Am I really a moderate?

I have given this blog to several people I know, and after reading it, most of them ask me, "Are you really a moderate? You bash on the GOP so much, you seem too liberal to me. We really can't be friends." Well, if that's the way you feel, maybe this will explain. If I lose liberal friends after they read this, I'll tell them the same same that I told my Tea Party friends: "Okay. I'll miss you. If you change your mind about being friends, let me know." Now, I believe that the art of politics is diplomacy and compromise. (Marriage is the same way. Think of any good marriage, and both the man and the woman get what they want about half the time. Think of any bad marriage, and one side imposes their will and refuses to listen to anything the other person says. Politics is the same way.) Now, the Tea Party believes in no compromise and has its politicians (I use that term loosely) have no tact or diplomacy. So yes, I am no fan of theirs. And since the Tea Party has taken over the GOP, I have hated the direction they are taking our Congress. But that doesn't mean I think all their ideas are bad. Do we need to balance the budget? Of course we do. But if I ask them are you willing to compromise, eliminating tax loopholes, thereby raising taxes. No, only shrinking the government will do. The we can cut the Defense budget, right? No, we need to take all of the cuts from domestic spending. So what are they giving up, where is their compromise?  There are few dozen things that I disagree with that the President has done (The big one is: Since bin Laden is dead, why are we in Afghanistan?), but at least he will compromise. Don't believe it? HHS and the Medical Association both wanted churches to have to include birth control in their health plan. It was the President that said that wasn't constitutional, and exempted churches while saying agencies of churches would have to provide birth control to those that wanted it. Think that's a fine line? Yes it is, and it is the act of compromise, it is the act of politics. Too bad the GOP doesn't know how to act.