The Limitations of the Left and the Right
Our political spectrum is noted by the perpetual disappointment of the extreme left and extreme right. No elected official seems to tow the line and do justice to their extreme ideas or causes. No one seems to be left enough or right enough.
We hear constantly that “big government is the problem” but we don’t hear how the country would function with no government or even a smaller version of what we got. We hear constantly the need for more government programs but we don’t hear that middle class and poorer citizens should pay more taxes, or that each person has an important responsibility to not waste the government services they now receive.
The extreme left supporters have already labeled the Obama Administration a failure because he has not pushed ideas and programs they want at this time. “Tax the rich and let’s get on with it” seems to be their motto. The right has a bit of a different problem. They do not seem to have an agenda and fall back consistently on “just saying no”. The Bush coalition of bible thumpers, gun lovers, and just plain rich people stood for separate personal interests and now this combo seems fractured. The utter failure of the Bush Administration has made it near impossible for their supporters to argue for more of the same.
Sarah Palin’s recent news puff saying she was resigning as Governor with almost half the term left is not very reassuring, to any thinking person, of right wing Republicans picking of talent. She seems to be someone who can not see the ethical commitment she made to the citizens of Alaska is being broken by her resignation and never the less seems open to a book deals, a PAC, and whatever speaking engagements that might come her way. This is someone the right adores.
The error of the right appears to be an inability to combine a set of values they prefer with a political candidate who can, on one hand exemplify those values, and on the other hand, execute the duties of their office from the center, so as to govern or legislate for all the voters (not just the right). The error of the left seems to be favoring solutions to current problems with sweeping (and expensive) programs without regard for funding or verification that their recommended programs will working if put into place. Trust but verify.
In the last Presidential election, the left support Barack Obama. The election before they supported Bill Clinton. Both of these Presidents governed from the center, however. The right supported George W Bush and did not support John McCain (certainly sealing his loss). The Office of the President is about hard work and requires both leadership and follow up (all of which “W” was lacking). Republicans would be wise to forget Sarah Palin and begin looking for someone who can find the center, keep his/her private life private, and be willing to do the hard work from the center.
Health care, the increasing rich-poor division, social security, national defense, immigration, and economic growth are not matters of the left or the right. These are national issues and demand pragmatic and practical solutions. The main problem with the left and the right is that extremism is keeping their positive contributions on the side lines and not in the center where progress could be made.
This entry was posted on July 8, 2009 at 2:25 pm and is filed under Barack Obama, Democratic Party, George Bush, John McCain, Politics, Republican Party. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: Bill Clinton, center, left, left wing, moderates, right, right wing
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July 10, 2009 at 3:09 am
I do not know lf you noticed that the public and private sectors are and have been at war with each other for as long as our nation has existed.
The private sector has always been, more or less, for furthering the economic interests of the individual owners of capital, and the public sector has always been interested in furthering more or less the economic interests of the general public.
The public sector and the private sector are with out a doubt have a conflict of interests. It is impossible for these opposing sectors of our economy to work together because they basically contradict each other. That is why in the scheme of things that you have CLASS STRUGGLE. Which side are you on?
July 13, 2009 at 10:31 am
Despicable, thank for the comment. In my view the borders of the public and private sectors have been blurred over the years and today they are more symbiotic. Public projects need tax revenues that far exceed the amount each person is willing to pay. Corporations need roads and other infrastructure that they could not (or would not) pay for themselves. With regards to CLASS STRUGGLE, I do not see or recognize class struggles in the US… there are for sure struggles between the “Haves and Have-nots”. The irony is that all boats do rise when a sensible “center of the road” type policy decision is made. The rhetoric of Class Struggle is not helpful nor is any religious based motives. Common sense and science are sufficient.