Bispartisanship: Not What It's Cracked Up to Be

Bipartisan, bipartisan, bipartisan! That seems to be the Holy Grail of politics. It is in the news daily. Whenever there is a thorny issue one party or the other screams “Bipartisan!” If we only had more cooperation from the other party we would have this all ironed out. The truth is that “bipartisan” is just another word for compromise. Now that sounds like a reasonable and good political approach. You can’t expect to have everything your own way, so it only makes sense to compromise. In other words, to come up with a bipartisan solution. But, is it good statesmanship?

Unfortunately, our liberal administration and our liberal congress have a view of compromise that suits them but undermines the very essence of conservative values. What compromise can be had with socialism and the radical Saul Alinsky approach to politics? A bipartisan compromise might mean only a 50% move toward socialism -- this time. What compromise can you make with those who would tear our country apart, blame America for the ills of the world, and throw out those very institutions that have made us great? Can you compromise on individual liberty? Even the Republicans have compromised on limited government and look what we have: increasing government involvement in every aspect of our lives. Now governments at various levels are attempting to determine what we can and cannot eat. They want to legislate the menus that can be served in restaurants.

Democrats and Republicans have been compromising for decades. They have both raised the bipartisan flag and agreed to move only slightly to the left. Only slightly toward more government. Only slightly toward reduced individual freedoms. Every compromise puts the American citizen a small step farther from the heretofore inalienable rights declared by our founding fathers. We have come to the point where “we the people” have been co-opted into sacrificing our rights by the two major parties’ efforts to compromise. Republicans are just as culpable as the Democrats. They claim to be conservative, but every time they compromise they are selling their principles and their values down the tubes. They continue to play a game of smoke and mirrors in an effort to fool the American people into believing that Republican means conservative. It’s a lie!

Every time Republicans compromise, Democrats win. Every compromise is one step closer to the nanny state where big government is not a safety net, but is the sole provider! “Bipartisan” is simply the politically correct term for selling your soul to those who would dismantle basic American institutions and replace them with a socialist, fascist government determined to spend us into third world status. Their mantra: It’s only fair! Why should the United States be the richest and most successful nation in the world? They seem never to understand that it would be better to bring the rest of the world up to our lofty standards rather than to tear us down to third world status. That is accomplished by promoting individual freedom and small government and encouraging a capitalist system where creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship are appreciated as the engine that drives progress and enriches our lives.

I say, to hell with bipartisan politics. Let’s strive for values we know have worked and will work. We need statesmen and not politicians.