Has a Democratic supermajority been better than a Republican supermajority?

[bascule]

This is a tough question to be specific about, and I'm sure I'm going to see a flood of nitpicking responses about how the Republicans never really had a supermajority and the Democrats did, but primarily I'm referring to the recent years of almost total Republican control of the country (2000-2006) vs the recent Democratic supermajority (2008-2010). The timeframes are larger so yes it's harder to judge, but I hope you have the ability to look past that and make a pragmatic decision.

 

Who accomplished more, the Republicans in 2000-2006, or the Democrats in 2008-2010? Who affected better changes to this country? Who was generally moving things in the right direction? Specific examples of things you see as progress would be nice.

 

I see the Stimulus and the healthcare bill passed under the Democrats in 2008-2010 as some great progress, and I think the Stimulus has had generally positive results and we are better off than if no stimulus had been passed.

 

I look to the Republican side and don't really see any legislation they passed which I would consider beneficial to the country, and an immense amount of things that I think simply wouldn't happen under a Democratic government I would consider deleterious (e.g. unsustainable tax cuts, PATRIOT Act, DHS/TSA, war in Iraq, Medicare Modernization Act)

 

(dear mods: I was trying to attach a simple yes/no poll to this thread but it didn't take)

[Saryctos]

This is a tough question to be specific about, and I'm sure I'm going to see a flood of nitpicking responses about how the Republicans never really had a supermajority and the Democrats did, but primarily I'm referring to the recent years of almost total Republican control of the country (2000-2006) vs the recent Democratic supermajority (2008-2010). The timeframes are larger so yes it's harder to judge, but I hope you have the ability to look past that and make a pragmatic decision.

 

Who accomplished more, the Republicans in 2000-2006, or the Democrats in 2008-2010? Who affected better changes to this country? Who was generally moving things in the right direction? Specific examples of things you see as progress would be nice.

 

I see the Stimulus and the healthcare bill passed under the Democrats in 2008-2010 as some great progress, and I think the Stimulus has had generally positive results and we are better off than if no stimulus had been passed.

 

I look to the Republican side and don't really see any legislation they passed which I would consider beneficial to the country, and an immense amount of things that I think simply wouldn't happen under a Democratic government I would consider deleterious (e.g. unsustainable tax cuts, PATRIOT Act, DHS/TSA, war in Iraq, Medicare Modernization Act)

 

(dear mods: I was trying to attach a simple yes/no poll to this thread but it didn't take)

 

Not everyone wants change or "progress". In terms of accomplishments, what doesn't pass during a republican legislation can be considered a victory for some. I consider the delay of such an overreaching health bill a victory, and it's passage a defeat. I'm not in a good place to go into a lengthy analysis of the two congresses atm, however I would like to at least note that not all victories/accomplishments involve the passage of legislation, especially for conservatives.

Edited November 2, 2010 by Saryctos

[bascule]

Not everyone wants change or "progress". In terms of accomplishments, what doesn't pass during a republican legislation can be considered a victory for some. I consider the delay of such an overreaching health bill a victory, and it's passage a defeat. I'm not in a good place to go into a lengthy analysis of the two congresses atm, however I would like to at least note that not all victories/accomplishments involve the passage of legislation, especially for conservatives.

 

As referenced in my post, the Republicans did sponsor and pass a substantial amount of legislation in the 2000-2006 years and I consider a lot of it detrimental to the country. In many cases they got Democratic votes, something the Republicans would use against the Democrats after they changed their minds about legislation no Democrat ever would've passed. So much for compromise. Instead where the Democrats tried to compromise there was only backstabbing.