Why bipartisanship is wrong
On the face of it this seems like a good idea. After all, don’t we like it when we can all agree on something? But considering the historical and philosophical flaws of bipartisanship, this might be a dangerous road for America to travel.
When politicians cast their vote in the popular lot, just to say they agreed with the other side, they are doing a great injustice to America. Our nation works best when there are two different, vocal sides that aren’t afraid to express their opinion. Liberals and conservatives, the yin and the yang.
When our legislators express only one solution to a problem we, as a nation, are being robbed of other potentially better solutions. Right now America is facing unique, never before seen problems, so we need as many unique, creative solutions as we can possibly get.
The reason congress will debate each bill for dozens of hours is so that they can, ideally, incorporate the best solutions of each proposal. This is the reason they make amendments to bills that are already before them.
Bipartisanship for the sake of bipartisanship encourages legislators to hop on a popular bandwagon so that they can say “I didn’t argue with the President, or congressional leaders.” In reality they are saying “I was so lazy, that even though I know that there are pressing problems in America, I just didn’t want to put forth any real effort into thinking of a good practical solution that would help us. Besides, it’s so easy to just say yes.”
Just as there are many sides to an issue, we can all agree that there are many solutions to a problem. Some better than others. Legislators shouldn’t be afraid of exploring all options and then, putting personal political considerations aside, decide on the best solution for our nation.
In school we are taught about the value of diversity and how we as a nation are stronger because no two people are exactly alike. Why then would anyone want to stifle diversity of opinion? It is every American’s job to question what our elected officials are doing, and to take this into consideration when they are up for re-election.
We are all Americans, and we all want what is best for the nation. But that isn’t always the exact same thing. We all see things differently and at the expense of sounding like a kindergarten teacher, that can be a wonderful thing. It is not unpatriotic to criticize your government when you believe that they are leading us down a road contrary to the Constitution and the founding ideals of our nation.
The bedrock of our nation is dissension. Whether it be our protest of the British in the American Revolution or the decades long debate we continue to have on sensitive issues like abortion, capital punishment and gun control.
Willingness to debate issues is what has made our nation as strong as it is. While some criticize a two-party political system, it has actually been extremely good for America, particularly when neither party has complete control in Washington.
For example, look at the years 1994-2000, Bill Clinton, a Democrat, was President and both houses were controlled by Republicans. President Clinton and the Congressional Republicans did not get along. Republicans even impeached President Clinton and tried very hard to have him removed from office. Both parties were at each other’s necks, and they strongly detested each other. But when you consider the state of the nation, the economy was great, we weren’t over-extending our military and we even had a budget surplus. When the parties did come together it was for an issue they did an outstanding job with like welfare reform, business deregulation and cutting some discretionary spending to balance the budget.
On the other hand, the last time we had a President with complete control (defined by myself as a filibuster proof majority in the Senate) was President Jimmy Carter. A Democrat with a democratic congress that would do whatever he wanted. What did one party’s complete control in Washington get us? During President Carter’s final year, the interest rate was at 21 percent, inflation stood at 13.5 percent, and unemployment was over 7 percent.
We can’t afford one party to have complete control, just as we can’t afford to have only one solution presented to solve our problems. Instead of asking our elected representative to agree with what’s popular just for the heck of it, we should be asking them to look into the issue, and pay due diligence to the Constitution and then decide what the best solution is.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Feb 6 2009. Filed under Opinion.
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