Democrats suckered for that phony “unity” ploy in 2009 and, at least from what they are currently saying, seem to have learned the lesson that for Republicans, “unity” only means “our way or the highway.”
In 2009, Democrats had a significant margin in the Senate as well as the House, more than today. They wanted bold action on economic recovery from the Bush economic meltdown, healthcare reform and immigration reform. Obama had campaigned on a theme of unity and that “we are not red states or blue states but the United States,” and preferred a bipartisan deal.
Dangling the carrot of a bipartisan deal, Republicans kept teasing them with requests to compromise here and there for the “unity” Obama hoped for, nibbling off bits and pieces of proposals, giving up this or that, until they were essentially what Republicans themselves had proposed in the past. (Healthcare, for example, was essentially what the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation had proposed in 1993 as an alternative to the Hillarycare proposal, and even more conservative than what Romney had fashioned with Democrats in Massachusetts.)
Ultimately, just to be nasty and try to obstruct the first African American president (as #MoscowMitch had pledged to do on inauguration night 2009), the racist Republicans still never gave the bipartisan support they had promised, even with all the compromises.
Ultimately, the economic recovery plan passed with only three Republican crossovers (one of whom, Arlen Specter, would re-register as a Democrat two months later), Obamacare passed without a single Republican vote despite giving up the public option, and by the time they got to immigration reform, Democrats had fewer numbers, and it never did pass.
Lesson: DO NOT TRUST REPUBLICANS. They do not negotiate in good faith.
Let’s see if Democrats can really learn the lesson about trusting Lucy and her football any better than Charlie Brown did.
Democrats suckered for that phony “unity” ploy in 2009 and, at least from what they are currently saying, seem to have learned the lesson that for Republicans, “unity” only means “our way or the highway.”
In 2009, Democrats had a significant margin in the Senate as well as the House, more than today. They wanted bold action on economic recovery from the Bush economic meltdown, healthcare reform and immigration reform. Obama had campaigned on a theme of unity and that “we are not red states or blue states but the United States,” and preferred a bipartisan deal.
Dangling the carrot of a bipartisan deal, Republicans kept teasing them with requests to compromise here and there for the “unity” Obama hoped for, nibbling off bits and pieces of proposals, giving up this or that, until they were essentially what Republicans themselves had proposed in the past. (Healthcare, for example, was essentially what the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation had proposed in 1993 as an alternative to the Hillarycare proposal, and even more conservative than what Romney had fashioned with Democrats in Massachusetts.)
Ultimately, just to be nasty and try to obstruct the first African American president (as #MoscowMitch had pledged to do on inauguration night 2009), the racist Republicans still never gave the bipartisan support they had promised, even with all the compromises.
Ultimately, the economic recovery plan passed with only three Republican crossovers (one of whom, Arlen Specter, would re-register as a Democrat two months later), Obamacare passed without a single Republican vote despite giving up the public option, and by the time they got to immigration reform, Democrats had fewer numbers, and it never did pass.
Lesson: DO NOT TRUST REPUBLICANS. They do not negotiate in good faith.
Let’s see if Democrats can really learn the lesson about trusting Lucy and her football any better than Charlie Brown did.