Bipartisanship Is Dead
In 1787, our leaders had a problem. The Constitutional Convention was under way that summer and the states could not come up with a solution to how the people would be represented in Congress. Delegates from larger states like Virginia wanted Congressional representation based upon population, while smaller states like New Jersey wanted each state to have equal representation. There was a high risk that this issue would end the Convention in a stalemate, potentially destroying the effort to strengthen and solidify the federal government into the United States of America.
The eminent statesman Roger Sherman suggested perhaps the greatest compromise in the history of the Republic: we shall have two bodies in Congress, one based on population and the other equal representation for each state. Thus, the House of Representatives and the Senate were born. The monumental impact this compromise has had on the country even to this day can not be measured. It was the birth of bipartisanship in America.
That word - bipartisanship - is now a dirty word in many political circles. We have become so divided in our politics that any mention of the “other” party is met with deep and heartfelt disgust and cynicism. You only need to read the words “libtard” or “MAGAt” so many times on X before you become numb to the mudslinging. When I encounter it on social media, it usually ends the meeting for me. Not because I can’t take a little name-calling, but because it is very important that we raise the level of discourse in #theCountry.
We need to focus instead on Compromise with a capital C. The sort of compromise that saved the Constitutional Convention is needed now almost as much as then. We face major challenges in this country and the status quo will not sufficiently lead us forward. We must find ways to seek common ground, and accept that our way or the high way is no way to govern a thriving, technology-driven Republic of three hundred and thirty million souls.
And the truth is that the vast majority of Americans can agree on fundamental outcomes that would benefit every one in #theCountry. We want clean air to breath and clean water to drink. We want to provide the most efficient sources of energy that can fuel our economy and innovation, while making sure they don’t overpollute our beautiful world. We want our economy to provide good paying jobs for every American and encourage small businesses to grow and innovate. We want to be free of foreign wars and entanglements that do not serve the interests of the American people. We want to promote peace and prosperity in this country and around the world. We want top-notch healthcare at reasonable costs. We want the best education for our children without saddling any one with crushing debt. We want our leaders in Washington (both elected and career) to forgo greed and corruption to focus on what is best for the American people. We want clean, safe city streets free of crime and open drug markets. We want to take care of our homeless and mentally ill struggling to live in a society that has left them behind. We want a pragmatic immigration policy that selects and promotes the best candidates for migration to America. We want to end forever wars and bring most of our troops home to protect the homeland, while protecting our interests abroad. We want to restore and protect the Bill of Rights and to encourage personal authority and responsibility.
Can any one disagree significantly with any of those assertions? I really doubt it. The difference between us is solely the methods to achieve these goals. These are man-made problems and we can undo our foolishness to solve them. And no one - not one political leader or party or faction - owns the answer. Every single person will need to compromise some of their beliefs in order for this country to achieve these goals.
So how do we do it? A few suggestions:
War and Foreign Policy: Both parties are now responsible for forever wars that have precious little benefit for the American people, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine. We must return to the Constitutional War Powers regime where only Congress can declare war. Imagine what the American people could have accomplished with the $21T we spent on the War on Terror. The President must seek permission from the American people’s representatives. And no deals should be struck with foreign countries without consultation with Congress through the Constitutional authority to ratify treaties.
Balanced Budget Amendment: Our current budget and economy are unsustainable. We are starting to see the long term effects of huge deficit spending in the form of uncontrolled price increases. The interest on the debt will be close to $600B per year and this will start to squeeze out any possibility of spending on projects to help Americans. The only way out otherwise is the Fed’s continued devaluation of the dollar, which makes all hard working Americans wages and savings worth less. The squeeze is real.
Healthcare: Our current healthcare system is likewise unsustainable. The left in America wants Medicare for All. The right wants a freer, market-based system. We should pursue both. The issue with health “insurance” in America is that most of it is not insurance at all, but a pre-payment for goods and services. Think of it - other insurance policies pay out an indemnity when certain things occur - you are in a car accident or your roof is lost in a tornado or your home floods in a hurricane. These are all random events that, while foreseeable, are highly unlikely to occur for any one person and the costs are not affordable at the individual level. This is why we buy insurance - for these financial emergencies. Let us similarly create a national plan for catastrophic and major heath events (emergency room, disease, cancer, surgery, etc.) and return the rest to a free market. Doctors, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and routine services (x-rays, labs, etc.) should be returned to a free market pressures, where competition will force down costs and encourage innovation. We must also decouple government regulators from for-profit corporations and hold big Pharma and others to account. But what would happen if Amazon or Walmart were able to compete in these markets with less regulation?
Immigration: No one can spend any time reading about the crisis at our border and subsequently our major cities and not see that we must restore law and order along the US-Mexico line. We should build the wall and stop migrants crossing illegally. We must at the same time, reform our entire immigration system to select the best and brightest hopefuls to join us in the American experiment and expect those people selected to accomplish certain baseline criteria: get a job that keeps you off of welfare programs, learn to read and write English and pass the Citizenship test. It should be a challenge to get into America and join us as a citizen that only dedicated individuals complete.
Fixing these four major issues would not only go a long way to improving every Americans’ life, the hard work involved in getting this accomplished will be a frame work for future success.
Can you agree to these compromises? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.