The 2016 election race is getting into full swing. What are the issues on which the candidates should focus? There are dozens of things that one candidate or another is discussing. The reality, however, is that there are two issues that outweigh everything else: 1) keeping America and Americans safe, and 2) growing the economy. This may sound simplistic, but think about it for a moment. All those social justice schemes that the Democrats are pushing require money to fund them. Since we are already swimming in debt, that means that the government needs extra revenue. That revenue will only come from increasing the size of the economy and the wealth of the country. In fact, if the plans to grow the government were to get passed without growing the economy, we would quickly see the future for everyone get worse. And what of the plans to increase spending on defense? The same is true there; we need more money if we are going to spend more on defense. That will only come from increasing the size of the economy through growth. Debates over things like immigration, healthcare, energy, and the like have to be viewed through the prism of the likely effect each will have on the economy. Items like America agreeing to initiatives to "combat" global warming which will have essentially no effect on the climate cannot be supported as symbolic good if in reality they reduce economic growth.
Put all this together, and it means that each voter has to look at the candidates an decide if that person has a reasonable plan for growing the economy and keeping the country safe. Speeches about possible amendments to the Constitution may hold some interest for a few people, but they cannot be allowed to become a refuge where a candidate can hide from the important issues. Issues about settling old grievances are also distractions from what is actually important for the nation. For the most part, grievance issues make things worse; they divide us and slow economic growth. Think, for example, of all the time Hillary Clinton has spent so far discussing suppression of voting rights. As far as the important issues for the country are concerned, Hillary's remarks on the topic are dead air. (I am not even considering here the fact that Hillary's claims of voter suppression are false. Indeed, so far the only suppression that is taking place is occurring in New York where Hillary's forces are trying to keep Bernie Sanders off the primary ballot on the grounds that he is actually an Independent rather than a Democrat.) When candidates speak about gun rights vs. gun control, they too are off on the wrong path. It won't affect the key issues.
And while we are considering issues that should not make much difference, let's not forget the ones that are (or are about to be) decided. The right of a woman to an abortion during the first three months of her pregnancy has been decided law for over 40 years. That law is not going to change unless the Supreme Court reverses its prior rulings, something that just won't happen, or if a the Constitution is amended, something else that just won't happen. Let's stop spending time on the issue. This coming week, the Supreme Court is also likely to rule that marriage by gays is a constitutional right. It won't stop the discussion, but it will end the ability to have a meaningful discussion of the subject. Let's not waste time in this election discussing this stuff.
Since 1996, no Democrat presidential candidate has set forth a real plan to grow the economy. I am not talking about platitudes, but an actual plan. Indeed, we have seen plans that need a growing economy, but none that promote one. Remember candidate Obama in 2008 who said that he favored raising the capital gains tax even if it would slow economic growth? For Obama, "fairness" triumphed over higher incomes for the country and most people in it as well as higher tax revenues (which surprisingly came from the lower tax rate). Many of the Republican candidates of the last 20 years have also spoken in platitudes about growing the economy. The result has been the last eight years of paltry growth and declining incomes. We cannot let another election cycle go by with this key issue being avoided by any candidate.
Put all this together, and it means that each voter has to look at the candidates an decide if that person has a reasonable plan for growing the economy and keeping the country safe. Speeches about possible amendments to the Constitution may hold some interest for a few people, but they cannot be allowed to become a refuge where a candidate can hide from the important issues. Issues about settling old grievances are also distractions from what is actually important for the nation. For the most part, grievance issues make things worse; they divide us and slow economic growth. Think, for example, of all the time Hillary Clinton has spent so far discussing suppression of voting rights. As far as the important issues for the country are concerned, Hillary's remarks on the topic are dead air. (I am not even considering here the fact that Hillary's claims of voter suppression are false. Indeed, so far the only suppression that is taking place is occurring in New York where Hillary's forces are trying to keep Bernie Sanders off the primary ballot on the grounds that he is actually an Independent rather than a Democrat.) When candidates speak about gun rights vs. gun control, they too are off on the wrong path. It won't affect the key issues.
And while we are considering issues that should not make much difference, let's not forget the ones that are (or are about to be) decided. The right of a woman to an abortion during the first three months of her pregnancy has been decided law for over 40 years. That law is not going to change unless the Supreme Court reverses its prior rulings, something that just won't happen, or if a the Constitution is amended, something else that just won't happen. Let's stop spending time on the issue. This coming week, the Supreme Court is also likely to rule that marriage by gays is a constitutional right. It won't stop the discussion, but it will end the ability to have a meaningful discussion of the subject. Let's not waste time in this election discussing this stuff.
Since 1996, no Democrat presidential candidate has set forth a real plan to grow the economy. I am not talking about platitudes, but an actual plan. Indeed, we have seen plans that need a growing economy, but none that promote one. Remember candidate Obama in 2008 who said that he favored raising the capital gains tax even if it would slow economic growth? For Obama, "fairness" triumphed over higher incomes for the country and most people in it as well as higher tax revenues (which surprisingly came from the lower tax rate). Many of the Republican candidates of the last 20 years have also spoken in platitudes about growing the economy. The result has been the last eight years of paltry growth and declining incomes. We cannot let another election cycle go by with this key issue being avoided by any candidate.
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