I wasn’t going to comment on this in general because I’m very much an outsider but seeing it storm up and down the net there is one refrain that just bugs me so much watching American politics:
“NOOOOO the health care bill and all future legislation is doooooooooooooom!!”
Yes, you expect some gloom and doom... but why are the Democrats so damn WET? They’ve had a super majority for a year now but they always seem to be wrestling with the Republicans. Why? You think the Republicans would be compromising and meeting you half way if it were the other way around? I just really don’t get this and I’m curious how things work in the US that this has happened?
George W Bush didn’t have a supermajority - yet still managed some to push through some of the worst hair-whitening legislation you could have the displeasure to see defiling paper. The Dems certainly stopped some of the vileness, but they let a lot of unpleasantness pass. So why, even with the majority, did the Dems seem to struggle and fight?
I once assumed that American politics just had more of a culture of bipartisanship than UK politic. It seems committees et al regularly contain members from both parties even when one is solidly in power (would never happen over here. You win an election decisively? You do things your war). But, if there is a culture of reaching across the aisle, well, maybe someone should tell the Republicans? Because they don’t seem to realise. And I don’t think a system based on compromise and meeting each other in the middle when one side isn’t shifting an inch.
I’ve heard the republicans declared to be the party of “no.” And it’s a great summation. But when did the Democrats become the party of whining, cowering in the corner and folding?
What did I miss? What am I missing?
And, for the record, my outsider’s view on why it was lost (because I have to stick my oar in I just do)
( Read more... )
“NOOOOO the health care bill and all future legislation is doooooooooooooom!!”
Yes, you expect some gloom and doom... but why are the Democrats so damn WET? They’ve had a super majority for a year now but they always seem to be wrestling with the Republicans. Why? You think the Republicans would be compromising and meeting you half way if it were the other way around? I just really don’t get this and I’m curious how things work in the US that this has happened?
George W Bush didn’t have a supermajority - yet still managed some to push through some of the worst hair-whitening legislation you could have the displeasure to see defiling paper. The Dems certainly stopped some of the vileness, but they let a lot of unpleasantness pass. So why, even with the majority, did the Dems seem to struggle and fight?
I once assumed that American politics just had more of a culture of bipartisanship than UK politic. It seems committees et al regularly contain members from both parties even when one is solidly in power (would never happen over here. You win an election decisively? You do things your war). But, if there is a culture of reaching across the aisle, well, maybe someone should tell the Republicans? Because they don’t seem to realise. And I don’t think a system based on compromise and meeting each other in the middle when one side isn’t shifting an inch.
I’ve heard the republicans declared to be the party of “no.” And it’s a great summation. But when did the Democrats become the party of whining, cowering in the corner and folding?
What did I miss? What am I missing?
And, for the record, my outsider’s view on why it was lost (because I have to stick my oar in I just do)
( Read more... )