on Radio Call In Shows and the Editorial Page…
"Democrats won the majority in 2006, why haven’t they done more to change things?"
A way to answer:
Democrats didn’t take over with the slim majority now held, until January of 2007. They have held the majority for one year, three and one half months. Since that time they have forced Mr. Bush into veto eight of the nine times he has felt the need to do so during his almost eight years in office.
One veto in seventy two months…
Eight vetoes in fifteen since the Dems won the slimmest of majorities.
One over-ride and several that were very close.
Keep in mind that to over-ride a veto, 2/3s majority is required. The Dems have a hair over 1/2 of the seats, so someone must be having just a bit more effect than mere numbers should dictate.
Paradigm shift is taking place, perhaps not as quickly as some would like, but much more quickly than most anyone reasonable thought would be possible.
We need to keep working hard, to pick up more seats in Congress, and to win the White House.
What were those vetoes?
1. July 19, 2006: Vetoed H.R. 810, Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, a bill to ease restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Override attempt failed in House, 235-193 (286 needed).
2. May 1, 2007: Vetoed H.R. 1591, U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007. Override attempt failed in House, 222-203 (284 needed). A later version of the bill that excluded certain aspects of the initial legislation that the President disapproved of, H.R. 2206, was enacted as Pub.L. 110-28 with the President's approval.
3. June 20, 2007: Vetoed S. 5, Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007.
4. October 3, 2007: Vetoed H.R. 976, Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 ("SCHIP"). Override attempt failed in House, 273-156 (286 votes needed).
5. November 2, 2007: Vetoed H.R. 1495, Water Resources Development Act of 2007. Overridden by House, 361-54 (277 votes needed). Overridden by Senate, 79-14 (62 needed), and enacted as Pub.L. 110-114 over President's veto.
6. November 13, 2007: Vetoed H.R. 3043, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2008. Override attempt failed in House, 277-141 (279 votes needed).
7. December 12, 2007: Vetoed H.R. 3963, Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007[18]. Override attempt failed in House, 260-152 (275 votes needed).
8. December 28, 2007: Pocket Vetoed H.R. 1585, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008[19]
9. March 8, 2008: Vetoed H.R. 2082, Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008.[20] [21]. Override attempt failed in House, 225-188.
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4 comments:
All that data is great, but don't forget to smack them around with Joe Lieberman and the US Senate, the legislative body designed to be a sand trap in the process, in which we do not hold a majority in reality. When you break it down to the committee level, you find Democrats hold 1 or 0 vote margins in many of the important committees. Instances like the Banking Committee where Senator Johnson was out due to health issues leaving the committee short a Democrat for an extended time, he was also unavailable for Floor votes.
The absence of Senator Tim Johnson reduced our 51-49 margin (counting Lieberman on our side) to 50-49, though it really ends up 49-50 when you put Lieberman on the right (correct and GOP) side.
So that majority in the House is not so significant...you can actually see this in the legislation the House passed in the first 100 days (or was it hours?) that for the most part never made it through the Senate.
Vote Obama/Warner/Rasoul and lets see what real change looks like in 09!
Finally someone who gets it. I argue this point with people all the time. The liberals in congress can't be blamed for the slow progress because they don't have a 2/3 majority. Sometimes they can rummage it up, but the truth is their power is being suffocated by Bush, and the blame is being put on the democrats. Hopefully it won't effect the next elections.
Excellent post with relevant points conveniently ignored by conservatives, Republicans, and frequently by MSM. Also keep in mind that to really control the Senate 60 votes are needed. Even with a few Republicans who sometimes vote with Democrats, that 60 is tough to get on partisan issues. So, some bills never made it to the White House to get Bushwhacked.
However, the ability to filibuster occasionally saved us during the first six years of BushWorld. For example, remember some of his judicial appointments!
It's a brilliant (and evil ) approach to losing an election. Block your freshly victorious Dem opponents from getting anything done, then blame them for not getting anything done. I saw that coming a mile away, especially coming in handy next year.
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