Who is the better Democrat President

[Seshmeister]

LBJ, Clinton or Obama.

As an outsider taking a step back surely Lyndon Johnson wins.

Ok obviously Obama has only been in a year but I think already it's becoming clear he's not going to achieve anything much radical apart from being half black because it seems he's not that good at the actual game.

Because of Vietnam and Kennedy and so forth I don't think LBJ is that widely venerated but look at the stuff he actually did.

* 1964: Civil Rights Act of 1964
* 1964: Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964
* 1964: Wilderness Act
* 1964: Nurse Training Act
* 1964: Food Stamp Act of 1964
* 1964: Economic Opportunity Act
* 1965: Higher Education Act of 1965
* 1965: Social Security Act of 1965
* 1965: Voting Rights Act
* 1965: Immigration and Nationality Services Act
* 1966: Freedom of Information Act (United States)
* 1967: Age Discrimination in Employment Act[77]

* 1967: Public Broadcasting Act of 1967
* 1968: Architectural Barriers Act of 1968
* 1968: Bilingual Education Act
* 1968: Fair housing
* 1968: Gun Control Act of 1968

Maybe you are better with someone that enacts something like Medicare rather than someone who has a 20 something kid writing great speeches about fuck all?

Just a thought...

[LoungeMachine]

Not even close.....

LBJ

[Seshmeister]

As a non American I think my point is that LBJ was maybe a bit of a devious pragmatic cunt that got shit done.

I dunno maybe Obama will get the hang of it eventually.

[FORD]

There's a black wall in Washington DC with 58,000 names on it, which will always be the thing LBJ is most remembered for. He didn't start it, but he damn sure escalated it. It's a damn shame too, because all the things Sesh listed above get buried underneath the weight of Vietnam.

I just hope the Obama we saw taking on the Repukes the other day boots the Rahm Emanuel wing of the party out of his White House and doesn't let Iraq/Afghanistan become his Vietnam.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

You can't even consider Obama yet, it's just unfair to do otherwise... But unless the Congress starts legislating, I would agree that he's fucked....

Let's not forget, LBJ had a Democratic majority Congress for his entire time in office... Also, for all his good deeds, he did escalate Vietnam into the clusterfuck it became...

You've got to give Clinton a lot of props, turning a $220 billion deficit (from Daddy Bush) when he took office into a $237 billion surplus when he left (only to lose it quickly by little Bush).....

[Va Beach VH Fan]

He didn't start it, but he damn sure escalated it.

We were thinking the same thing FORD....

[Seshmeister]

58 000 kids that died to prevent the Domino theory...

[Seshmeister]

You've got to give Clinton a lot of props, turning a $220 billion deficit (from Daddy Bush) when he took office into a $237 billion surplus when he left (only to lose it quickly by little Bush).....

I'm not so sure about giving props to politicians on economic stuff.

Certainly not UK ones, maybe US presidents have a bit of an effect on global markets but the bottom line is that I think all that macroeconomic shit is just swirly gas and it's more luck than good judgment if a president has a good economy or a bad one.

[Unchainme]

You've got to give Clinton a lot of props, turning a $220 billion deficit (from Daddy Bush) when he took office into a $237 billion surplus when he left (only to lose it quickly by little Bush).....

This.

Times a million.

Clinton has probably been one of the better presidents we've had in the past 50 or so years. It's a shame a Black Beret sort of clouds all memories of what great things the guy did.

[sadaist]

Ok obviously Obama has only been in a year but I think already it's becoming clear he's not going to achieve anything much radical apart from being half black....

Why does his skin color matter? I suppose since he hasn't achieved much, you'll put anything into the win column that you can.

[ZahZoo]

I'm not so sure about giving props to politicians on economic stuff.

Certainly not UK ones, maybe US presidents have a bit of an effect on global markets but the bottom line is that I think all that macroeconomic shit is just swirly gas and it's more luck than good judgment if a president has a good economy or a bad one.

Exactly!!

Clinton had the luck of timing during a huge economic boom. He and his administration did nothing to spur the dot.com bubble. Actually more real economists will sight the Reagan administration with what spurred that upswing...

I'm not convinced that it was all Reaganomics, but more Wall Street and the IT industry catching onto the potential of the internet and global markets. I think Reagan's contributions were freeing up the investment markets and reducing taxes that helped start and feed the growth.

The dot.com bubble burst right about the time GW Bush was elected. The bust had nothing to do with Washington. Wall street and investment firms bet too much and the dot.coms delivered too little... so there was a retraction/correcton in the markets and the massive investment capital dried up quick. Again... Washington had no play in that. Then 9/11 hit...

[Nickdfresh]

Exactly!!

Clinton had the luck of timing during a huge economic boom. He and his administration did nothing to spur the dot.com bubble. Actually more real economists will sight the Reagan administration with what spurred that upswing......

I tend to think this is a bogus argument I hear from time to time a bit. Yes, Clinton had some luck, but I would argue that the internet had as much to do with principles as it did with booming and leaching out. You could argue that his pragmatist moderate-liberal point of view is what fostered the web to begin with. It started with DARPA, and was fostered with legislation by mostly Democrats like...........................











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Al Gore. I think the Republican approach would be to let the private sector stifle innovation by preventing anything they cannot directly control and profit from (one of the nice ironic contradictions of the free market system, which really isn't all that free)...

[Nitro Express]

We can't fairly rate Obama until he has left office. LBJ killed the most people. Clinton deregulated the banking industry and opened the door to all the speculating and abuse that led up to Obama having to bail the banks out to quell civil unrest.

What pisses me off about Obama is he would have signed that shitty healthcare bill into law. He would pass cap and trade. He's a big government spend-a-hollic and is expanding the wars in the middle east. 1.6 million dead Iraqis so far.

I would say all three were losers. That last good American President that actually cared about the citizens was Kennedy.

[Nitro Express]

Clinton is doing all this charity stuff now and it's a no brainer why. He desperately wants another reputation besides being the president that shoved cigars up vaginas and tasted them and shot kak all over blue dresses. One thing for sure. Clinton won't be forgotten. The Lewinsky affair will be his legacy as with the famous words,"I did not have sex with that woman!"

Whenever there is a natural disaster a Bush and Clinton suddenly pop up taking charge and asking for money. The Clit and the Bush seems to be insepparable now.

[Nickdfresh]

...He's a big government spend-a-hollic and is expanding the wars in the middle east. 1.6 million dead Iraqis so far.

...

How is he "expanding the wars in the middle east?" We're gradually withdrawing from Iraq, and the U.S. Marine Corp no longer is present there...