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Saturday, April 9, 2011

President Obama and compromise

A government shutdown is where the political parties were digging in. This is one of the points of contention and an excellent opportunity to show the sprit of compromise. In President Obamas’ talk earlier this week, he spoke about how being married required that you compromise. This has apparently given him the skills necessary to compromise when dealing with political issues.

It is generally accepted that a government shutdown would politically benefit President Obama and the Democrats more than it would the Republicans. So all they had to do was wait it out. Sooner or later, the Republicans would come around to some type of deal where they could save ‘face’. This is an excellent position to be in and certainly not one that would encourage compromise. So who gets the blame? The people who brought us to the brink of a government shutdown and who were unwilling to compromise until they saw defeat in front of them. Must be pretty dumb to let it get that far.

I thought that President Obama was supposed to unite us. We would all come together after he demonstrated his willingness to listen to the other side and make things work out. You know, like the Health Care bill. 70% of Americans were disenfranchised in that deal. (Enough to pass a constitutional amendment) Yes, President Obama and the Democrats really showed us how to compromise and listen. This ‘New deal’ is different, but not all that much.

This deal does not deal with the fundamental fiscal problems that this country faces. Like so many other deals in the past, it is only window dressing. This is actually a victory for President Obama and the Democrats. This deal just allowed us to continue doing ‘business as usual’. With the financial structure of the country in such dire need of ‘CHANGE’, all we get is more of the same. We can expect more of this confrontation when time comes to pass the next budget. And it will be the Republicans fault once again, simply because they are forced to attempt to place limits upon the free spending that President Obama (And Democrats) believe in. After all, who is saying that ‘We are NOT broke’? This is the issue: Republicans generally believe that the financial position of our country is at or near bankruptcy. Democrats see no such thing. Sounds a lot like the confrontation between unions and companies. (With the bankruptcy component not always present)

Our country is more divided and more partisan than ever. We have major conflicts within all levels of government today. Just look at the partisan politics going on at the state level today. We recently held a local election in my town and I am seeing much of the same, even at that level. Well, leadership does spring from the top. We are beginning to see the results of our presidential leadership. And it is not compromise and listening.

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