We are constantly hearing the DC chattering class bemoan the toxic partisanship that is endemic of congressional politics.  These supercilious wizards of smart contend that if we just had a little more bipartisanship in Washington, all of our public policy troubles would dissipate in short order.

The reality cannot be more antithetical to this ubiquitous line of thought from the media.  We suffer from a dearth of partisanship, not from too much partisanship.  It is precisely this bipartisanship that exemplifies the consummate problem in Washington.  It was both parties working together that bequeathed us this $15.6 trillion debt.  It was both parties trying to pander to special interests that has left us with a $63 trillion unfunded liability for just two programs, and more than half of Americans dependent on government.  Yes, we need more partisanship in Washington.

It’s amusing to watch the media applaud the recent bipartisan string of legislation in the Senate.  Here is a revealing paragraph from Roll Call:

Don’t call it a comeback, or even a detente, but a strange thing is happening in the Senate: Democrats and Republicans are working together to pass legislation.

While President Barack Obama has railed on the trail against a “do-nothing” Congress and House Republicans have struggled to unite around major legislation, the Senate has recently passed sweeping bills on a bipartisan basis. From a two-year transportation bill to U.S. Postal Service reform to the Violence Against Women Act, the Senate has flipped convention on its head by becoming the chamber that works.

And it’s not going without notice.

Notice that among all these issues there is not a single instance in which Democrats have eschewed their values in favor of supporting Republican legislation.  Nope.  When it comes to the Ex-Im Bank, highway bill, VAWA, student loans, and the Postal bailout, it is Republicans that are compromising their values to accommodate Democrats and their statist agenda.

Hence, bipartisanship in Washington is nothing more than a flavorless term to describe Republicans giving into every whim of liberal politicians and media figures.  If we are to right the ship – one that has drifted off course as a result of too much bipartisanship – we need more partisan Republicans in the Senate.

Let’s make sure that bipartisanship fails to make “a comeback” by electing conservative partisans to the Senate: Ted Cruz, Don Stenberg, Richard Mourdock, Mark Neumann, Josh Mandel, Clark Durant, and Jeff Flake.

Cross-posted from The Madison Project