When Will the Circus Leave Town

In his April 16th post, Ian Marmottin laments the current roster of GOP 2012 Presidential hopefuls.  I join him in his dismay.  I am a life-long Democrat and steadfast supporter of President Obama.  Nonetheless I long for a credible and responsible Republican candidate for President in the 2012 elections.  The problems we face as a nation are very serious and the divisions between us are disheartening.  We don’t have time for the circus anymore.  We need to see the best that both parties can offer.

While the Radical Right and Progressive Left have little appetite for the kind of compromise and cooperation that are essential to good governance, most Americans just want pragmatic solutions to our very real problems.  Whatever one thinks of President Obama’s job as president, he is sober, thoughtful and intelligent.  He is steeped in the details of our current crises. We need someone of the same stature from the Republican side to propose alternative solutions to those promoted by President Obama and the Democrats.  Let the American people see an intelligent debate, free of the hysterical and unhinged attacks on Obama that we currently hear from all the Republican candidates before us now.

I believe the current crop of Republicans hopefuls are just a side show and that we will see a more serious candidate emerge in the fourth quarter of this year.  Even though everything I see from GOP elected officials, both at the national and state level, appears narrowly targeted at a radical base, I’m convinced that behind the scenes the Republican power structure is searching for a candidate who can seriously challenge President Obama from the political center.  They have to know that there is no one currently running who qualifies as that candidate.

The mid-term election success of extremely conservative Republicans around the country has moved the Democrats ever more sharply to the center in American politics.   I continue to hope for a Republican presidential candidate that can pull the GOP from their cliff’s edge as well.   Please join the rest of us Americans here in the middle just trying to make it through these dark times.  Talk to us like adults.  Give us a real choice.  Trust us with the truth. 

Un-American Activity

“Free people, remember this maxim: We may acquire liberty, but it is never recovered if it is once lost.”  Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

Two of our most cherished American values are under assault by what I consider Un-American activities - our right to vote and our religious freedom.   These two pillars of American society set us apart from most of the countries in our world and we must be ever vigilant to protect them.

As President Obama said in his proclamation on Religious Freedom Day earlier this year, “The writ of the Founding Fathers has upheld the ability of Americans to worship and practice religion as they choose, including the right to believe in no religion at all.”  But what we have experienced in the years since the terrorist attacks of 9/11 is a mindless attack on the religion of Islam, a religion practiced by an estimated 2 million plus American citizens.   From ill-advised Congressional hearings to attacks on mosques to demonstrations against the construction of mosques, the drumbeat of religious bigotry has been deafening.

Recently Brian Fischer of the American Family Association claimed that the First Amendment was written to protect the free exercise of Christianity and that Muslims are not entitled to First Amendment protections.  We could write him off as an obnoxious extremist were it not for the painful fact that he has been courted recently by at least five of the prospective Republican candidates for President.  It is our shame as a nation that anti Muslim propaganda is not denounced forcefully and repeatedly by our political establishment, neither Democratic nor Republican.  It has been ever so that in times of economic hardship we have settled on a scapegoat, but that does not make it any less un-American.

Results of the 2010 census show our country growing ever more ethnically and religiously diverse.  It is the glory of our country.  But to ensure that our diversity is reflected in our elected leaders and our laws we must embark on a national campaign to educate our citizen on the importance of exercising our right to vote.  Our most fundamental opportunity to participate in the political process is our vote.  In my lifetime people marched and died to expand the franchise to African Americans in the South.  In my lifetime young men under the age of 21 were fighting and dying in Viet Nam but could not vote. It required passage of the 26^th amendment to the Constitution in 1971 to expand the franchise to everyone 18 or older.  

To honor those struggles we should be engaged in a national campaign to make voting easier and turnout more robust.  Instead, in over half our states, Republican legislative majorities are advancing restrictive voter registration and voter ID laws, making it more difficult to vote.  All in response to almost non-existent “voter fraud”. 

Make no mistake, an overwhelmingly white, overwhelmingly male political movement is seeking to disenfranchise minorities and college students to strengthen their own political power.  That, my friends is the most un-American activity of all.

Obesity and Poverty - An Unhealthy Partnership

In his April 2nd blog post, Nick Patterson cites poverty as a major contributing factor to obesity and its related health problems.  The lack of affordable fresh food in poor neighborhoods had led to “food deserts” in these vulnerable communities.  A 2009 study by the U S. Dept of Agriculture estimated that over 5 million households live ½ mile or more from the nearest large grocery store and that most lack a vehicle or affordable transportation to reach these stores.  The expense of building and operating grocery stores in poor neighborhoods and a lack of access to credit for local grocery operators discourages efforts to build grocery stores in poor communities.  Readily available and inexpensive fast food, high in fat and calories, becomes the default choice for these neighborhoods. 

The Obama administration announced a Healthy Food Financing Initiative in 2010 designed to attract investment in underserved communities with flexible grant and loan financing providing funding to local retailers to build more grocery stores.  The initiative is designed to develop public-private partnerships for a market based approach to the obesity crisis.  Legislation implementing this plan was introduced by Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in November 2010.  President Obama proposed $345 million for it in his FY 2011 Budget.  The level of funding in 2011 and 2012 is uncertain until a budget is approved but there has been bi-partisan support for the proposal in the past.

Wal-Mart has launched a major initiative to improve the food choices they offer in their existing stores and to build new stores in underserved areas.  They have moved to reduce sodium and sugar and remove trans fats in their private label food products and have been reducing prices to make their products more affordable.  They are also increasing their charitable support to nutrition programs to educate families about healthier food choices.

These are two examples of how government can work hand in hand with private enterprise to tackle a serious and costly health crisis in our country.  I hope they will inspire other retailers to step up to the challenge.  We should all root for their success.