Ho, Boy, do we have issues this time around! Some of these babies are ugly enough to gag a maggot, and big enough to choke a mastodon!! Old pap and I have talked to quite a number of people who are appalled by that big creepy sexist fool, Trump, but who also despise the Clintons. One old friend of pap’s calls them the despicables, referencing some old TV show. However, this election is just too serious to sit it out, or vote for some third party type person. So, we’ve listed the critical issues being decided, not in order of importance because they are all important, with brief comments:
Supreme Court Vacancies.
This is could be an absolute disaster folks; if the Trumpster and the Republicrats get to fill the court, we’ll never stop the flood of secret cash which is eroding our election processes and our democracy. Plus, civil rights of all our citizens will be dragged back a hundred years, and women will again have to resort to unsafe, illegal abortions (and still be held accountable if they survive while their male accomplice gets a Trump free pass). These are only the most horrifying possibilities!
Now, our U.S. Constitution is a wonderful statement of fine guiding principles, and must be defended by the Court because it is the anchor holding us to our moorings! Howsomever, the Founding Fathers were not perfect, and were not in complete agreement, so the Constitution was a grand compromise, a good example for our very intransigent lawmakers of today. It is just as important that the justices settle our current disputes with equal devotion to maintaining a fair and stable union.
Taxes
We are already about 20 Trillion Dollars in Debt. Trump’s recommended tax cuts could escalate this problem to the point of another world-wide financial system collapse! We only averted the last close call back in ’07/’08 by bailing out the banking system, and have kept interest rates at zero %, destroying old peoples’ savings’ incomes. We desperately need to raise taxes on the wealthy, who have been sucking the life out of our economy for the last 40 years or so by avoiding paying taxes through low rates and loopholes they bribed our legislators to enact. As with jobs and other issues, the Trumpster says he is the one to fix the problems, but, conversely, he has been one of the biggest offenders.
National Security and Immigration
There were periods, particularly after WWII, when our good old U.S.ofA. was viewed favorably by much of the rest of the world, and we made many friends. Instead, in more recent years, we have made many enemies, and given the large numbers of those who would do us harm, it seems to old pappy and me that our Police and other Security agencies have done an amazing job of keeping us safe! So, rather than freaking out over the fear-mongering of Fox and some other folks who inhabit our beloved telly’s (and radio stations), we are better served by continuing to support our security forces and correcting whatever problems are found in community relations with those agencies.
Of course, we need our intrepid legislators to come together and develop a comprehensive and sensible immigration policy, immediately, if not sooner!!
In this arena, the Trumpalator wishes to spend more on our Military. Is the dude completely nutz? We are already spending as much as the next 8 or 10 countries in the world combined! What is needed is a reallocation from the M/IC (Military/Industrial Complex) funding of ever more exotic (and expensive) weapons systems to more funding for our troops and their training. This should include using our formidable Military to lead the rebuilding of our infrastructure and employing the poor inner city youth in the effort. See my Blog #18, please!
Jobs and Trade and The Economy in General
This is of primary importance since so many of our citizens are unemployed or under-employed! The most important reform will be to enact legislation defining limits on multinational corporations’ ability to shift work to cheaper labor nations. Better monitoring of trade agreements is also necessary, but isolationism has been tried before and is not the answer. Again, Mr. T. makes the boisterous claim that he will “bring back our jobs.” How can we believe him, when he is one of the worst “outsourcers” of our work, through using foreign materials in his construction projects and buying the junk he sells from foreign sources? As Prez, would he completely reverse his dastardly behavior? Doubt it!!
No, “Trumped Up Trickle Down” is not the answer! We are already on a steady, if very slow, path to better employment, especially considering from whence we came – the total disaster of financial meltdown brought on by the too-big-to-fail banks back in ’07 and ’08. Let’s let Bernie and Elizabeth help good old Hillary find a sensible path to fuller employment, maybe beginning with our infrastructure proposals, combined with Bernie’s ideas promulgated by him during the primary campaign.
Health Care
A single payer plan such as Bernie advocates and is in effect in many western nations is where we need to go, and Hillary will get there with a little help from Bernie and his youngsters. We have the perfect model: Medicare is one of the most successful programs ever devised. The ACA (Obamacare) was passed without a single Republicrat vote, not a plan for success, and it probably is too complicated. It may not have survived even without the Repubs fighting it tooth and nail for all of the last seven years.
Education
Old pap and I have long maintained this should be the #One priority of our leaders, and we think this election proves the point. A slick jokester such as the Trump man conning people who are ignorant of the machinations of the political operatives and the business world is able to get them to believe almost anything.
The favorite option of the Republicrats is “school choice.” This is just another thinly-veiled attempt to destroy teachers unions, by taking money away from our public schools. We need leaders who will work with our education system to get it back to where teachers are respected, and administrators are not just political hacks. Many states have politicized their education apparatus to the disadvantage of the students; some are even advocating and teaching alternative religious theories as science.
We desperately need a national conversation about K to 12 schooling getting back to the 3 R’s! Our “higher ed” area could use some logical thinking as well!
Energy and Climate Change
World leaders have already agreed on an initial plan (the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement) to address climate change. We need to do our part to effect the necessary transition to sustainable power production as well as assist the poorer nations make changes. We can only ignore or deny climate change, as the Republicrats have been doing, at the ultimate peril of the entire earth.
Guns and the 2nd Amendment
While it is really doubtful that the Founding Fathers intended for anybody and everybody to have a bunch of guns in their homes for “personal protection,” this is how the 2nd has been interpreted by the Court. Actually, the old fellers probably meant the individual states could maintain orderly volunteer militias for use in the event of any type invasion by another nation or group. Still, the broad interpretation would not be so bad if we could agree on reasonable safeguards such as serious background checks and controls on weapons’ sales. Also, it would be extremely helpful if crazy candidates were to stop inciting fears that someone is threatening to “take away your guns!”
In conclusion, contrary to our common senses, but to avert a complete disaster, old pap and I recommend voting for good old Hillary and the Demoblicans! With the constant “encouragement” of Bernie and his young folk, just maybe we can “Make America Great At Last!”
Old pap and I hope our little summary of the “issues” has been helpful.
In baseball, there’s the old saying, “Wait till next year.” There’s no assurance there will be a “next year” if we mess this one up!!
your favorite (I hope) hound doggie, Buster.
Buster's Two Cents 
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