The system itself is structurally slanted to promote partisanship and gamesmanship. Perhaps the remedy is to get rid of the lifetime perks, enact a ban on lobbying for x years after serving in office and limit terms to one or two.

>But I think you missed my main diatribe - ideas - good or bad - are not what drive lawmakers these days. Someone could have the best idea in the world and if it doesn't benefit their party it will come to naught. But to sell it they make it appear to benefit the American people (e.g., they lie their butts off) and if it does, it's a fortunate side effect.
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>Hi....believe me, I understand our current lawmakers - they were often the ones getting C's in college while I was getting A's. <s>
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>You're right, most lawmakers are fearful of stepping beyond their party lines.
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>One would think the Republicans would have learned a lesson, after McCain got his ass whooped in November. They seem to believe there's nothing really "wrong" with the way their party is received, and they seem to take it for granted that they'll get power back in 2010. I don't share that assumption.
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>It's a double-edged sword, because most of these politicians realize that many Americans are either naive enough or lazy enough (or stupid enough) to get their education through sound-bites. So these two sides seem to feed off each other in very perverted ways.
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>In the VERY beginning of the Clinton era, I had some hopes for him - an educated man who wasn't going to turn into "just another Washington politician". What a disappointment he turned out to be.