Ed Kilgore, managing editor of The Democratic Strategist, looks at why bipartisanship will not play a role over the next two years and says, “this state of affairs has largely been caused by disagreements over principle, rather than gamesmanship or hunger for power.”
The truth is that, due to the ideological sorting-out of the parties over the past several decades–and in particular the hyper-radicalization of the GOP since 2006–our political system is in the throes of a battle over fundamentals. Democrats and Republicans are engaged in the most intractable face-off over core philosophical questions that Washington has seen in a very long time.
The four issues Kilgore looks at are Economic Recovery, Progressive Taxation, and American Exceptionalism. Kilgore gives a good example of an impass and how Obama and Congress will not be able to proceed.
. . . the parties are not as far apart philosophically on this issue [long-term budget deficit] as on the four questions above; both conservatives and liberals acknowledge the harm of accumulating long-term debt. But, while conservatives are positively disposed toward entitlement cuts, any deficit deal will be a fantasy if it does not include tax increases–and those are anathema to conservatives. The alternative is a budget that cuts entitlements so far that rank-and-file Democrats will never agree to it.
The whole post is just over 1,000 words and well your time to read.