When I read “Disinformation is running rampant” in the Delaware State News (July 5), I was reminded of this quote: “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies” — Groucho Marx.
The author seems a bit confused; let’s see if we can help. Let’s start with, “Why should we believe that Republicans are solely guilty of these untruths?”
Here are a few reasons:
So, it is easy to see why it’s reasonable to believe that Republicans, if not solely guilty, are the perpetrators of the overwhelming number of lies that are found in U.S. politics today.
While Republican lies are a problem in this country, we face many more problems as a nation.
We need comprehensive immigration reform that addresses the sources of migration. A major source of immigration problems comes from nearby populations. Poverty and violence in South and Central America and the Caribbean drive people to risk everything to attempt to have a better life in the U.S. Congress, not the president, needs to enact laws that address the issues and lead to policies that are supported in the U.S. Congress has, so far, failed in their immigration duty because members of Congress believe it will hurt their reelection chances.
We need effective climate-change laws and resultant policies that limit greenhouse gas emissions. Contrary to the author’s opinion, we have to work with other countries to solve global problems like carbon dioxide control. Once again, we need Congress to enact climate-change laws or to approve international efforts like the Paris accord to protect our future. And once again, Congress has failed to act, out of fear of voter reaction.
We also need legislation that enables the U.S. to promote inventiveness, develop technology, produce competitive products and help ensure our economic future. Congress has approved bills in both the Senate and House that help achieve this goal, but reconciling the two bills has yet to happen.
The author believes our best future lies in Republicans running everything — single-party rule. Perhaps the best such example is Russia, where Vladimir Putin and his cronies run everything. If the coup attempt had been successful, we might now look like Russia politically. Most Americans would, I believe, be opposed to that. Yet many on both sides of the aisle believe in and vote for the goal of single-party rule.
I beg to differ. I believe the reason we haven’t solved immigration and climate change and many more problems is the failure to work together.
It’s time for a change. It’s time for candidates to fear voters because they didn’t work out solutions together, not because they avoided them. Our best chance of solving our problems is by working together, by bipartisanship.
So, here’s the challenge: Before you vote in November, ask your preferred candidate how he/she plans to work in a bipartisan fashion. Have them name one bill they plan to author and the name of the person on the other side of the aisle who will sign on with them.
Let’s then vote out of office those who fail to work together. We’re out of time as a country to spend our days trying to find a scapegoat in the “other” party.
Philip Spampinato
Dover
