> Back in the 1980s I saw Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill as honorable people who fought hard for opposing views but could also come together and compromise and i

> Back in the 1980s I saw Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill as honorable people who fought hard for opposing views but could also come together and compromise and it just doesn't seem that way today. Yeah. Up until that point both parties occasionally played hardball, but compromised and made deals to get legislation passed. Afterwards, starting with Gingrich's "Contract with America" one party made "no compromise" a core value to rally the "base" and get them to the polls. Centrist Democrats kept compromising for a while to bring the GOP to the table, but eventually wised up that the goalposts kept being moved and started digging in their own heels. But it is worth noting that as a result of GOP brinksmanship today's Democratic party is largely to the right of Nixon, and Obama and Biden are to the right of Reagan.