Originally published on January 14, 2011
In a Dec 19 column, The Bipartisanship Racket, Frank Rich highlights precisely what is needed to bridge the divide between the hyperpartisan right and left; a common enemy. That enemy is the process in which, “both parties are bought off by special interests who game the system and stack it against the rest of us.” Can’t all sides agree that when organizations use lobbyists to bend the rules in their favor, it is not in the national interest? The problem is that the right and left see the rule-bending in different places. The left sees it in the tax policies and regulations that favor major corporations at the expense of the average worker. The right sees it in the policies that favor labor union workers at the expense of consumers and taxpayers. The left sees it in our defense policies. The right sees it in our environmental and immigration policies. The trick is to get both sides to agree that rule-bending and gaming the system is equally inappropriate for every special interest that uses it … even when it’s a special interest that you support!
