3) All warfare is based on deception. How many times have we heard the phrase, "Never let a crisis go to waste," in the last two years? What that really means is, "Use the current crisis as an excuse to push agenda items that have nothing to do with fixing the problem at hand." This is a recurring theme in Washington where legislation is often designed to solve a political problem for one party or the other even as it's sold to the American people as a solution to a problem. So, what happens when these bills, at best, don't fix the problem and at worst, aggravate the situation? Well then, politicians try to weasel their way out of responsibility for the bills they supported. That's why partisan bills are actually helpful: Because the public knows exactly who to blame when things go wrong. Ideally, every bill would be as clearly identified with either party as the Bush tax cuts or Obamacare, because then the public could hold the parties accountable at the ballot box for their policies.
4) Distracting a politician from governing is like distracting a bear from eating your baby. If you believe, as many conservatives do, that government is a slow, stupid, white elephant that costs too much and causes more problems than it solves, gridlock is not exactly a terrifying prospect. Quite frankly, if we hadn't passed a single new law since the start of Bush's second term, we'd probably be considerably better off as a nation. When most new legislation passed in Washington makes the American people less free, centralizes authority in D.C., and moves us closer to bankruptcy, there's very little good to be said about cooperating with the other side to get more bills passed.
5) Be careful what you wish for: You just might get it. There are three instances in which politicians in D.C. tend to come together in a genuinely bipartisan way. That's in order to engage in more deficit spending, to rush through poorly-thought-out legislation after a crisis of some sort, and to put off reforms we desperately need as a country because they're politically unpopular. In other words, if there's genuine bipartisanship going on in D.C., you should probably be deeply suspicious, put your hand on your wallet, and say an extra prayer to God to safeguard the future of your children.