Just something for open discussion.<\/p>\n
Will she be a pragmatist, and hold to her promise of working with Republicans in Congress in a bipartisan fashion?<\/p>\n
Arguments in favor: \u00a0it\u2019s got to be hugely important to her that she \u201cgo down in history\u201d as better than her husband, and she knows that, due to a favorable alignment of circumstances (among other things, the good fortune of being able to draw down the military with the \u201cpeace dividend\u201d and produce a surplus), her husband will be remembered as pretty successful, so that\u2019s quite a challenge.<\/p>\n
Arguments against: \u00a0she doesn\u2019t actually have a track record of bipartisanship. \u00a0Oh, sure, you can say that it\u2019s only because Republicans have decided from the start that she\u2019s Evil Incarnate, and I am not going to dig into this now, but it\u2019s clear that there is so much animosity that it\u2019s just hard to fathom successful negotiations, no matter what her \u201cprivate position\u201d may be on an issue.<\/p>\n
Consider that the lesson from Obamacare ought to be that this sort of massive legislation ought to be done with the sort of bipartisan support that ensures that, when fixes are needed, there is a bipartisan willingness to fix it.<\/p>\n
The lesson the left draws from Obamacare is quite different: \u00a0\u201cit should have been single-payer, and only misguided attempts to compromise meant that it wasn\u2019t. \u00a0If it had been single-payer that won the day (or a \u201cpublic option\u201d), we wouldn\u2019t need any legislative fixes now. \u00a0This just means that we should go for broke in the future, with whatever legislative program we want to enact.\u201d<\/p>\n
What does she want to be remembered for? \u00a0Does she want to be remembered, in vague terms, as someone who governed at a time of peace and prosperity? \u00a0Or does she want to be remembered as someone who made Big Changes, as an equivalent to FDR\u2019s New Deal? \u00a0She herself is speaking in grandiose terms of the \u201cbiggest jobs program since World War II,\u201d as well as her daycare, family leave, and free college proposals.<\/p>\n
Or, alternatively, does she not really care about much beyond January 20th, so long as she\u2019s reached that goal of winning the election? \u00a0Will she reach that point, and realize, \u201coh, c***, I\u2019d rather be taking a nap, or, really, doing anything else besides sitting in another meeting\u201d?<\/p>\n
And we\u2019re learning from the Podesta e-mails, and before that, from the FOIA-released e-mails that she simply is not as active or engaged, in her campaign or as Secretary of State, as her husband was two decades ago. \u00a0Will any talk of \u201cher\u201d governance really mean the governing style of Abedin and Mills and her other top staff, in the same way as Valerie Jarrett is reported to control much of what\u2019s happening with Obama\u2019s actions?<\/p>\n
But \u2014 on the assumption that the House stays in control of the Republicans \u2014 her agenda is largely a legislative one. \u00a0It is hard to imagine \u2014 though I\u2019m sure someone might find a way \u2014 the programs she\u2019s promised being implemented without legislation, with the exception of her plans for Syria and the Mideast, I suppose, and her pledge to provide legal residency for as many illegal immigrants as she possibly can.<\/p>\n
And the Republicans? \u00a0Seems to me there\u2019s a very good chance that there won\u2019t be a single \u201cRepublican caucus\u201d to negotiate with. \u00a0Oh, sure, there\u2019ll be a Republican Party from which committee heads are drawn, and a Speaker of the House\u00a0and so on, but I doubt these leaders will be able to adequately, well, lead, in any sort of negotiations, and the infighting between Tea Party and mainstream Republicans about who\u2019s being a sellout vs. inappropriately intransigent, will seem seem like minor squabbles. \u00a0At the same time, there will likely be enough Republicans willing to sign off on amnesty, but, on the other hand, even in prior attempts, the numbers were always there, until they had to face constituents back home.<\/p>\n
Your thoughts?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Just something for open discussion. Will she be a pragmatist, and hold to her promise of working with Republicans in Congress in a bipartisan fashion? Arguments in favor: \u00a0it\u2019s got to be hugely important to her that she \u201cgo down in history\u201d as better than her husband, and she knows that, due to a favorable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[374],"tags":[229],"class_list":["post-5562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-hillary-clinton"],"yoast_head":"\n