The invisible issues…
[For those on the East Coast of the U.S.—basically from North Carolina to Massachusetts—you have enjoyed, or are enjoying, the gentle caresses of hurricane Sandy + energetic cold front from the West + jet stream adding energy + astronomical high tides = wild banshee storm. However, if you have power, you might be reading my posts this week, although I’m scheduling them early in case of I have to get out of Dodge myself.
Here’s the post schedule: today “Invisible Issues,” a post about the issues both parties have ignored; Wednesday guest blogger Gina Fava comments on last summer’s Cape Cod Writers Conference; and Thursday I’ll on post an op-ed, “How the American Public Loses Elections.” Enjoy if you can. I pray that you and your family are safe if you can’t—actually, I do that anyway, but I’m talking about that monster storm, of course. There will be no post on Election Day.]
Mr. Romney has received much criticism for being short on specifics (my paraphrase: we’ll make up those seven or eight trillion in tax cuts and increased defense spending by closing loopholes and eliminating deductions—just ask us after the election what they are). Mr. Obama hasn’t been much better (my paraphrase: give me another four years to complete my agenda—don’t fret yourself with the details). The candidates’ five-point plans are jokes, bullets on a Powerpoint chart without any substance. I’ve seen enough of that.
Of course, the American public is used to political double-speak, sort of a shell game where we try to guess (1) what a candidate is really saying and (2) determine if he really means what he says. Straight, factual talk is oven absent even in the best of candidates. (I write off the worst candidates—saying that God must have intended for the rape victim to be raped is despicable.) The most common political mantra seems to be: If I didn’t say it, you can’t hold me to it.
Sometimes, though, candidates do say it (e.g. Mr. Atkins and Mr. Mourdock), or their surrogates do, and you still can’t hold them to it. Case in point: Mr. Sununu’s comment that Mr. Powell had a different agenda when he endorsed Mr. Obama—the endorsement wasn’t for his policies (wink, wink). Funny that Fox News (!) called him on that and his backtracking reduced to saying how much he admired Powell for being proud of his fellow Black in the White House. Funny that Col. Wilkerson, an old, white Republican guy, responded to that by saying that his party (the GOP) is racist as hell (the “as hell” is my addition—but he was clearly not happy with Sununu). “Can’t hold me to it” in this case is like water off a duck’s back—the expectation is that the electorate forgets the whole thing in 24 hours, except who Mr. Sununu is targeting, blue collar white guys, Mr. Romney’s base.
Yeah, I’ll play the racial card to. I’m an old white guy and I’m ashamed that many other middle class white guys, America’s Joe Sixpacks, are trying to control this election. Mr. Sununu knows exactly what he’s doing. I’m ashamed of those white guys who haven’t risen above the foray to know where the GOP is trying to take them, even if it’s against their own interests. I’m proud of those white guys who realize that the GOP’s tactic is to divide and conquer and these kinds of racial innuendos do not belong in American politics. But say the lies often enough, they figure, and even the best start thinking it was true. Reminds me of when I attended a Flat-Earth Society lecture in college—the guy left my head spinning. But there is no content. It’s all brain-washing rhetoric.
There’s especially no content if it’s a lie. Last week Mr. Romney said hundreds of jobs were going to disappear from a Jeep assembly plant in Ohio (!) because Chrysler was moving the whole operation to China. My first thought was, “Moving jobs to China?—Romney must be in on that deal.” But I was wrong. Nothing’s happening to that assembly plant in Ohio. Chrysler said so in a long, detailed statement. Mr. Obama and friends saved the American auto industry. Mr. Romney can’t admit to that because he’s painted Mr. Obama as a man who cannot create or save jobs. Mr. Romney’s only recourse is to lie, and his lies have no content.
Nevertheless, there are certain issues that have been invisible on both sides, GOP and Dem, or nearly so, in the exchanges between the people and their candidates, particularly at the presidential campaign level. Moreover, they are big issues. Here I want to throw a few out for your consideration. They particularly bother me. I’d like someone to tackle them. They are full of complexity and content.
The environment, in general, and global warming, in particular. As a voter, I am left to imagine what the candidates think about environmental issues. (No, I won’t go to their websites. I expect them to tell me.) All I know is that both candidates admit global warming is real. Duh! When Mr. Romney says he’s a coal man, I naturally ask, what kind of coal, man? Would he exchange old, dirty coal power plants and factories for new technologies? Is he willing to consider alternatives to natural gas, oil, and coal in our power generation grid? Has he thought of the future destruction strip mining and fracking might cause? Is he willing to fund R&D to implement alternative energy, including R&D for new power grid technology to distribute the energy? Same questions for Mr. Obama.
In particular, if the U.S. is an international leader, shouldn’t we also lead internationally in the battle to stop global warming and preserve our planet? We can’t continue to destroy the rain forests. We also can’t continue to ship our toxic wastes overseas to kill people in other countries. I’m an eBook author, but it amuses me that one argument for eBook devices is that we won’t kill as many forests making paper. C’mon! Those little gizmos are computers, they become obsolete, and soon they will contribute to the world’s toxic waste a lot more than paper waste. Clearly, a balance is required. Please tell me what it is, Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney, if you are real leaders.
Food and drug safety. Salmonella in peanut products, e. coli in spinach, fungus in steroid shots—we’re bombarded every week, it seems, with new hazards to our health. Mr. Romney, isn’t this a case where more government intervention is better? Mr. Obama, why is this happening on your watch?
Yes, we can achieve savings in Obamacare and Medicare if we focus more on generics, but why does the end of a drug patent so often imply an inferior generic product? The disappearing patent should just mean more companies can make the product. Why does the quality have to go down?
Immigration. A huge invisible issue, this one has disappeared from the electoral conversation at the national level. It’s as if the candidates put on white gloves and agreed not to get their hands dirty with the tough issues. Immigration is an issue that cannot be left to the states, not even constitutionally. And, when we consider the atrocities contained in Arizona and Georgia’s laws, for example, it’s our moral responsibility to design a solution that’s fair to all.
Domestic terrorism. OK, we got bin Laden. We’ve also decimated the leadership of al Qaeda. But many of the thwarted attacks since 9/11 have been home grown. Many of our domestic terrorists have sympathies with al Qaeda, but what about the Nazi skinheads and the militias waiting in the wings. Remember, the second biggest terrorist attack on American soil was engineered by Timothy McVeigh.
The attack on a woman in a Wisconsin spa and the shootings at Fort Hood show the range of violence. In the first case, the assailant had a restraining order. I also count as terrorism murders involving spousal abuse and men violating restraining orders to kill and maim innocents along with their intended targets. Is the Fort Hood fanatic any different from the nut case who thinks society has wronged him and decides to take it out as many schoolmates or co-workers as he can before they get him? I don’t think so.
I’m tired of hearing public officials, the worst case being stupid politicians, who voice their condolences to victims’ families, who lament and lead prayers, and who wring their hands but otherwise hurry up to do nothing. Let’s do something! How about GPS bracelets on the restrainee and the victimized in addition to the restraining order? If the SOB gets closer than a mile to his intended victim, he goes to jail. Period. How about more gun controls? In particular, let’s outlaw automatic weapons and tighten up the whole registration process so crazies don’t get guns. Period. To hell with the NRA.
There is more to the world than the Middle East. The Middle East is not the only source of terrorism and Israel is not the center of the universe. In the foreign policy debate, China was barely mentioned. They practice commercial terrorism. The country with the largest Muslim population is Indonesia. There are fundamentalists there, as well as many friends. Let’s buoy up our friends and help them fight our common enemies.
Sanctions are fine for Iran—what about sanctions on African nations where genocide has become a way of life? What about poverty and disease control there and in other Third World countries? It’s amazing how many friends you can make when you lend a helping hand. And it might come back ten-fold when these other countries become markets for our exports and allies against our enemies.
Tax reform. Cut, cut, cut—that’s not going to solve the national debt. Generating more revenue will. That comes even with the present tax code when good times return. But a better, more equitable tax reform is needed at all levels. You can’t cut at the federal level and expect cash-strapped states to pick up the slack. Moreover, let’s face it: a member of that 99% “works more” for his federal and state governments than a member of the 1%. That’s wrong! Morally wrong!
Most people can’t take advantage of the low capital gains tax, for example. The ones that can, like Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney, can afford to pay a higher rate. To encourage small investors, let’s make the capital gains tax progressive—give it a sliding scale. The key word for tax reform, in fact, is “progressive.” Too many of our taxes are regressive—property tax, sales tax, inheritance tax, etc. Let’s make all our taxes progressive and add some reasonable floors below which no tax is paid.
Impossible? No, we just have to make sure our elected officials sit down and hammer out a comprehensive tax reform. And they should lock the doors to all lobbyists and special interests. It can happen. It’s not sci-fi.
So, Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney, Congress people everywhere, public officials at all levels—why are these issues invisible? Oh, I know some of you give lip service to them. Mr. Bloomberg, the NYC mayor, for example, and also a Republican (or is he an Independent?), has campaigned extensively for gun control. Guns are a plague in his city.
But officials can’t just wash their hands of an issue if it doesn’t affect them or their constituents personally. This is America, folks, and all our officials should look out for the health, safety, and well being of all Americans, not just the 99%, the 1%, and certainly not dismissing the 47% who might not vote for them. We’re all in the same boat and it has too many leaks right now. We can’t treat any of them as invisible because the ship will still sink if there’s just one.
And so it goes….
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