How Long Before Senate Dems Realize They're the Only Ones Interested in Bipartisanship?

The wonders of bipartisanship; we all put aside our differences, hold hands, and share a Kodak moment. That's the common perception of it, anyway. But the truth is that -- in healthcare reform, anyway -- what's being billed as "bipartisan" is, in fact, intensely partisan.

The Hill:

Democratic healthcare reform will drive up the deficit, discriminate against the elderly and do little to control costs, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) alleged in the weekly Republican radio address.

Enzi, ranking member of the Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee and a member of the so-called "group of six" senators working for a bipartisan compromise, also accused Democrats of hurrying the legislative process.

"The Democrats are trying to rush a bill through the process that will actually make our nation's finances sicker without saving you money," Enzi said in the weekly GOP address. "The American people are growing increasingly concerned about out of control spending in Washington that's leaving us with trillions of dollars of debt."

Adopting one of the GOP's favored lines of attack, Enzi said the plan would particularly hurt the elderly.

"These bills also raid Medicare," Enzi said. "This will result in cutting hundreds of billions of dollars from the elderly to create new government programs."

"These are garbage arguments, and Enzi knows it," writes Steve Benen. "No serious person should take them seriously. That Enzi made them the official party message of the week says a great deal about the ridiculous way in which the Republican Party is treating the debate."

"Seriously," he asks, "Dems are 'rushing'? How much slower can this process go?"

It's a good question. Healthcare reform has been a plank in the Democratic platform since Truman. I suppose you could call better than half a century "rushing," but you'd have to be glacier to make that argument. In addition to this, Enzi has also admitted he's just trying to use phony bipartisanship to block reform.

But another good question is how much dirt Republicans are going to be able to shovel into the grave of bipartisanship before Senate dems realize it's dead. For his part, Harry Reid seems ready to bend over backwards. We haven't heard much from Sen. Baucus lately, but the last time we did, he was still all about bipartisanship.

Meanwhile, Republicans seem to be the only ones with a firm grasp on reality. In a New York Times piece, Olympia Snowe considers the possibility that she'll come back from recess as a "Group of One" -- the sole Republican vote for healthcare reform.

So the best question here is how long are Democratic leadership going to insist on being freakin' morons? Forget Republicans, put the screws on Blue Dog Democrats. They may be getting a lot of money from the insurance industry, but it's nowhere near the support they'd get from the party. Hold the re-election machinery of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee over thir heads and more than a few will experience sudden enlightenment.