What Obama accomplished - and what he would have accomplished without the filibuster
Maybe the best summary of what was and, more important, what might have been. See the last paragraph!
The hundred and eleventh Congress... ended... with unwonted vigor and speed. In the six days from December 17th until December 22nd, it sent President Obama a barrage of bills, including, in chronological order, a huge tax-cuts-and-unemployment-relief compromise package; the repeal of the dishonorable “Don’t ask, don’t tell†law; a substantial strengthening of the government’s ability to keep contaminants like E. coli out of our food; the ratification of the New START treaty with Russia; and health-care coverage for 9/11 first responders sickened by their service at Ground Zero.
Before that astonishing last-minute flurry, Obama and the 111th had already racked up a legislative score that put them in a league with Woodrow Wilson, Lyndon Johnson, and the two Roosevelts. The pre-midterm accomplishments included a stimulus that pulled the country back from the brink of a second Great Depression, the Code Blue rescue of the American automobile industry, firmer regulation of the financial industry, and, of course, comprehensive health-care reform.
Good. But not good enough....
Some on the liberal side have blamed these shortcomings—and the midterm electoral debacle—on the President and the Democratic leaders of Congress, who have certainly made their share of mistakes... But there’s one big obstacle— filibuster.
In the absence of the filibuster, the health-care law would offer a public alternative to private insurance, the financial reform would be strong enough to close off the likelihood of another meltdown, and the very rich (and their heirs) would pay something closer to their fair share of taxes. Nearly two hundred qualified nominees for executive and judicial offices would be on the job instead of in limbo. And a climate-and-energy bill, a bill to require corporations to be open about their political spending, the DREAM Act, and dozens of other worthy measures—all of which passed the House and had majority support in the Senate—would now be the law of the land.
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2011/01/10/110110taco_talk_hertzberg
So please, everyone: in all the frustration over missed opportunities, etc.: remember what Obama and a MAJORITY of the democrats actively supported in 2009-2010 Good... not good enough... but support the people who at the very least tried and pushed in the right direction!
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