Finding a bipartisan balance

>>> well, why can't we all just get along? it may seem like members of congress don't even bother to try and the growing political gap is not just dividing washington, but the whole country. mike viquiera is the resident expert on all of d.c.'s quirks, but i tell you, mike, it's a serious message.

>> serious stuff. that's why i thought we would take a look. with a front row seat to this, call me naive, but i think the system works. in a world where negotiation is a sign of weakness where the only thing worse than partisanship is compromise and gridlock is not a game, it leads us to economic ruin. i was wondering why can't we be friends?

>> bipartisanship? that's how vice president cheney greeted the senate floor in 2004 . now according to a study, we are more polarized than any time in the last 25 years. the economy teeters on a cliff. the believe wants action. if partisan hatred is leading us, why can't we stop.

>> the republican health care plan is this. die quickly.

>> is it an instinct? part of our pailio selves?

>> politics like sport or war is a reflection of our ability to fight.

>> that's explanation. here are others. the distorted districts to keep red meat members in safe seats. look at the congressional schedule. come in session three day a week and throw bombs and fire up the base.

>> i will not yield to the government!

>> go past the four-day weekend. just nonstop theatrics and performance art . no more cold war enemy to unify us and the internet inflaming the passions.

>> excuse me, sir. the next time i prefer you let me finish before you ask me that statement.

>> corporations are people, my friend.

>> some say compromise, accommodation and battle cries go tame and not much of a walt-opener. there is instability.

>> i will eliminate every nonessential expensive program i can find. that includes obama care and i will work to reform and save.

>> it would not apply to those who are here.

>> you lie!

>> not new. go further back, 200 years. there has been a caning on the senate floor. a reporter shot a former member on these steps. they killed a secretary in a duel. if war is the failure of politics, we had one epic fail . a civil war . democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others. in the end, maybe we should look on the bright side.

>> it's incredible that we can cooperate and live in relative peace to begin with.

>> the professor is say smart guy . when is it all going to end and when will we be friends?

>> bipartisanship is the exception. it's not the rule. there was a period from 1930 to the 70s when bipartisanship and going out for drinks and republicans and democrats, when is it going to end? nobody knows. do you?

>> except when it matters. usually the best bipartisanship happen when is we are at a cliff and go over or a war or economics. the fiscal cliff? maybe that will force it. mike viquiera, you