Amid the noise, don’t neglect other issues

With the nonstop commotion coming from Washington, D.C., over President Donald Trump’s possible ties to Russia, it is easy to lose sight of all the other issues that matter. When Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on May 9, the attention — as it should have, considering the stakes — turned to 24/7 coverage of whether the president had eliminated someone who could get to the bottom of allegations that the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia during the presidential election. That was spectacular news, but only the beginning.

The spotlight on Russia, all the time, still is blazing. No wonder. Since Comey was fired, Trump gave an interview to NBC in which he directly contradicted the stated reasons given for Comey’s firing; the president appeared to threaten Comey via Twitter about “tapes” that Trump might release; then, the president was accused of leaking highly sensitive information to the Russians, a country that — no matter how much Trump loves Putin — is not our friend; and so on and so on, with one story following another seemingly without end.

Now, the Justice Department has bowed to pressure and appointed an independent counsel, respected former FBI director Robert Mueller. Answers, we believe, will be forthcoming.

As important as all this is — and it is important, considering that a president could be ousted from office, citizens cannot afford to focus only on the circus engulfing D.C. Think of these other important battles that need to be fought, stories that are not getting the coverage they deserve because of the furor over what the president knew and when he knew it. Here are just a few that come to mind.

The head of the U.S. Census Bureau quit as fallout over Comey was raging. John Thompson, who had led the bureau since 2013, announced his retirement as the bureau is getting ready for the constitutionally mandated task of counting all persons living in the United States. This every-10-year count is essential for drawing congressional districts and distributing millions of federal dollars, among other things. Congress already had decided to limit funding — the Census Bureau wanted $17.8 billion to do an accurate count, but Congress told Thompson to spend $12.5 billion, what it cost to count people in 2010 (even though there are another 15 million bodies to account). A bad census has enormous consequences, especially in rural areas and on reservations.

Trump signed an executive order creating an Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, supposedly to “enhance the American people’s confidence in the integrity of the voting processes.” Keep in mind, too, that the president has repeatedly and falsely claimed that millions of “illegals” voted for Hillary Clinton in last year’s presidential election. By appointing Kansas Secretary of State Kris W. Kobach as vice chairman, Trump makes clear the commission’s true purpose — to stop certain groups of people from voting. Kobach is a leader in the movement to persuade Americans that “voter fraud” is a problem best solved by making it harder for people to vote through requiring voter ID and making it more complicated to register. This is a presidentially sanctioned effort to restrict voting rights. It could do enormous harm unless citizens are vigilant.

Then, there’s the Trump approach to federal funding of education. His budget calls for cutting some 22 programs, including $1.2 billion for after-school programs — including in New Mexico — serving 1.6 million children and $2.1 billion for teacher training and reducing class sizes. In their place is some $400 million more for charter schools and for vouchers, essentially moves to continue the privatization of public education, and another $1 billion to push districts to adopt choice-friendly policies. Trump’s plan would make it harder for students to pay back student loans, scrapping a forgiveness program that was just getting started, and slash college workstudy programs. All told, Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos are proposing a $9.2 billion net cut on spending for public education. Unless these plans are stalled, we could be watching the further dismantling of public education in this country.

So, yes, it’s important to keep pressure on Congress as the probe of Trump’s dealing with Russia go forward. With a special counsel of integrity in place, citizens can feel comfortable knowing that some semblance of truth will emerge. But Congress still needs to perform its oversight function, and that’s where calls, emails, personal contact and continued pressure will be important.

Congress still could — and we think it’s the right move — appoint an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate the role of Russia in the last presidential election. Special counsel Mueller, after all, still could be fired by the president. An independent commission would be free of interference. All of that is important, and so are the other big stories fading from attention while citizens wait, watch and wonder. In the era of Trump, citizens cannot afford to look away. Not for an instant. Too much remains at stake.