In the interests of humanity, the lives of the people of our country should have priority. Hence, funds that would have been appropriated for the wall will instead be diverted to rebuilding the devastated communities. That would include infrastructure and replacement of utilities, as well as immediate provision of food and medical care, including the means to “deliver” them.
We have the means. Does President Trump have the will to put people first? He wants to claim he’s creating jobs; the suggested solution would certainly do that. Think about it! Using new and progressive ideas — new and improved roads, bridges, utilities, housing and businesses — all creating jobs and future growth in the affected areas.
I believe 45 hasn’t visited fire-ravaged California because that state didn’t support him. But that is no reason not to support the citizens who live there.
I know I have oversimplified this idea. But what is the down side? I can’t find one. I know the average citizen of this country would support the idea. We simply cannot afford to both build a wall along the entire border and support storm-ravaged areas.
He could also divert a few trillion dollars from the military budget to infrastructure without harming the military. Remember, there is a lot of money in the military appropriation that the military did not request.
Congress, which has a lower approval rating than a skunk, could gain much-needed esteem by growing a spine and taking prompt action to help those most in need. It appears to me that millionaires would not qualify as “those in need,” so you can tax them a few more bucks for the common good.
One can rant and rave about any president at any time in history, but this is a fact: A president can’t go rogue if Congress does its job.
What blows my mind is the fact that our elected officials at the national level can’t just sit down and compromise. During the Obama years, the R’s kept things from happening. During the Trump tenure, the D’s keep things from happening. These people have forgotten they represent us (the people), not their party and not the president.
I guess common sense is a lost virtue within our current federal leadership.
* * *
A Tennessee man named Bob Nichols, who I do not know personally, posted the following on Facebook. I can’t find the original source. The wording is so great that I’m just copying it verbatim. I can’t improve on the message:
“Some of the most incredible people I know voted for Donald Trump, and some of the most incredible people I know voted for Hillary Clinton. The people that I know that voted for Trump are not racist, misogynistic or hateful, and the people that voted for Hillary Clinton are not hateful and intolerable. If you are someone who woke up this morning and is going to start seeing people as who they voted for, and not as the person you have always known them to be, then you are what is wrong with America. I will never think any less of any person who has different views than me, because some of the most beautiful, inspirational people I know will disagree with what I believe all day long, but at the end of the day they are still that beautiful inspirational person I have always known them as. Don’t think less of people because some of their beliefs don’t align with yours, and don’t lose quality people in your life because you choose hate over love.”
Amen.
