Hillary Clinton was a more effective lawmaker than Bernie Sanders

[Bill USA]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/04/07/hillary-clinton-was-a-more-effective-lawmaker-than-bernie-sanders/

The Democratic primary has seen a lot of discussion about Bernie Sanders’s ability, or lack thereof, to get things done in Congress. Former House member Barney Frank claimed that “Bernie Sanders has been in Congress for 25 years with little to show for it in terms of his accomplishments.” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) was asked by Politico to name pieces of legislation Sanders has significantly influenced:

“Um,” she said, pausing for a full eight seconds while thinking, “I’m sure I could. In terms of the things that he talks the most about, is when he was chair of the Veterans Affairs committee. But he actually compromised on a whole heck of a lot. Back in … it’s not coming to my mind right now.”

Hardly a ringing endorsement. But do more systematic data confirm these anecdotal impressions?

One more comprehensive measure of Sen. Sanders’s legislative effectiveness is how successful he has been at sponsoring legislation that is adopted by the Senate. To get a cleaner look at this issue, I developed a simple set of criteria to isolate legislation we should care about most, and looked up both senators’ legislative records.

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Here’s what the numbers say: During her eight years in the Senate, Hillary Clinton sponsored 10 bills that passed the chamber. The mean senator passes 1.4 bills a year, so Clinton’s 1.25 bills per year is approximately in line with the chamber average. By contrast, Bernie Sanders has been in the Senate nine years and has sponsored only one bill that passed.

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(more)

[geek tragedy]

1. what did Bernie do, take hand waving practice? nt

[tk2kewl]

19. Quality of legislation matters

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2007/09/hillarys-prayer-hillary-clintons-religion-and-politics

Unlikely partnerships have become a Clinton trademark. Some are symbolic, such as her support for a ban on flag burning with Senator Bob Bennett (R-Utah) and funding for research on the dangers of video games with Brownback and Santorum. But Clinton has also joined the gop on legislation that redefines social justice issues in terms of conservative morality, such as an anti-human-trafficking law that withheld funding from groups working on the sex trade if they didn't condemn prostitution in the proper terms. With Santorum, Clinton co-sponsored the Workplace Religious Freedom Act; she didn't back off even after Republican senators such as Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter pulled their names from the bill citing concerns that the measure would protect those refusing to perform key aspects of their jobs—say, pharmacists who won't fill birth control prescriptions, or police officers who won't guard abortion clinics.

Clinton has championed federal funding of faith-based social services, which she embraced years before George W. Bush did; Marci Hamilton, author of God vs. the Gavel, says that the Clintons' approach to faith-based initiatives "set the stage for Bush." Clinton has also long supported the Defense of Marriage Act, a measure that has become a purity test for any candidate wishing to avoid war with the Christian right.

[JRLeft]

2. From the Washington post, what a shock!

Not

[Jitter65]

23. But the Post was the gospel when it falsely claimed that Hillary said Bernie was not qualified

to be Pres.

[NurseJackie]

3. Wow! That's very VERY revealing ... it says quite a lot about Hillary, and ...

... not so much about Bernie.

[LexVegas]

4. Bernie.. below average, except when it comes to lying. nt

[Trust Buster]

5. Sanders has never worked well with others but that's what his supporters want.

They think "compromise" is a bad word just like the far Right. How did that strategy work out for the far Right ?

[salinsky]

18. Trump ... nt

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. without counting amendments, of course

But you knew that wouldn't fit your narrative

[Motown_Johnny]

7. Another dishonest post from a Clinton supporter, why am I not shocked?

https://pplswar.wordpress.com/2015/10/21/fact-bernie-sanders-got-more-done-in-the-senate-than-hillary-clinton/

^snip^

Fact: Bernie Sanders Got More Done in the Senate than Hillary Clinton

While Sanders chaired the Senate’s Veteran Affairs committee during the 113th Congress (2013-2014), 13 of the committee’s bills became law. That may not sound like a lot until you realize that the Senate Veterans Affairs (VA) committee only passed 8.5 bills into law on average during each of the past 20 Congresses and that these 13 bills became law during the second least productive Congress in American history.

Sanders’ most significant achievement during 113th Congress was passing a $16.3 billion bipartisan VA reform bill that expanded existing and created new health care facilities, allowed veterans to go outside the VA system to private health care providers when wait times are too long or if a veteran lives more than 40 miles away from a VA facility, and made it easier to fire VA officials.

Sanders was so effective as a legislator that the (right-wing) Veterans of Foreign Wars awarded him its highest honor in 2015.

How many bills did Clinton successfully shepherd into law as the chair of a Senate committee? Zero. Clinton did not chair any Senate committees during the three Congresses she served in because she did not accumulate enough seniority.

[TheDormouse]

8. still waiting to hear what those substantive bills were ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511672943

[roguevalley]

9. Politifact agreed she only sponsored three bills and none were consequential.

next talking point please.

[DrDan]

17. and how many did Bernie sponsor in 3X years more in congress?

[roguevalley]

20. he is called the Amendment King of the Senate by his colleagues. He got TONS done.

she got a post office renamed.

[DrDan]

24. so he rode the coattails of others . . . got it

[DrDan]

25. you do realize that of the 3 bills sponsored by Bernie that were passed, 2 renamed post offices

probably not

[jg10003]

10. HuffPost: Barney vs. Bernie: Sanders Is the Real ‘Progressive Who Gets Things Done’

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/barney-vs-bernie-sanders_b_9624560.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

Here’s the truth: Hillary Clinton got very little done during her eight years in the United States Senate, while Bernie Sanders amassed an impressive record of accomplishments in both the House and Senate....

...In 2005, Rolling Stone called him the “amendment king.”

But as Politifact notes: “In comparison, Hillary Clinton passed zero roll call amendments during her tenure as a senator from New York from 2001-09.”...

In 2002, Sanders introduced an amendment in the House that blocked the Bush Administration from implementing a rule allowing companies to cut the pensions of older workers by as much as 50 percent.

Sanders introduced legislation to allow consumers to receive free credit reports and free credit scores. When Republicans refused to go along Sanders compromised and got a deal done.

Sen. Sanders worked with Rep. Jim Clyburn and won a deal which dramatically increased access to community health centers.

After the Postal Service announced it was closing 15,000 post offices, Sanders rallied an ad hoc group of more than two dozen senators and reached a compromise: these post offices would stay open, but with reduced hours. That wasn’t what Sanders wanted, but the alternative was much worse.

In 2009, when milk prices plummeted, Sanders was able to win $350 million in additional aid for struggling dairy farmers many of whom were on the brink of bankruptcy.

[libtodeath]

11. One of the talking points of the day.

[beaglelover]

12. Bernie's a slacker. Didn't even have a full time job until he was in his 40s.

Dirtbag.

[TheDormouse]

14. and Brahms didn't finish his first symphony until he was 42

so what's your point?

[beaglelover]

15. Just proves he's a lazy ass slacker. Unfit to be POTUS.

[Vinca]

22. Untrue. (Surprise, surprise.)

If you would bother to check you would find he had a number of different occupations and had (may still have, I'm not sure) an educational film business.

[Squinch]

16. Kick and rec.

Bernie's slogan should be, "Meh..."

[seabeyond]

21. Do nothing, to do. Hence, Sanders needing Clinton to make sure they got their debates.

One whines and accuses, throwing tantrums, and the other does.

[AgerolanAmerican]

26. According to this metric

Submitting an amendment to add a corporate giveaway into an otherwise unrelated bill - a standard corrupt practice in DC - increases one's score.

[Zen Democrat]

27. I read that Hillary was responsible for the passage of three bills. Unfortunately, they were these:

S. 1241: A bill to establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site in the State of New York. Bush signed the bill Dec. 3, 2004.

S. 3613: A bill to name a post office the "Major George Quamo Post Office Building." Bush signed the bill Oct. 6, 2006.

S. 3145: A bill to designate a highway in New York as the Timothy J. Russert highway. Bush signed the bill July 23, 2008.

If that qualifies you for President, maybe I'll run.

[Bohemianwriter]

28. So what exactly is the substance...

of those bills passed?