10-07-2004, 05:43 PM
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#1802
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Serenity Now
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Survivor Island
Posts: 7,007
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There was a debate????
Quote:
Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Yes, I am. But it's more complicated than that. Maybe it's an issue that is more regional than partisan -- e.g., ethanol subsidies, or something to do with acid rain. If the legislation is sponsored by folks on both sides of the aisle, and reflects input from members of both parties, then it's bipartisan, whether it gets 55% or 75% of the votes.
OTOH, take a situation where one party draws up the bill, excluding the other side, and rams it through, refusing (e.g.) to allow alternatives to be considered. Maybe it'll get a number of votes from the other party, from legislators who don't like the choice presented to them but are willing to vote for the bill because they still think it's better than nothing, for whatever reason. If you start with half the Republicans, and half the Dems end up going along as well, that doesn't make things bipartisan. The word really refers to the whole process, not to the count of the final vote.
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Perhaps that is a Ty definition then.
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