Democratic Senator Michael Bennet says GOP colleagues have privately confessed that the now-dead immigration deal was the toughest one they’d ever get.
More like many Americans actively vote against their own self interests then complain that the government doesn't look out for them. Kind of a 'leopard ate my face after I voted for the face eating leopard party' situation
I agree with you in some ways, but I don't think the "voting against their self-interests" argument is very strong.
My interests are higher taxes, finding public transportation and public healthcare. In their short-term simple view, I want higher taxes, so I'm the one voting against my self-interests. They live mostly in rural areas which public transportation doesn't serve at all.
Their interests are lower taxes and hating & doing bad things to people in the out-crowd. Again they only view short-term with a limited empathetic view. So they have no empathy for the out-crowd, until they find themselves or a loved one in the out-crowd. This the leopards eat faces, and we such on them for their lack of empathy giving them their due.
I wish we could open their mind to greater empathy and to be more future-thinking, but their brains are broken, I think.