As if anyone paying attention needed any additional proof that Republicans exploit every single opportunity to impose their minority views on America on each and every issue, the Republicans apparently have reached an agreement on the tax cut bill in private and will force through a vote before Doug Jones is sworn in and decent Alabamans have a voice in the Senate.
This same debate (“Do we vote quickly before the newly-elected senator can be sworn in” debate) occurred with the Massachusetts Special Election in 2010. Progressives who were smart enough to see that Republicans are NEVER magnanimous when they are in power said “Vote now!” while moderates and the media grasped their pearls in shock and cried “[Gasp] Voting fast would be a power play and not conducive to bipartisanship!” Of course, the media completely ignored the fact that Republicans did everything they could to slow the gears of government in 2009 and showed no moderation, bipartisanship, or willingness even to negotiate.
On January 21, 2010, President Obama (still living in his “If I am overly fair and gracious, Republicans will surely treat me with respect” delusional phase), took the following position when asked if he wanted the Senate to vote on the Affordable Care Act before Scott Brown was sworn in:
"Here's one thing I know and I just want to make sure that this is off the table: The Senate certainly shouldn't try to jam anything through until Scott Brown is seated. People in Massachusetts spoke. He's got to be part of that process."
As much as we loved Harry Reid when he was punching, here was Senator Reid’s response to the question of a fast vote in the same article:
“We're not going to rush into anything. As you've heard, we're going to wait until the new senator arrives before we do anything more on health care. There are many different things that we can do to move forward on health care, but we're not making any of those decisions now."
Bipartisanship obligations only apply to Democrats apparently.
Therefore, in the interests of bipartisanship and the media’s distorted sense of fairness, Democrats allowed Senator Brown to be sworn in before passing the bill. Democrats surrendered their ability to do the most good for sick Americans and allowed Republicans to sabotage parts of the ACA with a filibuster—all in the hope that the media and moderate Republican politicians and voters would reward fairness and decency. Instead, Republicans lied about Obamacare for seven years straight, and the media let them do it. Democrats received no political benefit from surrendering their power. In fact, surrendering their power hurt Democrats. Democrats got obliterated in 2010 because they failed to use their historic power to help those who elected them. As a consequence, many Obama voters stayed home.
Next time Democrats have a chance to use power, can we actually use it like Republicans do?
