From Denver Post
When I think of democracy, I think of people with different views, beliefs, and ideas coming together to create rules or laws that everyone can live with. This is what makes democracies so great, the fact that no one group can force their ideas on the masses. Without compromise we enter the realm of oligarchies, dictatorships, monarchies, basically all the things our Founding Fathers wanted to avoid at all costs.
This is why one of the first things you learn about government (in what third grade?) is that there are checks and balances. Three branches of government working together to ensure no one holds unreasonable power. Add to that a governing body (the US Supreme Court) to make sure the branches aren't violating the laws they create.
When people work together there is no limit to what we can accomplish. So why is it becoming increasingly clear that there is one party that seems to refuse to compromise? Democrats are known for understanding other points of view, considering all options, and even going so far as to change their positions in light of other opinions.
A great example of this is Obama's change of heart on gay marriage. Of course this was touted as a flip-flop and a weakness by his opponents, but to me it showed tremendous strength of character! Personally, I think a person that isn't afraid of admitting that maybe they were wrong, is stronger than the person that holds steadfast to a belief despite overwhelming opposition or contrary evidence.
Why is it that things only get done when it is either a Republican backed idea, or when Democrats have a majority to override them? How is it a sign of weakness to come together and make concessions to actually get things done? Republicans seem to view voting against their party as some sort of treachery. Crossing those party lines is like a declaration of war. These people have no independent thoughts or opinions anymore (and I do mean on both sides). Granted there are exceptions but the majority of the time they simply vote down the party line.
Obama has been blasted for conceding to the Republicans and compromising to push things through; most notably during the last debt ceiling fiasco when he allowed them to make sweeping cuts across the board in exchange for paying the nation's bills. He also made many changes to his own "baby" the Affordable Care Act to better incorporate feelings from the other side of the aisle (think no more single-payer).
Now he is being blasted for not compromising and for refusing to negotiate with House Republicans. Politics really is "damned if you do, and damned if you don't" isn't it? He just can't seem do anything right in the eyes of the right wing. Negotiate and you're weak, don't negotiate and you're a dictator... Unfortunately, for those pointing fingers (namely House Republicans/TP, and their constituents) is they fail to realize this is not about negotiations; it is about a violation of the legislative process.
This is a power grab by the right wing of the GOP to gain some leverage in a fight they refuse to bend on.
Why else would they object to requests for committees to hammer out a budget with the Senate 18 times?
Why else would they wait until the fiscal year ends to try and do their job and pass a budget?
If for no other reason than to hold the government shut-down and looming default on our national debt as leverage to force their ideas. They should know by now that Democrats would work with them to make cuts, we have done so already (albeit mostly against our will through automatic austerity cuts aka sequester). Therefore their goal must be to not negotiate, their goal is to give us a deal they like without making concessions.
Please keep reading below the orange cloud for more...
They should know that with a Democratic majority in the Senate and a Democrat in the oval office that no purely Republican bill or measure can make it through the process. This is how is works, checks and balances, remember third grade? But no, instead they shutdown and blatantly disregard how things are meant to work. The president said it best when he said that one faction of one party in one branch of government is holding the country hostage. They are doing this because they feel they have no other option.
I wonder, what happened to compromise?
When did that become so abhorrent that a party would rather shut the whole government down then try and hammer out a deal?
Speaker Boehner's job is on the line over this. If he compromises he will be kicked off his podium. Does anybody else see that as completely backwards?!? He should be fired for this.. But not because he compromised with Democrats to save the world economy from collapsing (fingers crossed he does this or we're all toast), but because he allowed the government to shut down due to a faction's obstinate refusal to compromise! Boehner will likely lose his job either way, which is unfortunate. Before this Tea Party faction came into the House with their craziness I actually had high hopes he might be able to bridge the aisle as he did before he became Speaker.
There is some hope, albeit small, from the right wing... There's backlash from conservative governors like Bobby Jindal and Chris Christie slamming these guys for their obstructionism.
Jindal and the Republican governors are not alone in bashing Washington Republicans. That's what Sen. Cruz is doing, too. But the GOP governors are making a different case. Their argument is based on results, conservative policies that are sometimes the result of hard-won compromise.
So not all members of the GOP hate compromise, this is reassuring, but that doesn't stop the Tea Party faction. The only thing that may be able to do that is if the "sane side" of the GOP stands up to them and says NO! They are the "party of no" right? Wait, maybe not...
Though [Jindal] had plenty of criticism for the president who he said liked to play the "victim in chief" his message for his own party was not about the incumbent he disapproves of. In the states, he said, "You see a party that is fighting for every single vote, that is fighting to help the American people join and thrive in the middle class ... a party that is not just the party of no, and those are the things that we need to do as a party if we want to earn the right to govern and we want to be a majority party. It's not happening in D.C. right now, but it is happening in our state capitals."
Ok so maybe there is hope... Just not with these bunch of unyielding, idealistic, rookies demanding that things change but not wanting to put forth the work to make it so. I hope they can figure out how things work, and figure it out soon. And I hope that veteran, non-lunatic, reps like John McCain can talk some darn sense into these guys before they turn us into Greece Jr.
They need to pass a clean CR, open the government, raise the debt ceiling, then meet and pass a budget! It simply can't be the other way around. That would set a dangerous precedent for future generations. We never should have gotten this far, they shouldn't have waited to the last minute in order to strong-arm the democrats, that's no way to run a government. Congress's job is to get a budget together BEFORE we run out of money, not after!
One final thing, I believe I read somewhere that in Canada when they can't agree on a budget, it sparks an election. Isn't that is a great idea?? Congress should be required to agree on a budget every January, or have an election in their district every November. End of story. We pay them to do a job, they don't do it, we shouldn't have to put up with them anymore...