My Presidential Platform
The presidential race is heating up in Iowa, especially among Republicans, who will hold their first-in-the-nation caucuses here in January. It’s gotten me thinking about my presidential platform. I say this in complete jest, of course, because I, like most Americans, have the good sense not to run for office. But, then again, you've gotta bless those who do it out of a calling to public service. And, based on my spiritual beliefs, I’ve also got to bless those who do it to stay out of jail.
I typically don’t write about politics, because aside from that last comment, I try to focus on unity rather than separation. Politics is divisive by nature, and there’s nothing our egos like better than to make the other “side” wrong. You can’t live in Iowa without being touched by the presidential race, though, so it’s gotten me thinking about what my platform would be if I were running for President. I’ve never thought of writing my own platform before. But now that it’s on my mind, I think it’s not a bad exericise.
Here are a few planks in my platform. I’d be interested in knowing some of yours.
Let the government handle economics and defense and get out of the morality business. One person’s morality is another person’s limitation on personal freedom. This country was started by people who no longer tolerated religious oppression and refused to have their lives dictated by government. That ideal has not changed. Any legislation that’s based on limiting others, threatening their rights, making them wrong and thinking one person has the answers for everyone is bound to implode eventually. Fear is not a sustainable solution, even though it speaks to a large segment of the population looking to be in control. Get out of the business of legislating anything that could be handled by walking in someone else’s shoes.
Increase benefits for veterans. My brother-in-law, a Viet Nam veteran, passed away last spring. Thanks to his military benefits, he and my late sister paid next to nothing for about 4.5 years of cancer treatments, surgeries, chemotherapy, and hospitalizations. This is as it should be. It’s unimaginable what the costs would have been without those benefits. If a country is going to ask human beings to put their lives, their time with their families, and their emotional/mental/spiritual health on the line, they should be compensated for the rest of their lives.
Bring Governor Robert Ray back to life. A Republican, Ray served as the Iowa’s governor from 1969 to 1983. He may be best remembered for his humanitarian efforts to resettle the Asian Tai Dam refugees in Iowa after the Viet Nam War. He created his own refugee resettlement program because he felt it was the right thing to do, even though he received the same pushback about refugees we see today: fear over taking jobs away, fear of draining community resources, fear of the “other.” (An interesting side note: Ray’s grandson recently married a young woman who is descended from Tai Dam refugees.) Ray also enacted the first laws in the U.S. that protected Native American graves. He signed legislation creating the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women. And he worked toward energy conservation and civil rights. He was a person Iowans looked up to, even if they didn’t agree with him. We could use so many more like him today.
Build more support for the arts, science, exploration, and imagination. We’re on the cusp of enormous breakthroughs in health, space exploration, and remedies for the planet. The dreamers may not meet the practicality test today, but their imaginations will create what we need for the future. I work with a lot of writers and other creative types who are looking forward, finding transcendence, rising above, finding hope and inspiration and grace and forgiveness. Those may not seem like practical words, but they will shape humanity as we go forward.
Eliminate food insecurity. In the Des Moines area right now, more than a fifth of all households deal with food insecurity. The percentage has risen dramatically in the last few years because of the pandemic and rising food costs, a trend being borne out across the nation. Some statistics show that a third or more of schoolchildren don’t have access to three meals a day—or even two—unless the school provides at least one of them. I don’t know about you, but I can’t learn anything or settle down my body long enough to pay attention if I haven’t eaten. This is the most basic of human needs.
Provide universal health care. Having been an independent business owner for more than 35 years, I know that health care is the single biggest threat to families and to employers. I can’t tell you how many would-be entrepreneurs I’ve talked to over the years who wanted to start their own business and go out on their own, but one thing stopped them: health insurance. The costs of health care not only cripple families but inhibit economic growth. Most of the businesses in the country are small businesses, and there would be more of them, putting more people to work, if we had universal health care. People shouldn’t have to wait until they’re eligible for Medicare to start a business. We can do better.
What’s your platform? Feel free to share it in Comments. Not a paid subscriber? Upgrade now.
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Yes!
IMHO, honorably discharged servicemen should receive lifetime basic health care--a simple administrative step would be making them Medicare eligible the day of discharge.
The U.K. is in its fourth generation of "universal health care" and the gradual disassembly of that system has accelerated and now reached crisis proportions, with months-long delays and complete unavailability of many treatments and services we take for granted here. Gotta' be careful what you wish for--modern medicine is complicated, as are many personal services, and often beyond the ability of a bureaucracy to fund and manage.