Comment

May We (Finally) Criticise the President for Weakness in the Face of a Bad Bill?

1
Lumberhead12/13/2014 3:46:02 pm PST

FWIW, here’s a different perspective:
Now…if all you care about is sticking it to Wall Street, the current battle among Democrats over this bill might be worth having. But - if you also care about enforcing the critical aspects of Wall Street reform, Obamacare, the President’s actions on immigration, early childhood education, climate change, job growth, and national security - all this hysteria is simply a distraction.
FTA, retiring Rep. Jim Moran (D):

In 20 years of being on the appropriations bill, I haven’t seen a better compromise in terms of Democratic priorities.

Also FTA, Obama:

This, by definition, was a compromise bill. This is what’s produced when we have the divided government that the American people voted for. There are a bunch of provisions in this bill that I really do not like. On the other hand, there are provisions in this bill and the basic funding within this bill that allows us to make sure that we continue on the progress in providing health insurance to all Americans; make sure that we continue with our efforts to combat climate change; that we’re able to expand early childhood education that is making a meaningful difference in communities all across the country; that allows us to expand our manufacturing hubs that are contributing to the growth of jobs and the progress that we’ve seen in our economy over the last couple of years.

And so, over all, this legislation allows us to build on the economic progress and the national security progress that is important. Had I been able to draft my own legislation and get it passed without any Republican votes I suspect it would be slightly different. That is not the circumstance we find ourselves in. And I think what the American people very much are looking for is some practical governance and the willingness to compromise, and that’s what this really reflects. So I’m glad it passed the House and am hopeful that it will pass the Senate.