Bipartisanship is both elusive and overrated
June 28th, 2009 at 11:50am Pat Cunningham
 
 ”An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a vestry.” — Thomas Jefferson
 I always cringe when I read or hear the familiar complaint among the booboisie that the people who run our governments — whether at the federal, state or local levels — are “playing politics” with one issue or another.
 Imagine that. Politicians playing politics. Well, duh! That’s what they’re supposed to do.
 It’s silly for the rest of us to argue that the politicians should set aside their differences and just do what’s right. The problem is that the politicians don’t agree on what’s right. That’s why they belong to different political parties and espouse different philosophies.
 Anybody who thinks the politicians can — or should even try to – stop playing politics doesn’t know how the system works and shouldn’t be voting.
 The current debate in Congress over health-care reform demonstates the ridiculousness of these notions of bipartisanship, as Steve Benen explains HERE.Â
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1. Richard | June 28th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and
then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are
against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and
high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The president does.
You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on
appropriations. The House of representatives does.
You and I don’t write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme
Court justices, 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly,
legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems
that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that
problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its
Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally
chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason.
They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a
senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing.
I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash.
The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what
the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to
determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that
what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con
regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive
amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a
Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating
deficits.. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force
the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole
responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and
approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House?
Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and
fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they
want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if
they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not
replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of
incompetence and irresponsibility. I can’t think of a single domestic
problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you
fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the
federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they
want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red ..
If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it’s because they want them in
IRAQ .
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement
plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they
hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and
advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to
regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let
them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical
forces like “the economy,” “inflation,” or “politics” that prevent them
from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power..
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are
their bosses. Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their
own employees.
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel News paper.
What you do with this article now that you have read it……….. is up
to you.
2. Neftali | June 28th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
So in this post Pat says that politicians should not stop playing politics. But Pat also complains about the filibuster being used by the minority party.
So is Pat:
A) A hypocrite?
B) A waffler ?
C) Just another confused liberal.
3. Orlando Clay | June 28th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I can’t speak for Pat, of course, but this Lib is:
D) A liberal who is annoyed by the GOP’s childish obstructionism. They widely criticized the stimulus package, but offered no alternative solution other than to suggest more tax cuts for the wealthy. They are whining about the health care proposals, but offer no alternate solution. Save your prattle and tantrum-throwing for the next tea party, OK?
4. Neftali | June 28th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Orlando - Your response is typical of liberals.
Let me help you:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=republican+alternative+stimulus+plan
5. mike | June 28th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
What stimulus? It’s getting worse. Your idiot president failed. I’m laying people off. Plants are idle. What stimulus? Tell me Orlando where is the stimulus??? Health care is not broke, there is nothing to fix. Fix the insurance industry. Health care is just fine. Govenment health care becomes law, my employees are screwed. No more company healthcare plan….bingo just like that.
The only one childish Orlando is you. You grasp nothing with your warped liberal mind. You spew these lame lib idiocies. You are a follower Orlando thats all. I suppose it was George Bush’s fault that Michael Jackson died too right?? That’s what you bring to the mix. Thinking people, ones that create jobs, leaders….doers we are annoyed by you and your ilk Orlando. All you want to do is suck off the system thereby destroying it. We are tired of carrying your ass.
6. Neftali | June 28th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Orlando - Here is the GOP health care proposal
http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/17/news/economy/republican_health_care_bill/index.htm
Its amazing how liberals claim to be open minded, but if they were, stuff like this would be obvious.
7. realfoxnews | June 28th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Orlando who knows ####. Look at Madison.com the Dems have both houses and the Gov. Look what they want to do to the average homeowner in Wis. What are the States going to do some day when people quite smoking because they keep raising the tax on them. If BOBO makes 4 hes going to be lucky. They need to throw him out.
8. shawnnews | June 29th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Obama can’t even get an adminstration together because of the obstructionist GOP.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/29/cass-sunstein-nomination_n_222196.html
We won the election. The GOP shows sore loserism at its best.
9. Richard | June 30th, 2009 at 9:33 am
http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSLT24516720090629
This is funny. Hungary’s minority Socialist government passed a crucial test on Monday when parliament approved key 2010 tax changes to help the country recover from its worst recession in almost two decades.
Why is it funny? Hungry is a socialist country and they are cutting taxes. We are supposed to be a capitalist country and we are trying to raise taxes in favor of socialism. Go figure, eh? I believe the Socialist in Hungry may be on to something.
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