Read a great piece today by EJ Dionne from the Post where he talks about the current health care debate and how bipartisanship is weakening the prospects for real health care reform.
“Where did we get the idea that the only good health-care bill is a bipartisan bill? Is bipartisanship more important than whether a proposal is practical and effective?…
Most Democrats believe that fixing the system will require increased government intervention to guarantee universal coverage and to contain costs. Most Republicans oppose an expansion of government’s role and believe an even more market-oriented system would pave the way to health-care nirvana. Trying to achieve full bipartisanship by squaring those two views is a recipe for incoherence.”
What I dislike about bipartisanship is that while it is a noble goal, politicians have sorely abused it in the worst way. During the campaign trail, bipartisanship is often trumpeted as one way to get approval of what is considered the Holy Grail of American politics; the swing voter. Once candidates become elected, their almost certain decision to stand for re-election impacts what policies they choose and how their method of attack. Here again, bipartisanship is noted as a key goal of any major policy push. In this way, politicians have political cover if something goes wrong, said politician can say, “Now wait a minute, this bill was even supported by my friends from across the aisle.” (e.g. the vote to authorize force in Iraq) Which to translate means that because everyone is wrong, no one is wrong so chill out with this accountability. Read the rest of this entry »
