Despite the hardships they may have faced, our nation’s settlers could be compared to lottery winners. Land ownership was a measure of our wealth, and the Land Ordinance of 1785, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, and the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 promoted “an empire of liberty” through broad land ownership at bargain prices. The Homestead Act of 1862 offered land at no cost, and the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1865 doubled the acreage.

Opportunity was ours, and we owe our forefathers a large debt of gratitude. Aristocrats claimed title to the land settled in South America. Our founding fathers revolted not only against taxation without representation, they made a revolutionary departure from a tradition of aristocratic oligarchy, and the United States of America would become the greatest nation on earth.

There were bumps in the road. From the ashes of our Civil War, we would transition from a predominantly agrarian society into an industrialized society. Our wealth doubled during the Industrial Revolution, but fewer winners made it into our Gilded Age. Labor unions gained ground following WWI, but market speculation ended in the Crash of 1929. We suffered our Great Depression.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal of 1933 included public works and financial reform. There were objections to government intrusion and an 8 percent increase in government spending, but WWII would increase spending by 52 percent. We also experienced levels of economic growth only dreamed of today, and would elect more Democrats and only a Democratic Congress over the next 3 decades.

Our veterans worked hard and pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, but were offered a hand up at the starting line. Their education was free. VA mortgages made homes affordable, and wages supported a family. Our middle class became the wealthiest on earth during our nation’s Golden Age.

We were also paying down an enormous war debt, and likely complained about taxes as we piled our families into our new cars and headed out to dinner and a movie. I had wondered at this phenomenon at a family gathering, but those taking these complaints seriously had Frederich Hayek’s “The Road to Serfdom.” The “conservative bible” warned against government intervention.

Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead” soon followed, also rejecting “collectivism.” Rand Paul was named for Ms. Ayn, but by 1973 journalist Irving Crystal had become the “godfather of neoconservatism.” Embracing supply side economics and the concept that tax cuts pay for themselves, he would later acknowledge a “cavalier attitude toward budget deficits,” but prioritize “political effectiveness over government accounting deficiencies.”

In other words, trickle down hadn’t worked, but one might claim it does. That message would persist, and the party that had led us into our Great Depression would create 2.5 times more debt as a share of our economy, advise us “deficits don’t matter,” and lead us into our Great Recession.

Since WWII Democratic administrations have, without exception, reduced budget deficits. Yes, even President Obama.

Jobs and wages top our list of concerns, though. Plowing through government data, we also find that since WWII nearly 3 times as many jobs have been created during Democratic administrations, wages and median household incomes increased more and faster, and minimum wages were up 16 cents annually versus 6 cents.

We’re all about business by now, and our bottom line is that our economy has grown more and we have all done better during Democratic administrations. Economists Blinder and Watson made our job easier by presenting undisputed government data, acknowledging economic cycles, and confirming that since WWII our economy has performed better by every positive economic measure during Democratic administrations.

This outcome may have been foretold in 1792. Record keeping was spotty then, but we chose the “tyranny of democracy” over the tyranny of aristocratic oligarchy, and our bill to revive our cod industry required everyone from the cabin boy to the captain to share in the profits.

Examining the eternal struggle between personal freedoms and a civilized society, William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” was published in 1954 and remained on required reading lists in 1980; yet we would be led into the Republican Revolution. We got tax cuts, and while our government is spending less as a share of our economy than other industrialized nations, it is not yet “small enough to drown in a bathtub.” We are being promised our “biggest tax cuts ever.”

As CEO compensation is reaching hundreds and even thousands of times the wages of average employees, and McDonald’s CEO recently tripled his multi-million dollar compensation package in just one year as taxpayers supplement employees’ wages, it’s hardly surprising to find that the 1 percent of us that amassed 40 percent of our nation’s wealth heading into our Great Depression is closing in upon than level once again.

We’re angry, and perhaps understandably have elected a president who is embracing the politics of division, tweeting “alternative facts,” and taking credit for deals made before he took office, magazine covers that don’t exist, phone calls he hasn’t received, and a nation called “Nambia.”

President Trump has advised, “When the president says it, that means it’s true.” We have no idea how frequently his “great friend” Carl Icahn is visiting, though. The White House visitors’ log has been done away with.

President Obama apologized for his misstatement, the one quoted so frequently, and advised, “Democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency.” We have his birth certificate, his White House visitors’ log, records of those meetings, his tax returns, and millions more of us are at least seeing a doctor.

Accountability would be timely. William Jennings Bryan observed over a century ago, “There are those who believe that if you legislate to make the well-to-do prosper, their prosperity will leak through onto those below. The Democratic idea, however, is that if you legislate to make the masses prosper, prosperity finds its way up through every class.”

That’s what we have experienced in the United States of America. We all do better when we all do better, and achieving the highest level of income disparity in the industrialized world isn’t serving us well.

Thomas Jefferson feared an “aristocracy of our monied corporations,” and advised us to “leave no authority existing that is not responsible to the people.” He may have sensed that while capitalism is vital to our economy, working together for a strong middle class nets positive results, while moving in the opposite direction results in the dysfunction we’re experiencing today.

Our forefathers did their part to promote the general welfare. Now it is up to us.

Carol Voyles
Treasurer, Talbot County Democratic Central Committee
Board member. Talbot County Democratic Forum

Let’s see if I get some blowback for this one, Gun Control.

Now, I grew up cutting my teeth on ‘The Lost Cause’ and World War II as an impressionable little redneck. Liberal colleges and Unions were hotbeds of Communism and guns were tools for hunting and killing wild dogs and vultures to protect new born calves (baby cows for you city folk).

A little over the top but it does reflect my background and my view of guns; not automatic weapons and 30 round magazines by any stretch. I would have laughed at someone saying they needed such things for sport. This brings me to the point, why do some people ‘need’ these things?

I know that the Constitution and Bill of Rights are founding documents and they are clearly deserving of our respect. Time and reading have also allowed me to understand that the Constitution was intended to be a living document rather than a fossil. Amendments have been added, and one actually deleted in our history as our earlier generations have made changes to keep up with world developments and social evolution.

Some actions taken to improve our society have been the 13th Amendment (1865) which abolished slavery (finally), the 15th (1869) protected the right to vote regardless of race and the 19th (1919) which allowed women to vote. Now please reread those three again and try to imagine the society and values that required Amendments to state these rights.

Folks, Americans have demonstrated by these three Amendments the growth AND the gap between the world of the Founding Fathers and the world as of 1919. Our society and our world are still changing and what is and is not in our Amendments reflect who we are today. We have passed an Amendment to abolish alcohol, the 18th, and then repealed it with the 21st Amendment. We decided with the 17th Amendment in 1913 to elect our Senators by popular vote rather than let the State Legislatures do it. In short, the idea that a Constitutional Amendment sits on a pedestal set in stone for all time is silly. So is the concept that the Constitution is like a bible, fixed for all time and beyond tampering or improvement.

Now to guns. The Second Amendment states ‘A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’ In the 18th Century, this was a concept rooted in the history of England so people would have recourse by combat against their government or with their government in defense against invasion. In the world of black powder muzzle loading guns, muzzle loading smooth bore cannons and uncontrolled free flight rockets that sounds reasonable enough.

In America, the presence of a frontier with raids by or against Native Americans as well as a total absence of law enforcement to shield citizens from criminal attack gave further need for having weapons at hand. For me, the image of the Minuteman reflects the reason for the Second Amendment.

Now passes some hundreds of years from then to now. Welcome to the world of scoped sniper rifles that can kill over one mile away, laser scopes, night vision goggles, grenade launchers, machine guns, mortars, flame throwers, rapid fire artillery, napalm, computer guided missiles, drones, armored personnel carriers, tanks, air strikes, cruise missiles, chemical weapons, biological weapons and so much more. That list should paint a picture of what a ‘well-regulated militia’ needs to be ‘necessary to the security of a free state.’

At this point, most would launch into an impassioned argument, but I am largely done. The point here is that for America, times have changed. For our Constitution times have seen it changed to reflect what is hopefully an evolving people. Our struggle to remain a united Nation and to move in the direction of retaining some degree of greatness requires we challenge what is held to be true from time to time.

For myself, I believe the 2nd Amendment is obsolete. State power has grown and changed dramatically, and our best path to internal freedom and a greater sense of security is through our votes, not our guns. The answer to the fear of government is the power of our votes applied in defiance of what any media outlet says. Don’t trust the media, don’t trust the politicians because if we don’t watch them, no one else will. Use your own mind and values and reject all candidates of any Party who don’t pass your own smell test. No vote cast is wasted.

Jimmie Galbreath is a retired Engineer originally from a small family owned dairy farm in Jefferson County, MS. He earned a B.S in Petroleum Engineering from MS State University, accumulating 20 years Nuclear experience at Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Station and Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Station. Along the way he worked as a roustabout on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, served 3 years active service as a Quartermaster Officer in the US Army, Supervised brick kilns first in MS than in Atlanta GA and whatever else it took to skin the cat. He now lives on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

We might recall President Trump admitting to his “great friend” from Australia, ”You have better health care than we do.” That moment of accountability was refreshing.
Perhaps he was reminded that Australia is ranked 4th for positive healthcare outcomes by the Commonwealth Fund, while the U.S. is in last place. We also have the highest drug prices and lowest life expectancies among the nations studied by the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the OECD is finding better healthcare outcomes in 29 other industrialized nations, although our costs are by far the highest.

A resident of Scotland visiting relatives in Easton suggested the “big lie” underpinning American health care is that “markets are always more effective than collective action.” She may have a point, considering our outcomes. Capitalism is essential to our economy, but oversight is frequently required in consideration of our general welfare.

Her friends back in the U.K. “thank their lucky stars for universal coverage.” Like the citizens of most other industrialized nations, they have proportionately more physicians and see them more frequently. We were heading to the U.K., too, until their system became overwhelmed, and we were required to do more than establish a local address.

Our own Dr. Andy Harris has been warning us, “Medicare is not single payer,” and suggesting that the marketplace must lead the way. Competition is helpful, but Medicare offers options for additional coverage, as do the single-payer systems of nations whose citizens are spending less, enjoying better outcomes, and living longer.

Once the Affordable Care Act was passed following a year of public hearings, review by 3 congressional committees, and the consideration of 130 amendments. President Obama continued to prioritize reducing costs. A measure he proposed shortly before leaving office would have reimbursed physicians a set amount for the Medicare prescriptions they write rather than basing their reimbursements upon a percentage of the cost of each, thereby encouraging prescribing more expensive medications and driving costs up.

Having attempted to repeal the ACA 60 times over 7 years, Republicans rejected that, too. Now, with control of both the White House and Congress and 7 months of behind-closed-doors meetings, no viable replacement plan has been offered. The Republican health care bill has virtually no industry support and little public support. We have been promised a viable plan within 2 years.

In the meantime, progress is being made. Kaiser Health News and the National Alliance Healthcare Purchasers Coalition are reporting that covering preventive care is paying off. The impacts of chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure account for a majority of our health care spending, up to $2.3 trillion per year, yet preventive care for these conditions is rarely covered by insurance with high deductibles.

Coverage for the maintenance of type 1 diabetes is paying off in Minnesota. Over $1 million has been saved on emergency room utilization and hospitalization so far. HealthPartners is suggesting it’s time to change our conversation about healthcare spending.

Our president has made pretty much every statement imaginable concerning health care, from “Everybody’s going to be taken care of,” to “Let it fail,” and “We’re not going to own it.” At this point we might simply hope to hear someone ask, “What good capitalist could argue with better outcomes at less cost?”
Carol. Voyles
Sherwood

Political parties. I am sure that we have all gotten tired of the two we have from time to time. Watching elections in Iceland, England and France did create a feeling of ‘choice’ envy for me as these countries have multiple political parties to choose from. It made our two party system seem dull and simplistic.

Looking back to the birth of our Constitution it was mildly surprising for me to see that political parties were not mentioned at all. The Founding Fathers were aware of the existence of such organizations from the Mother Country and there seems to have been some debate about them. My two favorite quotes from their writings are;

There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution. ~ John Adams

The common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. ~ George Washington, 

These are just two observations from the early leadership of our country. Many of them were seemingly worried about the rapid rise of the political parties of the day. Sitting back and trying to look from afar I think I can see why. Our two party system has settled into two unyielding camps who seem to only care about the “Party” first,  and America only when it is convenient and when elections loom. Each politician wrapped in a flag, legislating for dollars and pandering for votes. This is a far cry from a serious, sober debate about the real issues of our time and how they affect the common citizen.

It doesn’t help that what passes for news today, both in video and print, is often little more than slander. Labels such as Fascist, Libtard, Communist and many others are thrown like mud in passionate declarations, memes, and accusations. I have been driven into near seclusion and left starved for a calm discussion of anything serious because an insulting label comes flying out almost immediately. Once that happens the emotion clouds, and any conversation and reason becomes impossible. Even talking about the weather can get a person labeled if the comment can be linked to climate change by the listener.

What can a citizen do? Well, if we want to be active and can’t stomach our current party choices, vote independent or third party. The current parties holding on to power rests with them getting votes and silencing those who don’t cooperate. Both sides use the same philosophies to achieve this end. Who hasn’t heard, “voting third party is a waste of your vote,” or “he/she is not a Democrat or Republican and so they can’t get anything done.” Another goldie oldie is, “there can only be two parties.” Now, this last one IS true because our Founders for good or ill set us up this way. That doesn’t mean it has to be THESE two parties. Let’s circle back to an inconvenient truth for the current Parties. They cannot maintain power if they can’t get our votes.

The only reason independents don’t wield more power is that there aren’t enough of them. The citizens that can’t stomach the current power duo outnumber the supporters of each of the main parties. Going to the polls and ‘wasting’ your vote is the only avenue open if you want to be noticed. Be defiant, be a rebel, raise a stink, vote for someone else. Not at the presidential level perhaps but absolutely at the state and local levels. Teach yourself to recognize the mindless label when it slithers out from the thrown rock, and understand that the one who threw it isn’t driven by a desire to support their fellow Americans. The rock thrower just wants you, and everyone like you ,to go away; they will pass by the other side.

Jimmie Galbreath is a retired engineer originally from a small family owned dairy farm in Jefferson County, Mississippi. He earned a B.S in petroleum Engineering from Mississippi State University, with twenty years nuclear technology experience. Along the way he worked a s roustabout on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, served 3 years active service as a quartermaster officer in the US Army, supervised brick kilns, first in MS and then in Atlanta GA and whatever else it took to skin the cat. He now lives on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.