The 2010 midterm elections have come and gone with majority of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives going from Democratic blue to Republican red. Let the political analysts debate whether the result was a rejection of a particular ideology or party. The more important issue is what the rising level of incivility means for the security of this nation.
The hatred that was displayed against President Obama and his legislative agenda went far beyond political difference. Some of the candidates that went on to win may have allowed voters to express their economic frustrations, but their rhetoric often seemed to reflect the extremes of common sense.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether all this was just political posturing or whether the GOP leadership really means to spend the next two years rejecting anything that comes from the White House–as they have the last two years–regardless of the consequences to our economy and our sense of unity as a nation.
The truth is, Republicans will find it difficult to simultaneously maintain a tax cut for the richest Americans and significantly reduce the deficit. While we must hold down spending, we cannot slash and burn our way to economic prosperity. More efficient and effective spending is needed so that in bringing down our debt, we do not limit the kind of investments needed to ensure long-term economic growth and competitiveness.
So it would be more than a shame, it would be downright irresponsible, for the Republicans to try to run their 2012 presidential campaign out of Congress. The people of the United States want their government to get back to work and to put an end to the political infighting. They want Congress to work with the president on legislation that makes a difference in their lives. They want to wake up without having to worry about the debt collectors or how they are going to pay for their homes, their daily commute, their prescription drugs and their other basic necessities. They want to ensure that their children are receiving the kind of education that will enable them to compete with the rest of the world.
These are the challenges that lie ahead of us, challenges that must be solved by pulling together–not by scapegoating the poor, the undocumented, the unemployed, the uninsured or the ones that don’t hold the same political or religious views.
The sky may not be falling, but the storm clouds are certainly overhead. We must move forward by educating our people and encouraging the kind of research that will move us away from dependency on fossil fuels. We must rebuild our education system to meet the high-tech needs of the global marketplace and again start making products that are the envy of the world.
We have to cut back on health care costs by broadening access and keeping healthy people out of the hospital longer. We must do all this while reducing our deficit and the kind of interest payments to foreign countries that threaten the vitality of important domestic programs. Unless we do all that, we will leave generations at the back of the line unable to compete in this ever smaller, more interconnected world.
Where do we go from here? It’s clear that that the time for rhetoric is absolutely over.
If we do not get back to work, if Americans don’t get their sense of hope back, then the fear and hatred that we saw this election cycle could grow and spread to be our next dilemma.
And that would be the greatest nightmare of all.
