Explain this

[Toots]

Democrats and Obama say this first year they have had more success than even LBJ or Reagan in passing meaningful legislation..In the same breath they say because of Republicans just saying no in the Senate they are blocked from passing anything at all. Is it just me or is something out of kilter here?

[Coyote_Bandit]

1. A sitting Dem President with

majorities in both the House and the Senate should have been able to pass whatever legislation he wanted - including meaningful healthcare reform.

The fact that he hasn't suggests that party leaders are lacking in leadership and political skills - if not personal courage and political will. If party leaders had the leadership and political skills they would be able to pull the different factionsa of the party together to deliver significant legislation. They didn't. With respect to healthcare reform party leaders continually lowered their aspirations and their definition of what was acceptable which clearly signals that they were far more interested in political posturing than in delivering meaningful reform. Fuck 'em.

[jdlh8894]

2. Please explain "political skills"

Where are these learned? High school,college,K Street?Inquiring minds want to know!The only "skills" that congress should have is listening to their constituents and voting for what THEY want!

[Coyote_Bandit]

4. Political skills

as any reasonable person would expect encompass a number of competencies. Everything from defining problems and framing issues to communicating effectively to balancing competing interests to organizing and motivating voters - whether those voters be citizens voting for candidates or politicians voting for a particular legislative proposal. Like most skills these are acquired through experience not through some academic lecture. The fact that the Democratic party seems to have a major problem uniting to pass the President's legislative agenda would seem to indicate that party leaders - and that includes the President - are a little lacking in political and leadership skills.

If Congresscritters listened to their constituents and voted for what they wanted there would be no need for political parties. But they don't and the party affiliation labels they choose to wear do not necessarily reflect their priorities. We'd probably do better to identify Congresscritters loyalties and political priorities by identifying their major contributors rather than their party affiliation.

[BeFree]

3. Its you?

They don't say they are blocked from passing anything at all, they say it would be better if the pubbies would actually, y'know, work with the democrats instead of being assholes.