Presidential Control of Congress

What a U.S. President accomplishes or fails to accomplish in his or her term largely depends on how much control he or she has over Congress.  As you may know, although the President submits a budget to Congress, every Senator and Congressman has access to budget models from the OMB and several versions of the budget are circulating at any time.  In fact many politicos consider the presidential budget to be meaningless.  The House (of Representatives) is supposed to propose the budget, approve it, and pass it to the Senate for approval, which then sends it to the President for his approval.

President Obama in his acceptance speech as the Democratic nominee for the Presidential election of 2012, mentioned the policies of the Republicans "over the last 30 years" as being responsible for where we are today.

Malarky!!!

Below is the chart referred to in my blog of yesterday (in my comments to the President's speech).

• NONE of the Republican presidents in the last 60 years had control of the House nor Senate more than 1/4 of their presidency, except for Bush the Second.
• Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Bush the First NEVER had control of the House.
• Nixon, Ford, and Bush the First NEVER had control of either the House or the Senate for ANY year.

Contrast that with the Democratic presidents:

• FDR, Kennedy, Johnson, and Carter had control of BOTH chambers 100% of the time!!!!!  They got everything they wanted.
• Truman had control of both houses 75% of the time.
• Clinton had control of both houses only 25% of the time.  Interesting that he is "our favorite living President" according to some.  He is currently considered by the majority to have had a successful presidency.  And the economy was strong on the surface.  The Republicans forced Clinton to be a moderate.

So whose policies leave us where we are today?  The Democratic presidents who had total control.
Remember, the President can't serve more than eight years, so he or she can get away with saying they aren't responsible for the economy.  They can blame the legislators.  But politicians love to deliver on promises.  It makes their legacy.  So if they have a willing Congress to pass what they want, they are loved.  They go on to write books, make speeches, and if they have a positive legacy, remain loved.

Bill has the Republicans to thank.