The Distraction of Monuments and Bathrooms -- Commentary Written by Bill King
The national debt is rapidly closing in on $20 trillion. And that does not include the future structural deficits in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Millions of Americans still have no health insurance and we spend almost twice as much as any other country on healthcare. Drug abuse (including alcohol and nicotine) continues to take a terrible toll on Americans.
North Korea is rapidly moving to acquire intercontinental nuclear missile technology. We are still running gaping trade deficits. Terrorist attacks, international and domestic, continue unabated. Our broken immigration system negatively impacts citizens and immigrants. Income and wealth disparity continues to hollow out America's middle class. Our schools lag behind those in other developed countries.
Texas' largest metropolitan area continues to live under the existential threat of storm surge with no plan in sight to do anything about it. The Texas Taxpayers and Research Association recently released a report that our state government will likely run a $8 billion deficit in next biennium and that does not take into account the state's unfunded pension liability, which is currently reported at over $50 billion. The real number is probably nearly twice that amount.
Our city government continues to careen into insolvency. Our police department still only solves only 6% of the burglaries. Progress on flood control projects is proceeding at a snail's pace. Property taxes are driving people out of their houses.
I could go on, but you get the point.
And in the face of these daunting challenges that affect the lives of our citizens every day, what do our elected officials choose to discuss? Monuments and bathrooms. Really?
The problem is that the real issues we face are hard. The solutions are complex and hard to explain to voters. And the solutions might, perish the thought, ask us to make sacrifices. Or worse yet, they might upset those who vote in the primaries. So, if your principal objective is to get re-elected, it is much safer to demagogue some issue that will energize your primary base. Why take on the tough problems that might get you unelected?
While it is easy to be disgusted with our elected officials' cowardice to take on the hard issues, we, as citizens, bear some of the responsibility as well. We still vote in embarrassingly low numbers. In the 2016 election, less than half of Texans eligible to vote bothered to go to the polls. The turnout in the last City election was 21%. Turnout in the parties' primaries frequently is below 10%. Runoffs are even worse.
And we too readily accept simple answers to complex issues, which are almost always wrong. Often the simple answers involve the identification of some scapegoat, which we may find emotionally gratifying but rarely does anything to solve the real problem.
Those of us who have raised children know that their conduct had a lot to do with our expectations for them. If we gave them a pass, most of the time they will take it. As long as we allow our elected officials to spend their time on fringe issues that have nothing to do with solving the serious issues our nation, state and region face, they will take the pass.
So, here's my suggestion: No more passes.
Bill King, 3388 Sage, Houston, TX 77056
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Early voting for the 2018 Democratic Primary and 2018 Republican Primary in the State of Texas will begin on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 and end on Friday, March 2, 2018. Election Day voting will take place on Tuesday, March 6, 2018 in the Lone Star State. So, if you plan on winning the Democratic (nomination) or Republican (nomination) in any of these races your application must be filed between Saturday, November 11, 2017 and Monday, December 11, 2017 at 6:00 PM to have your name placed on the MARCH 2018 PRIMARY BALLOT in the State of Texas.
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If you are a candidate who would like to run for office in 2018 your application must be filed between Saturday, November 11, 2017 and Monday, December 11, 2017 at 6:00 PM to have your name placed on the MARCH 2018 PRIMARY BALLOT in the State of Texas. You can call the Harris County Democratic Party at (713)802-0085 for more information on how to get on their ballot. Or you can call the Harris County Republican Party at (713)838-7900 for more information about how to get on their ballot. Or feel free to call Houston Business Connections Magazine© at (832)212-8735 if you need marketing/branding assistance, push cards, yard signs, yard sign placement/monitoring, press release delivery, or publishing of your intent to run for office.
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Early voting for the 2018 Democratic Primary and 2018 Republican Primary in the State of Texas will begin on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 and end on Friday, March 2, 2018. Election Day voting will take place on Tuesday, March 6, 2018 in the Lone Star State. So, if you plan on winning the Democratic (nomination) or Republican (nomination) in any of these races your application must be filed between Saturday, November 11, 2017 and Monday, December 11, 2017 at 6:00 PM to have your name placed on the MARCH 2018 PRIMARY BALLOT in the State of Texas.
YOU CAN STILL GET ON THE 2018 PRIMARY BALLOT
If you are a candidate who would like to run for office in 2018 your application must be filed between Saturday, November 11, 2017 and Monday, December 11, 2017 at 6:00 PM to have your name placed on the MARCH 2018 PRIMARY BALLOT in the State of Texas. You can call the Harris County Democratic Party at (713)802-0085 for more information on how to get on their ballot. Or you can call the Harris County Republican Party at (713)838-7900 for more information about how to get on their ballot. Or feel free to call Houston Business Connections Magazine© at (832)212-8735 if you need marketing/branding assistance, push cards, yard signs, yard sign placement/monitoring, press release delivery, or publishing of your intent to run for office.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS EDITION
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