Why The "Fragile, Bipartisan" Bill Failed...
06/11/2007
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...because it was too fragile and bipartisan, of course. The expression  "Fragile, Bipartisan"  appears more than 500 times in Google News, but the top one, sorted by relevance, seems to be a post by me, making fun of this phrase. So here's more about the fragility and bipartisanship, from Carol Platt Liebau at RealClearPolitics.com.

Carol Liebau, noting poll results that say that 69% of Americans believe that illegal immigrants should be prosecuted and deported, writes

At its heart, the bill was profoundly out of step with public opinion. In fact, it's remarkable that any legislation with so many elements so at odds with prevailing opinion among Americans was ever given much of a chance at passing. Perhaps that's why the bill's proponents, who long believed that they had a winner on their hands, came in for a rude awakening by week's end. [RealClearPolitics - Articles - Why the Immigration Bill Failed, June 11, 2007]

And here's something else she has to say about bipartisanship. More or less what I had to say about, in fact:

Amid their self-congratulation, they missed an important fact. Although Americans may applaud the concept of bipartisanship, the truth is that they didn't send representatives to Washington to engage in a "bipartisan process." Rather, they elected them to pursue certain policies. The "grand bargainers" - especially on the Republican side - became so enamored of the process of bipartisan negotiation that they lost sight of the reality that "progress" doesn't so much consist of following certain procedures as it does of achieving certain policy objectives.

 

 

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