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Political ideologues need to learn to compromise

It amazes me how many liberals see President Obama as too conservative and how many conservatives see the president as too liberal. As usual, chances are the truth lies somewhere between the two extremes, and therein lies the problem. Typically the most vocal among us are those whom describe themselves as being on the far end of the political spectrum in one direction or another, not to mention they are typically the most involved and most likely to vote as well. It's no wonder Congress is drifting increasingly further apart as far as ideology goes. The problem is that most people classify themselves as moderate and the more moderate members of Congress we have, the more likely we are to see things get accomplished in Washington and elsewhere in the country. Also, while I realize everyone has their "ideal" image of America, we also have to realize that, no matter how liberal or conservative we may be, in order to try and move closer to that vision of America, we have to make sacrifices. Both sides can't continue to have this all or nothing mentality, because when that takes place, the latter happens - nothing.

As I've mentioned previously, I look at Congress like I do a marriage. If both the wife and the husband refuse to make sacrifices for one another, it's going to wind up being a very short-lived marriage. In order to make things work long-term, the two need to learn how to compromise with one another, meet half way, and make sacrifices. Sure, the husband may not want to help clean the house in preparation for the in-laws to stay over the weekend and the wife may not want to see a particular movie the husband has had his heart set on since seeing the trailer for it two months prior, but as Mick Jagger once sang, "You can't always get what you want," and in order to move a relationship of any kind forward, we have to be willing to make sacrifices. Congress and far-left liberals and far-right conservatives need to understand this. I definitely classify myself as a liberal or a progressive and while I'd love to see my ideal vision of American come to fruition, I know that's not going to be possible without making compromises. And for far-left liberals whom want to call me a traitor or of being weak, I only have this to say - Obamacare. Was it what we ideally pictured for our long-awaited healthcare reform law? No. But was it a step in the right direction and are we closer today to our ideal vision of healthcare in this country because we made sacrifices in order to get that bill passed and signed? Yes. It's fine for political ideologues to be stubborn to a certain extent. However, when that stubbornness impedes on making actual progress in this country because we're dissatisfied with the level of progress we're making, that's shameful. For as much as we'd like go from step 1 to step 50 with the signing of a single bill, we have to be mindful that without step 1, there is no step 2.

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