Democrats and Republicans working together? Not any time soon, says UW-L professor

Heim blames redistricting for leading to extremes among members of Congress. 

Political leaders in Washington don’t want to compromise, and opinion polls show that much of the public is also against parties working together.

Joe Heim, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Professor Emeritus of political science, is surprised by those poll results.

He said it’s not like the old days, when factions within a party, or even members of both parties, would try to work out deals.

“The bill would come to the floor and it would end up with bipartisan support,” Heim said Wed. morning on WIZM. “As the two parties have gotten more extreme, to the left and the right, they find it more and more difficult to compromise.”

Heim blames redistricting for leading to extremes among members of Congress and doesn’t see Democrats and Republicans working together any time soon.

He said it’s hard enough to get everybody in one party to agree on things. Heim says because the Republican majority in Congress is so big, it has three large caucuses fighting for supremacy.

“In order to get something through the caucus, you have to have a substantial majority of people in the caucus to support something,” Heim said.

He hopes that the nation’s governors can help push Congress and the White House to take action on matters such as health care.

“They’re the action people, frankly, right now in politics,” Heim said of governors. “I think the White House, I’m hoping, the White House is asking, ‘Where do we go to get something done here?'”

President Donald Trump recently decided to consult with governors about the future of health care and other issues.