Political Gridlock: It's The American Way!

Whenever elections come around it’s common for politicians to claim they’ll work towards creating a “Bipartisan “ atmosphere in order to get the country moving in the right direction. This is especially true during presidential elections. Although on some level the thought of everyone in congress coming into agreement to do what is best for the nation as a whole sounds wonderful, the truth is that’s not what the nation wants!

Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican you want your party to offer alternative solutions to the party that’s in power. In effect we want an “opposition party” to oppose the party in power. A Democrat would have a tough time winning his party’s nomination if his record reflected he voted with Republicans on every bill and vice versa.

Each party expects its members to be loyal to their party agenda.

On occasion it is forgiven if a Senator or Congressmen votes against the party if it is in the best interest of his district or constituency.

After all if he is not re-elected he can’t support the national party agenda.

When George W. Bush was in office the Democrats job was to do everything within its power to stall or fight off his initiatives. Now that Barack Obama is president the Republicans are doing everything they can to keep him from getting his legislative bills passed. It’s nothing personal. It’s just the nature of the game.

The reason why the “Opposition Party” roots against the party in power is because they don’t want the nation to keep them in office. Soon after president Obama took office he continued to announce plans for turning the economy around, creating jobs that can’t be exported, increasing green technology, lower taxes for the middle class, affordable healthcare, ending the war in Iraq….etc Radio broadcaster Rush Limbaugh told his fans, “I hope he fails!” In all honesty I don’t believe Rush wants the country to stay deep in a recession for Obama’s term in office. What he really wants is a Republican to be elected president in 2012.

Once again party loyalty is more important than national interest.

In the event the economy turns around, home values begin to rise, unemployment drops, and the stock market is stabilized odds are Obama would be re-elected as president. That's not a good thing if you're a Republican.

Politics & Sports

One would do better to think of politics as being a sport, the Democrats Vs Republicans with each team having it’s own fan base.

Just as you would not expect Los Angeles Laker fans to cheer for the Boston Celtics or New York Yankee fans to root for The Boston Red Sox team, you shouldn’t be surprised to learn our political teams and their voters have very little love for one another.

If I’m a Republican voter I don’t want my Senator or Congressman holding hands with the Democrats or vise versa. I want the parties to “Oppose” not compromise with one another. Opposition = Gridlock!

The Truth About Deficits

Both parties are going to spend your money!

The only debate is over how and on what the money is being spent on.

One party is fine with spending a couple of trillion on war and defense and the other party wants to spend a couple of trillion on social and domestic programs. Note: We don't have the option to keep our money either way.

In politics real power comes from controlling how our tax dollars are spent.

A portion of the money has to find it’s way back to the individual states, cities, and communities in order for those in office to get re-elected. They do this by pointing out what they’ve done for us.

Two Sides Of The Same Coin

Imagine you, the American voter is on trial for your life and at the end of the day you spot your attorney/political party fraternizing with the prosecution/enemy political party.

You sense that when it’s all said and done they’ll be teeing off on the golf course together while your life hangs in the balance. That's our reality!

Politicians regardless of their party affiliation are elitist ego driven people.

Their country club resides in D.C. and they mutually respect one another behind closed doors. Sure they fight and disagree but the battles primarily serve as a way to keep score.

If it’s going to be, it’s up to me!

Each of us has to take responsibility for our own lives no matter who is in office.

Neither one of these parties are looking out for “us”.

We have to play the game according to the cards we are dealt.

When Clinton was in office he was big on technology and the dot.com companies became the rage. When George W. was in office oil and energy stocks were the rage.

It’s just a matter of time before we find out what’s going to take off under Obama’s agenda.

My point is don’t get so caught up watching the “Gridlock game” that you forget to look out for yourself. You can continue to root for your team for the fun of it but don’t expect them to share the prize money with you when it’s over.

Look out for your own interest because that’s exactly what politicians are doing!

One man's opinion!