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Lawmakers repeatedly laud bipartisan legislation with high praise, clearly implying that bipartisan approval means it is a great victory for the people and the nation. In all too many cases, bipartisan compromise amounts to quid pro quo trade-offs that tighten the stranglehold of the two-party system on national politics at the expense of the people.

Bipartisan, almost lockstep, approval of the Gulf of Tonkin resolution in 1964 gave Lyndon B. Johnson and Robert McNamara license to mire us down in Vietnam. The Iraq War resolution of 2002 gave President Bush carte blanche to invade Iraq. The Military Commissions Act of 2006 nullified protections under our Constitution plus human rights dating back almost 800 years, to Magna Carta Libertatum.

Democrats and Republicans in Congress are sworn to protect the Constitution and serve the nation, but they routinely trade back scratches on pork barrel spending measures, clearly placing party interests above national interests.

Bipartisanship is not what it's cracked up to be. It's more meretricious than meritorious. Nonpartisan is much better.

I grew up in Tucson and decided to move back this past summer because of family. I can't wait to leave it now. Tucson is the most backward city I've ever lived in. Traffic is at a snail's pace because the forefathers did not plan for a metro area of over a million people. Arizona and Tucson tax you to death. Now you have most of the nonsmokers vote on an 80-cent increase in a pack of cigarettes. Yes I smoke, and I'm not about ready to quit. I, like many others in Arizona, will look for and find a source to get my cigarettes without paying a ridiculous $2-a-pack in taxes. An election should be held where only smokers can vote and tax the goodie-two-shoes nonsmokers for their dirty, dusty desert air. Believe me, I can't leave this hell-hole soon enough. You deserve each other.

In response to the Dec. 5 editorial "Let's curb ownership of dangerous breeds."

A couple of articles and a letter to the editor recently appeared concerning "bad breed" dogs. One of the articles stated that pit bulls and Rottweilers have a reputation that is "well deserved." They may have a reputation, but it is not well deserved.

The dog breed is not the problem; irresponsible ownership is the problem. Unfortunately, too many people fail to make that critical distinction. It is the owner who mistreats the animal or trains it to be aggressive.

Let's look at the issue of hefty licensing fees for potentially dangerous animals. To be fair, let's open the discussion. I propose a $500 licensing fee for vehicle owners. The family vehicle certainly can cause great bodily harm and, unfortunately, does so a whole lot more often than any dog breed. And don't even get me started on fees for owning a firearm.

Yes, I have a male pit bull. Every neighbor who has seen and met him has commented on how friendly and well behaved he is. One neighbor who had a bad experience with a pit bull in the past commented that my dog "doesn't have a mean bone in his body."