For those of us
who view life with a broad brush, what would constitute a good year in
2014? An accelerated economic
recovery? Progress in the Mid East and a
lowering of tensions in the Far East?
Immigration and tax reform? My
vote, by a mile, would be a restoration of the people’s dwindling faith in the
political institutions which form the basis of our constitutional republic.
Many
events in 2014 are either pre ordained or beyond our control. The churn of the economic
cycle will guarantee that our economy makes progress in 2014, no matter what
political party is in power. On the
other hand, international events, despite America’s diplomacy, are largely
loose cannons and not subject to influence.
Immigration and tax reform are but pawns on the partisan political
battlefield. And therein lies the
problem.
Those
matters over which our political institutions do have control are not being
addressed. The national debt, saving
Social Security and Medicare, growing inequality, serious jobs programs, education
reform, physical and mental health programs, gun violence, replacement of an
aging infrastructure and the above mentioned immigration and tax reform issues are
permitted to stand unattended and get worse, year after year, decade after
decade.
The last 5 years have been singularly abysmal
in addressing these problems. The
transformative election of President Obama has become a lightning rod sending
the minions of ideologs of all stripes to the barricades. Congressional and presidential approval
ratings are rightly at all time lows. The middle class with its common sense
and balance on most issues is by some accounts restless and discontent. By other accounts the middle class is
disappearing. By all accounts it has
lost faith in the ability of its political institutions to make rational
decisions for the good of the country.
Liberal
progressives on one end of the stage and conservative populists on the other
will rarely be happy with how government works. For both extremes ideology
trumps incremental change and compromise.
There is nothing wrong with this as long as those on the left and right
are seeking to move the middle by a degree or two and the middle controls the
agenda. I myself am a progressive and
believe my voice is needed to balance the other end of the political spectrum. What is new and troubling is that the
majority of patrons in the audience, the middle class, believe they are not
being well served. In fact they are
often shut out of the national political process, a dire development for our
republic.
The middle class
are correct in concluding that small groups of the ideologically motivated are
directing the play. Moderates see their
elected representatives buying into these small ideological groups by courting
the large pools of campaign financing and politically active supporters
available at the fringes. When being elected
becomes the goal rather than governing, it is impossible for the majority of
Americans to benefit. For example it has
become increasingly unlikely for a moderate republican or democrat to win a
federal election because the fringes control the primaries. The result is do nothing political
institutions, with brief periods of crisis management and brinksmanship.
What is to be
done? Middle class voters should
remember that faith in political institutions without action is dead. Don’t wait for that hated political pollster
on the telephone with his loaded questions.
Go out and make some noise.
Moderate voters must help moderate candidates take back the
primaries. Working on a campaign must receive
the same priority as the Cub Scouts or PTA.
Independents must join a political party and vote in the primaries. The middle class must shout down the noise
coming from fringe cable and radio programs. It should insist that their
political actors represent their broader interests and not waste the people’s
time presenting angry soliloquies designed to encourage a tiny base and to
inflame the opposition’s tiny base.
A word about state
and local political institutions. For the most part, both are healthy and
thriving. State governments must deal
with balanced budgets and are much closer to the social problems that require
attention. Local government must deal
with fixing the roads and removing the snow and garbage. Politicos find it difficult to draw battle
lines around such tasks. Moreover, the
closer voters are to their political institutions, the easier to elect
officials with shared practical goals.
The Majority of
Americans, who want to see progress on important national issues in 2014 need
to stop becoming irrelevant and to take action.
Circulate a petition at the book club, quilting circle or grange
meeting. Tell your elected
representatives what you expect them to accomplish in 2014. There is little that can be done about the
economy or the Mid East. On important
domestic issues progress can be made.
Moderate Americans can take the country back from the fringes and again
control the national agenda. What a
hopeful wish for 2014.
