Defining Bi-Partsanship

From the Washington Post:

. . . most people in Washington have forgotten what bipartisanship means in practice, if indeed they ever knew it.

The most common misconception is that bipartisanship means finding common ground and focusing on the things most everyone agrees on. In reality, that turns out to be a pretty small set of ideas and proposals that, taken together, would not address the major challenges before us. Certainly, that is the obvious place to begin, and it would be an improvement over the current gridlock, but it won't add up to effective governance.

After all, if the only things the party in power can accomplish are those that the minority power can agree with, then what is the point of having an election? No matter which side won a majority, "common ground" -- the things they all agree on -- would still be the same.

The only way a democratic system like ours can work is if the majority party acknowledges that winning an election means winning the right to set the agenda and put the first proposal on the table, though not the right to get everything it wants. By the same logic, if members of the minority party want to influence that policy, they have to understand that it will require them to accept some things they don't like to get some things they do.

We can also file this under "Is Congress Broken?" Has animosity between the two parties made it impossible for anything to be accomplished legislatively?

Straight Ticket Voting in Texas

Might be eliminated this legislative session.

SB 317 - Relating to the elimination of straight-party voting in all state elections including the judiciary.

Party Line Vote: SCHIP Re-authorization

We also see a party line vote on the recently passed legislation reauthorizing the Childrens' Health Insurance Program.

- Bill info from Thomas.
- The House Vote.
- The Senate Vote.

For background:

- The Heritage Foundation: Children's Health Care/SCHIP
- Analysis from the CBO.

Party Line Vote: Lilly Ledbetter

We will be discussing parties in Congress, including the tendency of recent Congress' to divide cleanly parties when they vote (party line voting).

The recent votes on the Lilly Ledbetter Act almost perfectly divided along party lines. The civil rights conscious Democrats on one side, the pro-business Republicans on the other.

The House Vote.
The Senate Vote.