The Hill
McCain: Bipartisanship dead rest of Congress
By Michael O'Brien - 04/30/10 10:07 AM ET

Bipartisanship "for all intents and purposes" is dead, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Friday.

The remarks from the 2008 GOP presidential candidate represent his latest analysis on party politics in Washington.

In March, McCain warned as healthcare reform neared President Barack Obama's desk that Republicans wouldn't cooperate on legislation for the rest of this year. But later, he backed off the claim.

On Friday, McCain once again indicated there would be little cooperation between parties this year.

Bipartisanship was "for all intents and purposes" dead, McCain said in an interview with the conservative Newsmax magazine.

"I would say that, largely so," McCain added.

"There are certain areas where we can work together," said McCain, who pointed to his work on the Armed Services Committee. "But for all intents and purposes, yes."

Republicans have been angered by signals from Democrats that they plan to move forward with an immigration reform bill.

Democrats this week tried to put the GOP in a tough spot by scheduling repeated votes to move forward on debating legislation to reform Wall Street.

McCain had drawn criticism in March for saying Republicans wouldn't cooperate. He later backtracked by clarifying there would be some areas in which the parties could work together.

But the Arizona Republican, who's tacked rightward while fending off a primary challenge from former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R), said he blamed the Obama administration for having poisoned the well of bipartisanship in the interview released Friday.

McCain explained:

The fact is that this administration came to power with 60 votes -- they no longer have -- with an overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives, and they decided to ram through legislation, whether it be the budget, stimulus package, omnibus appropriations bills, healthcare. So there's never been any genuine outreach on the part of this administration to work in a bipartisan fashion. As you mentioned, I've been involved in bipartisan issues. It is not there. And it is compounded by the fact that this is a right-of-center nation, and this administration is governing from the left.

Watch a video of McCain's interview below:

Source:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing- ... s-congress