Health Care Reform and Congressional Partisanship
Sep 17 2009
I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that no Republicans signed up as cosponsors for Sen. Baucus’ (D-MT) new “compromise” health care bill, any more than we should be surprised at the lack of Democrats’ support for such things as tort reform.
To be fair, lots of Democrats don’t like Baucus’ bill, either. But this was Baucus’ effort to try to work with both sides to come up with something that both could live with. And his effort may have ended up with something neither side will buy into.
It’s almost a unique illustration of today’s problem in Congress. There seems no room at all for middle-ground compromise, and anyone who tries to find one finds himself sparse on friends.
It’s a sad commentary when almost every issue up for debate on the Hill – except for declaring national chocolate week or naming a post office – becomes a partisan issue that’s overwhelmingly supported by one party and overwhelmingly opposed by the other.
The country already faces extremely challenging times, and those challenges will only get tougher in the years ahead. In that context, the persistent inability of the two parties and their leaders to come to some level of bipartisan agreement is disappointing.
Unfortunately, it’s not just on national health reform that we encounter that problem.
In some cases, the parties switch sides they previously took on virtually the same issue in the past, depending on which party is currently doing the proposing. And both parties play the same kinds of demagoguing gamesmanship, depending on which party is in the majority or the minority. The party in the majority (Democrat or Republican) always has to explain why it can’t fund various things its leaders have said they support, whereas the minority party (Republican or Democrat) can play to its constituency by introducing amendments endorsing high-cost, popular initiatives, knowing full well they won’t be adopted.
It’s part and parcel of a political system that drives most of us crazy — even though it’s still far better than any alternative any other country has come up with.
2 Responses to “Health Care Reform and Congressional Partisanship”
Gridlock is preferred over bills passed by a partisan, or small majority. If a bill has merit it should pass overwhelmingly, or not at all.
America is speaking out and it is speaking out with tremendous volume, conviction, and perseverance. It’s clear that many Americans have simply had enough. Many have missed the fact that it’s not all about Healthcare…it is so intense in part because it’s not really about health care at all. It’s much deeper. On a deeper level, it’s about the role of government in America’s economy and our personal lives. And those are raw and unresolved topics, only made more so by months of exceptional government intervention amid a deep recession. It’s a volcanic anger generated by the feeling of helplessness to save their America…. And that President Obama and the U.S. Congress may be acting unconstitutionally
Amazingly, American citizens, participating in town hall meetings, and voicing legitimate concerns regarding very valid concerns were labeled as Brownshirts, Nazis, lowlifes, morons, right wing nut jobs, and worse. Their constitutional right to dissent was labeled “Astroturf”. What arrogance and ignorance to label veterans, seniors, other concerned citizens, and their constitutional based participation with such description. What followed were efforts aimed at stifling the debate over health care, global warming, etc., by claiming the time for debate is over, that Americans are in favor of reform, and that the independent regulators whose powers are being usurped should stop publicly airing their concerns over the new scheme. Incredibly, those espousing arrogant belief that others should not voice opposition or apprehension over concentrating power in the White House seemed surprised to encounter resistance from those who have the most to lose. Perhaps if everyday folks, the “Angry Un-American Mobs”, “Not Representative of America”, could only understand their brilliance, they would be more agreeable.