Another Fan Of One-Way Bipartisanship

Take a number, Congressman.

You will note that beneath the number on your tag is a (D) for "Democrat." Only Democrats feel a need, obviously, to assert, as did Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK) yesterday on Hardball (transcript here)

I`m willing to work with anybody, anybody that wants to bring this country together to solve problems. I think the electorate said they`re tired of the partisanship. They want people who are going to work for common sense solutions to bring this economy back. We`re so tired of the polarization.

I don`t care who it is, whether the Republicans, Democrats, Blue Dogs, independents, you know, progressives, whatever the strife, we`ve got to set these differences aside.

The problem, as we have seen over and over again, is that only Democrats- Representatives, Senators, left-leaning pundits, left-leaning columnists, and, above all, (barely) left-leaning Barack Obama argue for civility. In the case of Boren, a right-leaning Democrat, it took the form of opposing the re-election of Namcy Pelosi as Speaker:

I voted for Heath Shuler of North Carolina, a more conservative Democrat. I will vote on the floor of the House for a more conservative Democrat than Nancy Pelosi....

The problem is, we only had 43 votes. I think most Americans would agree there needed to be some changes. But unfortunately, they didn`t have those votes. There were over -- there are 150 Democrats who voted to stay with the same leadership.

According to this website, President Obama deserves credit for numerous accomplishments. But the following are among those which required congressional leadership, which came primarily from Nancy Pelosi amid a meek President and a center-right Senate Majority Leader:

* Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, ending wage discrimination against women

*expanded access to college education for low-income students

*health care insurance for more children

*increased funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs for health and other services, for the Violence Against Women Act, for programs for disabled individuals

*redirected student loan program (a tremendous, and long overdue, reform)

*Credit Card Bill of Rights

*health care reform- modest and conservative, but finally

*Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as part of financial services reform

*a $799 billion economic stimulus plan, inadequate but enough to avert a depression

*small business loans

Oh, and those small business loans. On Hardball, to Boren's plea for bipartisanship he added

We`ve got to work with the business community. People are not talking about that. Democrats need to work with the business community. Barack Obama needs to work with the business community, the people that create jobs in this country.

Most new jobs in this nation are created by small, not big businesses. As Sam would sing, "you must remember this:"

The Senate passed long-delayed legislation Thursday designed to open up credit to small businesses and award them with other incentives to expand and hire new workers.

Democrats won a 61-38 vote to pass the legislation, joined by two Republicans. The measure would establish a $30 billion government fund to help open up lending for credit-starved small businesses, cut their taxes and boost Small Business Administration loan programs....

Obama said Thursday that the bill will help millions of small business owners across the country grow and hire. “These tax breaks and loans are going to help create jobs in the short term,” he said.

The new loan fund would be available to community banks to encourage lending to small businesses. Supporters say banks should be able to use the fund to leverage up to $300 billion in loans.

Democrats need to work with the business community. Barack Obama needs to work with the business community, pleads the Democratic congressman. That tally: all 59 Democrats issued a helping hand to the small business community, joined by only two Republicans- both of whom are voluntarily retiring, therefore immune to a primary challenge from the ultra-ultra right which now controls the GOP nominating process.

But credit the GOP with a rationale for their opposition because

The loan fund is opposed, however, by most Republicans, who liken it to the 2008 bailout of the financial system. They warn it would encourage banks to make loans to borrowers who aren’t good credit risks.

Your local grocer. Hardware store owner. Auto mechanic. Lazy, wasteful, and downright unreliable, the impression of the party which accuses liberals of being elitist.

And still, the goalposts keep getting moved, by the mainstream media and the "centrist" Democrats they adore, who oddly believe 'compromise' must be a one-way street.

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