Like it or not, the elections have their yielded results. Americans are faced with the new slate of leaders and it’s time to get back to business. It’s hard not to make an occasional or random observation about the situation.
- One of the unfortunate realities of politics is that our leaders often owe debts or favors, which perpetuate a situation that encourages cronyisms. All of our leaders (good and bad) have histories. This problem defines prior administrations and will inevitably continue. Constituents depend on the media to help monitor the performance of our leadership and help provide constructive alternatives (not just criticism).
Some persons have already made the observation that: $140 billion in tax breaks, bailouts, and subsidies for U.S. multinationals and other special interests have been made over the past two decades by various administrations. Bob Graham of Florida has pointed out, there are 14 additional incentives for corporations to export U.S. jobs to cheap foreign labor markets, and the new tax law rewards, rather than punishes, companies that have moved both jobs and profits overseas. Meanwhile congress has ignored the issues of controlling our borders and illegal immigration. This has resulted in a downturn in wages earned by Americans and reduced revenues for state and federal governments.
- Is a second term administration more or less likely to pursue policies that conflict with special interests than a new one that probably has more favors to settle? Americans need to articulate their needs more often, more publicly and do so in a constructive tone (through the proper channels for the greatest effect).
Other observations include the fact that there are few blue collar workers in government and that a large portion of our legislators are in fact lawyers. While less than 1 percent of our population can claim millionaire status, about 30 percent of the Congress is made up of millionaires. None of our elected officials lives in poverty, as do 36 million of us, and, of course, none has had to apply for welfare or training assistance after his or her job was shipped overseas.
- Is poverty a standard for electing leadership? Is an apparent “financial failure” going to be more or less vulnerable to enticement or payoffs by special interests? Do persons who fail financially demonstrate a working knowledge of government or the leadership skills that deserve a constituent’s vote or support?
Blacks and Hispanics make up 26 percent of our diverse society, but minorities make up only 14 percent of those serving in Congress. While the middle class is the most underrepresented and least-served majority in Congress, women have the next largest complaint. Fifty-one percent of our population is female, but women make up only 14 percent of Congress.
- Is representative diversity a real problem? If it is, it needs to be substantiated by specific complaints from persons in the appropriate groups. Are the minority candidates projecting a more or less positive image and are these persons willing to work within the system to accomplish goals? There are valid reasons why persons such as Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson are not considered viable presidential candidates. The concepts of “affirmative action” don’t apply to elected officials. One should not choose their leaders based on their minority status (or lack of it). A legislator should be put into office based on their agenda, skills and overall viability has an effective leader (not race, religion, color or good looks). If legitimate grievances exist, they need to be brought to the persons who can address them appropriately and resolve them.
Ninety-two percent of Congress has a bachelor's degree, compared with only 18 percent of the U.S. public. A diploma isn't required to understand the impact of outsourcing, deficits, and immigration on our quality of life and standard of living. Congress is supposedly more highly educated than the general public.
- Education and knowledge have always been two separate notions. How persons apply their education and the deeds they pursue indicates their relative wisdom. Some of the outsourcing represents “seed corn” in that third world nations don’t purchase our products or services and will never need what we produce as long as they don’t have an economy that supports demand for 21st century products and services that can be provided by Americans who educate themselves in tomorrows technologies. This is our incentive to be creative and productive in new endeavors. Manufacturing jobs and repetitive tasks will go to the cheapest labor force and false incentives will eventually stifle the markets and productivity. The answers to the world’s economic problems are not always best met with increased government intervention.
Seventy-two percent of Americans said outsourcing is mostly negative, while only 31 percent of our leaders agreed.
- Outsourcing hurts our economy. Commodities purchased abroad require transportation and handling that use petroleum products that support nations that are not friendly to our interests too. Customers need to better understand the value of domestically sourced products. Domestically produced goods and services need to be marketed as such more often and more forcefully.
While Congress and our presidential candidates have all but ignored the issue of illegal immigration, the public opposes any measure that would give illegal aliens temporary worker status.
- American Citizenship should be given a more sacred status. Employment of illegal aliens results in currency exports (they send money home) and represents “local outsourcing”. Persons and businesses that “feed the bears” need to be confronted with harsher sanctions (not appeasement) and more vigorous enforcement of the current laws. Our borders need to be enforced for economic and physical security related reasons. When we employ persons who do not pay their fair share of taxes or allow illegal immigrants to sponge off of the services that legal citizens pay for the American economy suffers. The incentives for legal citizens to remain productive are diminished. Countries that passively export surplus workers without documentation need to be given incentive to abide by and enforce their own laws. Our nation should aggressively deport known illegal aliens and felons from other countries that do not abide our laws.
Our political energies over the past year have been spent principally on deciding who will lead the nation over the next four years, it is now clear that among the many important goals we face will be efforts to achieve true representation for the American middle class workers.
- Americans need rise above political and financially driven agendas and focus on constructive efforts that improve the standard of living for more persons and nations. The “divisive political atmosphere” of the recent past, needs to be changed. Participating in America’s success should have less to do with whether or not you are a Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative or belong to some protected group and more about ones personal contribution. Achieving success should not represent an open invitation for ridicule, unwarranted or untrue public appraisals or attack.
