Pres. Obama Better than LBJ?

Once again I have to thank Bob @ BobCesca.com for pointing me in the direction of this story. I have been slack lately at checking out some of my favorite reading sites, such as CQ Politics and this is one story I missed. But Bob picked it up from another site and posted on it... so I thought I would elaborate on his post some.

I have been hearing from everyone how if Pres. Obama was "More like LBJ" he could get things done. In the comments just this week after his weekly address I think there were at least 2 or 3 references to that fact, mistaken though they are.

For one thing, as another commenter and I pointed out to them, LBJ had cooperative Republican's who actually voted for the legislation he was trying to get through, and for another, LBJ had been in Congress for a number of years and had been an arm twister and knew where the bodies were buried of a lot of members. No, I am not putting him down, I am just saying it was a different time and a different climate for LBJ.

Even so, it was still hard for him to get Medicare and Civil Rights legislation through Congress and the bills he got through, were not the bills we have now. They have been added to many times to make them what they are today.

That's the way all big Omnibus Legislation is done. That's the way this Health Care Bill is going to be. No, it isn't what we all wanted, no it isn't everything it maybe could be.. But the President, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have to work with the members they have to pass what they can.

Yelling that they are sell outs and demanding that the bill be killed if it doesn't have this or that.. not supporting them and talking about how bad they are is not the answer.

Harry Reid can only work with what he has. Blaming him for Traitor Joe, Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln and the others is not right. How would him trying to be more forceful with them have gained us anything? By him compromising his values, and in some cases ours, he has lost the support of his state, he has lost stature with progressives, BUT, he has gotten the Health Care Bill to a point it has never been before.

Not to mention, that Harry Reid has done some other things, maybe you aren't aware of.

This from CQPolitics:

President Obama set a new record last year for getting Congress to vote his way, clinching 96.7 percent of the votes on which he had clearly staked a position

That was a bit less than 4 percentage points higher than the previous record, set by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, according to an annual study by Congressional Quarterly.

Yes, you read that correctly. Pres. Obama has surpassed LBJ's accomplishments in his first year. With the help of the "sell out" Harry Reid.

Congressional Quarterly has compiled statistics on presidential support since 1953. Editors select the votes based on clear statements by the president or authorized spokesmen before the vote.

In all, Congress took 151 votes in which Obama had taken a position ahead of time.

His wins in his first year in office included votes for creating a massive economic stimulus package, bailing out the auto industry, allowing the Food and Drug Administration regulate tobacco and confirming Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

But they also included key moves toward overhauling the health care system, regulating financial services and reducing greenhouse gases which have not yet passed both chambers of Congress.

That unfinished work will be taken up in the second session, which begins Tuesday. Obama’s ultimate success will depend on how well his second year in office goes.

“If this Congress passes both health care reform and climate change legislation on top of the economic stuff, it will go down as a historic achievement,” says Rich Fleisher, a political science professor at Fordham University in New York City. “But unless they continue to manage the agenda in a way that is very, very careful, that could all fall apart.”

In the House, Obama won 68 votes and lost four.

Among the losses: a vote to disapprove further spending on a bank bailout and a July vote to pass a food safety overhaul. Both were temporary setbacks since Congress eventually ended up supporting the president’s position.

In the Senate, Obama won 78 votes and lost one.

The Republican win there came on an amendment which would have barred spending money to transfer detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp to the United States. In the end, the bill allowed the transfer under certain conditions.

To build this record, Obama relied heavily on Democratic majorities with only occasional support from the GOP. As in the health care overhaul, he also had to keep the entire Democratic caucus in the Senate in line.

Yeah, see that last line... "keep the entire Democratic caucus in the Senate in line" Whose job is that? Why that ineffectual sell out himself, Harry Reid. The man who can't lead, the man who has let everyone down. The man who has helped Pres. Obama get more legislation through the Senate than LBJ.

So, there you have it..... Pres. Obama is better than LBJ and Harry Reid is doing his job as the Leader in the Senate.. No matter if you like it or not.. He may seem like he isn't doing a job like you think. But there is much more behind the scenes you don't see.

Think about that, the next time you criticize the President for not being strong enough, and think about it the next time you say Harry Reid isn't doing a good job as Leader. I think they are both doing good. At least better than LBJ.