Why Bipartisanship Can't Work

On his blog, James Fallows shares a story from a friend about a GOP Congressman who tells a Democratic Congressman that he’d like something added to the health-care bill, and then says he’s going to vote against the health-care bill anyway. It illustrates, Fallows’ friend says, just how broken our system is. GOP discipline is so strong that Republicans are unwilling to trade votes for compromises. The GOP denies the party label and financial support to candidates who break ranks, and possibly even runs more conservative candidates against them. Fallows' friend calls the lock-in-step GOP minority bloc “unprecedented” and says, “There's really nothing more to be said about ‘why no bipartisanship,’ once one recognizes the GOP party discipline. On this issue, it's absolutely astounding to blame Obama or even the Congressional leadership.”