A Wish List

The Democrats had a two-evening debate last week. I didn't watch it (work conflicts), but I did read reports from and about it. Frankly, I didn't learn much.

What I want,and what I believe most Americans want from the Democratic Party, is a clear platform of goals for the next administration, and a clear pathway to achieving those goals.

Here's some ideas for your consideration.

Stop wasting time bashing President Trump. It fires up his base, and makes it appear that you have nothing to offer, except to bash him. You need to be better than that, and I think you are.

Our economy, both on Wall Street and main street, is suffering from bad decisions on trade and tariffs; let's go back to the trade table and re-think our economic priorities. Develop programs that reward small businesses and incentivize American manufacturing.

America put a man on the moon in a decade, and we have, in our colleges and Universities, great and wonderful talents and abilities. Create a program putting those talents and abilities to work on providing America with sources of clean, safe, affordable energy to power our country forward.

Stop punishing people who want to escape wars and famine in their home countries, and welcome them to our shores. Clean up the immigration "problem" by putting into action policies that assist immigrants in become productive American citizens. Punish those companies and individuals that exploit undocumented workers.

Education, or the lack of it, creates poverty; and the United States is suffering from a lack of trained, educated tradespeople; and has a surplus of unemployed, or under-employed citizens. Bring back, in volume, trade schools that teach welding, plumbing, carpentry, electrical, and other skills. Make them affordable, and show how a tradesman, well skilled, can again become a part of the middle class. These are jobs that cannot be exported to India, China, or elsewhere.

Our public schools are lacking qualified teachers. How about a program that eliminates student debt for teachers that stay in the profession for four years, at the K-12 levels; and continues on by providing a tax break each year they remain teachers?

Eliminate the revolving door on our prisons, in part by closing the for-profit prison system. It has put a burden on law enforcement by demanding a certain percentage of the for-profit cells will be filled, and this in turn contributes to an unjust proportion of non-whites being incarcerated for the crime of being poor.

Renew our standing in the world by working with our allies and reducing the threat of global terrorism, while holding sacred and inviolable our beliefs in human rights, dignity, and the rule of law.

Well, there's a few ideas for you to think about as you campaign this year.

Thank you for reading, and, as always, your comments are welcome.

R.M. "Bob" Hartman

The Weather

The view from my window this morning, looking over the Wasatch Mountains, was of broken light clouds on high, with some dark, snow-bearing clouds over the Wasatch peaks. Utah, like much of the country, had a wet winter, with snow totals at one of the ski resorts exceeding 700 inches, a new record. The sun was shining through, and I thought perhaps today would be a break from 14 days of rain; however, that was not to be the case, and my grass will have to wait for another day to be mowed.   

It seems that our Capitol is mired in pettiness; with both sides blaming the other for refusing to act like adults. While the country waits for aid to assist with natural disasters, our roads and bridges continue to crumble beneath us, and our allies wonder if we are still their friends; our government battles, not along lines of ideology, but instead on personal picks and grievances. It appears to me, and I think to many Americans, that “our” elected officials and governing body have traded what is good for America for what is good for them, personally. Even today, an infrastructure bill that was bipartisan in design and approval was halted, because one representative, Texas Republican Chip Roy, got upset about what wasn’t in the bill. (Money for the border wall.)

This has become all too typical of Washington today. Bills that should pass, like this one that would help not only our infrastructure, but our job market and the economy in general, are held hostage for the President’s pet project. The value, or not, of the wall was not in question in the legislation, in fact, it was not mentioned in the legislation. So why hold up money for needed work? Would it be so hard for Congress to pass needed legislation and then, in an appropriate manner, discuss the funding of the now-infamous wall? Will this Congress, and this Administration, go down in history as the Congress that couldn’t get anything done for the citizens of this great country?

I had hoped this bill would pass, all seemed in order, and then perhaps Congress could take up other meaningful legislation and begin to move our country forward; but that was not to be the case.

Instead, like my lawn waiting for sunshine, America will have to wait even longer for Washington to clean up it’s act.   

As always, your comments are appreciated!

R.M. "Bob" Hartman