Political system flawed

By: STEVEN GOODMAN – COLUMNIST, SOPHOMORE

“In a recent victory for” Obama or Republicans, or Democrats or (insert political figure/group here) is how many news stories revolving around our government seem to begin.

Anything that happens in Congress, regarding legislation, is weighed as either a victory or a devastating loss.
Personally, I don’t care if legislation is an accomplishment for a political group. I care about how it affects me as an American citizen.

Bills are often so long and complex that it can never wholly be called Democrat or Republican. The main idea of a bill might be given these labels, but it would be nearly impossible to pass a bill that had zero compromise to be found.

Sure there’s the spectrum ranging from liberal to conservative, a line on which all political groups fall, but there are many subgroups. The Tea Party, Green Party, Constitution Party, Pirate Party (yes, really), and Reform Party, just to name a few, are some political groups that rarely see the light of day – the only exception being the Tea Party. To me, legislation labeled as Democrat or Republican shows our politics are far too black and white.

Currently, there are two independents in the Senate, which just shows how rare it is for members who do not identify with the two well-known parties to reach any high level of government. I think it’s time that changes. We need more moderate ideologies instead of such radical ones. If you’ve watched the news in the past few years, you know how hot the issue of compromise is and what happens when there is none (think government shutdowns).

We should move from black and white government to, what I like to think of, as a more tie-dye government: not black and white, but also not many colors blocked together, instead a random mixture of people from all colors of politics. The only way to do that is to start paying attention to those who do not identify as Republican or Democrat and realize that they can do just as good of a job, if not better.