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The Long, Long Partisan Era
As we're thinking about President Obama's quest for "post-partisanship," and discussing Congress' habit of legislating in a messy rush, it's worth asking: Has Washington always been plagued by feuds over access and transparency?
Here's one answer: Can you guess the year that this Senate coverage was published in the New York Times?
No conclusion of any kind regarding the tariff bill was reached, although the Republicans said they hoped to be able to report the bill to the full committee on Monday. ... [T]he Democrats would not agree to fix a date, saying they wanted a reasonable time to consider the bill, and there would be no undue delay. The Democrats were not shown a copy of the bill, nor did they receive any information regarding its character.
The answer: 1897. So we know that parties have been taking turns ramming bills through for at least 112 years now. It's almost comforting.
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Josh
Elana
Matt
Eric
Imagine an Institution acting like one. I am shocked. Just shocked, I tell you.
February 12, 2009 11:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
The difference now is that at least we'll know what the White House is doing and be able to complain about it. BushCo kept everyone out of the mix. Of course the difference, and I'm sure Obama's aware of it, is that with transparency comes scrutiny, which makes cantankerous reps, senators, Americans, and TPM bloggers more vocal.
February 12, 2009 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
If anything qualifies as emergency legislation, this bill does. It needed to be passed 6 months ago.
February 12, 2009 12:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Regarding partisanship in Washington - I just finished reading a book called The Second Civil War by Ron Brownstein, which chronicles the history of partisanship in Washington since around 1896. It was a really good read and helped me better understand why the parties are especially antagonistic towards each other now (Brownstein call this era the age of hyperpartisanship, to distinguish it from earlier eras of partisanship).
February 12, 2009 12:19 PM | Reply | Permalink