Is President Obama's second term going to be a Lame Duck session?

Is Obama’s second term as President of the United States going to be a Lame Duck session for him over these next three to four years? With the House of Representatives and the Senate being split between Republicans and Democrats, the chance for any substantial progress in the nation’s economy and other issues are very limited. This may lead to nothing really changing over the next three years and for no progress to really be made in Congress.

         

 Normally, Lame Ducks happen in Congress when a congressman is in the in-between period of being replaced by another congressman who has beaten him in an election. Not many things are dealt with and it’s a down period before the new congressmen take their position in the House or the Senate. Now, just one year after beating Mitt Romney in the 2012 Presidential Campaign, President Obama is in a position to become a Lame Duck President until he is replaced in 2016.

         

 What is keeping Obama from actually getting things done in Congress? Well, it’s this simple, the two sides in Congress can never agree on anything. The House is run by the Republicans and the Senate by the Democrats and without them agreeing on certain issues that concern the United States nothing will get done. This puts President Obama in a bad situation and he becomes the “neutral” side of things. Even though he is a Democrat he has to work with the Republicans across the aisle to get things done. Instead, the two parts are so far apart in their views that it seems like nothing at all can get done. Even though they can’t agree and get along, Maureen Dowd says to the New York Times, that it’s   "Actually, it is [Obama's] job to get them to behave." It is Obama’s job as President of the United States of America to make sure the two sides come together and compromise even if they are very far apart in their ideas.

         

 In other words, President Obama is putting this on himself. Yes, it would be easier if both the House and Senate were controlled by all Democrats and Republicans, but that simply is not the case. Unless Obama and his colleagues can make both the Democrats and Republicans cross the aisle and actually agree to terms on major issues that we face here in America nothing will get done and President Obama’s second term as President of the United States will be a Lame Duck term and just make things worse for Congress and the people.

 

 

-  Click on, Lame Duck Presidency, for more details on this topic