Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Examples of Obama's bipartisanship

Recently, I had a discussion with a friend and co-worker who claimed that President Obama has never acted in a bipartisan manner in his relationship with Congress. This statement floored me, since I recall Obama giving in way too much to Republicans during the first couple years of his first term, so I decided to do some research and find examples of when President Obama has made bipartisan efforts. I should note that even with compromise, many bills did not pass because Republicans simply said no to them. Several made it their stated goal to make Barack Obama a one-term President. In spite of this strategy, several bills received bipartisan support under President Obama's leadership.

The Recovery Act:  A review of this 2009 bill's vote history in Congress will reveal that bipartisan support was necessary to pass it. It received a super-majority of votes.  This bill prevented a global depression.

The Lily Ledbetter Act::  Here is the vote history for this bill.  The legislation reversed a Supreme Court decision that changed the rules regarding when an employee can sue for pay discrimination.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal:  The bill that made it so homosexuals do not have to lie to serve in the military (lie of omission, in this case) received bipartisan support.

Debt Ceiling:  The Budget Control Act of 2011 received overwhelming bipartisan after a great deal of compromise between the Obama administration and both parties in Congress.

Wall Street Reform: Here is the Dodd-Frank Act's vote history in Congress.  Once again, bipartisan support.

Food Safety Modernization: This act passed in the Senate by voice vote, it received so much bipartisan support.

One could argue that members of Congress reached across the aisle to compromise, but the above are examples of bills where President Obama led quite publicly.  There are several other examples, but these all passed with a super-majority in the Senate.


1 comment:

Catmommy said...

Greg:

Well written as always. If President Obama had reached out to the GOP any further, he'd have arms the length of a football field. It's the right-wingers who have given nothing in the way of compromise. As always, the GOP is falsely accusing President Obama of committing the sins that they are committing. I've said it before: If you want to know what the GOP is really up to, find out what lies they're telling about the Left.