Something I'd Like To See - Pragmatism

There are four years ahead of us in which both political parties can redefine themselves and end the polarization within.  Both have factions within that are constantly tugging against one another. That would open the door to compromise which is the pragmatic way of solving our problems.

Somewhere there has to be some common ground on how to revitalize our economy.  It's not by spending money we don't have.  The money that is spent, or invested as Obama likes to say, needs to go toward viable, market ready solutions rather than nebulous dreams not ready for prime time.

The tax code does need to be reworked.  Taxing the rich will not raise the necessary revenue to do much of anything.  As presented it's more of a token punishment for success than an answer to any problems.  Raising the rates will more likely curb ambitions rather than raise them.  Closing loopholes and capping deductions is a more reasonable and less punishing approach.

Student loans have gotten prohibitively high because the cost of education has too.  It would be okay with me if professors were actually required to teach, requiring fewer assistants, thus costing less money.  This is simplistic, I know, but you get the gist. The loans should not be forgiven.  A loan is an obligation and obligations are to be honored. We can use a refresher course in honoring obligations.

Obamacare still needs reformed but I do not disagree with those who say some parts of it are good. Take another look.  Reform is not a dirty word.

Roe versus Wade is the law of the land.  Get over it.

I have no objection to same sex marriage, if they are afforded the same rights as marriage between a man and a woman. Why get hung up on semantics?  The point is having the same rights. It's a states issue and shouldn't be a litmus test for national office.

The Republicans need to learn how to state their position on social issues so as not to offend those who may mostly agree with their point of view on other issues but are put off by their 'holier than thou' posture.  We're not bad people because we don't subscribe to your religous beliefs.

There needs to be a reshaping of the electoral college so that a mere handful of states can no longer hold elections hostage regardless of the popular vote.

We need a defined foreign policy so the rest of the world knows where we stand.  If we are no longer willing to be a player, admit it.  We'll be sorry, but that's merely my opinion.  Albeit a strong one.

The media needs to take a long hard look at itself.  Are they to promote their self interests or keep the public informed of all sides of issues? They are failing miserably at being objective.  Even FOX who is the singular proponent of conservatism let their candidate down by focusing more on what he wasn't doing right in their opinion than what he was doing right.  You know the saying, "With friends like that who needs enemies?"  All sides could use some pundits who have a better grasp of reality than the Sean Hannities and Ed Schultzes, to name but a couple.

We as the electorate  also need to open ourselves to more than self interests and focus more on the country as a whole.  Ditto for Congress and the Presidency.

If we learn from the election just past we can mend much of what's broken before we have to totally reinvent ourselves. If you are of the school that nothing is broken so don't fix it, I hope you're in the minority.  Because our country is broken.  We can all contribute to fixing it though, if we give a little as well as take.  It's called being pragmatic.