Reader Response (posted by DT)

I love and crave reader responses! This came from one of my loyal readers:

You propagate a fundamental problem in political discourse. It’s not ‘us’ vs. ‘them,’ democrats vs. republicans, or liberals vs. conservatives. Serious discussion about the issues we face should not be reduced to, or portrayed in terms of, which team is gaining or losing points. It drives me crazy how all the major media outlets focus on the two teams – three if you count Tea Party and four if you throw in Blue Dogs – and which is winning or losing ground as we march toward the next round of elections.

If party leaders were more tolerant of independent thinkers within their party, if lawmakers were more willing to follow their beliefs on individual issues, and if the media focused on the issues themselves without always resorting to the implications on political gamesmanship, we might actually be able to get things done. As it stands, status quo will endure indefinitely.

I think this is a fair point, and I certainly agree that the media's focus on "horse race" politics is a huge part of the problem in our political discourse.

But we need to understand that liberals and conservatives have fundamentally different views about what our country should look like and stand for. The conservatives I know mostly seem to believe that taxes must be lowered no matter what, and spending slashed accordingly, so that the Free Market can bring prosperity to all. If you believe that tax relief is the #1 priority, then you can legitimately be against any national health care because, frankly, it will cost money. One of my problems with conservatives right now is it's not realistic to be against any tax increases whatsoever while being simultaneously against a large government deficit, unless you have lots of enormous cuts in spending, including on Medicare. I guess a conservative arguing this point would say that tax cuts will spur so much growth that government revenue will increase to compensate and pull us out of the hole.

As a liberal, on the other hand, I see justice as a primary goal, more important than tax cuts. I believe that government, while not particularly efficient, is still capable of solving problems and improving the lives of its citizens. That's why I'm in favor of government action to improve health care and make sure it's provided for all citizens.

These two views are in conflict, as they should be. Arguing the philosophies above isn't very productive, because it comes down to our sense of right and wrong. But we can certainly argue about which policy inspired by each side would be more effective in solving each problem. It's pretty clear that the free market is the best way to manufacture consumer goods like washing machines and cars, and provide entertainment like movies and TV shows, along with tons of other stuff. It's clear that the government is best at providing police and fire department protection and staffing agencies to protect abused children. For everything in between, we should be arguing what works better.

That's not "us vs. them"; it's a serious discussion about which policies we should all be supporting. I make no apologies for my view that liberal policies are better for more people; that's why I'm arguing so hard for them.