Partisanship

Sen. Arlen Specter has declared that the Senate has lost its title as the world's greatest deliberative body, and I entirely agree. In fact, such a thing occured many years ago. The 60-40 partisan line vote conclusively showed that what happens on the Senate floor doesn't matter, since everything has been pre-decided through negotiations and not debate. Politics is too big a business - no longer is a Senator expected to understand policy - there's a Legitlative Assistant to recommend votes in each policy area and a Legislative Correspondent that justifies whatever view the Senator holds, not withstanding all of the lobbyists. This is what gov't gets for regulating - everyone affected shows up to Washington and starts asking to increase their pie. No wonder Smith said trust capital owners was a bad idea. :D

Politics is a formula now. I could have predicted this result 6 months ago; no matter how many negociations took place, all that ultimately mattered was getting to 60. Nelson effectively controlled this bill, and while I don't understand it all, I do know that we haev to do something. Insurance is not a regular market, and it needs special regulation.

There's something wrong with the 60 rule too, because as political rules currently stand, neither side in a 50-50 senate will want to give on anything unless it's the subject of lots of attention and impatience. The bases are kingmakers and breakers in politics today, and they do not value weakness, of what they see as weakness.

Personally, I find that absurd. Members of Congress worry more about fund-raising numbers than policy; campaigning is now a full-time job, and there is no more room to discover a new perspective. Evey side is already locked and loaded, and has no interest in negotiating. I don't think my reps actually represent me anymore, except in getting jobs and federal money for Georgia. They represent the 50% + 1 who elected them, and that's just sad.

The good news is that there's widespread recognition of these trends. All we need now is the leadership that can stare the parties down. Of course, it might be that this is a simplification, and that I'm missing the ball one way or the other. But, I really don't think so. Obama is too much of a politician to risk choking on this, but I hope someone will step up and be recognized. There is far too much at stake for us to get lost in our polarization.

PS - I would welcome an interesting facts or stories about President Truman, in preparation for an upcoming interview.