Have you ever wondered or asked out loud why Congress can’t get along? “Why can’t they just compromise!? After all, we are all Americans who love our country.”

Well, things are not quite that simple. Years ago, of course, those statements would likely be true. In recent decades, however, the two competing ideologies in America have taken divergent paths that have led conservatives and progressives to polar opposites. Conservatives are entrenching themselves in the traditional ideas of America. Progressives are regressing (how do you like that word play!) back to their Marxist-Socialist roots, or at the least to a European form of Social Democracy. But I repeat myself.

Consider the so-called Grand Bargain that is getting hammered out in Congress. One side wants taxes on the wealthiest Americans. They say it will help close the deficit. If taxes on the wealthy are increased an estimated $80 to 100 billion in new revenue will be generated. In other words, that’s enough money to run the government for 7 to 10 days. Meanwhile, the federal government will continue to run $1.3 trillion in deficit spending. “Fair enough”, they say. “You got us on the math but a tax increase on the wealthy will lift the morale of the middle class! It’s a matter of principle and perception. We must play to the envy and covetous of our constituents.”

This type of ideology is un-American and dangerous. It has nothing do with economics or sound fiscal planning. It has all the trappings of a power grab and third-world demagoguery, which is exactly what these progressives advocate.

This should be a wakeup call to all naive but well meaning conservatives. There will be no compromise among these leftist ideologues. President Obama has been consistent in all his pressers. Tax increases. Tax increases. Tax increases. He has hammered that down to the point that it has become a rallying cry of sorts. Consequently, it is drowning out the other major factors in all of this, entitlement reform and government spending.

The Grand Bargain will actually be a Great Tragedy if Republicans cave without getting any meaningful cuts and entitlement reform in return. A decision to raise taxes with the promise to make cuts later is not a bargain. It will be national suicide and Republicans will squander what little confidence they enjoy from the people.

According to Politico, Boehner is willing to sign off on as much as $1.2 trillion in tax hikes over the next ten years in exchange for as little as $400 billion in Medicare cuts that do not even begin to take effect until 2013. That’s right: Boehner is about to sign off on a deal of $3 dollars in tax hikes now in exchange for $1 dollar in spending cuts 10 years from now. There is no way House Republicans will sacrifice their political careers for such a “grand bargain.”

“Cut through the fog, and here’s what to expect: Taxes will go up just shy of $1.2 trillion — the middle ground of what President Barack Obama wants and what Republicans say they could stomach,” Politico reports. “Democrats want most Medicare and other entitlement savings to kick in between 10 and 20 years from now, which will make some Republicans choke. … But that will likely be the deal Republicans will be staring at: tax hikes now in exchange for Medicare changes way later.”