You get the picture...

Meet Joe, he wants to lower taxes, increase defense spending, cut entitlements, starve the government in a bath tub (Grover Norquist), protect your ability to own a semi automatic rifle, treat corporations as people, doesn't think elections can be corrupted by money, does not believe in climate change, thinks banks are over regulated, wants to repeal Obamacare, does not want to extend unemployment insurance, ... you get the picture.

Meet Mark, he thinks taxes should be fair, that our defense system should be strong, and that our entitlements should not burden future generations He believes that our government is way too big (largest employer in the country), believes in our Constitution and will help uphold it even if he may disagree with portions of it at times. He thinks that courts should not get to pick and choose when corporations are treated as people, and agrees that elections can be corrupted by money but not $5200 at a time. He thinks climate is changing and it always has, but is just not convinced the proposed methods for effecting change will work (97% of scientists, do not agree on how to solve the problem). He thinks our current system of regulation is ludicrous. Dodd-Frank has resulted in over 14000 pages of regulations and all that seems to have changed is that there will be a greater need for lawyers and accountants for years to come. He wants a system of health care that works and thinks there isn't proof that Obamacare does, he is worried before long Obamacare will become like every other entitlement program that we can never change. He is all for extending unemployment insurance but wants the extension to be meaningful and actually work, more importantly he thinks we need to fix unemployment not unemployment insurance, ... you get the picture.

It is easy to hate Joe and even outright ignore him. I may disagree with the Mark, but can certainly have a real conversation with him. All too often our politics have become a team sport (as I have mentioned before) and we don't have intelligent conversations. Instead, we reduce the thoughts of an intelligent person we disagree with, to punchlines. To make progress we need to treat each other with respect and have discussions about: what does fair mean in terms of taxes, how strong is strong enough, how do we balance future versus present needs, how the government can be more efficient... you get the picture.