Bi-Partisanship: An Unrealistic Ideal

Bi-partisanship is often held up as the ideal outcome in our political system. Whenever a bill passes through Congress, it’s always a huge deal when it’s approved by both the Democrats & Republicans. People talk about how great it is that these two opposing ideologies could put their differences aside and do the right thing for the country.

But how useful is bi-partisanship, really?

There isn’t anything wrong with bi-partisanship in theory. People should be able to come together and discuss issues that effect the nation at large without allowing their respective biases to cloud them. However, more often than not this isn’t how it works in practice.

In recent years, Republicans have become more and more intransigent in their stances. Look no further than our favorite turtle, Mitch McConnell. He’s made it his life’s mission to obstruct any and every piece of legislation that comes across his desk if the signatures on it have D’s next to their names.

I’ll give you a concrete example of how trying to achieve bi-partisan approval for something resulted in a very real loss for the people of the country.

The Affordable Care Act, AKA: Obamacare

Think back to 2009-10. The nation was in a healthcare crisis. People were dying left and right from not being able to afford basic care. Something had to be done. Enter President Obama.

Though the bill that would become known as Obamacare did save millions of people who would have otherwise been doomed to die by the death panels of the Health Insurance Industry, it was far from what he could have accomplished, had he put aside the ideals of bi-partisanship.

When Obama was first elected, he had a tremendous amount of support. Due in no small part to a successful progressive-oriented campaign, hopes were high that he would be the voice of “Hope & Change” in Washington. Unfortunately what we got did not live up to the hype.

I bring up the amount of support he had for a reason. His stratospheric approval, plus the fact that the Democrats had a super-majority in Congress, meant that – had he wanted to – Obama could have given us the universal healthcare that we are currently still fighting to implement today. Sure, the Republicans wouldn’t have liked it, but they weren’t in a position to stop it. He could have forced it through. But he didn’t. Because he wanted to work with them to achieve “bi-partisanship”.

“But Mike,” you cry, full of misplaced indignation. “It wasn’t just Republicans who didn’t want universal healthcare. Some Democrats wouldn’t have voted for it either.”

That’s true. My response to that is that Obama could have leveraged his high approval to pressure any dissenters within the Democratic party. He could have simply told them that if they didn’t play ball he would support their primary opponents in the next election. The reason he didn’t is because he wasn’t – and isn’t – the progressive he pretended to be to get elected. But that’s a story for another article.

My point with all of this is that if it wasn’t for Obama trying to always compromise with an opposing party that had gone on record as saying their mission for his term was to block everything he tried to do, we would now have universal healthcare, and who knows how many people who have since passed way might still be around?

That’s the danger of putting bi-partisanship on a pedestal.

Climate Denial

Another example of how trying to achieve this mythical bi-partisanship is causing more harm than good is in climate change. 9/10 scientists agree that climate change is real and it is going to murder all of us. The 10th scientist is getting money from the fossil fuel industry.

Now, the establishment Democrats have their own problems when it comes to climate change (cough-climate-change-debate-cough) but, historically, they have at least agreed that it is a thing that exists and has negative consequences. The Republicans, on the other hand….well, they think that snow existing proves climate change isn’t real. Yea.

So how, exactly, can bi-partisanship be achieved on a climate change initiative? Short answer: It can’t. Long answer: It can’t, because one of the parties at the negotiation table doesn’t believe (whether genuinely or because they’re being paid) that the issue is an issue in the first place. It’s as futile a task as trying to empty the oceans with a teaspoon.

This is unacceptable, for obvious reasons. Climate change is real, and needs to be addressed. We can’t waste what little time we have left trying to get people who have vested interests in ignoring the threat on-board with legislation. We need to just do it.

Bi-Partisanship As A Safety Net

“But Mike,” you say, still clinging to your security blanket, “that’s all well and good if people you like are in charge, but what about when people you don’t like are in charge? If we stop trying for bi-partisanship, then you’re giving them a license to do whatever they want.”

I’ve got bad news for you: that’s already happening. The Republicans have been running rampant and doing whatever they want ever since Trump got elected. It’s only the spineless Democrats still talking about bi-partisanship. Well, them and the media.

This results, more often than not, in Democrats introducing legislation with somewhat-strong reforms that would help the country, and the Republicans refusing to pass it unless the Democrats agree to a whole slew of concessions – which more often than not end up destroying the original point of the bill.

Look no further than the gun law reform that Obama tried to pass after the Sandy Hook shooting. He allowed the Republicans to water it down so much that it ended up changing barely anything. But hey, he got bi-partisan support, right?

Furthermore, I never claimed that we should get rid of bi-partisanship entirely. There are some issues that can be resolved through it, such as war. You have some people on the right that are against endless imperialism, and we can work with those people to achieve peace. But in general, bi-partisanship needs to stop being propped up as the be-all, end-all of legislation. It only causes pain.

Wake Up, Sheeple

Our current political climate is one of rampant corruption: of insane Republicans hell-bent on dialing the clock back to the Dark Ages at the behest of their corporate masters, and of purposefully weak Democrats whose only function is to offer token, toothless resistance as they receive funding from the same sources that pay the Republicans. In this climate, the dream of bi-partisanship in law-making is just that: a dream. And it’s one we all need to wake up from, before it’s too late.