Interesting, I've never really thought about it that way before. Do you know of other countries who are more successful at this model? There's more talk of the "opposition party" role in the UK, and I do feel like they manage to respond somewhat to the general mood (seems that may have happened in recent local elections) but I don't have enough insight to say how much more successful it is overall (people certainly like to complain about the government there in any case).
No question the biggest splashes that showcase bold accomplishments to your constituents go uni-partisan, if you can somehow gain control of all branches. Correct me if I’m wrong but ACA didn’t get a single republican and in fact needed 60 dem vote supermajority in senate. TCAJA didn’t get a single democrat. If abortion outlaw at 15 weeks ever comes to the table, I doubt it would either, nor would a constitutional protection of abortion gain any red votes. Meanwhile Bidens bi partisan infra bill I would argue didn’t raise the bar nearly to the extent of the ones I mentioned.
I think you're right on all counts. Infrastructure and CHIPS Act were both bipartisan, and important legislative achievements, but in terms of bigger-scope bills like Inflation Reduction Act, ACA, TCAJA, all were party-line votes essentially. It's a chicken-and-egg kind of situation here, too — bills of that size just aren't likely to get much bipartisanship because the party that's out of power doesn't want to look like they're helping out the majority party, or like they're endorsing their agenda, since they would prefer to just get back into power in the next election and pursue their own agenda. Why settle for half-a-loaf when you can get the whole thing? (of course, it doesn't often end up that way... but these are the incentives members of Congress have)
Interesting, I've never really thought about it that way before. Do you know of other countries who are more successful at this model? There's more talk of the "opposition party" role in the UK, and I do feel like they manage to respond somewhat to the general mood (seems that may have happened in recent local elections) but I don't have enough insight to say how much more successful it is overall (people certainly like to complain about the government there in any case).
No question the biggest splashes that showcase bold accomplishments to your constituents go uni-partisan, if you can somehow gain control of all branches. Correct me if I’m wrong but ACA didn’t get a single republican and in fact needed 60 dem vote supermajority in senate. TCAJA didn’t get a single democrat. If abortion outlaw at 15 weeks ever comes to the table, I doubt it would either, nor would a constitutional protection of abortion gain any red votes. Meanwhile Bidens bi partisan infra bill I would argue didn’t raise the bar nearly to the extent of the ones I mentioned.
I think you're right on all counts. Infrastructure and CHIPS Act were both bipartisan, and important legislative achievements, but in terms of bigger-scope bills like Inflation Reduction Act, ACA, TCAJA, all were party-line votes essentially. It's a chicken-and-egg kind of situation here, too — bills of that size just aren't likely to get much bipartisanship because the party that's out of power doesn't want to look like they're helping out the majority party, or like they're endorsing their agenda, since they would prefer to just get back into power in the next election and pursue their own agenda. Why settle for half-a-loaf when you can get the whole thing? (of course, it doesn't often end up that way... but these are the incentives members of Congress have)