The problem is that people cannot agree on what the priority should be or how to go about it. Let’s say for discussion purposes we want to deal with the deficit and national debt. One answer would be to increase taxes and decrease spending. Now, here comes the imbroglio. One side will say tax cuts increase revenue and the other will say otherwise. At this point instead of trying to find common ground and compromise, both sides will dig their heels in. As Zell Miller once said: “Compromise is a dirty word in Washington”
That's because compromise doesn't work.
As in, literally it does not work.
It's kind of like saying two people want to build an air plane. I want to build an airplane with a jet engine. You want to build an airplane with a propeller engine.
There is no way to 'compromise' on this. The two engines have no interchangeable parts.
You can't build an engine that has a propeller stapled on the front of a turbine, instead of a fan disc, and expect it to work.
You either build the plane with jets, or you build it with props, but trying to compromise and do both, results in neither working.
The idea of taxing your way to wealth has been tried many times throughout human history, and not one time has it worked. The right-wing economic system, and the left-wing economic system, are both mutually exclusive systems. It's one or the other.
When you compromise, you end up with neither system working.
And it’s that mindset that allows our two parties to not bother passing legislation. All either party needs to do is denigrate the oppositions proposal.
For the record, I’m not disagreeing with you. However, it seems that scenario applies to too many issues.
So what issue do you think we should have bipartisan support for? Give me an example.
Ok, immigration issue. There is no reason why border security and a path to citizenship for those here cannot be looked at. Just so we are clear, I’m answering your question on what we should have bipartisan support for. What we should vs what we will are two different discussions.
And that to me is a perfect example of the problem.
The left-wing wants open borders.
The right-wing wants controlled borders.
There is no "compromise" between these two mutually exclusive goals.
One side has to win, and the other side has to lose... or the problem doesn't get solved.
Think about it....
If my side wants a controlled border, so we know who is coming into this country, what their history is, and where they came from and for what purpose......
Any compromise, would inherently mean that those goals are not met. So if we only controlled 20% of who comes into this country, then the problem still exists, does it not? If people are walking in without us knowing anything about them.... Then we still have a problem.
Any compromise here, would mean we still have a problem. Either we have everyone coming into this country documented, or we don't. One or the other.
Similarly, the left-wing wants an open border. They have said this repeatedly and clearly. They want no border.
So if we compromise and 30% of those coming in are being held up at the border, then in their eyes, the problem remains.
The only way that the problem is fixed, is if someone wins, and someone loses. If the no border people win, and we have no border at all... then at least in their eyes, the problem is solved.
If the controlled border people win, and 100% of those coming into the country are checked, the then at least in their eyes the problem is solved.
But if you have compromise.... then the problem is not solved from any perspective.
It's one or the other. Compromise results in no solution. Or a really terrible solution that will need to be fixed again later.