I was hoping for better than this. I think that most Americans were hoping for better than this. Since I've been watching politics play out in Washington, I've thought that no matter what happened, the members of Congress and the president were all still aware that their first duty was to make sure not to hurt the country. Sure, there were bitter fights in DC, but then there were always compromises that brought an end to the fight. That's how President Reagan and Speaker Tip O'Neill were able to resolve all sorts of disputes. They saved Social Security, for example. And they did that even though they were bitter political enemies. We went through decades of watching compromise that proved beneficial for America.
The ideal of compromise started to change when Bill Clinton was president. Clinton lied under oath about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky and ended up getting impeached for that. The Democrats were outraged and the Clintons led a fight to demonize both Ken Starr, the special prosecutor, and the Republicans. It opened a chasm between the parties. That split got deeper with the presidency of George W. Bush. First we had the 2000 election with its hanging chads. Both parties accused the other of wrongdoing. The events of 9-11 brought the nation back together, but it was just for a while. By Bush's second term, he was constantly under attack as "Hitler". None of the leftist Democrats ever explained why Bush was Hitler (and it seemed a ridiculous comparison), but the GOP and Bush were now condemned as racists, sexists, homophobes, etc. There wasn't much need for major compromise, however, because the GOP controlled Congress for most of Bush's term. When Obama got into office, there was again little effort made towards compromise. During the first two years, Obama had large Dem majorities in Congress and he pushed through everything he wanted with just Democrat votes. After the GOP took Congress in 2010, however, there were frequent battles. They ended with compromises, however. The level of anger was substantial, but ultimately both sides compromised.
Today, the Democrats have abandoned compromise. It is more important to them to beat President Trump than it is to keep the country safe and the American people protected. This partial government shutdown is just a manifestation of the new attitude. There really isn't a major philosophical fight underway. After all, the dispute is, at most, about less than 0.1% of the federal budget for 2019. There's no way it is worth putting 800,000 federal workers under serious stress or stopping certain federal services, etc. There should be a compromise reached to end the stalemate.
Sadly, we have reached the point where only one side is willing to even negotiate. Only the Republicans and President Trump have offered compromise plans. All that Pelosi and Schumer have said is one word: "NO!!!!" Instead of doing the responsible thing and resolving the dispute, the Democrats are following the path that they took once before in our nation's history. That was in 1860 when they refused to resolve the struggle over slavery and seceded from the Union. The result was the Civil War. Obviously, things have not gotten to that point today. Still, intransigence among our legislators is a very dangerous process. If disputes can be resolved by discussion, negotiation and COMPROMISE, the other potential methods for resolution are much, mush worse.
Think about it. Let's assume that the Democrats are right and that the wall won't work. I don't think that is the case, but let's assume that it is. If the government spends three billion dollars on the wall and we have nothing but a monument to failure, what is lost? The easy answer is three billion dollars. That's a joke in the context of the federal government. It won't change anything. But what if the wall works? What if by constructing the wall, the government is able to force more of the flow of illegal drugs into fewer entry lanes that are easier to police and, as a result, the flow of heroin is reduce by 20%. How many lives will that save each year as overdoses get reduced? Five hundred? A thousand? If there's a chance that spending $3 billion would save those lives, isn't it worth letting it go ahead as an experiment?
Right now, the Democrats won't negotiate or compromise in any way. They are, to use Chuck Schumer's favorite word of the month, throwing a temper tantrum. But the Democrats now control the House. They need to govern and not just posture. The American people need them to act responsibly. Maybe they'll change, but so far the only thing that is clear is that America expected better from them. America deserves better from the Democrats.
The ideal of compromise started to change when Bill Clinton was president. Clinton lied under oath about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky and ended up getting impeached for that. The Democrats were outraged and the Clintons led a fight to demonize both Ken Starr, the special prosecutor, and the Republicans. It opened a chasm between the parties. That split got deeper with the presidency of George W. Bush. First we had the 2000 election with its hanging chads. Both parties accused the other of wrongdoing. The events of 9-11 brought the nation back together, but it was just for a while. By Bush's second term, he was constantly under attack as "Hitler". None of the leftist Democrats ever explained why Bush was Hitler (and it seemed a ridiculous comparison), but the GOP and Bush were now condemned as racists, sexists, homophobes, etc. There wasn't much need for major compromise, however, because the GOP controlled Congress for most of Bush's term. When Obama got into office, there was again little effort made towards compromise. During the first two years, Obama had large Dem majorities in Congress and he pushed through everything he wanted with just Democrat votes. After the GOP took Congress in 2010, however, there were frequent battles. They ended with compromises, however. The level of anger was substantial, but ultimately both sides compromised.
Today, the Democrats have abandoned compromise. It is more important to them to beat President Trump than it is to keep the country safe and the American people protected. This partial government shutdown is just a manifestation of the new attitude. There really isn't a major philosophical fight underway. After all, the dispute is, at most, about less than 0.1% of the federal budget for 2019. There's no way it is worth putting 800,000 federal workers under serious stress or stopping certain federal services, etc. There should be a compromise reached to end the stalemate.
Sadly, we have reached the point where only one side is willing to even negotiate. Only the Republicans and President Trump have offered compromise plans. All that Pelosi and Schumer have said is one word: "NO!!!!" Instead of doing the responsible thing and resolving the dispute, the Democrats are following the path that they took once before in our nation's history. That was in 1860 when they refused to resolve the struggle over slavery and seceded from the Union. The result was the Civil War. Obviously, things have not gotten to that point today. Still, intransigence among our legislators is a very dangerous process. If disputes can be resolved by discussion, negotiation and COMPROMISE, the other potential methods for resolution are much, mush worse.
Think about it. Let's assume that the Democrats are right and that the wall won't work. I don't think that is the case, but let's assume that it is. If the government spends three billion dollars on the wall and we have nothing but a monument to failure, what is lost? The easy answer is three billion dollars. That's a joke in the context of the federal government. It won't change anything. But what if the wall works? What if by constructing the wall, the government is able to force more of the flow of illegal drugs into fewer entry lanes that are easier to police and, as a result, the flow of heroin is reduce by 20%. How many lives will that save each year as overdoses get reduced? Five hundred? A thousand? If there's a chance that spending $3 billion would save those lives, isn't it worth letting it go ahead as an experiment?
Right now, the Democrats won't negotiate or compromise in any way. They are, to use Chuck Schumer's favorite word of the month, throwing a temper tantrum. But the Democrats now control the House. They need to govern and not just posture. The American people need them to act responsibly. Maybe they'll change, but so far the only thing that is clear is that America expected better from them. America deserves better from the Democrats.
No comments:
Post a Comment