Baucus and 'bipartisanship'

We wonder when Max Baucus will get tired of carrying water for his Senate boss, Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Twice in the past few months, Reid has publicly embarrassed Sen. Baucus by giving him the task of crafting important legislation, then throwing it out unceremoniously and substituting his own.

The first time occurred when after months of trying to create a bipartisan health-care reform bill, Baucus was pressured to put together a bill without Republican support. He did so hurriedly, then watched helplessly as Reid dumped it in favor of his own.

The second time just happened last week, and though Baucus’ health-care bill was at least given the courtesy of a few weeks in the spotlight before it was euthanized, no such luck for his bipartisan jobs bill.

That one was announced endearingly by President Obama on Tuesday, officially unveiled on Thursday morning, and measured for a coffin by Sen. Reid on Thursday afternoon.

The message to Baucus should be loud and clear: His fellow Senate Democrats don’t want to include Republicans in the process of drafting legislation, and if he continues to try it, he will pay the price.

To be sure, Baucus has been a good soldier until now, and hasn’t had a word of complaint, but at some point he needs to throw off the insults of his fellow Democrats and proclaim that he is working for the people of Montana and the people of the United States, not a political party.

The particulars of the bill in question can be argued six ways from Sunday. Democrats complained that the bill was full of tax cuts and programs such as extending unemployment benefits, and didn’t do enough to actually create jobs.

Of course, that has to be measured against the dubious success of the Democrats’ own earlier jobs bill — the stimulus package — which has managed to stimulate more government hiring but little else.

But more importantly, the leadership in Washington, D.C., needs to decide if bipartisanship is a desired goal or a dread disease. For all his faults, Sen. Baucus has never shied away from working with the opposition to pass legislation that works for what he considers to be the greater good.

As President Obama said Tuesday, “Bipartisanship depends on willingness among both Democrats and Republicans to put aside matters of party for the good of the country.”

That being said, we don’t think the best way to build bipartisanship is by torpedoeing it whenever it surfaces. It would be refreshing if Sen. Baucus would “put aside matters of party” and tell the country where the Democratic leadership went wrong.

It would be refreshing, but it won’t happen. Even Montana’s senior senator has his limits.