Democratic Oak Tree

Reflections on the health of our country as winter begins and the year winds to a close:

• The cost of food, transportation, and heat has risen dramatically. Most Americans are struggling to balance their budgets. Many are in debt. Those on fixed incomes are hit especially hard.
• Wages have not kept pace with the cost of living. More workers have low-paid jobs without benefits. Many workers with good jobs are receiving reduced benefits.
• The middle-aged are finding it harder to save for retirement while conserving money for their children’s continuing education.
• Rents and mortgages are high. Homelessness has continued to rise. Shelters don’t have enough room for all the families in need. The subprime mortgage disaster is compounding the problem.
• Food banks report increased numbers of applicants. Charities can meet only a fraction of truly desperate calls for help. Programs like federal home fuel assistance have been cut to the bone.
• Many are suffering needlessly from illness because they couldn’t obtain timely preventive health and dental care.
• In many schools, there are too few teachers for optimal learning. Schools (except in wealthy communities) have been forced to cut academic, athletic, and cultural programs, impose new fees, or both. Many are crumbling from age or postponed maintenance.
• Higher education has become too expensive. Student grants have declined.
• Graduate programs – especially in science and math - have fewer and fewer American students. Many medical students graduate with such debt they can’t practice in poor communities. There’s a shortage of primary care physicians because too many doctors need the higher incomes of specialists.
• Public health and safety programs have been reduced or eliminated.
• Food and drug safety has deteriorated because of a political ideology that opposes almost all regulation.
• The richest Americans are even richer. Their taxes have been reduced beyond all reason.
• Many municipalities have been forced to cut basic services. Bridges, highways, and public buildings are in disrepair.
• The national credit card is dependent on foreign investors. We’re transferring the burden of repaying the debt onto young Americans.
• The purchasing power of the dollar has declined abroad.
• Federal agencies charged with protecting the public are increasingly administered by people with much more concern for short-term corporate profits than for what our Constitution calls the “general Welfare.”
• Rapid climate change has begun, and our national government takes no serious action.
• An avoidable and badly planned war continues to take a tragic toll on American and foreign families. Returning soldiers suffer from inadequate government support.
• America’s reputation around the world for fairness and moral leadership has been reversed.

Some voters who agree with Democrats on domestic issues such as health care and education have traditionally given Republicans the benefit of the doubt on economics, managerial competence, and national security. But after unfettered Republican government for almost seven years, how can anyone credit its claim to superiority in any of these public functions?

Don’t make the mistake of believing that our unfortunate situation is just the result of one bad President. Remember that he had enthusiastic support from Republican Senators, Representatives, and Governors until recently, when a very few – especially those facing reelection – have distanced themselves because of his personal unpopularity. If you vote
for any of them you are empowering all of them.

The hardships faced by many Americans today are not caused by an unavoidable act of nature like an earthquake. The paltry investment in public education, infrastructure, and sustainable energy is not forced upon us by outsiders or just bad luck.

We the People, through our voices and votes, can change our future by changing the country’s priorities. Let’s move away from the Republican philosophy: “You’re on your own.”

If you look at our country’s progress during recent Democratic Presidencies (Clinton, Carter, Johnson, Kennedy, Truman, Roosevelt), you’ll see an entirely different philosophy at work: “We’re all in this together.”

Given the enormous debt run up by Republican leaders (remember that Democrats’ precarious majority in Congress didn’t begin until this year), it will take time to get our country moving forward on all fronts even if Democrats win the Presidency and pick up seats in Congress.

But if we elect a Democratic President and more Democratic Senators and
Representatives, we’ll start to reverse the damage. Even if Democrats don’t always agree on relative priorities and tactics, you can be sure that a Democratic administration will work for the common good.

From day one of a Democratic Presidency, America will begin rebuilding its reputation for fairness, tolerance, and liberty.