1. The Republicans contol only one branch of govenment and they have controlled that for just over 10 months. Where were the Dems for the 2 years when they had it all?
They were stymied in many of their efforts by the republican minority in the Senate, who threatened to filibuster just about everything they tried to pass. And they spent a good deal of time and leverage passing a poor excuse for a Universal Health Care law, which was also stymied and watered down by the republicans. We are the only developed nation in the world that doesn't have some form of Universal Health Care, and this was probably one of the most important pieces of legislation in our lifetime. But unfortunately, what we got was a piece of crap that doesn't really help anyone, thanks in large part to republican obstinance. They have now killed effective Universal Health Care legislation twice in or lifetime, making us one of the richest nations in the world that fails to care for the health of our people.
By the way, the same question could be asked of the republicans, who held both houses of Congress and the Presidency for six years under Bush. What did they accomplish for our nation? Did they deem the debt levels to be a crisis that had to be addressed when they were in charge? Nope, they got diddle done. But suddenly now that they are in the minority, the debt is supposedly at a crisis level and nothing else can be accomplished until we fix it. If the republicans take back Congress in the next election, I predict that the debt will suddenly become less important.
2. I support letting the GW Bush tax cuts expire. While collecting only 4.6 percent on the top end it raises taxes on all workers and so we all share the pain. This was within Obamas power and he kicked it down the road. I claim he unwisely kicked it down the road for political gain.
I agree with you here. In fact, I think kicking it down the road was the dumbest move Obama has made in his first term. He could have made a strong political statement by letting them expire, or he could have used it for leverage in the budget negotiations that the Republicans aren't willing to budge on. Instead, he took that leverage and punted it away. What an idiotic thing to do, politically.
3. I support adopting the Simpson-Bowles proposal. I didn't like all of it but I believe it would be good for the country. It was far reaching, bold and fair. It came into play when the Dems had all three branches with super majorities but again they kicked it down the road. A political football.
The dems kicked it down the road? Hardly. The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform was created in 2010 by President Obama to identify "…policies to improve the fiscal situation in the medium term and to achieve fiscal sustainability over the long run." The original proposal for a commission came from bipartisan legislation that would have required Congress to vote on its recommendations as presented, without any amendment. In January 2010, that bill failed in the Senate by a vote of 53-46, when
six Republicans who had co-sponsored it nevertheless voted against it. Thereafter, Obama established the Commission by Executive Order. A report was released on December 1, 2010, but failed a vote on December 3 with 11 of 18 votes in favor, with a supermajority of 14 votes needed to formally endorse the blueprint. Voting against were four democrats and three republicans.
Source
Clearly, the republicans tried to scuttle this commission. Obama made it happen anyway. But by the time the commission released their report, the election had already occurred that gave republicans a majority in the House. The democrats never had an opportunity to vote on the commission's recommendations when they had a supermajority. Thus your insinuation that they had the opportunity and punted is a mistaken assertion.
Truth is, if it is a far reaching, bold and fair plan, it should be able to be passed by a bipartisan Congress, one that actually compromises for the good of the country. But then, if one side refuses to pass anything for which the other side may claim some credit, then nothing bold and fair can be accomplished for our country and we the people suffer for it.
