I think this is supposed to be reassuring or comforting or some other touchy-feely nonsense, but it bothers me that so many of my fellow citizens put such a premium on "cooperating" to "get things done":
Americans overwhelmingly welcomed the flurry of lawmaking between the lame-duck Congress and President Obama last month -- but they're hedging their bets on whether the duck keeps quacking.
Seventy-seven percent in this ABC News/Yahoo! News poll say it was good for Obama and Congress to agree to lame-duck legislation on tax cuts, unemployment benefits, gays in the military, the START treaty and aid to 9/11 responders. That includes majorities across the spectrum -- 91 percent of Democrats, 79 percent of independents and 62 percent of Republicans.
Valuing compromise and bipartisanship over what actually is accomplished is nothing more than tacit endorsement of bigger and costlier government. The sort of people who are OK with, for example, tax cuts for "the rich" aren't crazy about extending unemployment benefits, but 77 percent overall welcomed the "flurry of lawmaking" -- a flurry that will add about $1 trillion to the already monstrous federal debt. That says to me not to expect the support we hope for (tea party enthusiasms notwithstanding) when and if they get around to making the really tough decisions on entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare.
