Saturday, December 13, 2014

Bipartisanship, the hard way….


We have a bipartisan vote in the U. S. House on a continuing resolution to authorize federal spending and keep the government from shutting down.

The spending bill squeaked through, 219-206, with 67 Republicans voting “No” and 57 Democrats voting “Yes.”

It’s bipartisan, and it’s ugly. There are very bad riders on this spending bill, specifically the Dodd-Frank attacks that will benefit the banking industry and Wall Street, and changes that make it more likely that big money can influence elections.

We have to face reality: the Republicans won in November, they’re in the cat bird seat in Congress.




I don’t understand Nancy Pelosi’s decision to stand in the doorway on this one.  She knows a spending bill is going to pass, and she knows the Republicans are in the driver’s seat in the House. I think she would have done a great public service by negotiating real hard with Boehner, and making a very public case that she would ultimately support a bi-partisan bill, that is, proclaiming that her driving commitment is to govern and not to politick.

We’re going to need negotiators in Congress in the next two years, not self-serving pols who stand in the doorway. Let’s not make it any uglier than it’s probably going to be.









Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2014

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