Its a war that will never end!

I really like paying attention to United States politics. Its fun to notice shifts in opinion, changes in thought and how people react to that. Its also so petty and childish it makes middle school drama look like a upgrade. Yet I like it. In political thought I am more attracted to is reasoned opinion based on facts and the social good than hyper partisanship, anger and fear. I appreciate respectful discussion of the topics with attention to understanding the other side. For instance, I actually allocate time researching differing opinions. I do this because its fun to know what and how people think about things. You can’t really understand someone without understanding motivation, background and history. People rarely make choices that are not based on who they are, where they come from and current social group. Then again, I think its important to understand who you are and where you came from because it helps you know yourself. I guess this isn’t really a post about that, but I do apply this sentiment to people and politics as well. If you understand someone it also helps so your don’t demonize them. You realize they come to beliefs in much the same way as you even though they believe differently. I guess put another way is that its hard to make someone out to be the devil if they have many similarities to you.

That said, this post isn’t really about that. Its about a trend ive noticed lately in politics in the United States. Ill explain the trend by describing how ive viewed the last 10+ years of the political system in the United States.

* Bill Clinton is in office and does a few things people don’t like. He is a Democrat. He commits a few morally dubious acts and gets slapped for it politically.
* George Bush gets elected because he isn’t Bill Clinton and runs on a platform of not being Bill Clinton. He gets elected because is isn’t Bill Clinton and is Bill Clintons “moral opposite.” He runs on a platform of changing the Washington Bill Clinton created.
* During George Bush’s tenure he is very unpopular in certain political groups because of his stances on the war in Iraq. His party receives huge losses to the Democrat party because Democrats are not Republicans. After the sweeping election for the Democrats the Democrats change no significant war policy.
* George Bush leaves office largely unpopular. He is unpopular because of his policies regarding several wars, constitutional stances & more.
* Barack Obama is elected because he isn’t George Bush. He runs on a platform of not being George Bush. He gets elected because he isn’t George Bush and is George Bush’s “political opposite.” He runs on a platform of changing the Washington George Bush created.

I am going to now divine the future here folks:

* During Obama’s tenure he is unpopular in certain political groups because of the inherited poor fiscal US situation. His party receives huge losses to the Republican party because Republicans are not Democrats. After the sweeping election for the Republicans the Republicans change no significant fiscal policy.

/end divination

My charge is that the impending sweeping victories for Republicans will not impact fiscal policy in any significant way. The reason why the is because of the reason the Democrats didn’t change any significant war policy in the United States. Lets match it up some to illustrate my point.

* Democrats claimed if they were elected they would end the Iraq war. Clearly accountability would come to Washington. They tried to tie the presidents hands to a timetable through the laws they passed financing the war the Republicans and Democrats did not attempt to pay for. They conveniently forgot the president has the ability to veto laws he doesn’t like. The president vetoed every attempt to do this while painting Democrats as not supporting the troops. The Democrats caved in to the presidents position. In the end they brought no change to the current war policy.

* Republicans will claim if they are elected they will bring us out of the poor fiscal position we are in. Clearly “fiscal conservatism” will return to Washington. In one such action will attempt to amend Health Care legislation or repeal it. They will conveniently forget they need 60 votes to repeal due to a Democrat filibuster. A super majority they will not have. If by some chance they have a super majority they will conveniently forget Obama will veto the repeal. They will attempt to amend the current health care bill. They will conveniently forget the president will veto every attempt to do that while painting the Republicans as people that do not support positive health care change in America. They will eventually sign all bills funding everything that comes to them. The Republicans will cave in to the presidents position. In the end they will bring no change to Obama’s fiscal policy.

Im not sure if Republican politicians forget how stuff works or if they are simply being optimistic. That said, understanding what it takes to repeal something OR that passing a law requires a presidential signature seems like, you know, important to understand. Im not saying being fiscally responsible is bad, its great id love us to get back to that. Its just that the Republicans sweeping wins will change nothing in the way of that.

But I want to break it down to a more basic level for you:

* Political party A gets elected running on a platform of anti political party B. Political party A claims they are the party of the people and that political party B doesn’t listen.
* Political party A screws stuff up with political party B. Political party B blames it wholesale on political party A. Political party B claims political party A doesn’t listen. Political party A yells and moans political party B are obstructionists.
* Political party B gets elected running on a platform of anti political party A. Political party B claims they are the party of the people and that political party A doesn’t listen.
* Political party B screws stuff up with political party A. Political party A blames it wholesale on political party B. Political party A claims political party B doesn’t listen to the people. Political party B yells and moans political party A are obstructionists.
* Rinse, repeat.