The top 10 issues of the 2016 election
Published September 2, 2016
By Tom Campbell
by Tom Campbell, Executive Producer and Moderator, NC SPIN, September 1, 2016.
We get caught up in the personalities running for office, often losing sight of the issues that should be the focus of the campaigns. With ten weeks remaining before the November 8th elections here are ten of the top issues (not necessarily listed in importance) voters should be considering.
When people go to the polls the number one issue on their minds has been and will remain pocketbook issues. How the economy and jobs impact them and those close to them will be a big determinant in ultimate election outcomes.
America’s better tomorrow must begin with improved education. Too many indicators speak to the need to reform public education. Vocational education must be emphasized for those not seeking undergraduate degrees, and costs of higher education must be reduced so that students don’t begin their work lives with staggering debt.
The number one threat to individuals and families is the cost and accessibility of healthcare. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was intended to help insure against healthcare costs. It has succeeded in some areas, but it is a flawed bill that needs triage to survive. Accessibility is a major problem in underserved rural areas. Instead of Congress wasting time trying to repeal ACA they need to get serious in modifying it to work. Equally urgent is the need to provide mental healthcare so that those afflicted don’t end up broke, in jails, or on the streets.
Recent events underscore the need to renew our efforts in human rights and racial equality. We have come too far over the past half-century to slip back into old practices of discrimination.
Gridlock and burdensome regulation, especially at the national level, is the reason so many have lost faith in government. We want government that works. We want governments that work for the common good, not just special interests or political factions, and we insist that taxes, which we recognize are necessary to pay for services, must be fair to all. Middle class citizens rightly feel they pay a disproportionate share.
Despite what statistics might indicate to the contrary violence and terrorism are major concerns. The nightly news is filled with too many stories of gun violence in our communities. No matter how powerful the NRA might be, we must have better control over who gets licenses and the types of weapons they purchase. Intelligence agencies must get smarter in identifying potential terrorists and better coordinate with local and state agencies to prevent threats to our safety.
Immigration is a genuine concern, but the nexus of the problem rests with a Congress that is unwilling to pass common sense and enforceable legislation to control those coming to America, at the same time ensuring we neither target certain religions nor nations. We need workers to pick our crops, build our homes and work in technology.
Election reforms are urgently called for. The Citizens United Supreme Court decision opened the floodgates of big money, unidentified independent expenditure groups and corporations in the election process. We can have freedom of speech without permitting unlimited bankrolling of political campaigns by special interests. Redistricting reform at the state level is equally important so that politicians don’t select their voters instead of the other way around.
Seldom mentioned but of major importance is the staggering national debt facing our nation. At the end of fiscal year 2016 our debt was pegged at $19 trillion and is projected to be more than $21.5 billion by the end of the next presidential term. This is an untenable situation and must be slowed and reversed.
On both the state and national level we face an aging and inadequate public infrastructure, much of which was constructed 30 or more years ago and the problems grow worse with an increasing population. We cannot continue to neglect the needs.
Perhaps you can cite others but we will address each of them in this space over the next few weeks.
The better informed we are the better the decisions we will make come election day.
September 3, 2016 at 9:16 pm
Norm Kelly says:
'The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was intended to help insure against healthcare costs.'
Was it really? None of it's promises have come true. None of it's promises were intended to come true. The liars who sold it to the public knew they were telling a major lie when they told the lie. The current unqualified sorta black socialist organizer knew socialized medicine had failure built into it. I mean, he knew THAT plan had failure built into it. As did EVERY demoncrat that voted for it. Their INTENT was to have a system that was not sustainable; a system that caused more chaos than solutions it provided. The only way demons KNOW they can force a fully socialized single-payer system on the public is by having a government semi-takeover that failed. Then demons/socialists can come in with a full take-over scheme as the ultimate solution to having allowed ANY private business to remain in the private health care market. The demon/socialist solution WILL be and always was intended to be a full government take-over of the entire medical business, from health insurance, to service delivery, with doctors working for central planners, with central planners in total control of everything to do with medical service. With not a single private business in the entire scheme, cuz demons HATE private business and KNOW that it's only private business that creates failure! This, of course, includes medical equipment/device/drug manufacture. Cuz demons KNOW without doubt that a full socialized scheme is the only solution. Of course, thinking people, and conservative free-market types KNOW and have PROOF that socialized medicine is doomed to failure. We have systems around the globe that have been socialized and failed. We have several countries that attempted socialized medicine, and have reverted to a free-market based solution cuz it's the only one that actually works at an affordable price.
'It has succeeded in some areas'. Really? Where & how? Any specifics? Besides insuring illegal aliens, that is.
'but it is a flawed bill that needs triage to survive.' No. It needs to be totally, completely repealed. It WILL NOT survive. It can not survive. Socialized medicine is incapable of surviving. Need proof or an example? Check out the VA Health care system. It's a failure. From ANY and ALL perspectives, it is a failure. And the only fix allowed by socialist demoncrats is MORE MONEY and MORE government control/regulation of the program. No real fix is allowed, because it would prove the failure of the demon party, the demon schemes, the entire big government establishment that IS the democrap party.
'Accessibility is a major problem in underserved rural areas.' But not only rural areas. Since insurance companies are losing their shirts with ACA/obamacancer, they are pulling out of markets all over the nation. 'Underserved areas' are expanding under central planner control. 'Underserved areas' are expanding under a plan that was sold as 'expanding choice'. Choice no longer exists for a majority of Americans! Accessibility has become MORE of a problem SINCE obamascare was forced upon us by a group of liars that argued a different story in front of SCOTUS than they did with the American people. Remember, it's not a tax, it's a 'fine'?! When these liars got in front of SCOTUS, suddenly it became a tax, and therefore HAD to be considered legal. SCOTUS went along with this lie and CHANGED the wording of the law to allow a tax instead of a fine.
'... they need to get serious in modifying it to work.' Really? Exactly how does one modify a big-government scheme to work? Which big-government scheme HAS been modified to work? Where in the world has a single-payer health care system worked? And by 'worked' I mean not just less expensive than if it remained in the free market. I also mean better care, more accessible to legal citizens, with more freedom for my doctor & I to make decisions based on what's good for ME! By 'worked' I also mean that medical businesses are treated EXACTLY the same as every other business in the nation, not with a special 'before expenses' tax that applies ONLY to medical device manufacturers. Cuz if device manufacturers are going to be unequally taxed, they WILL move their business overseas. But then HilLIARy has a plan to put a special tax on businesses that move overseas in order to hire more government workers, so I guess democraps have a scheme for every eventuality! Perhaps I have this all wrong. Instead of pointing out the constant, ongoing, unending failures of democraps, I should be praising them for having solutions to the failed schemes they develop. I know HilLIARy has a scheme already in place to take care of the failures created by the current occupier. At least demons have a scheme to try once their current scheme fails. And they probably have a scheme in place when THAT scheme fails.
But then again, it seems the common denominator of demons is 'failed schemes'. Guess I won't give them credit after all. Can't actually look forward to a failing scheme to fix the current failed scheme. But at least demons are consistent. Consistent at failure must mean something more to them than it does to me. I'd rather see consistent success, but that would be asking too much of demons! Better raise taxes to cover their next failure! But then, HilLIARy has already thought of that approach too. As has every other demon out there. Even Roy tells us he WILL raise taxes! Doncha just love demons & their never ending tax & spend schemes. Is the new term for these failures Alt-Libs? Or are the tax & spend proponents the 'old' demons and the new demons are the 'alt-libs'? Wasn't Bernie the new demon? New demons are the full socialists, while the 'old' demons are the sorta-socialists? I kinda like calling them Alt Libs! Has a nice ring to it. Gotta be careful though, some lib is gonna come up with a scheme to tax that nice ring!
