Sweet Reason Is In Full Bloom

Spring is here! Who cares about the perennial bickering between Democrats and Republicans? The trees are in bloom, the grass is green, the birds are singing. Out in the real world, the air is fragrant with the promise of new life. There are walks to take, flowers to plant, Bloomsday times to compare.

This year, however, there is a new fragrance even in the corridors of political power - something almost as startling as spring. Democrats and the Republicans are engaging in bipartisan statesmanship - negotiating settlements to hard-fought issues that will affect us all. Naturally, this makes ideologues livid. To the poor fools who think politics can be treated like theology, compromise is heresy. In representative democracy, however, compromise is how things get done.

In Olympia, for example, the Legislature just concluded a session in which the leaders of its Republican majority negotiated welfare reforms, juvenile crime reforms and an education-friendly budget with the Democratic governor, Gary Locke. Spokane Sen. Jim West, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, says the players in these potentially explosive battles chose not to “trash each other” with the usual rhetoric (Republicans are mean to children, Democrats are wild spenders, etc.).

The result wasn’t perfect, as we have made clear in this space on previous occasions. Yet it was exactly the sort of governing that voters long for but rarely see. Partisan squawking has its place - at campaign time. After the elections, the public wishes those in government would strive for better service, rather than to make members of the other party look bad.

More startling than the cooperation in Olympia is the recent cooperation in Washington, D.C., where the stakes are higher and partisan enmity is at its peak.

Last week, the Democratic president and the Republican Congress negotiated the outlines of a solution to one of the biggest problems in our economy: deficit spending.

We know, a great many controversial details still have to be worked out. Social Security still awaits reform. Much of the credit for a deal goes to the growth of the U.S. economy and the assumption that it will keep growing without a recession for years to come.

Nevertheless, the settlement included big decisions, none easily made. For instance: cut taxes, to strengthen the economy and help parents pay for their kids’ education; and tighten Medicare spending, to extend this essential program’s financial viability.

Above all, the settlement hinges on a commitment to place the public’s business ahead of party business. If that commitment lasts, those who made it can do a lot of good.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Webster/For the editorial board