Compromise

President Reagan was great at compromising. He would find those areas where he could get a majority in congress to agree and got things done. Each side was able to stick to their principals and were not bound by party politics. Today compromise involves giving in on your core principals and doing what needed to get something done be it good or bad for the country.

I can do that too. "com" is short for communications or communicator "prom" is that thing kids do when they pretend they're all grown up and show off "ise" is a mispelling of "ice" which is frozen water So, "compromise" is actually supposed to be about "talking about dances on ice", maybe Snoopy on Ice or Disney on Ice, I don't know. Now how that came to mean "give up your principles", I really don't know. Seriously, if you think you have to give up your principles to compromise, you're not doing something right. There is no compromise in government now because everyone has hunkered down into their "principles" (those they are told to have)and uses them as an excuse to keep from doing what's right or what needs to be done. Our Founding Fathers found ways to get it done despite bitter disagreement so our politicians must be too stupid today to get'er done. They lack accountability by hiding behind giant multi-policy Bills and group together as Parties instead of individual representatives trying to do good. When a Bill comes up sponsored by one Party, that Party will vote as a group on it with the other Party opposing, not because everyone in that Party really believes in their vote but because they were told to vote that way. Party unity has become more important than representing their constituents. For their loyalty they are usually rewarded with a morsel for their district or state so essentially they are "paid off" for those votes. Decent capitalism move but bad for compromise. Blackmail, extortion and bribery are not compromise. Principles won't be given up for compromise, they'll be given up for these three sins. Personal principles have given way to Party principles and it is this evil which needs to be broken up to free the way for compromise. As you say "It's EACH Senator and Representative's job . . ." (emphasis added). Each, as individuals, not each Party's responsibility. Compromise is possible, and not evil like you make it sound, once the decisions are down to the human level. Sorry so rambling. I should get some sleep.

Compromise? Does compromise still exist in the House or Senate? I sure haven't seen any coming from the right side of the aisle in recent years! How I long for the days when our political leaders really HAD principles and CARED about their country and their constituents. These days it seems like we have a bunch of two year old kids in Washington like Eric Cantor who threatens to take his ball and go home if he doesn't get everything his way. I'm really not sure what the voters expect or want from their elected officials these days; I mean, should they keep every single campaign promise no matter what the cost? Should they wet their finger and hold it in the wind and vote according to what the latest polls tell them? Or should they vote their own conscience even if it's not what their constituents are telling them? I guess the answer could be "any of the above" depending on the individual voter but I don't think many voters want their Senators or member of Congress to act the way some of them have been acting lately, do you? Annie

I wish our leaders would learn the true meaning of compromise. If they did, we would all benefit from such a positive change in leadership style. I agree with you completely.

An excellent analysis and question, my dear. And, "therein lies the rub". Anything worth doing must be based on sound and strong principle, and too many in Congress have not an inkling of what "soundness" or "rightness" or "truth, equity, justice" are. They don't even understand what the word "principle" means, because it is a spiritually based term based on moral truths, good and evil. Add to that, our country was founded on strong, good principles, and these have been thrown out, even to the shredding of our foundational truth, the Constitution. Those who have been raised under relativism and secularism can only operate out of what is purported to be "rational self-interest". Add to that the "it's all about me" selfishness many have adopted, the easily bought and sold lobby-isms that we choose to live under, the lack of a universal and unifying morality based on principle, and the complete divorce of both politics and law from morality; now we have a hodge-podge "tower of babel" pandemonium condition. Do you know of any "politicians" who keep their "promise" after speaking "with forked-tongue'? Because of this, today's "art of the deal" is based on greed, power-mongering, manipulation through deception (pork, earmarks, etc.)and total lack of unification of purpose for the common good and welfare. And so, "principle be confounded and damned." When you hear today's socialist/liberals scream for "bipartisanship", it really means ,"you give, I take". Thus, the only thing that is compromised is, indeed, Principle.