Jeff, I believe that compromise used to be the way things worked. However, starting in 2009, when Mcconnell and Ryan got together and made their stated goal to make Obama a one term president they threw compromise to the wind. Anything Obama wanted, they had to oppose. Hence Obamacare, a Republican plan created by the American Enterprise Institute and formerly known as Romneycare, became bad. The debt ceiling, raised routinely under Reagan Bush et al, became a partisan wedge. Republicans wouldn't even allow Obama to fill judge positions of all kinds. I agree with you 100% that the parties need to compromise, but 1 of the parties stopped doing so. I believe it is the divide in the Republican party between the establishment wing and the tea party wing that paralyzes compromise. Establishment Repubs are reluctant to compromise lest they raise up the tea party to primary challenge them.