Politicians have roles that they play. These roles are occaisionally not in the best interest of the entire nation, just the interest of their parties. These are generally known as partisan issues. On the other side, Geoff Davis played this role in yesterdays house hearing when a senior GOP comittee member gave him a chance to speak earlier in order to take a shot at the Dems. As somone pointed out Schumers job is to get Democrats elected, especially in the Senate. This forces him to take a very partisan stance on almost every issue. Which means even though he might know a "win-win" solution, which he might vote for in actuality, when he sees it; he still has to describe it in a "win-lose" perspective in order to appease the partisan base. The joys of the system