Democratic platform should contain big ideas
On Thursday, my 14-year-old grandson read me his news feed: “Warren pulls out of race.” I lamented, “Maybe in your lifetime a woman will be president.” He said, “I hope so.” This was good news to me, a career educator, kindergarten through adults. His generation is ready.
Change is inevitable. We aren’t 14-year-olds who accept it easily. We should assess what works and what is outdated: create changes, expand, grow, think out of the box and explode tired ideas.
We’re afraid, we cling to tired old theories. A woman could be a competent president. A socialist democrat could have the answers we need! Bernie Sanders’ base is ready to accept tangible change. Bernie is tireless, a good man and that fact alone should be enough. We should honor Bernie. Big ideas belong in the Democratic platform. Add a woman to the presidential ticket. Limit money in elections and have a fairer system of running for president.
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Joe Biden’s also a good man. Surround him with creative women and men and big ideas if he’s nominated.
Maria Michele Brubaker
Midtown
President Sanders’ agenda would languish
Fast forward to Jan, 20, 2021, and the independent democratic socialist Bernie Sanders is inaugurated — the revolution begins. No, nothing actually changes because Congress will still be mostly moderate Democrats and Trump Republicans. Yes, it still takes a law to create and fund policy, and the votes aren’t there for the democratic socialist agenda. As an example, Sanders has 14 Democratic senator co-sponsors for Medicare for All.
Clearly, the democratic socialists have not built a movement through years of ground-up political organizing. Instead, they have brought a lifelong socialist forward for president twice, four years apart and expect that effort to create a political, economic and social revolution. There will be no coattails, no groundswell, no FDR-like 100 days.
And Joe Biden and the establishment Democrats coalescing behind him (the long-term supporters who brought the people Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the right of labor to organize and bargain collectively, civil rights and voting rights) aren’t the practical choice?
Robert Jones
North side
Biden just might be able to pull this out
We are down to two septuagenarian white men, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, competing for the Democratic nomination for president.
If Joe Biden wins the nomination, he could win the election. However, Sanders and his followers could well be angry, as in 2016, and not support the nominee. That would make it a struggle for Joe to win the election in November.
If Bernie wins the nomination, I fear that he would lose the election to Trump. If that happened, the Senate would stay Republican and the House could flip. Thereafter, the Supreme Court would become 6-3 or even 7-2. Thus, four more years of Trump would be a horrible disaster for the nation and could make recovery impossible.
It could be grim for Democrats and the United States of America this November. But at least Joe offers a chance it will work out okay.
Jeffrey Dean
Northwest side
Time is opportune
to raise gasoline tax
There has never been a more opportune time to raise gasoline taxes. I know that calling for an increase in any tax in Arizona is like asking for the moon, but the reasons are indisputable. First, particularly in the Tucson area, there is the need to repair roads and aging infrastructure that are in terrible condition due to years of neglect.
Second, Saudi Arabia has just glutted the oil market forcing drastic price reductions, so consumers will barely notice the increase. Third, and most important, is the truism that fossil fuels are destroying the environment. I say truism rather than fact because the word fact has lost its forceful impact.
At a time when social and community services are being slashed and only the military budget is sacrosanct, a 40-cent-per-gallon gas tax would be a relatively painless way to get much needed revenue. Future increases could be geared to inflation, eliminating the need to revisit legislation in the future.
Morton Cederbaum
Green Valley
Let’s clean our slate, become better people
Here is what the COVID-19 virus and the response to it, from the self-imposed or mandated quarantine, to caring for the infected, to the plunging stock market, to hoarding of commodities, to closing of schools and the impact on the parents, to cleansing of public facilities to caring for the homeless, has taught me:
The plunging stock market and the hoarding of essentials exposed our naked disregard for others. We human beings are connected and interdependent. We need to care for each other. We are mortal and being the sole survivor is no fun.
Being reminded of my own mortality each Ash Wednesday, the lessons mentioned above are not new. I hope the current, protective stay-home period, will help us to examine what our true values are and arrive at living with others, especially the poor, needy and oppressed, in peace, joy and love, before greed overshadows us.
Ke Chiang Hsieh
East side
