Hillary Clinton is laying out dual agendas, one for working with Congress, and one to go it alone, if necessary. Democratic office holders and policy makers are heartened by her plans.
Via Vox.com
From closing the gun show loophole to tightening the "Volcker Rule" to cut down on risky speculative investing, Clinton is crafting plans to go it alone in major policy areas. That's important because in an era in which Congress can't function — particularly when power is closely divided between the parties — the executive actions a president takes unilaterally are among the most consequential policies enacted... Former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius said of the campaign: "A series of proposals that are aimed at Congress seem a little hollow when you’re talking about the current situation," she said in an interview. "She kind of outlines a dual track, which I think in today’s climate is certainly something that illustrates it's more than just a position paper that would sit on someone’s shelf in an office but that it could actually happen." Vox's Matt Yglesias argues: Committed Democrats and liberal-leaning interest groups are facing a reality in which any policy gains they achieve are going to come through the profligate use of executive authority, and Clinton is almost uniquely suited to deliver the goods," he writes. "More than almost anyone else around, she knows where the levers of power lie, and she is comfortable pulling them, procedural niceties be damned." The article demonstrates the uniqueness of Hillary's campaign in recognizing the need for a strong executive agenda, an imperative for building on Obama's liberal successes.