States of confusion: Public policy in limbo
By Bill Settlemyer
Contributing Writer
This is a strange time in American political life. A majority of Americans tell pollsters that the country is “headed in the wrong direction,” and the desire for “change,” whatever that means, is certainly in the air as the presidential primaries continue to narrow the field for both parties.
One of the more curious and interesting trends is the tendency for voters and their elected representatives to take matters into their own hands at the state and local level on major public policy issues.
The most prominent example is probably the effort to stem illegal immigration by state and local action. Measures ranging from punitive actions against employers to denial of benefits to illegal immigrants are being proposed or enacted around the country.
A second area of focus is health care, and proposals for universal or near-universal health coverage are in various stages of discussion or action in a number of states.
The third area of concern is the environment and global warming, where states are trying to take matters into their own hands in terms of limiting carbon emissions and proactively funding or mandating “green” energy policies.
Symptoms of gridlock
These trends have become rather obvious symptoms of the persistent gridlock in Washington.
Clearly, the public wants a significant change in immigration policy and enforcement, a step almost everyone agrees should be taken by the federal government rather than through piecemeal legislation at the state or local level.
All of the current immigration initiatives, unlike the failed compromise that Congress failed to pass last year, are one-sided. They focus on stemming illegal immigration but disregard the costs of slamming the door on beneficial immigration and the acceptance of foreign guest workers on a controlled basis. Still, it’s hard to fault people and their local representatives for taking a hard line out of frustration with the lack of effective federal action on the issue.
The failures at the national level are deep and wide on this issue. Inadequate staffing and funding, incompetence and deliberate neglect are rife in the federal agencies responsible for dealing with both legal and illegal immigration.
Why? Mismanagement starts at the top, and that means the White House and the administration at the executive level. Frankly, we’ll have to wait until a new tenant occupies the chief executive’s chair before there’s any hope of restoring competent management and policy making in the executive branch.
The health care mess
The health care mess is something else altogether. As costs continue to escalate, the American people themselves continue to be conflicted about the need to provide access to universal health care. Is it a moral imperative? Should access to health care be recognized as a fundamental right much like access to public education? Are there serious costs to the nation from having more than 45 million people uninsured? Are we willing to commit to the financial burden of providing universal care?
The blather about “socialized medicine” is really a smokescreen that obscures these fundamental questions. It is entirely possible to provide universal access to health care without having the federal government dictate how and where patients are treated. We have such a program now, and it’s called Medicare.
There are also numerous state and federal health insurance programs for employees that can be morphed into a system to provide wider access to health care. People able to pay the full cost of coverage would be required to do so, and premiums would be partially or fully subsidized for those with less ability to pay for their own coverage.
This is a prime example of a major policy issue that cries out for national leadership. No solution will be found until people of opposing viewpoints come together and spur the political system to act decisively. The nation really does need “a uniter, not a divider,” and God help us if we can’t manage to elect a new president (from either party) who can play this role successfully.
Global warning
Imagine the next president of the United States making this bold pronouncement during his or her inaugural address:
“Soon will come a day when climate change escapes all control. We are on the verge of the irreversible.
“Faced with this emergency, the time is not for half-measures. The time is for a revolution: a revolution of our awareness, a revolution of the economy, a revolution of political action.”
Such a statement would be warranted, but it would also be plagiarism, because this a quote from former French President Jacques Chirac in response to the recent U.N. Climate Conference in Bali, Indonesia, where conferees sounded the alarm on the threat of accelerating global warming.
Here in the Disunited States of America, our thinking and our actions on this issue are all over the block. Major Fortune 500 corporations, businesses of all sizes and many state and local governments are moving at an increasing pace to respond to the need for a radical reduction in carbon emissions to stave off catastrophic climate change.
The public generally accepts that climate change is happening and poses future threats to our way of life and the environment, but that change of mind has yet to be joined by a sense of urgency.
As proof, open any upscale magazine and take a look at the ads for new cars, SUVs and trucks. You’ll find more emphasis than ever on horsepower and acceleration, with scant attention paid to fuel economy.
Auto executives say they are just responding to what the consumer wants, and they’re right. Our country still produces nearly one-fourth of the world’s carbon emissions even though we only have around 5% of the world’s population. We still don’t get it if we think we can continue our voracious consumption of fossil fuels while preserving the planet for future generations.
When affluent Americans who can easily afford high gas prices begin to reject a car culture based on having the biggest, baddest, most powerful car on the road, we’ll know they are finally beginning to understand the true magnitude of the problem. Likewise, we as a nation cannot demand that developing countries like China act to curtail their emissions if we can’t exercise leadership by taking our own medicine.
Can the United States become united in fact as well as in name? Our future depends on it.
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