Late Saturday night the Senate passed a controversial $1.1 trillion spending bill that avoided a government shutdown.

This bill was a bipartisan compromise, something that is very rare in partisan Washington. It’s very rare that we see President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid work together.

Another rare occurrence was the bipartisan opposition from progressive Democrats (Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Nancy Pelosi) and Tea Party Republicans (Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Michele Bachmann). The progressives were mad that the bill loosens campaign finance law and Wall Street bank regulations. Tea Party members were upset it didn’t defund Obama’s illegal amnesty and Obamacare.

The “CRomnibus” passed with a 56-40 vote in the Senate and 219-206 in the House. Our own delegation, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Al Franken and Rep. Tim Walz, voted against it.

My message to them is that with compromise, you don’t get everything you want. It’s the nature of divided government. Voting to hold the government hostage is always wrong no matter who is doing it.

In order for compromise to work, both parties need to meet in the middle. Not just Democrats, but Republicans, too. I get annoyed when Tea Party members accuse moderate Republicans, like myself of being RINOs (Republican In Name Only) whenever compromise is made. We are a nation built on the idea of compromise and these next two years will be very hard if both sides don’t embrace it.

 

Spencer Robert Krier

Glenville