Another Triumph for Bipartisanship

The Washington Post reports:

Lawmakers approved a broad measure Friday that freezes federally subsidized student loan rates for another year, reauthorizes the government flood insurance program and extends federal transportation funding for two more years.


The deal resolved months of acrimonious debate on key legislative concerns on the eve of a Fourth of July recess, and offered President Obama an opportunity to claim victory after a high‐​profile campaign to pressure Congress into action on both the student loan and transportation issues.…


The agreement includes the first long‐​term transportation spending plan agreed to since 2005, replacing a series of short‐​term extensions. It passed the House 373 to 52 and the Senate by a vote of 74 to 19.

So as George Will and I noted recently, bipartisanship consistently seems to mean the expansion of government and government spending. Democrats and Republicans may fight about abortion and tax cuts, but they can agree on (in Will’s words):

No Child Left Behind, a counterproductive federal intrusion in primary and secondary education; the McCain‐​Feingold speech rationing law (the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act); an unfunded prescription drug entitlement; troublemaking by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; government‐​directed capitalism from the Export‐​Import Bank; crony capitalism from energy subsidies; unseemly agriculture and transportation bills; continuous bailouts of an unreformed Postal Service; housing subsidies; subsidies for state and local governments; and many other bipartisan deeds, including most appropriations bills.