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While playing with my two boys recently, I realized why the U.S. elects a national Republican Government more often than not.  When my youngest doesn’t get his way playing in the backyard he throws a fit and holds up the game until his older brother or I cave in and he gets his way.  Usually, I will just tell him ”tough” and end the game. But sometimes I must admit due to the enjoyment of playing the game and the time it can take to set up, the desire for peace wins out over justice. Unfortunately, caving only emboldens my five year old to choose chaos over compromise.

I notice this same approach seems to work for the Republican party. If it doesn’t get its way and win power, they go into full suck mode and will go against any move that might make the governing Democrats look good. Even if that means going against what is in the best interest of the country. That is of no concern to them.  The only thing that does matter is getting back in power. If that means following  their scorched earth playbook to the end – so be it.

Look at this debt crisis – the Democrats under Obama – put entitlement spending on the block,  and came off their position for the good of the country.  The Republicans wouldn’t even budge on tax reform to close loopholes in a tax system that all parties agree, is out dated, unfair, and inefficient. It is clear they wanted no deal – they wanted Rome to burn.  Now with the S&P downgrade – its burning baby.  Republicans are like the back -up quarterback who is thrilled to watch his team’s offense tank under the first stringer, hoping it gets him off the bench.  

It pains me to paint all Republicans with this negative brush, but I am still waiting for a sane member of that party to break ranks for the good of their country.  I respect discipline, but destructive stubbornness is a whole other matter.  Every prudent observer has urged that a balanced approach is needed for the U.S. to solve its fiscal mess.  The tax levels in that country are low – really low. The United States is one of the least-taxed countries in the developed world. They pay much lower taxes than any other G7 country. You don’t have to give up your Conservative principles to see that balance has been lost. You do however have to believe that government still plays an important role in a democractic, progressive society.

Now the G.O.P. has made a scene and stopped the game and everyone is taking notice.  But don’t expect Republicans to be punished in 2012. Most of the American public sees their nonsense for what it is, but lacks the will to punish them because they want to get back to playing the”game” of getting the economy back on track. That means putting the Democrats where they usually sit as the as the reasonable opposition who when push comes to shove will do what is best for the country.

It isn’t the fair thing to do, but unless the American public makes a sharp left turn ideologically – it is how the U.S. may eventually move forward from this mess.

A system of checks and balances only works with reasonable elected officials who have the country’s best interest at heart. If that has now become an antiquated notion, than so are two year election cycles.

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