Points of View

In the years that I have had the privilege to vote in our country I have voted as both a Republican and a Democrat by virtue of our two-party system. In my youth, I was certainly more of a conservative, voting for Ronald Reagan in the 1980’s. But as I grew older I began to lean more and more to the liberal side of things. In my time, I have watched the pendulum swing from big unions to big business. I have seen prosperity and financial decline. I have seen wars and short periods of peacetime. I have watched this battle of ideologies waged back and forth in this country and carried to extremes.


Given my current liberal/progressive biases, if I may, I’d like to outline the two points of view (as impartially as possible) that have driven this country to the brink:

Conservative Views

1) A belief in tickle-down economics where business is allowed to grow with minimal regulation by government and the benefits will eventually trickle-down to the society.

2) A belief that government (especially the federal government) is too big and too powerful, that state’s rights need to be protected.

3) A belief that higher taxes to pay for ever expanding social programs are wrong and needs to be reversed. Federal spending needs to be cut and controlled.

4) The family and family values are all important. Issues such as gay marriage are just wrong.

5) A belief that a Christian God guides this nation and any attempt to remove or separate that faith in God from our government is also wrong.

6) A belief that a strong U.S. military presence is needed to defeat the forces of evil in this world, that might makes right and protects us all.

7) U.S. borders should be protected from illegal aliens. The U.S. should deport all who live in this country without proper documentation to preserve our jobs, keep from bankrupting our social services and fight the drug traffickers not to mention terrorists after 9/11.

8) The environment is important, but it should never get in the way of what our nation needs. Compromises have to be made from time to time.

9) A good education and hard work are the keys to success.

10) The American flag and our patriotism are what bind this nation. There should be no room for disrespect.

I probably missed some other points, but I hope I fairly captured the essence of conservative American views, thoughts and beliefs.

Liberal Views

1) A belief that the economy does not trickle-down, but comes from a solid middle class with decent jobs, affordable housing, and innovation to create more jobs that fuel and stimulate the economy, more of a trickle-up or a trickle-out theory.

2) A belief that American society is made up of many people of different races, religion and beliefs as well as many social and economic classes. It has always been a melting pot, open to those seeking hope, prosperity and the pursuit of happiness.

3) The government’s job is to help and protect the least advantaged of our society by raising taxes for programs that achieve the growth, protection and health of our society.

4) States rights must be superseded by federal rights under the Constitution of the United States of America. If each state is allowed to contradict the Constitution then the union it protects would be null and void.

5) U.S. military force should be used along with diplomacy and in conjunction with our allies to promote peace and understanding (not necessarily our style of democracy). Yes, it should be there to protect this nation’s interests around the world, but we should be more the example and less the policemen of the world.

6) The environment is important and should never be compromised by business or political interests. The environment sustains us and should be protected and improved at all costs.

7) There should be a separation of church and state, realizing that America is a nation of many religions. Persons of different faiths should have equal protection under the law by a secular government.

8) U.S. borders should be protected from illegal aliens no matter where they come from, but there must also be a corresponding plan to provide a pathway to citizenship for the 12 million illegal aliens already here, many living as good productive citizens and paying taxes.

9) A good education and hard work are the keys to success, but the government has the responsibility to insure the quality, continuity and accessibility of that education to all citizens.

10) The government needs to regulate big business and the banking industry to prevent abuse and excess that could bring our economy to its knees.

11) Not just family rights and values, but human rights must also be respected. As definitions of family and human relationships change (i.e. gay marriage), rights and protections under the law also need to expand to meet these changes just as it did to protect interracial marriage.

12) The American flag and patriotism are very real and very precious, but should never be used to disenfranchise Americans with dissenting voices on current government policy created by one political party or the other.

Again, I am sure I missed some liberal points of view or injected my own personal biases, but I hope I gave some measure of liberal thinking and belief.

So now, which view is correct? There seem to be such large gaps between these ideologies. They are causing a growing political divide in this country. They have caused our nation’s government to gridlock and voices of dissent to grow ever more vitriolic. Politicians are digging in their heels and voting in lock-step along party lines. Civil discourse and debate have been lost in favor of party loyalty on both sides.

I can understand the fear and concerns of conservatives. They don’t want big government. They don’t want more taxes, higher taxes. Who does? Not me. They do not want massive debt and unfunded mandates. They don’t want to see “In God We Trust” removed from our currency, our courts and our government. They abhor the idea of gay marriage and abortion and any thought of family values crumbling around them. They can’t abide a federal government that seems unable to stop the flow of illegal aliens and drug runners across our borders and yet wants to place new restrictions on big business and our nation’s banks. They don’t want national healthcare forced down their throats. I understand them wanting less government and more freedom. People should work hard for what they get. That’s what our nation was founded on, right? Things are changing in this country and it’s scary. We are no longer that peaceful, quaint Norman Rockwell painting of America. There are brown faces, black faces and oriental faces. There are Muslims, Jews and Buddhists all calling themselves Americans. There are men marrying men and women marrying women and they, too, are calling themselves Americans. I get it, but we can’t go back to the time when white, Christian men defined the face of America. We can’t go back to the time when blacks are turned away from lunch counters. At the same time, we must meet our country’s growing social needs, but we must also find a way to pay for programs and a massive debt…and yes, cut Federal spending in the process.

I can understand the fears and concerns of the liberals. Who wants our government and our elections influenced and run by oligarchs, corporations and banks? With the BP oil spill and the near collapse of our financial system, more government regulation must be on the table. Liberals cannot trust in trickle-down and self regulation. It does not work! People cannot afford the rising cost of healthcare and medicine. Leaving it to private medical insurers is not working. They see jobs going overseas as American factories close. With their jobs, so go their homes as mortgage foreclosures continue to climb and more houses go “under water”. Liberals see the need to do something more than “drill, baby drill” to meet the nation’s energy needs. They see the need for new industry and new technology here at home to create those jobs, to replace our nation’s dependency on oil, but they grow frustrated by politics and business as usual. Liberals are tired of funding two wars and the loss of life that have gone on far too long. Liberals cry out for more funding and more government programs and healthcare to meet the needs of a growing and diverse society, but we can’t go back to the old tax and spend mentality that has generated an unbelievable amount of debt for our nation. We cannot keep borrowing from countries Like China. Liberals are finding it hard to see beyond their own wants and needs. They, too, dig in their heels and leadership and compromise seem in short supply.

So again, which view is right and which view is wrong? Should we continue to fear change and cling to the old ways of doing things? Perhaps both sides are right and both sides are wrong. Perhaps there is another way, a third way, a Progressive way. More on that later…

Food for THOUGHT.

Tea Party Denies Racism

At their recent convention in Kansas City, the NAACP denounced the Tea Party leadership for not rejecting racial rhetoric, signs and actions at their rallies. Tea Party leaders were quick to attack the NAACP. Local Tea Party organizers rejected claims of racism and called on the NAACP to withdraw their resolution.


Just as this was hitting the press, organizers of the North Iowa Tea Party found themselves in hot water over a billboard they erected in Mason City Iowa comparing President Obama to Hitler and Lenin. They were requested to remove the billboard by other leaders of the Tea Party movement. John White, an Iowa coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, said "I fear they may end up in some kind of trouble over it because it's basically slanderous. I don't know that it's the message we want to send. I'd much rather see billboards that say, 'Remember in November. Get Out and Vote.' At our last rally we saw some people with those kinds of signs and asked people to put them down, It's borderline hate crime" (source: www.politicsdaily.com)

Fear, anger and frustration at the path America seems to be taking is understandable. Our country is facing massive debt. Our economy is struggling back from the brink of collapse. The ecology and economy along the Gulf of Mexico may be damaged permanently because of unregulated corporate greed and a national addiction to oil. We need to fix healthcare, social security, education and the nation’s infrastructure. We are spending billions, trillions on two wars on the other side of the world. Things need to get done and partisanship has ultimately superseded problem solving. Scapegoating, name calling, political and racial slurs have become all too common on the American political scene. Politics has become a battle over ideologies, winners and losers and who has the power. What is getting lost is…us. America is becoming fragmented. Each group being more and more angry and suspicious of the other.

Still, I am at a loss to understand the level of absolute hate and disgust toward President Obama by the conservative right, especially by the Tea Party movement. We have the first black president in our nation’s history. He was elected on the platform of CHANGE and yet when he took on the challenges of those things that need changing (created over many decades by Republicans and Democrats alike)…he has been thwarted and vilified every step of the way. He is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. His birthplace, his religion and his race have been questioned by those who seek his downfall. Even those of us who still support his efforts to deal with our many problems have become disheartened by the tenor of the opposition. I have to fight the tendency to wonder if the same vitriolics would be directed toward a white man from a more privileged background. I wonder if there would be more respect for the office, more cooperation… or have we passed the point of no return?

Food for THOUGHT.

Arizona Immigration Law

I live in Texas and, like Arizona, we also share a border with Mexico. There are strong issues in both states with illegal immigration and our government’s inability to stop it. Farmers and ranchers are suffering along our borders. Safety and damage to private property are their primary concerns as Mexican drug cartels and human traffickers called “coyotes” continue to cross into the United States. The issues of having so many undocumented aliens in this country and their affect on our nation’s economy and healthcare are well known. I don’t believe many would feel our current immigration policy is working nor would they feel our borders with Mexico are secure.

So what do we do about it? Some feel it makes sense to let each border state make up their own laws to deal with their particular problems like Arizona. But is that the best way to deal with a problem that affects not only Arizona but the Nation as a whole? In a sense, it would be like bringing back vigilante justice when a well trained and organized police force is called for. In the old days, citizen soldiers would organize and ride off to deal with frontier problems, then return to their farms and ranches. That frontier justice led to many abuses. Many innocent Indians and Mexicans were slaughtered because of disputes or simply because they were in the way.

I think we should support the existing federal laws yes, but clearly under our Constitution it is the Federal Government that must create and enforce those laws. Do we need an overhaul of Immigration Policy? Certainly, but again Congress is the body of our government charged with making those changes. However, given the partisanship in Washington these days (ON EVERYTHING!!!!!), I'm not holding my breath. So God help this nation, if we are EVER to get anything done! But as a nation we need to put our Washington politicians’ feet to the fire. We cannot let them keep sweeping this issue off to the side. Our nation’s security and its sovereignty are at stake.

Here are some thoughts to consider:

1) Enforce our laws and secure our borders. JOB ONE!!!

2) Then deal with the 12 million aliens already here. You can't deport them all so give them some sort of documentation so we know who they are and where they are.

3) Once they are OFFERED documentation (to determine their status...are they established and productive?) then send back the ones who refuse to be documented as they are caught.

4) It might take several years to document 12 million people, so turn our post offices into documentation centers. Post offices are becoming obsolete with the internet and they are hurting for money. Why not use them for this documentation process?

5) Those documented aliens can be offered a path to citizenship, if they can meet certain requirements such as having a job, learning English, have an establish home, business, and a family. They must be able to prove that they are productive members of society.

6) If they just want to work in this country, issue them a temporary work visa with a tamper proof photo ID with biometrics. Their status should be updated every year or 6 months. If not renewed…they go home.

7) No hospitalization (other than emergency treatment) unless they can pay. No documentation... no money…no work… they go back.

8) Businesses should be required to check against an official documented database before they can hire anyone. Businesses who can NOT verify that they checked their employee's documentation should be fined or sued by the Taxpayers.

9) Change the law that says the child of illegal parents born in this country is automatically a citizen.

We must start a national dialogue on immigration policy and force Washington to give it the attention it deserves.

Food for THOUGHT.

A Woman and a Cat on a Bus

A few mornings ago, I took the bus into work. I settled into my seat and began to read my book. All of a sudden I heard a cat’s meow. Thinking I was hearing things, I looked up and around the bus to see where the meow was coming from. I’m not even sure pets are allowed, but there it was, a cat in a blue plastic carrier, very similar to the one Lisa and I have for our cats. Next to the cat in the carrier was a thin, poorly dressed woman. She had a large bandage on the opposite side of her face that partially covered her left eye. Her right hand was covering her face and she was looking down as if she might be feeling ill.


I thought it was strange that I had not noticed the woman with her cat when I boarded the bus and took my seat, but then I rarely look at my fellow passengers when I’m riding the bus. I normally just want to read or listen to my MP3 player for the 18 minutes it takes to get downtown, but the cat’s meowing got my attention. Now, I could not help focusing on the woman. Immediately, a scenario of pain, grief and sorrow came to me. Without knowing why, a story began playing out in my head. The woman never looked up, but I could FEEL it was her story.

The story went like this: She was alone, except for her cat. She had lost her job and then she was diagnosed with cancer. The prognosis was not good. Perhaps she had only a few weeks or months. She was about to lose her home. Her one last thing was to find a new home for her beloved cat. She was taking it to the City Shelter in hopes that someone would take her cat and care for it. Soon, she would no longer be able to provide for it. She had no one, no friend she could trust, so it had come to this. She was feeling tired and ill. Her head hurt and she could not bear to see the other passengers staring at her bandaged face and her meowing cat in the blue carrier.

I still don’t know why I was given that impression. Perhaps she wasn’t dying of cancer. Perhaps she just had a headache or she was in pain from the recent surgery. Perhaps she was just taking the cat to a vet for a checkup. I see women and small kids loaded with strollers and bags of groceries get on and off the bus all the time. I had to finally realize that not everyone has a car. So why was this woman and her cat so heavy on my mind? Why that particular scenario? Why so personal and why was it directed toward me?

As I sat there in my seat, I was flooded with images of my three cats, Spike, Sylvie and Babs. My heart ached at the thought of ever having to give them up because I was alone and dying. I have my wife, our house and a wonderful life. Life is good for us. I suddenly felt very thankful for my many blessings. I realized in that moment that the life we have is so fragile and our time on this earth is so short. One illness, the death of a spouse, the loss of a job and I could be that person sitting across from me.

My stop was next and as I got up to leave the bus, I looked back one last time. I’ll never know her story for sure, but it made me feel so grateful for all that I have and how insignificant my problems now seemed.

Perhaps that was the point. We only have the day…this moment…this NOW.

Food for THOUGHT…