WEBVTT - How Lame Ducks Work

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<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray.

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<v Speaker 1>It's ready. Are you welcome to stuff you should know

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<v Speaker 1>from how Stuff Works dot Com? You're getting smarter? Hey there,

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<v Speaker 1>and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark as staff

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<v Speaker 1>writer here How Stuff Works dot Com, with me as

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<v Speaker 1>always as my trustee editor Chris Palette. Chris, Today, I

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<v Speaker 1>want to talk about lame duck presidents. Agreed, absolutely, Okay.

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<v Speaker 1>Let me give a little background for some what a

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<v Speaker 1>lame duck president is. Lame duck president is basically any

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<v Speaker 1>president that has already either not been passed over for

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<v Speaker 1>election or has served the both of their terms. And

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<v Speaker 1>basically they're just sitting around in office waiting to finish

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<v Speaker 1>out the rest of their tenure before the next president

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<v Speaker 1>takes over. Correct that is correct? And where did this

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<v Speaker 1>come from? Lame duck? Do you want me to explain

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<v Speaker 1>that part? Why don't you do that? Let me Basically,

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<v Speaker 1>a lame duck original it was a financial term for

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<v Speaker 1>somebody who couldn't pay their debt. Our current use of

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<v Speaker 1>that term has nothing to do with that anymore. As

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<v Speaker 1>I said, it's it's a president who's finished out their term,

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<v Speaker 1>and it can also refer to Congress. But there's an

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<v Speaker 1>amendment in the Constitution called the lame Duck Amendment, and

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<v Speaker 1>it is the amenment absolutely, uh, the twenty Amendment is

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<v Speaker 1>the lame duck Amendment, and it was instituted in I

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<v Speaker 1>believe nineteen thirty three during the Hoover administration. Basically, what

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<v Speaker 1>was going on was members of Congress had thirteen months

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<v Speaker 1>in between the time they found out that they were

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<v Speaker 1>not reelected and the time they actually left office. Thirteen

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<v Speaker 1>months is a really, really long time to do a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of damage, basically robbing their constituency blind. Right. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, they have the opportunity to use the powers

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<v Speaker 1>of office for uh, for all sorts of projects, and

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<v Speaker 1>you know, once they're not once they don't feel like

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<v Speaker 1>they owe the voters anything anymore. They can they can

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<v Speaker 1>vote any way they want to, exactly. They could also

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<v Speaker 1>pick the president under certain circumstances, those being you know,

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<v Speaker 1>a tie in the electoral college, which frankly I don't

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<v Speaker 1>even want to get into. But um, Chris, it seems

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<v Speaker 1>like there's somebody out there right now who's a lame duck.

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<v Speaker 1>Their names slipping my mind. Can you refresh my memory.

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<v Speaker 1>I think you're thinking of President George W. Buck exactly.

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<v Speaker 1>That's who it was. Tell us a little bit about

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<v Speaker 1>his lame duck status, will you. Well, you know, he's uh,

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<v Speaker 1>he's actually been fairly busy during his lame duck period. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, I saw that people have been talking about

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<v Speaker 1>his presidency being entering the lame duck phase as early

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<v Speaker 1>as the first part of two thousand seven. So you know,

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<v Speaker 1>if if that's true. Obviously this is subjective thing, but

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<v Speaker 1>he would have been a lame duck for you know,

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<v Speaker 1>almost half of his second term in office. I heard

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<v Speaker 1>that the Associated Press actually tagged him with lame duck

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<v Speaker 1>in two thousand four. Wow, we'll see, you know, as

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<v Speaker 1>soon as you get elected for your second term. I

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<v Speaker 1>guess technically you're you're him. Uh, your lame duckness starts. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>But he's been he's been actually pretty active as of

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<v Speaker 1>late UM worth the Economic Stimulus Package and UM recently

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<v Speaker 1>to UH pushing for a permanent extension of his the

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<v Speaker 1>UH Surveillance Package, pushing Congress to to extend that permanently

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<v Speaker 1>instead of a temporary extension. He's been very vocal about

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<v Speaker 1>about doing that. So he's not he's not just sitting

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<v Speaker 1>on his on his hands and waiting for his term

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<v Speaker 1>to end. Now. Also one of those little balls with

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<v Speaker 1>the raccoon tail that is battery powered and cats like

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<v Speaker 1>the plue with that's also very active too. But I

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<v Speaker 1>think that that has just about as much of a

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<v Speaker 1>chance of pushing legislation through as George Bush does at

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<v Speaker 1>this point. Uh, from what I understand and doing some

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<v Speaker 1>research for this podcast, I found that, um, it's pretty

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<v Speaker 1>much open season on Bush. It seems like he's spent

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<v Speaker 1>all of his political currency and uh, suddenly the wolves

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<v Speaker 1>are at his door, as it were. I quote David

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<v Speaker 1>from who's a former speechwriter, there's no possibility at all

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<v Speaker 1>of the president advancing anything that is acceptable to both

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<v Speaker 1>the Democrats and the Republicans. Talking about what he'll be

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<v Speaker 1>able to do his last term, it looks like nothing. Chris,

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<v Speaker 1>what do you think? Well, you know, he's he's only

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<v Speaker 1>so powerful anyway as president because the members of Congress

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<v Speaker 1>are the ones who have to uh push the bills

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<v Speaker 1>across his desk form to sign. So you know, there's

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<v Speaker 1>there's only he He can talk all he wants, but

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<v Speaker 1>if they don't give him a bill to sign into law.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, he can't do anything whether he's a lame

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<v Speaker 1>duck or not. Exactly two and I think, uh a

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<v Speaker 1>further sign of the president's lame duck status that I

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<v Speaker 1>was really surprised to find this out. But Nancy Pelosi,

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<v Speaker 1>the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in July two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand seven, flew to Syria to hold talks with the

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<v Speaker 1>President of Syria, who Bush was ignoring at the time,

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<v Speaker 1>going completely behind the residents back. Now, if that's not

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<v Speaker 1>a sign that you're a lame duck, I don't know

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<v Speaker 1>what is. How about you? I do think you have

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<v Speaker 1>a point there. Okay, well, please please read how Lame

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<v Speaker 1>is a Lame Duck President at how stuff works dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>It'll change your life. For more on this and thousands

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<v Speaker 1>of other topics, this is it how stuff works dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Let us know what you think. Send an email to

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at how stuff works dot com. Brought to you

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<v Speaker 1>you