Even More Stimulating!

Read enough national op-ed columns and you’ll very quickly start to recognize a pretty common strain of thought which argues that bipartisanship is a good thing.  That sounds plenty nice, and maybe there’s something to be said for getting along with your political enemies. But bipartisanship isn’t in and of itself something to applaud, because much of the time it just means the two parties coming together to do something problematic.  Case in point:

Under intense pressure from the business community, the two Senate leaders — Democrat Harry Reid and Republican Mitch McConnell — have agreed to bury the hatchet long enough to pass housing legislation that amounts to a second economic stimulus package.

Their handshake means they will forego their usual parliamentary tricks, which have caused little to be accomplished in the Senate for more than a year. Most significantly, Majority Leader Reid has promised not to “fill the tree” — proposing enough amendments to foreclose the Republicans from offering their changes.

This all sounds awfully familiar.