,692 in 1993.

Child Support Collections

Federal and state child support programs broke new records, nearly doubling records in 1999, collecting nearly $16 billion -- doublethe amount collected in 1992. The number of child support cases with collections more than doubled during the Clinton Administration, from 2.8 million in 1992 to 4.5 million in 1999. support payments -- more than double the number found during the previous year.
Improving Our Nation's Health

Patients’ Bill of Rights

85 million people covered by Federal health plans, and Medicare and Medicaid, received patient protections -- protections included in the President’s Patients’ Bill of Rights -- thanks to executive action taken by President Clinton.

More Americans Have Health Insurance

From 1998 to 1999, the number of Americans with health insurance rose by 1.7 million -- two-thirds of them children. This is the first decline in the number of uninsured in 12 years.

Health Insurance Reform

As many as 25 million people will benefit from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which helps millions of Americans who move from one job to another, are self-employed, or have pre-existing medical conditions keep their health insurance.

Eliminating Fraud

Health care convictions have increased 80 percent since 1992, saving more than $500 billion in health care claims thanks to the Clinton-Gore Administration's efforts to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse. Since 1993, the Administration has assigned more federal prosecutors and FBI agents to fight health care fraud than ever before.

Children’s Health Care

As many as 5 million more children will receive health insurance under President Clinton’s State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). As of June 2000, approximately 2.5 million children were enrolled in SCHIP.

Infant Mortality

There has been a 15.2 percent decrease in the infant mortality rate -- to the lowest level in history -- from 8.5 in 1992 to 7.2 in 1997.

Immunization

Childhood immunization coverage rates in 1998 were the highest ever recorded. Over 90 percent of America’s toddlers received the most critical doses of each of the routinely recommended vaccines in 1996, 1997, and again in 1998. With childhood vaccination levels at an all-time high, disease and death from diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella and Hib are at or near record lows.

WIC

7.3 million women, infants, and children -- 1.4 million more than in 1993 -- have access to health care, supplemental foods, nutrition and breastfeeding education thanks to WIC.

Biomedical Research

Two years ago, the President called for an increase of almost 50 percent over 5 years in the NIH budget as part of his Research for America Fund. Since then, the NIH budget has increased by over $4.3 billion and with the funding proposed by the President this year, the Administration will be one year ahead of schedule in reaching the 50 percent goal.
Food Safety

Two years after President Clinton's meat and poultry inspection system went into place, the number of Americans stricken by the most common forms of foodborne illness has declined by almost 20 percent. Overall, 855,000 fewer Americans became ill from bacteria in their food in 1999 than two years before.

Government That Works Better

Reinventing Government

The Vice President's National Performance Review recommended and Congress adopted savings of about $136 billion since 1993.

Smaller Government

There are 377,000 fewer employees in the Federal government workforce than in 1993 -- nearly a fifth -- giving us the smallest Federal workforce since 1960.

Lower Government Spending

At 18.5 percent, Federal Government spending as a share of the Gross Domestic Product is at its lowest level since 1966.

Motor Voter

28 million new voters registered to vote -- and voting was made easier for millions more Americans -- since 1995 because of the National Voter Registration Act.

Environment

Toxic Waste Sites

Completed cleanup at more than 510530 Superfund sites, more than fourthree times as many as completed in the previous two Administrations.twelve years. Cleanup of more than 9091 percent of all sites either completed or in progress. The Administration's brownfields redevelopment initiative has leveraged over $2.3 billion in private sector investment and generated 6,400 jobs. <[Environmental Protection Agency, Superfund NPL Construction Completions Since 1/20/93 to 6/22/99>EPA, Construction Completions at National Priorities List Sites, as of 7/27/00; EPA, www.epa.gov, 8/24/00]

National Parks

The National Park System has increased by about 4.56 million acres during the Clinton-Gore Administration. The President has also created 13 new national park areas and has significantly expanded others, like Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Parks in California.

Preserving Our National Treasures

Protected tens of millions of acres, from the red rock canyons of Utah to the Florida Everglades. Reached historic agreements to protect Yellowstone from mining and save the ancient redwoods of California’s Headwaters Forest.

Safe Drinking Water

Since 1993, 22.5 million more Americans receive drinking water that meets all federal health standards. Ninety-one percent of America’s tap water from community drinking water systems meets all federal standards. 33]
Clean Air

Since 1993, the number of Americans living in communities that meet federal air quality standards has grown by 43 million.

Encouraging Recycling

Americans recycle 22 million tons more material than in 1992 -- thanks to that effort, the United States will discard less waste in 2000 than in 1992. We recycle more of our municipal waste than any major country in the world.


http://clinton4.nara.gov/WH/Accomplishments/numbers.html

[robcon]

31. I didn't see Welfare Reform or NAFTA in the list of his accomplishments

Huh?

[BrentWil]

33. NAFTA is hugely important..

And a very good thing.

[robcon]

46. I couldn't agree more. NAFTA is the best job-building program in recent decades.

n/t

[OHdem10]

32. I hope Obama considers seriously his legacy.

In Ohio, NAFTA is hated and considered a big
reason for our economic problems.

Ask Ohions why they would vote for Republicans.
Bill Clinton passed NAFTA.

[still_one]

36. That does say much for Ohion's critical thinking. republicans are the ones who introduced NAFTA /nt

[Exilednight]

35. I wasn't a big fan of the Clinton model ............

it's actually one of the reasons I supported Obama over Hillary during the primary. I didn't want a repeat of the Clinton years, but sadly that is all we've had.

[BrentWil]

37. Well a key difference is that

Obama actually got things done during the first two years.

[Exilednight]

42. That depends on how define "done" ..........

HCR is not done.
Iraq is not done.
Afghanistan is not done.

His legislative agenda has been about getting victories in congress, not victories for America.

[FBaggins]

38. This isn't 1994, so it shouldn't have '94's strategy.

The potential for losing lots of House seats makes people think that history is repeating itself so all we have to do is follow the same strategy. Well... this isn't 1994. IF Republicans win big, they aren't winning with the same issues/voters that threw the switch last time.

This could just as easily be 1946 and we need 1948's solutions.

Obama also isn't Bill Clinton (for better OR worse), and republicans today aren't nearly as popular as they were in 1994. So if they come out of the gate assuming that everyone supports a far right agenda... it'll be 1948 all over again.

[niceypoo]

39. You are missing the 800 lb gorilla in the room

Clinton's 1993 economic plan passed without a single republican vote and it wiped out Reaganomics.

[Pab Sungenis]

43. The man has done nothing BUT anger his own base.

The only way he could anger us more is to visit each of us in turn and strangle a puppy on our front lawns.

[Jennicut]

45. People look into it too much. Who the hell knows? We might not lose the Senate

and the Repubs might win the House by barely 3 or so seats. Or we could lose both by huge margins. I wouldn't decide on a strategy until the votes were counted. And Bill Clinton and Obama are not the same person. Repubs don't want to work with Obama either, like Repubs did in 1994. They just want to annihilate us.

[Radical Activist]

47. No, he won't.

People have been projecting Clinton onto Obama since before he took office. The routine is played. He's a different person with a fundamentally different governing style. It should be very, very obvious by now.

[jesus_of_suburbia]

48. You sure are helpful in bringing us all together RIGHT BEFORE AN ELECTION! Way to go!

[Tesha]

49. He can move *FARTHER* towards the Republican positions???? (NT)

[robcon]

50. Yes, a LOT further!

Let's see what he does before the 2012 elections.

[mkultra]

51. I honestly think Obama's silence up to this point has been intentional

I think he is letting those that didn't support him in the last session twist in the wind.