Political Issues. October 17, 2019

Copyright © 2019                               John F. Oyler 

October 17, 2019

Political Issues

I recently received the “Official Democratic 2020 Presidential Survey” in the mail, accompanied by a request that I share my priorities for 2020 with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. My first reaction was quite positive – they really are interested in my opinion!

Although I consider myself a moderate, probably leaning more to the conservative side than the liberal, I am registered as a Democrat. Living in Allegheny County there really isn’t any point in voting in the primary election unless you claim to be a Democrat.

I commend the Committee for being upfront about the real purpose of the survey; question number one was “How much money are you willing to donate to our campaign?” I hope that a negative answer to that question didn’t negate the rest of the answers.

Question #2 asked me which, from a list of twenty names, candidates I was currently supporting for the Presidential nomination. I selected Amy Klobuchar, after giving Joe Biden and Joe Sestak serious consideration. I do think it is time we give a woman a chance to take the reins.

The third question requested I pick three issues from a list of six that I consider to be most pressing for the next President. The six were “Soak the rich”; immigration reform; extending Obamacare; investing in education, health care and other important programs; defending Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid; and fighting climate change.

I didn’t think any of these issues were as important to me as the ones I would choose – the budget deficit, population explosion, extremism, and infrastructure. I then skipped down to Question 6 which was a repeat of number three except for the implication that these were specific issues being addressed by the Democratic Senate and Presidential candidates.

This list included gun violence, jobs and the economy, Obamacare, LGBTQ rights, abortion, environment and climate change, and voting rights. These are all legitimate issues and I acknowledge their importance to their adherents. But none of them concern me as much as the four I listed above.

Let me begin with the budget deficit and the ballooning national debt. The last time our government balanced the budget was 2001; at that time the national debt was about six trillion dollars. In the intervening years it has grown to over twenty two and a half trillion dollars and is still growing at a rate of about one trillion dollars a year.

The 2019 federal budget anticipated expenses of $4.4 trillion and income of $3.4 trillion. We are spending $1.30 for every $1.00 we bring in, and borrowing the rest. Even though this has persisted for eighteen years, no one in either party seems concerned – I am. The interest on this debt is one billion dollars a day! My highest priority is balancing the budget.

The year I was born the population of the United States was slightly more than 124 million persons; today we number well over 329 million (2.65 times as many). Worldwide the population is estimated at 2.1 billion; today it is slightly above 7.6 billion (3.61 times as many).

The consequences of this massive increase are immense and are indeed a major cause of many of the issues the survey addressed. One wonders how soon the passenger list on spaceship earth will become more than she can accommodate.

As a moderate I am distressed at the divisiveness generated by the extremism espoused by both parties and consider this to be the major deterrent to any kind of progress. Many of the Democrats’ issues are of the category that promotes extremism, issues with no clear middle ground. I’m sure the same can be said about the Republicans. I would prefer that we declare a cease fire on the most volatile ones and concentrate on finding something significant on which we can agree.

And, of course, my “something significant” is our deteriorating infrastructure. As a Civil Engineer I am keenly aware of this problem and of the numerous advantages of resolving it. Investing in infrastructure pays many dividends. The transportation related components of the infrastructure – highways, inland waterways, airlines, pipelines, and railroads benefit all of us. Construction and maintenance of them require many highly skilled workers, a valuable addition to our economy. Similarly, such projects can be a boost to our domestic manufacturing capability.

Infrastructure also includes water supply systems, waste water treatment facilities, the national electrical grid, recreational facilities, schools, solid waste disposal, and energy generation and distribution. We strongly support the engineering community’s recommendation that our investment in all these areas be dramatically increased. It certainly is an issue that both parties claim to support; let’s focus on it instead of fighting over extremist issues.

My observation of nearly nine decades of political turmoil suggests that today’s divisive environment is part of a cycle and that there is a possibility for moderates in both parties to make a comeback and bring us back together. 

Apparently I am not alone in this hope. At the recent University of Pittsburgh’s 2019 American Experience Distinguished Lecture Series, three past Governors of Pennsylvania – Edward Rendell, Tom Ridge, and Richard Thornburgh – recommended a return to “civility and compromise in politics today”.