When Barack Obama first took office, Republicans decided that they would oppose anything proposed by Obama for political reasons. This is one time they kept their word. Most recently we saw that background checks, supported by the vast majority of Americans, were defeated in the Senate despite majority support.
Republican Senator Pat Toomey, who co-authored the bipartisan measure, admitted why many Republicans opposed this:
“In the end it didn’t pass because we’re so politicized. There were some on my side who did not want to be seen helping the president do something he wanted to get done, just because the president wanted to do it,” Toomey admitted on Tuesday in an interview with Digital First Media editors in the offices of the Times Herald newspaper in Norristown, Pa.
The Times Herald noted that in “subsequent comments,” Toomey “tried to walk that remark part-way back by noting he meant to say Republicans across the nation in general, not just those in the Senate.”
I find that many people who do not follow politics closely believe that Washington isn’t capable of accomplishing anything due to the failure of both parties to work together. No, both parties are not the same. One party, while not always right, is at least trying to govern responsibly. Then there are the Republicans.
