Compare And Contrast Clinton And Obama Care

Both the Clinton and Obama administrations expended considerable effort during their first term attempting to persuade Congress to pass major legislation which would reform the American Healthcare system. Both efforts were met with considerable public opposition. And yet, while the Clinton effort ultimately proved fruitless, Obama’s endeavor let to the passage of the Affordable Care Act. What can account for these differing outcomes? The history of the Clinton and Obama health care reform proposals indicates both the importance of political capital, and the limits of executive control over the development of legislation. The Affordable Care Act passed because Obama entered the Presidency with a larger degree of political support than President Clinton had, and more importantly, because he adopted a more successful

Despite the advantage of unified government, Clinton struggled to persuade congress to pass much of his first term agenda. The principle achievement of the early years of the Clinton administration, the 1993 Budget, was passed by an extremely narrow margin. Clinton’s stimulus effort failed to pass. Clinton’s first term strategy for persuading Congress was largely unsuccessful, despite the advantages associated with unified government. In contrast, Obama’s legislative strategy during the first two years of his Presidency was for the most part successful. Despite shared party identity, the Obama and Clinton administrations used different approaches with the legislative branch and therefore experienced different levels of policy success. Obama also had a political advantage not afforded to Clinton. Obama entered the Presidency with a higher proportional of the vote compared with Clinton. Conditions in Congress were also more favorable to Obama than they had been under