It’s instructive to look at a detailed timeline of Bill Clinton’s major accomplishments. You’ll notice a spree of legislative activity in the first two years. As with Obama, one of Clinton’s first acts was to repeal the Mexico City Policy and allow stem-cell research. His first big bill may have been the best of his entire two terms: The Family and Medical Leave Act. He followed that up with Motor Voter Registration and his Deficit Reduction Plan. He finished off his first year by creating AmeriCorps, signing the Brady handgun bill, and enacting NAFTA. It was some pretty heavy lifting, much of which angered important parts of the Democratic base. He made it easier for states to throw people off welfare; his Reinventing Government initiative destroyed over 350,000 government jobs; many gun owners hated the Brady Bill, and NAFTA infuriated the labor movement. But he also revamped the student loans program, created Empowerment Zones, and launched an aggressive child immunization program.
It was weak tea compared to what Obama achieved in his first year, but it was nothing to sniff at.
Things slowed down significantly in 1994 as the health care plan dominated Congress’s efforts. At the end of March, Clinton signed the Goals 2000 Education Standards, which imposed new curriculum requirements on public schools. In May, he created the early Head Start program. September brought the Crime Bill that put 100,000 police officers on the street, the Assault Weapons Ban, the Violence Against Women Act, and the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund was created. None of that put a dent in the Republicans’ momentum. The last legislation to pass before the bloodbath that brought Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole to power were the Improving America’s Schools Act and California Desert Protection Act, which were both signed in October.
Again, unless you are indifferent to labor, don’t care if people gain access to health care, and are really into gun control, you can’t remotely compare Clinton’s achievements to Obama’s over the same timeframe. But, Clinton did achieve a lot of good things. But then look at 1995 and beyond. In 1995, Clinton’s main achievements were accomplished by Executive Order. He bailed out Mexico’s economy without the help of Congress. He stood up for striking workers, got the FDA to crack down on cigarette sales to minors, went after deadbeat dads, and protected religious freedom in schools. No major legislation was passed and even the budget was only passed after a government shutdown.
By 1996, Dick Morris was firmly in control of the president’s agenda as he sought to tack right and win himself a second term. He came out of the gate with the tragic Telecommunications Reform Act. He then boosted school uniforms. After that he signed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. This was followed by Megan’s Law, Welfare Reform, and a bill to tackle Medicare fraud. He also signed bills to protect food quality and drinking water, and had a minor health care bill enacted. He finished strong in September by sticking it to Utah with the creation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
It wasn’t much, but it was enough to win him a second term, which he quickly squandered through his lack of discipline.
I want you to take two lessons from this recounting of history. The first is that a Democratic president who has a Democratic Congress can accomplish a lot of good, even if it isn’t all something to write home about. And, likewise, a Democratic president with a Republican Congress can’t do much beyond issue Executive Orders, tinker around the edges of liberal policies on the environment, and enact Republican bills that deregulate the economy.
The second thing I want you take away is that Obama has done much, much more in his first year and a half than Clinton was able to do. The most obvious difference is that Obama succeeded where Clinton failed on giving people access to health care. Clinton’s health bill would have been substantially better if it had passed, but it didn’t. They each made significant gains for women: Clinton with the Violence Against Women Act and Obama with the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Clinton made major gains on gun control which is no longer a Democratic priority, but he had nothing to compare to the consumer-friendly legislation contained in Obama’s Credit CARD Act of 2009, Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009, or many elements of the stimulus bill. While Clinton deregulated telecommunications, Obama gave us the Wall Street reforms bill. And Obama has done no harm like enacting NAFTA, GATT, or ripping people of welfare. He hasn’t really created a rift in the party either like Clinton did with his gun, free trade, and welfare policies.
Clinton was blessed to have a cranky and past-his-prime Bob Dole as his opponent in 1996, yet things look even better from the field of Obama’s potential 2012 opponents. And there are two other advantages. Obama has no Republican-friendly DLC priorities (with the possible exception of entitlement reform). He isn’t trying to prove his bona fides by undoing New Deal and Great Society polices and sticking it to labor. And there are no Dick Morrises advising him.
He needs Democratic majorities or he won’t be able to accomplish much going forward. But, if he loses them, he won’t be doing the equivalent of repealing Glass-Steagall or giving us the Telecommunications Act. However, if he loses his majorities, we’ll see some Crazy that compares or even exceeds what we saw from the Republicans in the 1995-2000 era.
