Rogerian Argument Against Bipartisan Squabbling

Rogerian Argument Against Bipartisan Squabbling

"Our Founding Fathers intended no parties when they created this institution," yet the current political environment is plagued by bipartisan squabbles and discontent (Dingell 2011). Extreme bipartisanship creates a huge divide that makes the political process less effective and is thus only hurting the American people. Both parties refuse to work with one another, causing more chaos within the political environment than collaboration. The extreme degrees of bipartisanship rivalry seen in government practice today are only causing the stagnation of any potential progress the American people are trying to invoke.

Many within each party, both Republican and Democrat believe that their view is best. This is what is expressed in Brock et al.'s article "GOP Ideals Unite, Not Divide," which presents a convincing argument, but yet one which still tends to miss the mark. The Republican Party is held together by "fundamental values" and therefore aims to work towards a progressive future for this country. Yet, this view often spurs the misconception that the Democrats are essentially failing to provide the success they had previously promised voters. Here, the Republican voice suggests that "a Democratic majority in the Senate has led our country in the wrong direction -- to unprecedented budget deficits, an exploding national debt and rising gas prices, while failing to address the tragedy of never-ending unemployment and declining housing values," (Brock et al. 2012). This voice then tends to turn to demanding that the only solution is a Republican majority to pick up where the Democrats are supposedly sacking off. Moreover, this point-of-view focuses on believing that winning is everything, "The point is to win elections, not to enthuse about lost causes" (Brock et al. 2012). Yes, winning is important to guaranteeing successful change, yet it should not always be the primary focus of political efforts.

Personally, I see this as a very combative solution. After all, winning is not the most important element, protecting the rights and livelihood of the American people are much more pertinent in today's volatile economic environment. Such a mentality is unintentionally directing the efforts of Republicans in a war like fury to be victorious over the Democratic enemy, rather than helping the situation through efficient execution of strategy. In this tangent, many may loose concern for putting effort into real solutions because their mindsets are in a war-like state. Here, Brock et al. even states that "a dismal economy" looks more like a "clear opportunity" during a competitive campaign environment than a serious issue that is plaguing millions of American (Brock et al. 2012). The divide between Democrats and Republicans creates a situation where the party rarely agrees on things. Thus, the current political environment witnesses more disunity than uniformity. This comes in a situation" with Republicans as diverse as Jacob Javits and Jesse Helms" are only united on the fight against the Democrats, thus making anything the Democrats want to pass extremely difficult ( Brock et al. 2012).

Essentially, Democrats are not failing. Their efforts have often just been hindered by the extreme degree of bipartisan rivalries occurring within the top tiers of government.

Deficit began quite a while before the Democrats had a majority hold onto government. The events were already in motion when the Obama Administration took hold, yet it was the extreme bipartisan rivalries that followed his election that created a situation where little could be done to address the growing deficit and debt. In fact, the Democratic led administration has spent much effort on addressing unemployment

American Recover and Reinvestment Act were passed in 2009 to help open up thousands of jobs for unemployed Americans. Essentially, "it is an unprecedented effort to jumpstart our economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put in a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so our country can thrive in the 21st century," (National Telecommunications and Information Administration 2012). The Acts are aiming to help the economy recover and reduce the rising unemployment rate through temporary government sponsored projects employing thousand throughout the country to work on the necessary task of maintaining and improving the country's infrastructure.

$7.9 billion "to create and save jobs" (National Telecommunications and Information Administration 2012). This does show that the Democratically led government is not completely ignoring the issue of unemployment. Moreover, the administration has focused on producing programs that help secure housing assistance for millions of Americans. The Democratic dominated government has been able to create some strategies trying to address the housing crisis, despite the handicap of being limited by those Republicans voting against potential solutions simply because they originated in a Democratic camp. The Making Home Affordable Program "is a critical part of the Obama Administration's broad strategy to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, stabilize the country's housing market, and improve the nation's economy" (Departments of the Treasury & Housing & Urban Development 2012). Efforts under the program aim to lower homeowner payments and get to more stable loan rates those current homeowners can deal with. The legislation is also focusing on providing some financial relief to homeowners who have lost their jobs so that they do not loose their homes while in the process of securing another position elsewhere (Departments of the Treasury & Housing & Urban Development 2012). So, it is apparent that the Democrats are trying to address the more serious issues faced by the American public today.

Yet, it is the Republican Party has often stood in the way of pursuing progress. Progress has been slow and frustrating, often because of miscommunication and parties not willing to work with one another. Even according to Brock et al., "this will be the third year in a row that the Senate has not passed a congressional budget resolution," yet this is partly because of an ongoing bipartisan conflict that often influences Republican officials to vote against Democratic initiatives simply because of party differences (Brock et al. 2012). This is only creating serious issues that the rest of the American public then have to deal with on a daily basis. Another article shows that "Congress put off its duties until the eleventh hour in favor of partisan squabbling and stubborn political games" (Dingell 2011). This conflict is keeping the political system stuck, and therefore unable to make real effective changes.