Democrat Leadership Threatening 'Retribution' for Dems Who Cooperate

HUMAN EVENTS ONLINE:

A questioner from the audience, stressing his own Democratic credentials, said he believed Ryan's plan should attract members of his own party and wondered whether the Wisconsin lawmaker had secured any Democratic sponsors. Ryan said he had been working with friends on the 'other side of the aisle' who were favorable toward his solution, but he faced an enormous problem: intense pressure on his colleagues from the minority leadership. 'We were in planning stages [with friendly Democrats],' said Ryan. But each essentially told him: 'I like what you're doing. I like this bill. I think it's the right way to go. But my party leadership will break my back. The retribution that they are promising us is as great as I have ever seen. We can't do it.'

In my opinion, this sort of thing is a serious problem, and certainly not just a 'Democratic' or a 'Republican' problem. Yes, I can see certain steps being taken to keep representatives in line with a party platform but that has gotten out of hand. I suspect that a good portion of this problem can be tied back to Gerrymandering and the 'safe' seats that it creates leaving politicians very accountable to their parties but not very accountable to the voters.