PAYROLL TAX CUT & PEACE.

The Conservatives blinked, and the payroll tax cut extension would be a possibility today, Friday, 23rd Dec. 2011.

Common sense tells us not to be happy over other people's misfortune, but this is one that needs to be celebrated, because it is a fight that has been won for the nation as a whole by President Barack Obama against those, who have been holding his programs and policies back in the United States Congress.

Opposition, we are told, must not be just an opposition; it must be constructive, with a spirit of give and take for important compromises to be reached on some issues.

Yet, that is not what the American public has been watching on television and reading about in the newspapers of what is going on in Washington D.C., but rather, it has been forced to put up with debates that are not reasonable, arguments that are not necessary, differences that cannot be overcome, deadlocks and gridlocks that have no real meaning attached to them and therefore cannot be resolved; and on, and on.

Such has been going on for months, if not years (three years to be exact) between a recalcitrant Congressional Republican Party membership, most of whom have been sent to Congress by the so called "tea party" and the Obama administration. They were to do all they could to obstruct the (Obama) administration in any way possible.

On the surface, it would be like simply safeguarding the interests of the American people, because that was what we mostly heard in their statements and sentences.

Probing deep down into the issues, however, one has been forced to jump to the conclusion that there were racial elements in the group, who would even go farther and do anything to dislodge an administration being headed by an African American (and I did not say "black").

Most people have been thinking that race relations in America have been getting better, but that could be a false assumption, because people have failed to take a closer look at the issue and have gone on with their lives as if it was nonexistent.

However, it is there, and no one is accusing anybody of being a racist, but there are some people, who will never accept change; and also some of them will always feel that one race is superior to another. Also that, feelings cannot be legislated against, and therefore it is natural for them to assume those types of sentiments anyway.

They forget that, in the real world, change is bound to come; and so long as the majority of people are comfortable with it, as through the process of the political ballot box or by voting, those in the minority have to learn to live with it.

In other words, racism can exist in people, and it only becomes a problem when they drag it into the affairs of national institutions, such as political parties, civic life, the military and the like.

One cannot therefore help thinking that the Capitol is any different, when it comes to accessing the racial affinities of those that are assembled there to represent the whole nation, and to deal with important matters that affect every citizen in the country; that some of them may entertain the liberty of showing some kinds of partiality in their deliberations or dealings, based on race.

Of course, they have every right to have any kind of feelings, but they have no right to let such feelings interfere with their work.

Most probably, one may be wrong; but one also has the right to assume any perspective that one chooses; and so, one can deduce that some of them have racial inclinations, or are even die hard racists.

Cooperation in what goes on in Congress is what everybody must be advocating for, instead of strife, misunderstandings and even racism.

The payroll tax cut measure that will serve 160 million Americans must pass without rancor or animosity, for the sake of unity, and peace among all citizens in this Holiday season.