Monday, August 15, 2011

Can't we compromise anymore?



I am 50 yrs old, an Air Force veteran, a Government employee and registered as a Republican. If it was an option, that might be Tea Party. Many of you have just decided not to read the rest of this post, and that is the root of the problem.

My parents were Democrats and I declared myself as a Democrat until I got out of the Air Force. I changed because I kept seeing the Dems throw money at a problem, while the Reps seemed to have realistic solutions. I realize you and I may not see things the same way. That's OK with me; is it OK with you???

My Brother-in-Law teaches High School Civics in VA. He was one of the Electors (i.e. on the College of Electors) in the last presidential election. He admits to being a Yellow Dog Democrat. Defined as: If the Democratic Party put a yellow dog on the ballot, I would vote for it. 

I don't talk politics with that BiL because it doesn't matter. His mind is already made up, so any discussion can only fail. He's 60 and beyond changing. I recognize that, he recognizes that, and it is OK.

What about you? Is your mind still open to the possibilities? It seems to me that too many of our elected officials do not have open minds anymore. They are stuck toeing the party line and yes, they would vote for that yellow dog if that’s their party’s candidate. Unfortunately, we all suffer for their closed mindedness.

The recent problems with debt management had less to do with the conflict between increasing revenue vs. increasing the national debt and more to do with the inability to compromise. S&P didn’t lower our bond rating because we’re 15 trillion dollars in debt. They’re OK with that as long as we’re still paying our debts. The problem was the inability of Congress to resolve the discussion and actually agree to an answer.

Somehow the rest of us adults have identified compromise as a necessary component of human interaction. 
“What are we doing for dinner?” 
“I’m in the mood for Chinese.” 
“I was thinking about Italian.” 
“OK, let’s do Italian tonight and we’ll do Chinese tomorrow.”


What is wrong with Congress that they haven’t figured this out?