To the Journal editor:

The definition of bipartisanship is a political situation usually in the context of a two-party system in which opposing political parties find common ground through compromise.

This has been our system of passing legislation, developing budgets, and providing direction of our government for many years, however a new term has recently been more descriptive of our political parties. Polarization is a sharp division as of a population or group in opposing factions.

This appears to be the case with regard to the Democratic and Republican parties.Why has this happened and what might be the cause? I don’t believe there is any simple answer, however many changes in our culture,media coverage,income inequality,taxation,foreign policy are just a few of the causes of this phenomenon.

Politics is big business and many politicians on both sides tend to cater to anyone and anything that provides revenues and press for a favorable reelection.

Depending what side of the issue is at stake, a sharp division can occur based on political gain. This didn’t happen overnight and as more campaign donations were not fairly regulated, the average U.S. taxpayer took a back seat to big business.

This is not to say that this is the standard for all of our elected officials, however it does effect rational decision making.

You could use energy as a typical example of opposing views. Is the state you are representing a coal or oil producing state or are there organizations within your state that are very critical of greenhouse gas emissions?

The media also plays a big part as to what people believe based on what is reported both factual and biased.

I believe campaign finance reform might be a place to start and hopefully more thought would be considered with regard to the average U.S. citizen as to what would be the best political decision for him in lieu of personal political gain?

Paul Polanski

Crystal Falls