It is Time to Change Our Political Culture

Criticizing your opponent is not a plan.  We need something to vote for – not somebody to vote against.  Before the hard-core attacking began, there was a discussion that led me to believe that the economy was the biggest issue facing America.  Here is what I heard when the issues were being discussed:

The Democrats are proposing to raise taxes on the wealthy, and redistribute the wealth to the less fortunate who need the support.  Therefore, they will spend the money rather than save it – thereby reinvigorating the economy (you are not allowed to say “stimulate” anymore).  The Republicans are proposing to cut taxes so that businesses will realize more profits and use the profits to hire more people.  The democrats also propose more regulation to preclude future economic chaos caused by unscrupulous businesses.  The republicans are calling for less regulation to make business more productive.

This is an over simplification, but the message I have been hearing is: class warfare versus trickle down and more versus less regulation.  It is big government versus small government.

So at least from my perspective, that is the overall framework of this presidential election.  This is NOT what this campaign SHOULD be about.  Neither camp is talking about what this campaign should be about.  Maybe they do not get it - or maybe they do not believe enough in themselves to take it on.  In fact, the billion dollars that will be spent this campaign season will only make the real problem facing America worse.

We are in a death spiral of political gridlock.  Washington is not able to practice the art of politics (which is compromise) because of ideological self-righteousness.

The Republicans have made the mistake of labeling their ideological self-righteous members – the Tea Party.  The Tea Party began with (and retains) a no-compromise position on raising taxes.  It is because of the Tea Party that the Republican Primary candidates could not raise their hands to offer $1 of taxes for $10 of spending cuts.  More recently, the Tea Party has established a no-compromise position on a slew of social issues.

The Democrats have not labeled their ideologues (smart move), but they do exist.  The Democrats self-righteous members have a no-compromise position on spending cuts to entitlement programs.  The Democrats have even run a television commercial that depicts Congressman Ryan of Wisconsin throwing grandma (in a wheel-chair) over a cliff.  The commercial was critical of Congressman Ryan’s proposed budget bill that included cuts to some of our entitlement programs.

If we abide by both the Republican’s and Democrat’s extreme ideologies, we cannot raise taxes and we cannot cut spending.  Has anybody noticed that the national debt is scheduled to increase FOREVER?

This election is important because this campaign season will spew a vast quantity of negativity upon we Americans.  All this negativity should make us pause, and hit the reset button. We must realize that we have allowed ourselves to be manipulated by the spin machines into becoming irrational human beings.  It is time for we Americans to reclaim civility in our politics.  It is time to admit that “the other side” may actually have some valid points.

The negativity that this election campaign will put forth will cause some Americans to despise the “other side’s” candidate.  Worse yet; it will cause some Americans to despise other civilians that support the other side.  After the elections are over, an atmosphere of mistrust among our elected leaders and civilians alike will preclude any compromise on the challenges that America faces - the same atmosphere that already exists today – but worse.

        Politics as usual will result in America continuing to “kick the can” down the road.  Unfortunately, the road we are on is the same one that Greece has already taken.  Yes, we too are going broke.  But, there is another way forward!

I wrote a book to nudge America down that “other way forward”.  That book is “2012: Political Self-Righteousness, A Time for Self-Reflection”.  The book is written from my perspective of the problems facing America and from my perspective of the solutions that are being offered.  I am the guy in the middle of the road that leans a little right.  Most importantly, I am a little guy.  It is time for the little guy to have a say in this campaign mess.

My book discusses over fifty issues which have been debated this year.  The book defines the issues, and then discusses the positions being taken by the “Far Left”, the “Far Right” and by the guy “From the Middle”.  I admit that the Far Left and Far Right positions are extreme.  The complete set of “Far Left” or “Far Right” positions are most likely not endorsed by any one person in America (at least I would like to think not).  But, there are people that do have extreme views on individual issues, and some that have extreme views on many issues.  Putting the extreme positions down on paper is the beauty of the book.  It makes you think about others’ opinions as you form your own.  However, the real beauty of the book is that it offers common-sense solutions – some of them very thought provoking.

Just seeing potential solutions to the morass of issues leads to a simple conclusion:  we are not at a loss of ideas to fix our problems, we are at a loss of leadership to bring them to life.

Read the book – you will be glad you did.  You will be prepared to make the most informed vote of your life.  The book even makes economics easy to understand.  Most importantly, you will join the many other readers in bringing civility back to our policy discussions.  The more readers I get, the better our country will become.  Read the book and then talk politics with your friends and family.  Thoughtfully conduct those discussions with the civility called for in the book.  Culture changes in little steps – and you are now taking one of those small steps.