Spacehunter wrote:
Your lack of middle ground is going to be the end of you.
I don't agree. I think it is the middle ground which is proving to be the end of us.
Really, any internally consistent policy, left or right or whatever, would be fine. The problem is we don't have that, instead every bill on every topic (and not just the budget) is some sort of status quo, lowest-common-denominator compromise that has no real vision or goal, it just contains what everyone can agree on. So problems don't get solved.
Historically, a lack of watered-down compromise has been one of the strengths of American government. It's why our government has endured longer than any other government in the world except that of the British - because of strong executive power making cohesive visions a reality, and the excellent job the Senate subcommittees have done dealing with problems. To this day, nothing is more fearsome than being called before a Senate subcomittee. That's good government.
Unfortunately, this is beginning to change. Everyone's got an angle and it seems only bad policies can find enough consensus to become a reality.