Republicans

by EJ Young

Created on: July 31, 2011   Last Updated: August 14, 2011

Compromise sounds like a dirty word for some new members of Congress. Tea Party politicians belonging to the Republican party seem to take pride in flat out refusing to consider compromise on the debt limit increase.

The debt limit fiasco serves as a good example of lack of compromise from both parties but the Republican are more responsible for hampering effective legislation.

Washington politicians appear to be validating former Jimmy Carter’s statement on NBC Nightly News in the fall of 2010. He cited political unwillingness to compromise as a reason for “making the country more polarized than during the Civil War”.

He followed by saying President Obama “suffers from the most polarized situation in Washington that we have ever seen – even maybe than the time of Abraham Lincoln and the initiation of the war between the states”.

The model of dysfunction, politicians look more like indignant childish bullies than leaders chosen to represent the good of the people. Since the last election and the shift of power to a Republican majority in the House of Representatives, the Republicans seem rigid and less likely to compromise on vital legislation such as increasing the debt limit.

Most likely both parties are to blame for the political dysfunction in Washington but the debt limit issue underscores the inability of Republicans to work together and compromise.

The most glaring example of this rigid attitude surfaces in the plan known as the Grand Bargain. Negotiating for several days, President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner designed a plan to aggressively attack the nation’s debt. This Grand Bargain offered up huge cuts of approximately $3 trillion during the next decade along with the addition of over $800 billion in revenue. 

In the spirit of compromise, the President angered core Democrats overlooking protests from his own party by agreeing to deep cuts in entitlement programs such as Medicaid and Medicare in order to pass vital legislation to increase the debt limit. In exchange for the President giving up money for human services and senior citizen programs, the Speaker agreed to reinstating pre-George W. Bush tax codes for the wealthy.  

Bringing in an expected minimum of $800 billion in revenue, the country’s millionaires and billionaires would no longer receive the tax cuts granted by the former President. Speaker Boehner pulled away from any handshake, giving in to pressure from a group of conservative Republicans insisting on no compromise.

The irony of the situation could come in the consequences of their inability to compromise. If the debt limit is not increased and the U.S. cannot pay creditors, economists agree interest rates will spike. In other words, rather than reigning in spending the government will actually spend much more on increased interest rates on money previously owed.

For several months Congress has realized the importance of legislation to raise the debt ceiling in order to prevent the United States from defaulting on payments, yet they chose to ignore compromise. Both parties often seem unwilling to compromise but the Republicans seem too focused on the political version of Russian Roulette instead of actually working for the common good of the people.

Republican Senator and former presidential candidate John McCain recently called out freshmen Tea Party senators for their unwillingness to compromise. Speaking on the Senate floor recently, he said it was “amazing and foolish” that some members of the party actually thought it was possible to pass a balanced budget amendment considering the current representation of House and Senate members. “That is worse than foolish. That is deceiving many of our constituents,” McCain scolded.

Senator McCain has served long enough to recognize the significance of the debt limit. Under former President George W. Bush, the nation’s debt doubled as politicians voted to increase the debt limit 7 times. Upon Bush’s exit and Obama’s entrance to the top office, the practice of Republican compromise seems to have exited along with the former President.

No compromise remains the mantra of many Republicans influenced by the Tea Party as they continue to insist on their own way or no way. Since the last election a number of inexperienced Representatives keep demonstrating inappropriate tactics closer to bullying than effective communication. They should know better. 

If those politicians returned to the playground, they would discover the new expectation of good behavior and respect for others. Young school children are taught the need to co-operate, to accept compromise and to resolve conflict peacefully. Perhaps the elementary handbook rule of zero tolerance for the inappropriate behavior of bullying should be enforced on Capitol Hill.

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