Monday, January 5, 2015
Start the Clock on Assessing Congress
The 100-day evaluation is used as a market in US politics. By Tax Day, there will be a good sense of whether the year will be shaped only by confrontations or if it will feature a decent dose of compromises. How do you think this political year will turn out considering the Republican dominated House and Senate?
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I would hope that this year would be met with compromise instead of confrontation. With Republicans dominating both the House and the Senate there is a better chance of Congress accomplishing more then they have in recent past.
ReplyDeleteJust like Jamie said, we can hope that this year is met with compromise since that would be the most reasonable way for Congress to act. With the House and Senate being controlled by the Republican party, yes they might be able to accomplish more, but it'll be interesting to see how that affects President Obama and/or this new generation (our generation).
ReplyDeleteThis year is going to have three things happen.
ReplyDelete1. Congress(now controlled by Republicans) will vote on bill after bill after bill, passing as many right wing bills as possible(but not too right wing).
2. Obama will veto most of them
3. Republicans will capitalize on this, painting Obama, and Democrats in general, as obstructionists, helping them with young people, who love progress and hate obstructionism.
Well this article was fairly optimistic! I agree with Carolanne and Jamie that this Congress will be very successful if it (and the president) are willing to compromise. I found it most interesting (and also mildly alarming) that the Republican party strategists didn't mention Obama at their dinner... He's just a little important to the productivity of these next two years.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it is really shocking that Obama wasn't even mentioned at the dinner, as he plays a major role in what gets done. We can only hope that compromise can be found. Considering that both the House and Senate are both dominated by the same party, more should be able to get done. The real question is what effect could this have on democrats?
ReplyDeleteBecause both the House and the Senate are controlled by the Republicans, I do feel that a lot is going to get passed and a lot more is going to be accomplished. However, I do see there being some issues between Congress and the President. Hopefully compromises won't be too difficult to come to.
ReplyDeleteThe Republicans have two options: compromise and get things done, or paint Obama as an obstructionist and get nothing done. It seems to me that the wiser choice of action would be compromise. If Congress achieves a number of things while the Republicans hold power in Congress, public perception of that Party will be better. The Republicans gain nothing by pushing a right wing agenda and accusing Obama of obstructionism, as he is already set to leave office after this term ends. While it seems a rather easy decision for the Republicans to make here, I will not be surprised one bit if, just like in the past few years, nothing gets accomplished in Congress due to lack of compromise.
ReplyDeleteWith a large portion of the republican senate going up for reelection in 2016 (in blue states) I am a little bit more optimistic. Maybe members of the senate will be more willing to work together in order to appear a little more centrist during election times. It will be interesting to see where the relationship between homeland security and immigrations is going to go. As we have learned, homeland security tends to trump other issues. But, with thousands of helpless children crossing the border monthly, law makers may be more compassionate. Also, in terms of infrastructure improvement, I feel like both parties will come to common ground. Just think about the extreme economic boom that would result from rebuilding our infrastructure. Think of all of the jobs that could be created!
ReplyDeleteOne can hope that there will be compromise this year now that Republicans control all of Congress while Democrats hold the White House. However, I think the omission of Obama at that Republican strategy meaning is an indication of what is to come. That is, that Republicans will pass as many bills as they can regardless of whether Obama will sign them or not. While it would be in there interests to show that they can govern and compromise with Democrats, it seems that they don't intend to do so. I do hope that this is not the case and that they can actually get things done but so far I don't see that many signs signs to the contrary.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Malachi's 3 step formula for Obama and Congress' relationship, but I'd like to expand on his step 3. Not only will republican's attempt to paint president Obama as an obstructionist, but they will use this to help put a republican in the white house. I see the next two years as an extended campaign season for both parties.
ReplyDelete