Cause for Partisanship
December 22, 2009 1 Comment
I am not going to get into a big lecture here about the unfortunate partisanship that surrounded the Democrats’ health care bill this year. I’ve studied enough history to know that partisanship is something Americans are particularly good at and I think the Founding Fathers may have unintentionally designed a system that guaranteed it. I will also speculate that at many times in our history American partisanship has actually been a good thing that kept us from racing over the edge of a cliff in our zeal for progress.
What little I am going to say about the healthcare debate is that I believe much of it could have been avoided if Congress was willing to forego huge bills meant to impress and instead tackle each issue on its own merits. For example, federal funding of abortion could have been its own bill and went down in spectacular flames accordingly. The public option could have been a separate bill and we could have debated socialized medicine on its own merits rather than as part of a larger package of ‘reforms’. By breaking out each specific policy proposal Congress would be forced to debate these ideas on their individual strengths and weaknesses rather than accept parts that stink in order to get other parts they liked.
When a single bill has so many various provisions there is no choice but to consider it not on the quality of each specific detail but as a huge offering by a specific political party. That breeds partisanship. It becomes ‘The Democrat Health Care Bill” and of course Republicans are going to oppose. Breaking out smaller issues also creates a situation where the debate is going to be more focused and less prone to hyperbole and spin. That is important if we are going to get the public more involved in these discussions. A father of three can understand the debate over a specific provision much easier than he can digest a 2,000 page bill that few will ever read from cover to cover. The democratic process should demand that level of access and those who are so adamantly opposed to hyper-partisanship should demand a process less likely to produce it.
Mike,
As one who often has to read through those massive piles of . . . words . . . I couldn’t agree more. I’d add, however, that the shorthand labels put in plac eby the media – The Democratic Health Reform Bill – are not really accurate. I, as one Democrat, am none too pleased with my party’s bill, nor the process by which it was created. I”d prefer the more accuret ( and slightly longer) “Heathcare Reform Bill that Democrats cobbled together to keep One Independent but republican Leaning Senator and a Whole Host of DINO’s HAppy Bill”