Is Congress Too Childish To Compromise?

You know what I don't understand?  I don't understand why members of congress, who are allegedly adults, seem incapable of compromising with each other.  Take the "Gang Of Six" proposal to resolve the ongoing debt ceiling issue as an example.

Congress Curbs Enthusiasm for "Gang of Six" Plan


The numbers and statistics of this issue have been reported ad infinitum, and I shall not bore you with them again.  What concerns me about this issue, and so many others, is the absolute refusal of the two parties in congress to negotiate and compromise with each other.  The Republicans scream because the Gang of Six proposal increases taxes on the wealthiest Americans.  The Democrats scream because the Gang of Six proposal cuts entitlements such as Medicare and Medicaid.  They seem to be totally unwilling to budge from their respective positions.

Well, you know what?  I'm a liberal.  I utterly hate the thought of cutting entitlements for the poor and senior, and God forbid the millionaires and billionaires in this country could pay just a bit more in taxes.  However, desperate times call for desperate measures.  As an American first and a liberal second, I think it is unconscionable for my fellow Democrats to utterly refuse to even consider modest cuts to entitlements, and I find it equally repugnant that the Republicans won't even consider modest tax increases on their millionaire buddies.  If nothing else, why won't they let the unnecessary Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire?  Why won't Democrats cut some of obvious waste from our entitlement programs?

My point being at when do these people stop pandering to their bases and do what is best for the country?  Are they so polarized and beholden to the far left and far right that they won't even discuss these matters?  Folks, I am far from an economist, but I can tell you with certainty that we are not going to get out of this mess by solely cutting spending with no tax increases any more that we are going to tax our way out of it without spending cuts.  We are all going to have to bite the bullet before the US becomes the next Greece or Portugal.  Are our elected officials more concerned with winning their next election than they are with the long term prosperity of our nation?

When I was a child, my parents taught me that adults compromise and negotiate with each other; not everyone gets everything they want all the time.  It seems like sound advice to me.  What do you think, dear readers?  If you and I understand this concept, why don't our elected representatives?  It all seems so childish and so shortsighted.  What happened to reaching across the aisle and working with the opposite party?  We are all Americans after all, regardless of party affiliation or political views.

I would like to urge all of you to contact your representatives and senators and tell them to grow up, talk to each other, compromise with each other, and work together to solve the country's problems!!!

On a completely unrelated note, I would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone who worked on the space shuttle program for the past thirty years.  American is proud of you, and your place in history in unquestioned.

Peace and love, my brothers and sisters.