Since he's the current Republican leader... to Mr. Cain--
Your "9-9-9" plan- Why do you respond to regressive aspects of this plan by saying people can just buy "used items" since they would exempt from your 9% sales tax? Would they buy
"used" food, "used" pharmaceuticals? If not, would those items be exempt? Then how would that impact your economic projections? Should lower and middle income Americans depend on used clothing and furniture to clothe their children and furnish their homes? Used bed linens, pots and pans, dishes, toys, home appliances? I'm all for conservation and shifting from our throwaway mentality, but I don't think that's your goal. You've portrayed it in economic terms only. So, wouldn't this new tax burden discourage consumer spending on new items and slow the economic recovery?
You say you'll implement 9-9-9 in the first year as president. Easy as that. Will you be honest with Americans who always seem ready to fall for the flashy sales pitch and tell them nothing of that scale is easy? Your talent lies in motivating people with big goals and catchy phrases. What is your capacity to roll up your sleeves, negotiate effectively with Congress, "motivate" them to reach practical solutions, get into the complexities of policy-making, be an effective administrator of a vast, complex and dispersed federal government? We did not ask enough penetrating questions of then-Senator Barack Obama. We were captivated by his soaring rhetoric, enchanting life story and unprecedented campaign. This job is not for those who distill things into simple little packages or soundbites. We hopefully are not so naive to believe otherwise.
Mr. Cain, you recently said your foreign policy would provide more clarity (than I presume President Obama's). That you wouldn't put "boots on the ground" in simmering situations like Syria, but may offer help in other ways. If that's the case, it sounds like President Obama's approach to the conflict in Libya. Is that what you mean? If not, could you provide more clarity for the word "clarity?"
To the Republican candidates who fall into the rhetoric of removing so-called "illegals" who "take the jobs of hard-working Americans"---(At least Governor Perry is not backing off from his support for state-funded college education for children born in Texas to undocumented parents; reveals a practical side.)
Do you know who picks the vegetables and fruits you buy at the grocery store? Do you know who butchers and packages the meat you eat? The restaurants you frequent, do you know if they employ undocumented workers? Where they acquire the food they serve? Do their suppliers and processors employ undocumented workers? Have you had your roof repaired? Your trees trimmed? New sod laid? Installed a new heat pump, new plumbing, the ubiquitous granite countertops in your kitchen? Are you absolutely sure you have never, ever employed or benefited from the work of the maligned "illegals?" Would you agree that vegetables, fruits and meats in our grocery stores would be more costly if growers and processors were paying their workers more than what they pay these shadow workers? That many services and repairs would cost more? Home and road construction is known to employ transient day workers, many whom are likely undocumented. Are you frank with Americans that the costs of many things will go up if you simply "build the fence?"
Immigrants, unarguably the lifeblood of America from day one, are not the problem. Nature abhors a vacuum. Most of those who come here secretly and illegally fill jobs Americans don't or won't do. Many politicians paint them as criminals, but they aren't the problem. They wouldn't be coming here if the job demands weren't here. Or if their native countries provided the jobs they seek and ensured freedoms and securities our country does. If you want to stop illegal immigration but you don't want costs of domestic food, home repairs, construction, etc. to go up dramatically, then what policies would you support that (1) supply the number of short-term workers needed to do jobs Americans won't or don't do, (2) clear paths to citizenship for the undocumented who are law-abiding, tax-paying workers, and (3) identification practices to keep employers honest about who they hire and how the compensate them?
For President Obama, you have detained and deported more than 400,000 undocumented workers to apparently appease conservatives in the hopes it would open the door for debate on comprehensive immigration reform. Will you admit on this issue and others where you swung far to the right that it didn't provide opportunity to debate and compromise, but instead your political opponents dug their heels in deeper? How do you propose shifting this pattern to one where you bring people to the table instead of allowing them to turn your own words against you? It takes two to tango, I know, but you are the president. Our top leader. Your recent executive orders I applaud because they tackle some immediate problems, like burdensome college loans and shrinking generic drug supply. But, how will you show us that you are a maturing politician who can solve problems, big and small, with Congress not despite them?
Our country's politics appear to be shifting conservative, but down deep we are a moderate, practical people. We do have expectations of our government. Defending our country from those who want to do it harm. Generous support for our wounded warriors. Safe and adequate roads, safe bridges and tunnels, ample public transit in the cities. Safe food supply. Libraries and community centers. Verdant places for rest, play and exploration. Protection of historic sites. Clean water, clean air. Help for those who need it, like the chronically poor, the sick, the disabled, the elderly, the homeless, the forgotten. Universal education for our children to prepare them for a complex world and competitive economy. Constant supply of power for our homes and businesses. A sensible, effective healthcare system that serves all Americans and leads to good health outcomes for all ages. This PBS Newhour report is worth a read and listen. We say we want low taxes, less government, but when you dig deep, the answers are much different. As a whole we care more about the common good and lean more to the practical than our politicians so vigorously claim.
Watch Land of the Free, Home of the Poor on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.
To the other Republican front runner, Governor Romney-- you were clearly a moderate when you served as governor of Massachusetts. Don't fool us or yourself into thinking it will be easy to swing moderate if you win the presidency after espousing extremely conservative views on the campaign trail. Conservatives will not let you. Even President Obama, arguably a moderate/liberal, was greatly influenced by the powerful conservative factions in this country and on Capitol Hill. If you swing so far right, do you really think you can reach back to the middle to find practical solutions? Will you stick to your guns on tax reform and entitlement reform? You've been a bit more honest lately about healthcare reform you were instrumental in implementing in Massachusetts. Will you keep that up? Are you going to be just as honest to say you can't repeal the Affordable Health Care Act with the stroke of a pen, but instead will use your experience as governor to reform the reform, make it work, make health care affordable and accessible to all Americans?
President Obama, you said you would be the great mediator, the one who would change our politics. Some decisions gave me hope. Your Supreme Court appointments. Your handling of Libya. To a degree, your tackling of the enormous problems in our health care system. Your focus on infrastructure and a green economy. But, you've swung much farther right than many expected and now to regain support with the disenchanted liberal base you're swinging way back to the left. It's frankly making me dizzy, and I don't know where you stand on a lot of things. What are your core beliefs? What do you seek to accomplish? Where is the middle ground for you? Where will you not compromise? Where lies your greatest flexibility? You say that you want to tackle entitlement reform and tax reform after you are re-elected. What assurance can you give Americans that you will follow through? What are your overall goals for these reforms? Since you've had little success in collaborating with Congress, what would you do differently next time around?
I was deeply frustrated when President Obama turned his back on his own tax and fiscal reform commission who showed political courage (those members of Congress who sat on the commission and voted yes for its recommendations) in proposing some pretty hefty changes to entitlements and the tax code. It provoked productive debate with additional ideas and proposals to get our country on better fiscal footing, but the President and Congress lost the opportunity these efforts offered to do what many of us want them to do. Serve the common good and together find practical solutions to our short-term problems and long-term health.
So, President Obama and all candidates, what are your long-term plans for--- the stagnated job market, the anemic housing market? How will you distance yourself from the Wall Street folks who give so much campaign money to your campaigns? How will you make sure middle-income Americans regain their footing in our economy? Will you seriously address the causes for deepening poverty in our cities, suburbs and rural counties and growing income inequality between the top 20% and everyone else, instead of the same-old treating the symptoms?
What would be the foundation of your foreign policy? What is the new role of America in this fast-changing, intimately connected world? What kind of relationship will you seek with China? North Korea? India? Pakistan? Iran? The evolving Middle East? Europe? Russia? South America? Latin America? Our immediate neighbors, Canada and Mexico? Is it time for a new trajectory for relationships with countries of Africa? What is the new face of defense and intelligence in this age of cyber warfare, evolving and elusive terrorist networks, instability and conflict in pockets and swaths, growing economic and military strength of China? Where is the balance in keeping defense strong, the economy strong, safety nets strong, infrastructure and education strong?
What about the environment? Who among you will be honest about the human contributions to global warming and climate change? Why won't any of you use the word "conservation?" When will one of you be honest about how the American dream that led to suburban sprawl and inefficient use of our natural resources, making us the biggest per-person user of energy on the planet, maybe, just maybe needs to change? That it's not just a theoretical argument, but affects us physically, economically, socially and politically inside and outside our borders.
And education. My big beef. Why are you all so enamored with charter schools when 85% of children are in traditional public schools? Or standardized testing when common sense tells you too much focus on test scores denies children deep learning? Be honest and say that charter schools are a small, sometimes innovative, way to educate kids, but they are small scale, small bore. That focusing on test scores to grade children, teachers and schools will lead us away from building minds not toward it. President Obama has been the most disappointing to me on this issue. I expect it now from the Republicans. It's been drilled into them by conservative think tanks and political boot camps. But President Obama with his unusual upbringing, keen intelligence and abundant curiosity. He's been unfortunately captured by this narrow reform movement. I fear if we don't change course we'll rue the day that we've taken our public education system in this direction.
So, to wrap it up. I know I'm not alone in asking those seeking political office--- Be honest. Be open-minded. Look people in the eye, but don't forget the horizon. Stop thinking about the next political campaign or what you "owe" those who gave you donations. Tell them to not expect anything more than solid, honest, principled, courageous leadership. Work toward compromise and practical solutions. Stop delaying the inevitable. Reform entitlements and put them on a more sustainable path. Reform the tax code to be fair, simple and sufficient. Figure out this illegal immigration issue in humane and practical ways. Maintain foreign policy that engages with the world or we risk losing our place in it. Maintain strong, smart, strategic defense. Make our economy work for everyone. Make our healthcare system work for everyone. Talk about poverty and income inequality. They are real. They hurt everyone. Require and encourage our natural resources to be used wisely and efficiently. Don't prepare our kids just to be good test takers or pit teachers, schools against neighborhoods against one another in the name of education. Develop our children's minds, inspire their imagination, increase their compassion for others, empower them to be the leaders, thinkers, creators, hands-on doers of tomorrow.
Truly, the last is our most fundamental, most important task. How we raise and educate the next generation. If our leaders will tackle these many tough issues with honesty, open minds and an eye to the future the country our children inherit will be on stronger footing. And if our children are educated to THINK, not just take tests, they'll be better equipped to keep our country in good shape for their children. There's so much at stake. We can't afford to break the cycle of doing what's best for the next generation. It's our duty I believe as citizens of this country and human beings on this earth.
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