Senator John Breaux Term Paper

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political positions, committees he's on, his feelings on Medicare and Social Security. There are five references used.

Senator John Breaux is a conservative Southern Democrat from Louisiana. He is highly respected and considered perfect for aiding in bipartisan since he is friendly with both Democrats and Republicans.

Political Positions

Senator Breaux's political positions are similar to Dick Cheney's. He is pro-life, pro-gun and pro-big oil. He is known for being "the voice of the pragmatic, rational center on a variety of high-profile policy disputes -- Medicare, Social Security, tobacco, tax cuts (Cottle, 2001)."

He feels political compromise is extremely important. He is known for reaching beyond party lines, being able to cut political deals and knowing how to "split the difference (Cottle, 2001)."

An Offer

While the presidential race was still being decided in Florida, Senator Breaux kept reminding everyone to exhibit proper political behavior. When it looked like George W. Bush would win, Senator Breaux talked to him on the phone and then journeyed to his ranch. Bush offered Breaux the position of Energy Secretary. This was a big boost for the senator's stature. However, Breaux magnanimously decided to stay in the Senate.

He has been called "the second most powerful man in Bush's Washington (Cotter, 2001)." Breaux feels the middle is more important in the Senate and that's where he is.

Challenges and Misses

Breaux is known for going his own way and this may make his fellow Democrats angry. When Clinton was in office he would push plans that weren't very popular with his party, but felt safe because he knew there was a good chance they would be vetoed.

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Some unpopular plans were capital gains tax cuts, abortion restrictions and increased oil exploration. However, with Bush in office, he no longer has that security net.

Breaux is known as a "deal-maker whose grand deals never quite work out (Cotter, 2001)." Some of his misses are his work on the failed congressional tobacco settlement and being unable to bring about bipartisan Medicare reform. An odd thing about Breaux is he may like being known as having compromises that went nowhere.

On Capital Hill

Senator Breaux has served on Capital Hill for over 28 years. He was in the House for 14 years and has been in the Senate for over 14 years. During all of his time in office, he has avoided making any serious enemies. Those around him attribute this to his ability of get along with everyone. He was just as close to Bill Clinton as he was to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. He was also known to play tennis with the first President Bush.

The Battling Parties

In August of 1999 Senator Breaux was concerned because the Republicans and Democrats were about to fight over tax cuts and spending bills. He stated "Only in Washington would people not be able to figure out what to do with a trillion-dollar surplus (Gleckman, 1999)." He was hoping for a grand compromise: legislation for the Medicare system, a $500 billion tax cut that split the difference of the Democrats' $290 billion and Republicans $792 billion bill and extra money for domestic and defense plans (Gleckman, 1999).

The one problem he ran into.....

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