It's becoming increasingly clear that President Obama - and all of us, frankly - need to have a clearer definition of what it is to be bi-partisan. Further, it may be necessary for the President to share those parameters with the rest of the country and to explain why it is important and why, in its absense a partisan approach may be necessary.
Bi-partisanship suggests, and demands, that each political party be willing to step outside of the construct that has been created by institutions and history; to accept that there will be times when each of us is outside of our comfort zone and that being there is an imperative imposed upon us by history and by the willingness of the other side to commit to the same guiding principles.
Bi-partisanship calls for compromise, cooperation, sacrifice and - dare I say it: shared pain.
Defining it may be a case of how it feels, ultimately. But we are getting a pretty good look at what it isn't from some of the Republican leadership in the House right now.
Against the advice of almost every major economist, the Republican leadership in the House is insisting that a substantial portion of the Stimulus Package be dedicated to tax cuts. Further, they suggest that other portions of the package be scaled back, particularly those that spend funds to create and preserve jobs and to enhance and speed up infrastructure spending.
So far, it appears that President Obama is walking a tightrope between the parties by including some tax cuts and tax credits in his package. Democrats feel that it's too much and Republicans feel that it's too little, which probably makes it about right from a political perspective. However, Republicans are asking for more and threatening to withhold their support.
Worse still, it is beginning to appear that the Republican leadership may think that they can have their cake and eat it too, or more accurately, that they can lard up the bill with tax cuts for their friends and then vote against it because they disagree with its other provisions. More and more, there are rumblings that the approach they are inclined toward is to take advantage of President Obama's call for bi-partisanship by forcing the President to include massive tax cuts and with no commitment of support from their side. Thus positioning themselves to get what they want while accepting no responsibility for the outcome. Worse still, positioning themselves to snipe from the sidelines at every bump in the road ahead.
Successfully creating a united front between Democrats and Republicans, standing together as Americans, makes a compromise plan worth the risk. However, if the Republican leadership insists on playing politics, perhaps the President and congressional leaders of good will should be ready with an alternative that invests more heavily in real job creation, energy independence and long term capital investment. In other words, if they Republicans are going to snipe from the sidelines anyway, it may be that supporters of the bill should do what we are most confident will work and give the Republican leadership something to snipe about.
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"Watching the Sunset from Mount Monroe"
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