Presidential
candidates in both parties have spent the past few months attacking each other’s
positions on a host of issues having little or nothing to do with reality. So
what does really matter to the nation in this upcoming election? Here is my short list. What is yours?
1.
The economy. I have said this before.
Everything hinges on the economy. With a
strong economy we can afford the social programs the liberals want and the strong
military that the conservatives want. If the economy is weak, neither of these
is affordable. Soft power and hard power both flow from a strong economy. Social
unrest at home and challenges from the likes of Russia and China would be
encouraged by a weak economy. So my number 1 priority is attention to the
economy.
2.
Infrastructure. Good infrastructure supports the
economy, poor infrastructure restrains it. We have neglected our nation’s
infrastructure for decades (roads, bridges, water & sewer systems, electric
transmission grids and generating stations, railroads, airports, sea ports, communications
and internet lines, etc, etc.), and much of it is in poor shape and in dire
need of maintenance or replacement. Since this directly supports the health of
the economy, it comes number 2.
3.
Education.
In today’s world, a healthy economy requires a well-trained, well-educated
workforce. America is rapidly falling behind other industrialized nations in
the quality of our education at all levels, but especially at the K-12 level. We
still have the best universities in the world, but the best students in those
universities are increasingly foreign students, not native Americans. Since this too is a critical part of
maintaining a strong economy, it ranks number 3 in my list.
4.
A political system that works. Our current system doesn’t work.
Big private, corporate and union money has too much influence. The bureaucracy has
gotten too big and cumbersome to be effective. Washington is increasingly run
by a small elite group that lives in the revolving door between corporations
and government, and is increasingly out of touch with the rest of the nation
(as the upstarts in the current campaign are showing). Without a governing system
that works, the economy will always be in jeopardy. Without a decently educated
electorate, no democracy can function long. So this ranks number 4 on my list.
5.
Equal opportunity for all. Not equal outcome for all –
equal opportunity for all. A nation’s population is its major asset. If
discrimination of any kind – gender, religious, ideological, racial, sexual
preference, etc - limits the abilities
or aspirations or education of any part of its population, it limits the nation’s
ability to prosper. The world’s next Einstein may well be a lesbian Muslim
woman or a transgender black disabled person or…… In today’s highly competitive
world, we need EVERYONE’s brains and contributions to keep the nation abreast
of the times.
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