The great divide

Published November 21, 2013

by Gary Pearce, Talking About Politics, November 20, 2013.

How often does some well-meaning soul say, “Democrats and Republicans should put aside their differences and just do what’s right for the country.”

 

That sounds perfectly reasonable. But it’s perfectly unrealistic. The differences are over what’s right for the country. And the differences are fundamental and unbridgeable.

 

How, for example, would the two parties compromise on Obamacare? How do you put aside these differences: Democrats believe in government, Republicans don’t. Democrats believe everyone should have good health care, Republicans don’t. Democrats believe in public schools, Republicans don’t. Democrats are for people who are trying to make it, Republicans are for people who have it made.

 

Carter has blogged about the war inside the Republican Party between the Tea Partiers, who abhor compromise, and the “Pachyderms,” who sometimes compromise. Carter notes that the Tea Party is no fringe group. It’s a popular and powerful force within one of America’s two major political parties. Right now, it’s a force looking for a voice.

 

There’s a corresponding force within the Democratic Party. For two decades, Democrats have been dominated by Bill Clinton’s belief in a middle way between Republican and Democratic extremes. President Obama said in 2008 he would go to Washington and bridge the gulf between blue America and red America.

 

How’s that working out for you, Mr. President?

 

Some Democrats still believe in middle ground. Congressman David Price says the two parties came together to balance the budget in the late 1990s and can again. Erskine Bowles, who negotiated that balanced budget, is still trying to do it again.

 

But more and more Democrats believe there is no middle ground with the Tea Party. There is only total war. There will be a winner and a loser.

 

Like the Tea Party, that force is looking for a voice.

 

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November 21, 2013 at 8:16 am
TP Wohlford says:

"But more and more Democrats believe there is no middle ground with the Tea Party."

Well, when you set up straw men to debate with, don't be surprised if they don't compromise much.

Actually, as I look at things, the TEA people are winning. As late as 2010, we had earmarks and tons of money that incumbent Congressmen passed around to get re-elected. You know, $200k for this old theater, $100k for some preschool, and suddenly voters forget about your drinking problem and your overly-attractive secretaries (who can't type)?

And until that point -- witness the Obamacare deals that sent money to certain key Senators districts -- Majority leaders could reward votes. Well, the Shutdown of September demonstrated that even if the money was available, many TEA people come from areas that voted to shut down all Fed money, so they hardly expect rewards for votes.

It's a new day. The party is over, and another decade, at least, of budget crises looms. That he Dems, and "pachyderms", can't abide with that, is besides the point. Water seeks its level, gravity makes apples fall, and "out of money" is absolute.

November 21, 2013 at 9:26 am
Richard Bunce says:

Democrats are for increasing their political power through the coercive power of government. Democrats are for increasing their political power through indoctrination of future generations via the government school systems. Democrats are for buying votes by creating dependence in people who have not made it through ever increasing government services and funding theses services by punitive taxes on people who do not vote for them. Republicans only slightly better.

November 21, 2013 at 11:04 am
TP Wohlford says:

Which of course are great liberal talking points, showing of course that they don't know anything about conservatism beyond what they've been told.

Conservatives believe in critical thinking skills, liberals just read stuff on DailyKOS....

November 21, 2013 at 11:50 pm
Norm Kelly says:

Using David Price as an example of a middle of the road Demoncrat? That's hysterical! Price is anything but middle of the road. He's a big-government, all-powerful federal government, big-spending, tax-the-rich, give more away Demoncrat right to the core. So if HE's the example of a middle of the road Demoncrat, that's willing to compromise, no wonder Republicans can't find more Demoncrats to do things RIGHT!

It's not someone's idea of what's right for the country that the TEA people are fighting for. It's what's right for the country according to the CONSTITUTION that the TEA people are fighting for.

The 2 parties absolutely can NOT compromise on Obamacare/socialized medicine part 1. It will collapse under it's own weight; it's doomed to fail before it even starts. That's the way socialized medicine is. It destroys what it touches and requires the central planners to take more & more control every year. Socialized medicine is NOT something that should be compromised on; it is something to be defeated.

Demoncrats definitely believe in government. It's more power for them. The TEA people don't because the TEA people believe in the CONSTITUTION which specifically LIMITS the powers of the central planners. Duh!

It's not that Republicans DO NOT believe that everyone should have good health care. It's that Republicans believe in personal responsibility, while Demoncrats believe that enslaving people to the whims of the central planners is a better system. Of course, it turns out it's a better system only for the central planners not for the little people, the commoners.

Demoncrats believe in public schools only to the point that it provides them with power and control. Republicans, by and large, believe that the power belongs to the parents. What's best for MY kid is what's important to me. I care very little about what you think is right for YOUR kid because that is TOTALLY YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. If you do what's right for your kid when it comes to education, then I expect you to keep your hands & policies out of my choice for what I believe is best for MY kid. Demoncrats do NOT believe I should have a choice in how I get MY KID educated. So how exactly would one compromise with somebody who believes they MUST take control of my life & my family away from ME? Is it possible to compromise with the central planners who pass laws to take control away from me? They may take a break this year from passing another law that takes control away from me, calling it compromise. But everyone knows they will be back next year with the same law to take that power away from me anyway. They just delayed their plan by a year (or so) but they come back with the desire & plan to take control anyway. So it's not really compromise. It's biding your time.

Nobody needs to know nothing about Gary. Just by the words he writes it is obvious to everyone that he has drunk the cool-aid. He's a big-government, big-spending, central-planner supporter to the core. He's an admirer of Obama, probably dreams about him. He's a leftie for sure. Uses the same old tired garbage to try to convince people that the wrong ideas he supports are actually right. His choices can be proved incorrect (that's polite speak for 'dead wrong'). Bottom line though is that I don't care about any of Gary's choices. He can make whatever choice he wants to make. That's what freedom in our country is all about. My problem with Gary, and his leftie friends, is that they don't believe the same about me. They refuse to let me be free; refuse to let me make choices that I believe are correct; refuse to leave my back pocket alone; refuse to let my family live OUR lives. Some of us are sick & tired of rolling over when it comes to you making decisions for us. Go take care of your family Gary, and leave the rest of us alone. I'm an adult. I know how to take care of me better than you do, better than K Hagan does, better even than the anointed Obama does. If you want to take care of homeless people, poor people, sick people, people without cell phones or whatever other malady you think about, then go do it. I'll do my part the way I want without you boneheads dictating to me how I need to do it. I won't force you to support my hot-button item, but for some inconceivable reason you feel you MUST force me to support your hot-button item. Just like Demoncrats and liberals all over the country. Leave us alone. And for God's sake, stop telling lies about us. You proved you don't understand us, so just stop telling lies. Make a case for YOUR point. Don't make a false case for my point or any other Republican/conservative that you don't understand.