Very encouraging Bi-Partisanship

[SirSaxa]

I was watching CNBC this morning. Their guests were two Senators, Mark Warner (D) of VA and Bob Corker (R) of TN

They are on the Senate banking committee. Following our nearly catastrophic economic crisis 18 months ago, most everyone realizes that Bank regulatory reform is essential. Unfortunately, when trying to craft a bill to deal with the situation, Committee Chair Dodd and Ranking member Shelby reached an impasse -- so typical of politics these days.

But Corker and Warner were authorized to work together to find a solution. They did. Listening to these two guys this morning was refreshing and encouraging. They were not ready to announce specifics yet, but the tone of the conversation, the respect for their differing views and their mutual desire to get a constructive bill completed was incredibly encouraging.

In contrast, it seems that most media outlets, virtually all websites, talk radio, and -- of course -- this board, rely instead on zingers, half-truths, disinformation, outright lies and a total lack of accountability.

The rhetoric attacking the "other side" as "un-American" and all the other names and extreme distortions that don't have to be listed here but we all know -- accomplish nothing and are destructive to the country as a whole.

Republicans, Democrats and Independents won WWI and WWII, the Cold War, the Space Race, and built the greatest economic engine in the world. And we did all of that without trashing the Constitution or American values.

I hope the current tone of extreme partisanship will change somehow. I don't know how. I thought the economic crisis might be the catalyst to make that happen, but it hasn't. This morning however, I saw a glimmer of hope. Just wanted to pass that along.

[TBird41]

I don't know much about Mark Warner, but I'm a big, big, big Bob Corker fan. He is the Senate version of Paul Ryan and exactly the type of person the Republican party should build upon. I'm not surprised that he's involved in something like this, and I'm glad that both parties signed off on letting two Senators that know their stuff to sit down and figure out a solution.

[TC]

"The minority seeks to frustrate the majority, and when the majority is displaced it returns the favor. Power is constantly sought through the use of means which render its effective use, once acquired, impossible."
- Evan Bayh

What's John McCain worked with Democrats on this year? Anything? Bipartisanship is dead because there is no incentive for it to succeed.

[TBird41]

Feb 25, 2010 9:18:33 GMT -5 TC said:

"The minority seeks to frustrate the majority, and when the majority is displaced it returns the favor. Power is constantly sought through the use of means which render its effective use, once acquired, impossible."
- Evan Bayh

What's John McCain worked with Democrats on this year? Anything? Bipartisanship is dead because there is no incentive for it to succeed.

1) Evan Bayh is a quitter and a chump.

2) When was there ever incentive to be bipartisan? What makes now so different from any other time in our history? What about Bayh's statement makes it only true now?

[TC]

Feb 25, 2010 9:46:01 GMT -5 TBird41 said:

2) When was there ever incentive to be bipartisan? What makes now so different from any other time in our history? What about Bayh's statement makes it only true now?

I don't know how much incentive there was to be bipartisan, but there was never as much incentive to be extremely partisan.

[Filo]

Feb 25, 2010 9:46:01 GMT -5 TBird41 said:

2) When was there ever incentive to be bipartisan? What makes now so different from any other time in our history? What about Bayh's statement makes it only true now?

Dead on. With the internet, 24-hours news, etc., the divisiveness seems more excessive in this era. The truth is, the divisiness is just more exposed now.

I am just finishing The Coldest Winter by Halberstam, about the Korean War (something I, and most of America, know very little about). While the book is obviously colored by Halberstam's own political leanings, it is just amazing to read about all the "same as it ever was" partisan politics of that era.

[TC]

Here's one of the quotes that Ezra Klein has been repeating a lot - it's from 1964 and it describes the Johnson administration's strategy on getting Medicare passed :

"If all our supporters are present and voting we would win by a vote of 55 to 45."

That statement is mind-boggling today because it would never come to a vote.

[The Stig]

Feb 25, 2010 10:52:09 GMT -5 TC said:

Here's one of the quotes that Ezra Klein has been repeating a lot - it's from 1964 and it describes the Johnson administration's strategy on getting Medicare passed :

"If all our supporters are present and voting we would win by a vote of 55 to 45."

That statement is mind-boggling today because it would never come to a vote.

That's actually pretty funny. Can you imagine the Republican soundbites if the Dems were to propose Medicare today instead of in 1964? If they call this current bill a massive government takeover of our healthcare system, what on earth would they call Medicare?

I don't know much about Bob Corker's politics, but he was always fun to watch in hearings. I was sitting right behind a couple Pink Ladies at one of the Afghanistan hearings, and most of the senators avoided them like the plague, but Corker comes up and starts joking around with them like they were old friends.

[TBird41]

Feb 25, 2010 11:58:58 GMT -5 The Stig said:

Feb 25, 2010 10:52:09 GMT -5 TC said:

Here's one of the quotes that Ezra Klein has been repeating a lot - it's from 1964 and it describes the Johnson administration's strategy on getting Medicare passed :

"If all our supporters are present and voting we would win by a vote of 55 to 45."

That statement is mind-boggling today because it would never come to a vote.

That's actually pretty funny. Can you imagine the Republican soundbites if the Dems were to propose Medicare today instead of in 1964? If they call this current bill a massive government takeover of our healthcare system, what on earth would they call Medicare?

Probably some names, but I'd bet in general, they'd support Medicare, seeing as how it's a safety net / supplement rather than a take over of the entire industry, just like S-Chip had Republican support.

[ExcitableBoy]

Feb 25, 2010 13:22:11 GMT -5 TBird41 said:

Probably some names, but I'd bet in general, they'd support Medicare, seeing as how it's a safety net / supplement rather than a take over of the entire industry, just like S-Chip had Republican support.

I know this isn't necessarily the right forum for this but to call Medicare a safety net / supplement is a pretty big reach. Medicaid? Possibly. But Medicare no way. Its a single payer system, covers like 40 million people through its own tax, and costs close to $500 billion per year. It would be laughed out of the building.

And I know several Republicans did vote for the most recent iteration of SCHIP but remember it was vetoed by Bush as a "federalization of health care" or something.

[hifigator]

I pretty much agree with most of the comments. I too think we need more bipartisan efforts, but as others have pointed out, even though that is oft-talked about in campainging, once elected, toeing the party line is far more normally the chosen path. Breaking from affiliation is just too politically damaging. That's sad in my opinion, but I don't know what the solution is, at least until we have a viable third party. As for Evan Bayh, I am unsure if he was actually just fed up with not getting anything accomplished due to all the partisanship or if he is looking down the road at a possible run in 2016 and trying to distance himself from said partisanship. If that's the case, then I wonder if he could ever salvage enough support from his party members. Even if they agree with the sentiment, too many of them might be unwilling to forgive him. thoughts?

[Coast2CoastHoya]

Thanks for posting this, SirSaxa. It definitely appears that hope of reconciliation and progress are there.