Memo to Obama and the Dems: Good Public Policy Is Far More Important Than Bi-Partisanship

[Yavin4]

It is far more important to pass effective, beneficial public policies than it is to win support from the hand full of Republicans left in the congress.

I think that we can learn something from Bush. Bush fought for his policies, policies that were dead wrong, but he fought for them with little or no concern over winning over Dems or even the public.

Yes, the public will be-moan about the D.C. infighting, but when the results of good public policy actually benefit their lives, they won't care about D.C. bickering. If Bush's policies, by some miracle, actually benefitted the public's interests, the Republicans would be in the majority today.

The House passage of the SCHIP bill is strong step in this direction. If the Republicans want to deny health care for children, then so be it. Unlike Bush, this legislation will benefit the public at large, and the Dems will get the credit at election time.

Fight the good fight, and let bi-partisanship fall where it may.

[bluestateguy]

1. We have political parties for a reason in this country

Voters like having choices and alternatives. When the two parties become an incomprehensible glop of whatever, then voters complain about not being able to tell the difference between Democrats and Republicans.

Democrats have their agenda, their priorities and their policies. They do what they do. Republicans have their agenda, their priorities and their policies. And They do what they do.

Then let the voters sort it all out in November.

[Connie_Corleone]

2. The rules in the Senate are different.

Plus you have conservative Democrats who are always voting with Republicans on economic issues.

The Democrats in the Senate have no choice but to deal with the Republicans. Even if they had 60 Dem Senators, there will always be a handful of Democrats voting with the Republicans.

[Yavin4]

4. Conservative Dems Can Be Persuaded

Majority has its privileges. The Dems in the Senate get perks like chairmanships, etc. If they want to join the minority party, go right ahead.

They can always vote against a bill here or there that they don't like, but they won't filibuster without major consequences.

Bush, with poor approval ratings, still was able to get things done, see the TARP program.

[bain_sidhe]

6. On top of that, the Publican party

has a disproportionate representation in the Senate - disproportionate to the number of people they actually represent, that is. I figured out in 2005 that the then-minority Democrats actually represented more than half of the population. I don't know what it is now, but now that they're in the majority, I suspect the Publicans only represent around 30% of the population, yet they have 40% of the votes in the Senate. (Just an "off the top of my head" guess. I'll try figuring it out later, but it involves math, which is not my strong suit - so it'll probably be a while.)

[Thrill]

3. Its not just about Republicans. We can't even get all the Dems in the Senate on board

This isn't about just reaching the Republicans

[Yavin4]

5. See My Post #4

Persuading conservative Dems is not the same as persuading Republicans who want us to fail. Conservative Dems have a stake in seeing the party and the majority being successful.