I'm glad given all that we've seen and experienced from our government in the last few years, maybe longer, that you can remain optimistic that our political parties will reach a compromise solution...on anything! I'm sorry that I can't share your positive hopes.

As far as what the media reports on, to a huge degree they feed the public what the public wants to hear. The conservative media reports on events or actions by the liberals designed to enrage and embitter their readers and listeners against the liberals. The liberal media does exactly the opposite. The "din" between the two makes it difficult to find a really balanced media source. Conservatives listen to the conservative media sources, and the liberals listen to the liberals. The result is that the partisans, and the people they elect to represent them, are driven farther and farther apart. And it definitely gives one a headache!

Why does the public continue to endure and empower a "fourth estate" like this? For a public that either refuses or is incapable of doing the arithmetic on fiscal issues, fails to understand the broader implications of foreign relations, and has limited understanding on how economics really works, why would you expect anything different?