"that might force them to explain their plan — and there isn't any plan, except to regain power."

Of course! That is what happens in a partisan system. That's the whole point. The party out of power has no plan except to regain power. The party in power comes up with a plan or sorts now and then...because they are in a position, after all, where they must feel obliged to do something, being in power. So they come up with some kind of half-assed plan that meets the needs and wishes of their major lobbyists and financial players...but certainly not of the public!

But the party out of power doesn't want to see any such plan succeed...because if it did, then that might make the party in power look good............! Did I say "might"? It would make the party in power look good, and that is the last thing the party out of power would ever want to happen!!! So they must defeat and derail the plan of the party in power, whatever the hell the plan is.

This kind of mindless negativism is the poison that ruins governance in a party-based system, because the system is by its very nature built upon division....continuous political war....and "a house divided against itself cannot stand".

The Republicans are guilty of obstructionism when out of power and so are the Democrats. They're both guilty of it up to their eyeballs. So are all the Canadian parties (and we have 5 of them).

It's bullshit. Any partisan system where seated representatives are beholden to a party hierarchy is bullshit. One day in some future society people will look back and wonder how we could possibly have been so deluded as to imagine that a permanently divided partisan system could result in good government.

We won't be alive then, though, so it's a moot point at best.

(at least, not in our present bodies, we won't)