A grand show of bipartisan negotiations doesn’t seem to be coming to save health care talks.
Earnest negotiating efforts on big issues have become increasingly rare as partisanship hardens. Long gone are the days of senate “gangs” — bipartisan working groups that brought together different factions of the respective parties. The deal-making middle has only further collapsed with lawmakers like Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, Joe Manchin and Mitt Romney retiring in recent years.
The latest stalemate on health care underscores what has long been true: It’s hard to make a deal, and it’s only getting harder.