[fweespeech]

> Are bipartisan bills a thing of the past?

Did you ask this question about all the partisan bills passed by the GOP when they were in power? And if so, was the answer not the same?

> I don’t have any sources, but I thought a sizable segment of the voting public in the US favored bipartisanship.

In the abstract, yes. In reality, politicians get punished for failing to deliver on campaign promises and the GOP obstructs campaign promise success using any means possible. So its political suicide for a Democrat to rely on that. Which leads to:

> Just wishing we weren’t so polarized…. Also wishing I better understood what interests were pushing the polity towards polarized ideologies. I’m not convinced it’s a completely organic phenomenon (rather, that there are special interests benefiting from the polarization).

Yup. Its called oligarchy and its the real government model of the US at this stage. Polarization is really just two camps of rich people fighting it out with PR/political campaigns. More polarization leads to better viewing and better base turnout.

One group of rich people who think the rich should be taxed more, that climate change should be tackled, etc.

And one group of rich people who want lower taxes and to obstruct the first group.

[darkerside]

> In the abstract, yes. In reality, politicians get punished for failing to deliver on campaign promises and the GOP obstructs campaign promise success using any means possible.

A similar phenomenon. Polls show that everybody hates Congress, but everybody likes their own congresspeople.