Bipartisanship

Isn't it strange that the only time we hear cries for bipartisanship in Congress is when the Democrats lose power ("Bipartisanship in 2011? Forget about it," Jan. 2)? How come we didn't hear this during the last 20 months when the Pelosi/Reid Democrats jammed everything down our throats, against the overwhelming resistance of the American people, in backroom, closed-door sessions without the Republicans? So much for Nancy Pelosi's call for "draining the swamp" and being the most "transparent" Congress ever.

They started out with a lot in common -- Joe Manchin and Patrick Toomey. Sure, one's a Democrat and one's a Republican, but they're both conservatives, both longtime gun owners and both sport an "A" rating from the National Rifle Association. But now the two senators share a bigger honor. In the long-lost, problem-solving spirit of the U.S. Senate, the Democrat from West Virginia and the Republican from Pennsylvania have come together to forge a compromise on background checks that promises to break the logjam against any reasonable gun safety legislation.

The passing of Charles McC. Mathias Jr. this week is the passing of an era -- for Maryland, the state he served in Congress for a quarter-century, and for the nation. But does it have to be the passing of his legacy of integrity, bipartisanship and a willingness to solve problems across the political aisle? The answer to that question should be a firm "no." For many of us, Senator Mathias was and will continue to be a role model, an example of what the American founders saw as necessary to make democracy work.

After 24 years in the U.S. Senate, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, the first and only Jewish politician nominated to a national major party ticket, in 2000, had some advice to his colleagues in a farewell speech Wednesday on the Senate floor. To break the impasse that has paralyzed the body in recent years, Mr. Lieberman preached: "It requires reaching across the aisle and finding partners from the opposite party. That is what is desperately needed in Washington now. " In the last years of his long Senate tenure, it certainly could be said that Joe Lieberman practiced what he preached.

Bipartisanship broke out in the lame-duck Congress. Most notably, Republicans voted with Democrats for the New Start treaty with Russia and the end of a 17-year ban on openly gay soldiers. Does this signal a new era of bipartisanship in 2011? No chance. Neither of these victories had anything to do with the economy or taxes — in other words, with the central question of who gets what in America. President Barack Obama couldn't get a single Republican to agree to limit the Bush tax cuts to the first $250,000 of income.

Democratic leaders gaveled into order the 423rd session of the Maryland General Assembly yesterday in Annapolis with a call for bipartisanship, despite the party's overwhelming advantage in both chambers and Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley's elevation next week to governor. "As we go forward from this day on, I believe the most important title that any of us can carry in this chamber is `delegate,'" House Speaker Michael E. Busch told his members. LAWMAKERS A look at five new faces in Annapolis for this legislative session.

AUSTIN, Texas - If President-elect George W. Bush's central message on Wednesday night was to promote healing and conciliation, the tonic he offered was bipartisanship, Texas-style. "Here, in a place where Democrats have the majority," Bush said from the podium of the Texas House of Representatives, "Republicans and Democrats have worked together to do what is right for the people we represent." The bipartisanship that Bush put on display Wednesday night when he chose the state's most powerful Democrat, House Speaker Pete Laney, is indeed genuine in the Texas Legislature.

WASHINGTON - President Bush has invited the entire Congress to the White House for lunch today, envisioning a bipartisan celebration of his first 100 days in office. But the turnout is expected to be light - partly because most lawmakers spend Mondays in their home states and partly because many Democrats have grown weary of being used as props by a president they say is more accommodating on style than substance. "I think many of us are a little discouraged that we haven't seen more bipartisanship," said Rep. Albert R. Wynn, a Prince George's County Democrat, who has decided not to attend the lunch even though his district is just a few miles from the White House.

Politics can be bad for your health — literally. As a doctor, I feel that patients' needs must trump political party. But instead of benefiting from bipartisanship, health care has become highly politicized. Traditional party positions are being contradicted by belligerence that threatens patient care. That is not to say that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is perfect. But this law represents the first successful reform of health care in more than four decades.

Dale Swecker, Ellicott City seems very upset that the Republicans keep saying this awful word, no. I love the wonderful one sided arguments he presents, and how if we could only work in a bipartisan all will be well. Mr. Swecker during the recent Health Care debacle the only effort toward bipartisanship was by the side that said no. If you remember plenty of Democrats lined up to vote against (oh my they said no) this nightmare. Are conservatives the party of obstructionists right now, yes they are and I am proud of them for it. I am glad they finally got brave and told the president that he cannot keep spending us into deeper and deeper debt.

Isn't it strange that the only time we hear cries for bipartisanship in Congress is when the Democrats lose power ("Bipartisanship in 2011? Forget about it," Jan. 2)? How come we didn't hear this during the last 20 months when the Pelosi/Reid Democrats jammed everything down our throats, against the overwhelming resistance of the American people, in backroom, closed-door sessions without the Republicans? So much for Nancy Pelosi's call for "draining the swamp" and being the most "transparent" Congress ever.

Bipartisanship broke out in the lame-duck Congress. Most notably, Republicans voted with Democrats for the New Start treaty with Russia and the end of a 17-year ban on openly gay soldiers. Does this signal a new era of bipartisanship in 2011? No chance. Neither of these victories had anything to do with the economy or taxes — in other words, with the central question of who gets what in America. President Barack Obama couldn't get a single Republican to agree to limit the Bush tax cuts to the first $250,000 of income.

Politics can be bad for your health — literally. As a doctor, I feel that patients' needs must trump political party. But instead of benefiting from bipartisanship, health care has become highly politicized. Traditional party positions are being contradicted by belligerence that threatens patient care. That is not to say that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is perfect. But this law represents the first successful reform of health care in more than four decades.

Dale Swecker, Ellicott City seems very upset that the Republicans keep saying this awful word, no. I love the wonderful one sided arguments he presents, and how if we could only work in a bipartisan all will be well. Mr. Swecker during the recent Health Care debacle the only effort toward bipartisanship was by the side that said no. If you remember plenty of Democrats lined up to vote against (oh my they said no) this nightmare. Are conservatives the party of obstructionists right now, yes they are and I am proud of them for it. I am glad they finally got brave and told the president that he cannot keep spending us into deeper and deeper debt.

T he passing of Charles McC. Mathias Jr. this week is the passing of an era - for Maryland, the state he served in Congress for a quarter-century, and for the nation. But does it have to be the passing of his legacy of integrity, bipartisanship and a willingness to solve problems across the political aisle? The answer to that question should be a firm "no." For many of us, Senator Mathias was and will continue to be a role model, an example of what the American founders saw as necessary to make democracy work.

- House Republicans will gather at an Inner Harbor hotel this evening for an annual retreat that will feature an appearance Friday by President Barack Obama. The president's midday speech, to be followed by a private question-and-answer session with the Republican lawmakers, is an election-year attempt at bipartisan outreach to a group that has been extremely hostile to his agenda. Obama met with House Republicans at the Capitol last January, shortly after taking office, but failed to gain any of their votes for his $787 billion stimulus plan a few days later.

Washington. -- A peculiar kind of noise is becoming steadily more bothersome. It is the rhetoric of extravagant assessments, whereby speakers penetrate the clutter of saturation journalism by expressing strident judgments which, when considered calmly, collapse like pierced balloons.President Clinton recently contributed to the extravagance genre when, commenting on the crime bill's early travails, he said, ''When you walk away from . . . the crime bill . . . there's something wrong with the American system of government.