As we get ready to celebrate the 223rd anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the United States is facing a raft of troubles that seem to dwarf many of the other crises we have faced in our history. Almost all of the 50 states that make up our great country are wrestling with their own problems as well as those brought on by national events.

    Call me the cockeyed optimist, but I firmly believe we will work it out. Americans have a spirit and a belief in themselves that allows us to overcome such obstacles.

    The key to much of our history has been compromise. No matter how much the right or the left today decry the idea, it has been present in nearly every major decision made that has guided us to where we are today. Even the Declaration of Independence was the result of major concessions, as members of the Continental Congress removed Thomas Jefferson’s denunciation of the slave trade, bowing to threats from southern colonies to withhold their approval.

    Eleven years later, the writers of the Constitution added the Bill of Rights as a concession to those worried the original document did not guarantee enough rights.

    As I write this, legislators in Delaware’s General Assembly still are haggling over the state’s fiscal 2010 budget. Faced with declining revenues and mounting costs, they’ve had to eliminate hundreds of millions of dollars in red ink before the witching hour of midnight, June 30.

    Dover Post staff writer Doug Denison has spent much of his time at Legislative Hall reporting on the many compromises that appear to be on their way to helping meet that deadline. It seems as if Gov. Jack Markell as well as Democratic and Republican legislators will all get a little piece of what they want to get the budget balanced.

    A major concession has been Republicans accepting certain tax increases with Markell agreeing to allow the state workforce to be reduced through attrition.

    “We don’t like tax increases, but we realize you can’t cut your way out of an $800 million shortfall,” noted Minority Leader Richard C. Cathcart, R-Middletown.

    Cathcart is right, not just in the fiber of his statement but in its spirit as well. Both parties have realized they need to get along with each other to fix our problems.

    But, as they say, there still is work to be done. Much inefficiency exists in state government, and having once been a state employee, I can testify to that. With politicians naturally wanting to defend their own turf, there will be resistance to calls to clean up, trim and otherwise revise how things done in this state. There will be compromises along the way and not everyone will be happy with the final result.

    But the great thing about our government is that we always can rattle legislators’ cages every once in a while to get things done.

   Email Jeff Brown at jeff.brown@doverpost.com