Health & Fitness
A tale of two Houses
President Obama has had a Democratically controlled Senate for all four years, eight months of his presidency but for only the first two years in the House. Let's see how his agenda, our agenda actually, faired during those 56 months.
In the first two years (the 111th Congress) here's what a Democratic controlled House accomplished in conjunction with a Democratic Senate:
•WALL STREET REFORM
•CREDIT CARD REFORM
•STUDENT LOAD REFORM
•ACA - PROVIDING HEALTH CARE FOR 40 MILLION WITHOUT
•FAIR PAY FOR WOMEN ACT
•STUDENT LOAN REFORM
•911 FIRST RESPONDERS RELIEF
•END OF "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL"
•CASH FOR CLUNKERS
•MIDDLE CLASS TAX CUT
•HIRING INCENTIVES TO STIMULATE EMPLOYMENT
•VETERANS OMNIBUS HEALTH SERVICES ACT
•FISCAL STIMULUS BILL
•MORGAGE RELIEF ACT
•HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT
•EXPANDED NATIONAL SERVICE ACT
•RATIFIED START TREATY WITH RUSSIA ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS
•FIXED SENTENCING DISPARITY BETWEEN POWDER AND CRACK COCAINE
•EXPANDED THE GI BILL
On the other side of the political ledger, here is what the Republican controlled House accomplished in the 112th and 113th Congress which includes eight more months of House control that the Democrats:
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•JULY, 2011: CREATED PHONEY DEBT CEILING CRISIS CAUSING US CREDIT DOWNGRADE
•SEPTEMBER, 2011: AGAIN THREATENED GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
•APRIL, 2012: AGAIN THREATENED GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
•DECEMBER, 2012: MARCHED US TO THE FISCAL CLIFF
•JANUARY, 2013: THREATENED ANOTHER PHONEY DEBT CEILING CRISIS
•SEPTEMBER, 2013: SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT - NOW IN ITS FOURTH DAY
In case you think the GOP record was an unintended fluke, consider that GOP Tea Party extremists were championing shutdown even before the 2010 election which gave them House control, and Speaker Boehner boasted: "We won't be judged by the laws we pass, but by the laws we repeal".
You can make you own judgment about the respective records of the Democratic and GOP House majorities, but as for me, I think the worst political job in America right now is GOP House 2014 Campaign Strategist.
