Posts Tagged ‘Bipartisanship’

What Is To Be Done?

Saturday, March 27th, 2010

So Capitol Hill is sort of treading water right now. And by “sort of treading water”, I mean “drowning like a camel in the Atlantic Ocean”. And yes, Democrats are in power. Yes, they have a pretty sizable majority in the House. Yes, they have a nearly filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Yes, they have the presidency. This is the state of things in March 2010.

Also, Republicans are unified in lock-step opposition to EVERYTHING Obama does. Supreme Court Justice appointments, Secretary of Transportation appointments, DCCC appointments, dentist appointments. This is the state of things in March 2010.

Republicans make significant gains in the House and Senate. Obama now has to fight tooth and nail for even the most bipartisan of efforts. Republicans hold a tenuous majority in both the House and Senate, and he can no longer rely on the votes of conservative Democrats on any legislation. Republicans continue to filibuster again. And again. And again. Our country’s economy begins to spiral, more jobs are lost, more people die every day because of a lack of adequate health insurance. This is the state of things in November 2010.

A certain conservative candidate announces his candidacy for the office of President of the United States. MSNBC focuses exclusively on hypercritical analysis of his track record and history, Fox News focuses on extolling his virtues and merits and potential. CNN continues to cover the ongoing natural disasters in the world, while trying to appear centrist in their occasional remarks about said candidate. All MSM networks completely discard their coverage and analysis of the happenings and intricacies of what exactly is going on in Washington; the Tea Party assimilates into the Republican party in anticipation of election season. Nothing is done about the country’s dwindling state. The deficit remains unchecked. Infrastructural problems remain manifest. This is the state of things in February 2011.

The conservative candidate chooses Michael Steele as his Vice President in an effort to nullify the use of the race card in any matters pertaining to the GOP and their newly assimilated Tea Party base; even though many racist sentiments still run deep. Obama is forced to concentrate on the upcoming election cycle, and therefore happenings on Capitol Hill grind to a halt. America’s economy continues to implode, the unemployment rate is at 15% and climbing. This is the state of things in August 2012.

Barack Obama suffers a decisive loss at the hands of an outraged Republican base and a disillusioned Independent bloc wholly dissatisfied with Obama’s lack of success. Republicans center their entire campaign upon Obama’s failure to keep his campaign promises, despite their role as the impassable blockade which prevented him from passing any meaningful legislation. Preying upon the visceral reactions and short-term memories of the average American, Republicans cruise to victory and capture significant majorities in both the house and Senate. Stories circulate about the resurrection of the GOP and the imminent demise of the Democratic Party. This is the state of things in November 2012.

In the interim between Election Day and the presidential inauguration, President Obama apologizes to the American people for his failure to set our great country upon a more glorious path towards prosperity. He abstains from blaming the Republicans in Congress, and instead expands upon what he could have done better as a President. The economy is in dire straits, and a market crash appears to be on the horizon. Republicans implore Obama to sign legislation into action, but he refuses to do such; asking that they politely wait their turn to begin work on fixing our broken America. This is the state of things in January 2013.

(GOP winner) is inaugurated into office. Facing an enormous debt and an economic tailspin, (GOP winner) kicks his GOP Congressmen into gear so that a landmark piece of legislation may be enacted to save the economy. This legislation angers many on both sides – liberals decry it as being outlandishly hypocritical, and conservative pundits dismiss it as an overambitious government escapade. Meanwhile, Bank of America merges with AIG to form America, LLC; an act made possible by a 2011 Republican proposal by Joe Wilson to extend upon the financial deregulatory practices made possible by the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999. This is the state of things in February 2013.

The newly crowned 45th President of the United States then sets about passing this bill of unprecedented size through Congress. It clears easily through the House, despite vehement opposition from the left.

However, upon entering the Senate, the bill becomes deadlocked. Senators Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer, Dick Durbin and Al Franken commit to filibustering this bill indefinitely, calling it “undemocratic” and “bullying”. The Republicans have a filibuster-proof majority of 60 Senators, however, so the public expects that this will be nothing more than a minor hiccup. Meanwhile, America LLC is aggressively buying up mortgages and the like; in a manner not at all dissimilar to their 2005 irresponsible financial undertakings.

Unfortunately for the Republicans, Senator Olympia Snowe votes on the side of the Democrats, stating that “it isn’t fair to ram such a huge bill down the American people’s throats on such short notice”.

Fox News lambasts Democrats for being “obstructionist” and labels them as the “Party of No”, accusing the Democrats of putting politics before country. A movement known as the Latte Party emerges from the extreme left, clamoring about the tyranny of the GOP and “taking their country back”. This is the state of things in August 2013.

In March 2014, the financial system collapses on the heels of America, LLC filing for another government bailout; as they have once again become victims of their own treacherous greed.Our country enters a Second Great Depression. Unemployment rates are at 33%. China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea have stopped loaning us money, consequently decimating our economic structure. Democrats blame Republicans for their idiocy during the Obama administration. Republicans blame Democrats for not supporting the President (in a completely hypocritical about-face from their previous position held under the Obama administration).

Meanwhile, our country has gone to hell.

Yes, my friends, karma is a cruel mistress.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in National | No Comments »

Shapeshifters & Flipfloppers

Friday, October 16th, 2009

The possibilities of a bipartisan (insert issue) bill are slim. In fact, they never really existed. Yet the marginal Democrats (I’m looking at you, Senator Nelson) continue to go around and proclaim that new legislation that doesn’t have a super-duper supermajority, somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 votes in the Senate, is not legitimate.

Bipartisanship is a virtue to strive for, but at what cost? In my last post, I chastised Democrats for failing to get their acts together, defend their values, and stop arguing with themselves. This time, it’s something more malevolent in the system. The Republicans are trying to barter their way to favorable public policy outcomes. Note: I did not say palatable, I didn’t even say tolerable, nor did I say compromise-that-reflects-their-relative-strength; I said favorable.

How does this work? How do 40 GOP Senators and 178 GOP Congressmen barter their way to favorable policies? By pledging support for ideas, then moving the goal posts. In many ways, this is a Peanuts strip. Lucy tells Charlie Brown that she’ll hold the football for him to kick, and Charlie Brown’s been duped before and is reluctant to try try again. But, Lucy convinces him that “This time, she means it.” So, Charlie gives in and takes a run at the football. Lucy, true to form, pulls it away at the last second and Charlie careens by.

The Republicans make the right noises and say the right things, indicating that they would support a (insert issue) bill if it had certain provisions. Reasonable? Yes. It’s the art of compromising. Senators will transcend party, work ideas from both sides of the aisle into the bill, then a broad, bipartisan coalition will support the bill. Right?

Wrong. At the last minute, after the Democrats have agreed to incorporate Republican ideas, the Republicans pull the football away. They proclaim, “We never liked those ideas. We like these over here instead. If you give us those, we’ll support the bill.” Just like Lucy, the Republicans taunt Charlie Brown again, saying that THIS TIME, they’ll let him kick the football.

For example:

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa:

  • Then: “I believe that there is a bipartisan consensus to have individual mandates.” Fox News Sunday, June 14, 2009
  • Now: “[T]here are other points as well, but let me mention other points that you didn’t mention. And one would be the individual mandate, which for the first time would have a federal penalty against people who don’t have health insurance…. I’m very reluctant to go along with an individual mandate.”October 6, 2009.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky:

“But the core point is this: At the end of the day, if the government plan is either in the bill or out of the bill, whether they will be able to argue successfully or not whether tax funds are gonna be provided for abortion, whether or not they will be able to argue at the end that dollars for health care for illegals is in or out, what we do know is what the core of the bill is going to look like. We know that for sure,” he said.
And the bottom line, said McConnell, is that Republicans don’t like the bill at all.
“It’s going to be a trillion dollar bill,” said McConnell. President Obama has said he won’t sign any bill that exceeds $900 billion over ten years, but what’s a few billion?
“We know it’s going to have half a trillion dollars in Medicare cuts. We know it’s going to raise taxes on individuals and business. So however these other issues are resolved, the core of the bill is a trillion dollar government attempt to take over one-sixth of the economy, which slashes Medicare by half a trillion dollars, and raises taxes on most Americans,” he said. September 30, 2009.

Sen. Grassey, again:

“Chuck Todd asked Grassley whether he’d vote for the bill if it was a good piece of policy that he’d crafted but that couldn’t attract more than a handful of Republican votes. “Certainly not,” replied Grassley. Todd tried again, clarifying that this was legislation Grassley liked, and thought would move the ball forward, but was getting bogged down due to partisanship. Grassley held firm. If a good bill cannot attract Republican support, then it is not a good bill, he argued.Grassley, in other words, is working backward from the votes. If the Gang of Six reaches a compromise that the Senate Republicans don’t support, Grassley will abandon that compromise, regardless of the fact that he’s the guy who built it. The Gang of Six, in other words, falls apart if it can’t assure a vote of 76. Since it seems virtually impossible that such a vote will manifest, it seems similarly unlikely that Grassley will sign his name to the final bill. And Grassley, remember, was willing to say all this publicly. His version of bipartisanship is strikingly partisan.” August 17, 2009.

And on the subject of individual mandates:

  • Senator Jon Kyl, R-Arizona: “This is a stunning assault on liberty” and Senator Jim Bunning, R-Kentucky: These provisions trample on the feedoms of Americans.” September 22, 2009. Both of these esteemed gentlemen ARE on the Finance Committee.

At the end of the day, what it comes down to is that the Republicans are (a) determined to water down and dilute any Democratic efforts at reform, (b) unwilling to lend support to any bill that does not completely reflect their views and any noises of bipartisan compromise are only misleading, ephemeral goalposts, and (c) going to vote no.

(more…)

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Health Care, National | 1 Comment »