Republican House Passing More Bipartisan Legislation Than Democratic Senate

Impact

It was a busy day on Capitol Hill yesterday in an election year where many people aren’t expecting much action from Congress. The House passed a jobs bill targeted towards helping startup businesses by a large bipartisan vote of 390-23 while the Senate blocked approval of the Keystone XL pipeline once again despite a 56-42 majority vote, which included 11 Democrats.

Despite accusations of being “extremist,” “obstructionist,” and a “do nothing Congress,” it’s clearly evident that the Republican House is passing more bipartisan legislation than the Democratic Senate, or even the White House.

The six bills in the JOBS Act passed by the House would make it easier for small companies to go public by providing them a temporary reprieve from Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, removing SEC restrictions preventing small businesses from using advertisements to solicit investors, and removing SEC restrictions on “crowdfunding” so entrepreneurs can raise equity capital from a large pool of small investors.

For getting 148 votes from the opposing party, that sure doesn’t sound like “extremist” legislation to me. Not even all Democrats, moderate Republicans, and Independents could support President Barack Obama’s jobs bill.

In the Senate, despite a 56-42 bipartisan majority vote, the Democrats blocked approval of the Keystone XL pipeline once again due to lack of obtaining a filibuster-proof majority. Democratic Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont.); Mark Begich (D-Alaska); Kay Hagan (D-N.C.); Mary Landrieu (D-La.); Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.); Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.); Mark Pryor (D-Ark.); Jon Tester (D-Mont.); Jim Webb (D-Va.); Bob Casey (D-Pa.); and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) all voted for the pipeline.

And Republicans are supposed to be the “obstructionists?"

For that matter, the GOP House is still the only entity in Washington that has even passed a 2012 budget, which the Senate killed. Meanwhile, it’s been more than 1,000 days since the Harry Reid-led Democratic Senate passed any budget, and Reid has publicly stated he has no intention to do so anytime soon.

But it’s the House Republicans who are the “do nothing Congress,” right?

The truth is there are several other golden opportunities for bipartisan cooperation that could solve a lot of other problems even in an election year, including pro-growth tax reform, which 36 Democrat, Republican, and Independent senators, 100 Republican and Democrat congressmen, the bipartisan “Gang of Six” plan, and the president’s own Simpson-Bowles debt commission have all come out in strong support for.

Liberals claim time and time again that it’s the Republicans who have drifted far right while the Democrats have “moved centrist.” Yet over the last year, it’s the Republican Party leadership that has worked toward bipartisan solutions like pro-growth tax reform, domestic energy development, and increasing access to credit for small business owners and entrepreneurs.

The far left leadership of the Democratic Party cares more about raising tax rates, appeasing environmentalists, subsidizing green energy campaign donors with taxpayer money, doubling down on out-of-control levels of spending, and blocking any entitlement reform.

This is the profile of a “centrist” Democratic Party? Compared to what? Lenin? Mao?

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