Tao on the Issues - Bipartisanship

Good weapons are instruments of fear; all creatures hate them.
Therefore followers of Tao never use them.
The wise man prefers the left.
The man of war prefers the right.
Weapons are instruments of fear; they are not a wise man's tools.
He uses them only when he has no choice.
~ TTC, verse 31 ~

When the Tao is present in the universe,
The horses haul manure.
When the Tao is absent from the universe,
War horses are bred outside the city.
~ TTC, verse 46 ~

Over the past week, the US Congress has passed two separate bills that each cost around $35 billion. The first one -- passed last week -- took nearly two months of wrangling, had almost no bipartisan support and ended with a price tag of $34 billion. The second bill -- passed yesterday -- involved little wrangling, enjoyed strong bipartisan support and ended with a price tag of $33 billion.

The latter legislation concerned continued funding of the war machine, while the former was in regards to an extension of federal unemployment benefits in a nation in which living wage jobs are becoming scarce!

In my humble opinion, the different manners in which these two bills were passed represents a sad commentary on the state of our nation. Politicians on both sides of the aisle are willing to join hands to fund the unnecessary killing of people, but refuse to find common ground when it comes to providing their own citizens with basic needs.