Over the next few weeks while I’m on vacation, I plan to use some old columns that I hope provide some perspective on where we find ourselves today.
Below is a partial from July 2011.
The problem as I see it, is not who pays more or fewer taxes, nor who’s right, the Democrats or the Republicans. If we let the two parties work this out, they’ll never solve the debt problem nor any major issues facing the country.
Ninety percent of Americans who vote will fall behind one party line or another, and it’s as clear as the day is long how you view these issues. The divide between the sides is getting deeper and far more entrenched.
In reality, it’s the 10 percent of independent Americans who voted in the last election who will swing the majority one way or the other.
The problem is, we need fewer liberals and conservatives in elected office and more non-partisan Americans who are willing to begin to address the issues and start solving some of the problems before either party runs this country into the ground with their constant ideological battles.
I think most of us are getting tired of the two parties beating the other side into the ground when they are both responsible for the mess we find ourselves in today.
Back in 1858 when the country was split over the issue of slavery, President Lincoln said, "a house divided against itself cannot stand," but was it really about slavery or was it about economics and finances?
His point back then was that one side or the other would eventually win out. Within a few years, the country was plunged into the Civil War which nearly destroyed the Union.
The rhetoric and anger has been growing over the past several decades with the sides growing farther apart. The parties are seriously divided on nearly every issue, and while we’re a long way from a civil war, the time to solve these issues is now.
With the 2012 presidential campaigns starting to heat up, I wonder if Lieberman and McCain had it right in 2008 when McCain considered Lieberman as his vice president running mate?
If we can’t get an independent in the highest office, perhaps we need one from each party who can agree to work together and lead their party to the table to reach a true compromise.
We all know that won’t happen, but something needs to change, or I fear we are in for more of the same as we zigzag from one election to another while the divide grows and once again threatens the Union.
