The Hill News

Over the past many weeks Americans have witnessed the spectacle of a broken government. Deeply divided over economic policy, the two parties failed to reach a debt ceiling compromise. Their unseemly dialogue was less a negotiation than heated restatements of opposing positions. With members posturing for their respective constituencies, the intellectual energy needed to achieve a result acceptable to both sides dissipated in heated rhetoric. It remains to be seen whether Congress will accept the deal its leaders concluded on Sunday with the White House.

None of this is to deny the policy differences that define the two parties. Republicans want a smaller government with less regulation and heavy curbs on government spending. They believe that tax increases stifle job creation. Democrats want a strong government that invests for growth, regulates business and offers a social safety net. They would attack the budget deficit with both spending cuts and revenue i! ncreases. 

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