Compromise Begets Mediocrity

Some politicians champion compromise as a virtue. Senator John Magoo (R-AZ) comes to mind hailing himself as a maverick who compromises his conservative principles (if he indeed has any) to accommodate the likes of the former Senator Ted Kennedy.

But is compromise all that it is cracked up to be? Not at all; compromise begets mediocrity. The best one could ever hope for when a compromise is reached is average, but the results are usually below average.

There is a notable exception to compromise, which the Democrats have successfully exploited because they have a long-term plan; unlike Republicans like Senator Magoo who compromises to show how magnanimous he is.

Let's examine compromise in a practical example:

First, pretend that you are a liberal, progressive Democrat. I know how creepy, repulsive, gag-in-the-mouth it is pretending you are a liberal Democrat, but it's necessary for the greater good. As a liberal, progressive Democrat you want everybody but yourself to have government controlled, nationalized, public option health care plan.

Second, as an intelligent, conservative American with sound principles and common sense, you want a health care plan that provides the best health care in the world (like 85% of us already have) to be available to all who want it, where you don't have to wait in long lines (which we also have except in the emergency room because of illegal aliens), where you can talk to your doctor and make your own decisions along with your doctor and your family (not the government), and without the government deciding that you are no longer worth spending money on to see a doctor. That's basically what we have now for 85% of legal Americans. You recognize that there are some problems with the current system, but most of the problems are the result of 133,000 pages of regulations currently in the Federal Register. These problems can be fixed without completely overhauling a health care system that most (85%) people are pretty satisfied with.

If you are Senator John Magoo you might blurt out at a town hall meeting without thinking that "what we need to do is work with the Democrats to find a compromise on health care reform." Well, if the Senator does that what might the result be?

First, one might conclude that some of the things you like about your current health care plan will go away, because the good Senator from AZ will have to give up something. So now 85% of us are a little less happy with the health care we have than we are now.

Second, you might also conclude that some sort of government option, such as the public option, health care co-ops, or a "trigger" might be included by the other side. But don't worry, it's 'just in case.' And, of course, being a compromisor Senator Magoo goes along with it. Now 85% of us happy Americans are just a little less happier than we were before.

Now, remember that the long-term plan the Democrats have. They just got part, a big part, of what they want. They know that all they have to do is sit back, wait, then come back to the table later to carve out another piece of the pie from their original plan. Compromise is good for them, because they don't give up anything; they keep picking away at the public option, or whatever their progressive agenda calls for them to do.

The Republicans on the other hand skip off into lala-land thinking how great they are, and that they won a big victory by making the Democrats compromise. All the while not having a clue that they, the Republicans, just eroded a little bit more of our freedom.

And what did we get? A government health care plan that 85% of the people are lot less happy with because the government is now involved with our health care decision-making, that really cost more than what we previously had because not only do you now pay for your government health insurance, but your taxes have gone up to pay for the inevitable deficit, the fraud and abuse, and to pay off all of the special interest on both sides of the aisle.

Compromise is not inevitable; it is a cop-out!

Live free or die at the hands of the government.