Veek, in my view the Dems have been willing to set aside the partisan politics a few times and have voted with the Republicans to pass some legislation...I don't recall the specific issues, don't care to, I remember making a mental note of it when it happened.
Doug
Doug, remember, "We have to pass the bill so you can find out what's in it"... -Nancy Pelosi.
Please recall how the healthcare (Obamacare) legislation was crafted. It was in secret and the republicans were completely shut out of the process. They were also completely shut out of negotiations on stimulus spending. "...that despite Democrats’ repeated promises to craft a bipartisan deal, the package has been crafted in its late stages by a tight circle of almost exclusively Democrats." - ABC News. Sure there have been across-party outreach but I don't call the agreement to name a bridge after somebody bipartisanship.
Remember Mr. Obama saying "Elections have consequences..." and "We don't mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back." That dynamic only changed after the 2010 election cycle and the republicans took the house. Prior to that, Mr. Obama and his party had control of the house, a filibuster proof senate and the executive branch and literally could so whatever they wanted (as Obamacare indicates). Look what came of it and if you are happy with it, vote for Mr. Obama and his party.
Like Paul Ryan's plan or not, at least he (and Simpson-Bowls) offered SOMETHING. The democrats in the senate have refused to address either. Look at how Ryan has been demonized as a granny killer. Look at the trillion dollar annual deficit and certain collapse of entitlements and no effort by the president or his party to address it. So give him his farcical tax increase on the wealthy. According to the New York Times, the president’s plan to abolish the Bush tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 is expected to bring in merely $0.7 trillion OVER THE NEXT DECADE, or about 0.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product per year. As a comparison, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the deficit over the same period is going to be $13 trillion, more than 6 percent of GDP per year. The tax revenue is not even rounding error compared to the mounting deficit and nothing but divisive class warfare!
As I said before, if you want four more years of what we have now. Vote for Mr. Obama.