once upon a time I worked as a Page in the State House of Representatives.
I watched them shoot down bill after bill that was logical and make sense, purely because the republicans had taken a majority and didn't want the democrats to succeed in pushing any of their agenda in. Also, I saw tons of cases of pressing each others buttons. They would leave their keys in the ignition and one rep would press multiple buttons. They have been doing this shit for DECADES.
During the session that I was there, I only witnessed one bill swayed by a impassioned speech that made sense, it was to raise the speedlimit from 55 in Iowa and his closing line was something like 'We as politicians are the only ones who can vote Yes or No to the simple fact that thousands more people will die if we pass this legislation to raise the speed limit. The Simple fact is, more fatal accidents happen at 65 than 55.'