The Democrats' Dilemma: Big Bills, Small Payback
By GERALD F. SEIB
WSJ
President Barack Obama and his Democratic Party are confronting a harsh reality of 2010: Doing big things doesn't necessarily bring big rewards.
When Congress wrapped up an overhaul of financial regulations Thursday, it marked the third significant legislative landmark of the Obama era, following the equally big health-care overhaul and last year's economic-stimulus legislation. All came with almost no Republican support, and with smaller Democratic congressional margins than Lyndon Johnson held when implementing his Great Society programs.
Combine those with a higher-education measure, and four of the five big pieces of legislation Mr. Obama set as goals last year have passed; only an energy bill remains, and the Senate is moving on to that.
Yet Democrats aren't getting instant political gratification from this string of actions. Approval ratings for both the president and the Congress actually have drifted steadily downward as this legislative juggernaut was rolling ahead.
(More here.)
WSJ
President Barack Obama and his Democratic Party are confronting a harsh reality of 2010: Doing big things doesn't necessarily bring big rewards.
When Congress wrapped up an overhaul of financial regulations Thursday, it marked the third significant legislative landmark of the Obama era, following the equally big health-care overhaul and last year's economic-stimulus legislation. All came with almost no Republican support, and with smaller Democratic congressional margins than Lyndon Johnson held when implementing his Great Society programs.
Combine those with a higher-education measure, and four of the five big pieces of legislation Mr. Obama set as goals last year have passed; only an energy bill remains, and the Senate is moving on to that.
Yet Democrats aren't getting instant political gratification from this string of actions. Approval ratings for both the president and the Congress actually have drifted steadily downward as this legislative juggernaut was rolling ahead.
(More here.)
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