What do you find the most frustrating about the opposing political party?

What frustrates me most about both parties is their inability to put aside their differences long enough to pass legislation that both parties substantially agree upon. They are so worried about scoring points off each other, neither side will give anything in order to get some of what they want.

I am a registered independant.

They’re both too damn conservative.

What @Seek_Kolinahr said. The 2 party system is a joke.

They both want to—and do, when given the chance—grow the government, but in their own chosen directions. Unfortunately, when a new Administration takes over from an old one, they don’t go back to the “pre-former Administration” days, but adopt the starting point as a new baseline and grow from there.

I’m a huge fan of divided and mostly paralyzed government. When the two parties agree on something, it’s nearly always the wrong thing.

When any party makes decisions for the wrong (religious) reasons. People thinking god chose our country to be the best or whatever, feeling that only a person of a certain faith can make the right decisions, basing legislation off of uninformed emotional opinions (abortion). A few weeks ago this lady had the audacity to ask obama his religion as if it even mattered. Everyone knows why she asked the damn question. Of all the questions she could have asked, she asked the two questions that did not matter at all.

I would take politicians more serious if they weren’t so damn religious. You want to solve economic problems your way? Fine. But don’t put securing ‘traditional marriage’ at the top of your list…..what the hell is wrong with you?

The Dems seem to want to be my coddling, overbearing mother and the Reps seem to want to be my stern, punitive father. I’d love to see a legitimate political party that would treat me like an adult.

Semantics aside, I don’t like the Democrats’ economic policies and nanny-statism, and I don’t like the Republican’s creepy obsession with who I’m putting my dick in or whether Mary Sue still has her fetus or not.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard :: “The Dems seem to want to be my coddling, overbearing mother”

I’m a bit curious how you think they are doing this. Do you have a example? They haven’t taken away your guns. You are in school and maybe taking out loans. Obama helped your ass on that front. link

I am furious with the Republican stance of defeating anything Obama suggests, simply to make sure he is unable to have success. It is shocking that they would prevent good legislation, even things they agree with, just for this purpose. If this is the result of a two party system, then it obviously doesn’t work when the country seems so divided. However, the result for me personally is that I would never vote for a Republican, even a good person who has values I agree with, because I realize that whatever he or she believes would have no value in a Republican caucus, where all members are required to go in lockstep with the prevailing GOP stand at the time.

@skfinkel There is one big flaw in that logic. For the first eleven months of his administration, Obama and the Democratic party had total control of the Senate, and the House. If he really wanted his agenda passed, all he had to do was present it to Pelosi and Reid.

The GOP could not have stopped anything if Pelosi and Reid hadn’t disagreed on the details. Obama could have called them both on the carpet and told them to get it done at any time.

@johnpowell, I don’t have any loans, I’ve got a close to full merit-based scholarship from my school, which is a private institution, and the rest is paid by me tutoring freshmen as part of an orientation program. Even so, I didn’t support the changes in student loans because the cost of students defaulting (default rates have been increasing gradually) will now be passed on to the tax payer. The loans then, basically, become another economic bubble just waiting to pop, especially if the market is flooded with kids who have less than viable degrees who won’t be able to pay back their loans.

And my biggest beef right now is the blocking of the importation of M1 Garands which I see as an example of “coddling motherhood,” to use my own phrase. You may or may not agree, which is fine, but that’s how I see it.

I’m not actually an easy person to pigeonhole, politically. I am registered as a Democrat, having left the Republican Party when I saw the error of where Ronald Reagan wanted to take it. He is, in my mind, the worst President ever to have served in the office. I believe in true conservatism—meaning having a preference for tried-and-true solution whenever they will work, and resisting radical, precipitous changes. I also believe liberal, as defined in the dictionary is a good and necessary part of governing effectively., Liberals are the champions of equality and believe government, properly restrained, can solve problems and make life better for all, A liberal approach is needed when we face new challenges, or when conditions have changed so much old solutions no longer work. Any government set to turning ever right or ever left just digs itself into an ever deeper hole.

What irks me about Republicans today is they call themselves conservative (and some still are) but they are being subsumed by a radical right-wing ideology that advances fairy tales as legitimate economic policy. Cut taxes and that will reduce the deficit. Set policies in place to funnel the nation’s wealth to the wealthiest, and it will trickle down./Intervene in the internal affairs of nations all over the Earth, often assassinating popular elected leaders to install dictators who will play puppet to the corporate interests in America who are funding the Party’s political advertising.

I am tired of one party running on a nearly constant string of lies.

@WestRiverrat My response got lost. So, here it is again. I think Obama was aiming for bipartisanship. That is why he didn’t just go ahead and ram through whatever he wanted. I did get frustrated with the health bill, when it seemed as if there were better choices to be made, but Obama was true to his word, and wanted inclusion. I also think Obama is a rational man, and in the government, he might also expect others to act rationally (ie, vote something up or down on its merits) but the Republicans have not been acting rationally.

I’m a Democrat, and my main beef with the Republicans has always been their tendency to put money over people. I’m somewhat conservative fiscally speaking, but very liberal on social issues. Choosing between the two, people always take first place for me.

These days, it’s their stubborn refusal to do what’s right for the country (even if they believe in it) rather than risk appearing to agree with Obama on anything.

My frustration has always been with campaign financing. Politics is no longer about who is most qualified, it has now become the candidate with the most money wins! The 2008 Presidential campaign broke all spending and fund raising records and more than doubled what was raised and spent in 2004 and estimated at 2.4 BILLION dollars!

The only upside to that incredible amount of money is much of it came from corporate and rich folks coffers and was 2.4 billions dollars that was pumped back into the economy and went towards jobs.

@Cruiser Amen to that. The only bright side is it’s getting those who have been hoarding money to put some of it back into circulation.

Climate change denial.

Tax breaks for rich folks.

Disrespect for the United Nations.

The fact that they pretend to be two different parties.