How Bipartisanship Hurts the Country (But Helps Corporate America) Cenk @ Huffington Post

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Tue Feb-02-10 12:46 PM
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How Bipartisanship Hurts the Country (But Helps Corporate America) Cenk @ Huffington Post

Note: What I've posted below is just an extended excerpt (with the author's permission), so please use the link provided to read the full piece. Also, check out (and subscribe -it's free - to) our new channel, . As the name suggests, it's all great interviews with the likes of Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Arianna Huffington, economist William K Black, Media Matters reps, members of Congress, authors, journalists, reporters and much more.

By Cenk Uygur

We have the worst media in the world. They almost never tell you what's really going on, especially in politics. They have been pushing this idea that bipartisanship is a great thing to be sought after. Of course, they are aided and abetted by President Obama and the Democratic Party. But it's not their job to parrot people in power. The reality is so-called bipartisanship is the worst possible thing for the American people.

Why do I say that? Is it because I'm a radical who believes the best solutions are always found at the extremes of the political spectrum? Nothing could be further from the truth; I think generally speaking you find clowns and madmen at the end of a political spectrum (see Glenn Beck).

And I'm sure there was a time in this country when Democrats and Republicans came together in moderate positions. That when they compromised it was a true compromise of ideology that led to some balance that helped the country. We are not in those times.

Now, when politicians compromise with each other in the spirit of so-called bipartisanship what they're really saying is, "You go from the right, I'll go from the left and I'll meet you at K Street." These compromises are stagecraft used to disguise capitulation to corporate lobbyists with the veneer of moderation.

What happened when Democrats compromised with Republicans in the Senate Finance Committee and conservatives in their own caucus on health care? They got rid of the public option. And Medicare buy-in. And drug re-importation. And the ability to negotiate with the drug companies. Every one of these measures was supported by progressives and every one of them would have saved hundreds of billions of dollars from the budget and hence should have been supported by the conservatives.

Conservatives would attack health care as adding to the deficit and then fight like hell to make sure it included no measures to reduce the deficit. That's partly because they wanted to make the bill worse, so they could fight against it later if it passed. But it was mainly because their corporate sponsors told them to take out those provisions.

Every one of these so-called compromises wound up helping corporate America. There was never a compromise that was against corporate interests and there never will be. You can use this as a measuring stick from now on. Whenever there is a bipartisan agreement in Congress from now on, look to see who benefits from it - I guarantee you that ninety-nine out of one hundred times it will be corporate America.

And the Democrats are perfectly happy to do this because they take the same, if not more, amount of money from those same corporate lobbyists. Except they have the meddlesome problem of pretending to be for the people. Republicans are not burdened with this; everyone expects them to help the rich and the powerful. But the Democrats need cover, and they have the perfect excuse in the mantle of bipartisanship. What could they do, the Republicans made them do it! And aren't they so reasonable for compromising?

Notice the Republicans never pushed for bipartisanship when they were in office. They didn't need the cover. Yet when the Democrats are in office there is an unending quest for bipartisanship. Why? Do you think it's just because the Democrats are more reasonable? No, they need the political cover more when they give the lobbyists what they want.

If the politicians actually split the difference between progressive and conservative positions, I might disagree from time to time, but I could live with it...