Who is Bipartisan and who is willing to work together to get things done

@bobmnu (8157)
United States
September 30, 2008 11:09am CST
This latest action by congress shows how not to be bipartisan. When you have a deal worked out you don't go and slap the face of the people who helped you and take all the credit for yourself. Senator Kerry said that the Democrats needed to have a 60+ majority to get things done in the Senate. If that is what they are waiting for then nothing is going to get done. President Reagan, President Clinton and current President Bush did not have a veto proof congress yet they got things done. It is called Leadership, you have to work with all members and not draw up bills in secret and exclude the other party. When you reach an agreement you celebrate the victories and don't point fingers. Too many times we have seen Congressional Leaders do nothing but blame and criticize the other party. Leadership is putting the country first and a willingness to work with others to get the job done.
3 people like this
5 responses
• United States
30 Sep 08
Our memebers of Congress do not have leadership skills. They are reminding me more and more of children fighting on the playground. They are suppost to adults. I feel (and this is just my opinion) that a lot of the problems we have in this country right now can be blamed on congress. They have failed to worked together and get anything done about our problems. NO major issues have been solved in past few years. Why? Well because they absolutely refuse to work together. Compromise is not in their vocabulary. So nothing gets done and so our problems get bigger and bigger until you get to the point we are at now. And even now they can not work together. Personally I feel NONE of them have earned the right to be re-elected. They have put party and their own self interest in front of America and what we the people need. We are not even an after thought to them. It really made me mad yesterday when the dems were blaming the republicans. This is not a republican or democratic issues. It is an American issue. Until they stop thinking as a republican or a democrat and starting thinking as an American our problems will never get solved. The American public is paying the price for their selfish and immature behavior. Why do put up with this again? We are after all their boss. We hire them and pay them. I say we fire them. But a lot of Americans are just as stuck in the "party" lines as they are. I feel we have the congress we deserve and that they are a greater representation of our society. We are polarized as a nation and so is our congress. Until we as a nation believe that bipartisan ship is important in our candidates than we will continue to have do nothing congresses. The republicans think the only way to do things is to get the majority and force what they want through. So do the democrats. Which leads to a lot of deadlock and a lot of unhappy americans paying the price. We need to vote in people who actually care about getting hte job done and not really caring about party lines or who gets credit for what.
1 person likes this
@djbtol (5493)
• United States
30 Sep 08
The more we see of Congress - how they work and the things they say - it is almost embarrasing. They have really sunk to a low level. Of course their approval rating has been down to 9%. Sounds like an accurate polling result. djbtol
@bobmnu (8157)
• United States
1 Oct 08
One reporter wrote an article blaming the problems with congress on the deregulation of the Airline industry. It is now so cheep for them to fly home every weekend they are not spending time socializing with each other and there are no informal discussions anymore. They don't get to know each other on a personal level. It is an interesting idea.
• United States
30 Sep 08
yets somehow we as a country have decided that we want someone from the "do nothing" congress to be president. I just can not figure out that one. The three top runners (McCain, Obama and Hilary) are all a part of the do nothing congress and this whole mess. But yet somehow we want one of them as president. I think that is the ultimate insanity. Heck you really suck at your job so lets promote you to president. Someone please give me a rational explaination for this because for the life of me I can not figure it out. none of them deserve to get re-elected much less promoted to president.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
30 Sep 08
I hate the whole concept of "bipartisan", it is part of the problem, not part of the solution. What I want is for the senators and representatives to vote their consciences on all their official decisions and let the vote count decide the outcome. That is the way it's supposed to work and the ONLY way it can work.
@djbtol (5493)
• United States
2 Oct 08
You are correct. But is it possible that only a few of them have the integrity and courage to do that? djbtol
@bobmnu (8157)
• United States
3 Oct 08
It takes a skilled leader, like Reagan, to get Congressmen to work together. He worked with different groups that shared the core values with him for each issue he was dealing with. He would work with the Democrats who were financial conservatives on budget issues and work with Democrats who were supporters of the Military on military issues. This is bipartisanship, working with people who share your core values on the issue. This is what we need, someone who will work with like minded people to do what is best for the country.
@djbtol (5493)
• United States
30 Sep 08
You make good points, but don't be telling Mccain this. McCain is up to his eyebrows in notions of bi-partisanship. Sounds good, but not when it involves compromise of key principles and an ignoring of the facts. President Bush came into office with a big bi-partisan push, and I am not sure anything came of it. The liberal democrats are a wayward buch, and they really need someone to standup to them and force them to look at the facts. McCain needs to realize that he is not a democrat, and he also needs to get some backbone. djbtol
@bobmnu (8157)
• United States
1 Oct 08
Bi-partisanship is a good idea but you have to work together with out giving in on your core principals. President Reagan was a master at this. He know how to work with people to get the job done with out the name calling and blaming. He stuck to hsi principals and won most of the time. You also have to communicate your ideas to the public.
@Destiny007 (5805)
• United States
1 Oct 08
The problem is that idiots like Kerry do not understand that a good politician knows how to compromise. That way they can get some of what they want and so does the other guy. Kerry wants a veto proof Congress so that the democrats can shove every bad idea they can think of down our throats with no checks and balance. What Kerry wants is a dictatorship with the democrats as the dictators... which is what the majoity of the democrats want as well.
@djbtol (5493)
• United States
2 Oct 08
You are quite correct. Generally, bipartisan efforts are when Republicans cave in (don't ask me why!). Obama's democrats will find a way to destroy the opposition, before they make any real compromise. Sometimes the dems do make symbolic compromises, which seem to fool most of the people most of the time. Let's all work together to send Obama back to where he came from! djbtol
@kenzie45230 (3560)
• United States
30 Sep 08
From what I've read Pelosi's stupid speech might have been done on purpose. She knew it would cause the bill to fail. Now she and her Democrats are cooking up another bill - one that helps bail out some of their constiuents from their mortgages, which is what they wanted in the first place.
@bobmnu (8157)
• United States
1 Oct 08
I have heard that too and it makes some sense.