Politicians moving beyond the partisan art of government
Cole Hickman and Kevin Fosburgh
Cole Hickman
E. Valley Young Democrats
PresidentBipartisanship is lacking in Washington and the state legislature.
We face challenges and the public expects compromises, not exclusion and obstruction. But, how do you get bipartisan legislation?
In Arizona, under former governor Napolitano, moderate republicans voted with democrats to promptly pass budgets.
You’d think it would now be more likely than ever.
However, in 2008, moderate Republicans lost their primaries to candidates who said they would never vote for any Democratic idea.
Furthermore, Governor Brewer has shut every democrat out of budget negotiations.
If a politician doesn’t listen to all sides, punish them for it.
In Washington, bipartisan compromise created reform bills for campaign finance and immigration.
However, senators who engaged in bipartisanship on health care reform and climate change were harassed by their own parties.
Now Sen. John McCain, who in the 1990s was a moderate, opposes every Democratic idea and sounds increasingly partisan to prevent losing a Republican primary to an extremist.
In contrast, Barack Obama has responded to moderate democrats and republicans by dropping Single Payer and the Public Option from healthcare reform.
He even met with Republican leaders to hear their concerns and seek their support.
If a politician seeks to compromise and hear all sides, reward them for it.
Finally, bipartisanship is about compromise, not throwing out the baby with the bath water.
Republican calls to restart the health care debate are just political ploys to kill reform.
Kevin Fosburgh
MCC College Republicans
President
When a politician assumes any office, they do so to act in the best interest of their constituents.
Both republicans and democrats agree that something needs to be done with health care.
We all agree that we need to control cost, and we need to insure more Americans.
The problem we run into is how to do this.
A poll by Rasmussen Reports showed that as of March 1, about 52 percent of Americans surveyed were in opposition to the bill.
A poll conducted by CNN in late January revealed that 48 percent of the public want to see the current bill scrapped and start again on a new one.
What does bipartisan legislation do for the average American?
Bipartisan legislation takes the ideas of the left, then the right and brings it to the middle; where most Americans find themselves politically.
More importantly, it keeps the controlling party from pushing crippling legislation.
Again, case in point, current health care legislation is completely partisan, which results in a bill that is bad for America.
Its result is blatant corruption and socialist ideals.
It grows the government and its deficit by unprecedented rates.
It takes the free-market, which works so well, and turns it around to Washington bureaucrats.
If democrats don’t heed the warning that was offered to them by Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts, they will lose the faith of the people that put them where they are.
President Barack Obama, Sen. Harry Reid, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi have to scrap current legislation, sit down openly with Republicans, independents and everyone in between or else they will face big losses in November and again in 2012.
