Dems must be serious about 2020
The stakes could not be higher for winning the 2020 presidential election and the Democratic candidates are off and running. But toward what end?
The contest is early, but so far, they are laying out big policy proposals to spend hundreds of billions of dollars with little or no regard to how the plans will solve our nation’s toughest problems.
Defeating Trump is an obvious imperative, but as satisfying as it might be to defeat him, it won’t be enough. Our next president must be able to unite the country around a common purpose that enables us to do big things.
The Democratic candidates would be well advised to remember the eloquent words of President John F. Kennedy about our journey into space when he said, “We choose to go to the moon and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard ... because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one that we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.”
So, let’s stop the pandering and have a more serious debate about the challenges America faces in the 21st century.
There is not much to be achieved in promising Medicare for All or irrationally high taxes if those policies don’t propel middle class incomes higher, increase academic achievement and graduation rates or incentivize businesses to invest in economically leftbehind areas.
If the next president puts these policies forward, they will likely fail to pass Congress and yet another president unable to keep promises made in the campaign will further embitter the American people.
Instead of spending an inordinate amount of time beating up on the ultra wealthy, the next president should outline a tax system that rewards investing in a smarter and healthier workforce.
Instead of punitively taxing the rich at levels above 70 percent, why not incentivize these Americans to invest in improving and strengthening the country. Our tax laws should be reformed to treat investment income more like ordinary income, and reward those who donate generously to well-run organizations with smaller endowments and create a new good citizen metric for big businesses and set a sliding business tax rate based on it.
We should also eliminate the carried interest tax provision that allows rich people to pay a lower effective tax rate than the average middle class worker.
The next president should fix Obamacare, not abandon it. Eliminating the private sector health care market, which represents one-fifth our nation’s gross domestic product, is not a serious proposal.
We need a new vision for health care. We need to imagine a health care system with financial incentives for people to stay fit and healthy, and a drug pricing system that allows consumers to be more informed about competitive pricing.
Just as new technology has made ordering groceries, transportation, food and clothes faster and cheaper, new medical innovations can deliver lower costs and better outcomes across the health care system.
The next president should not promote free college tuition for all who seek to go to college and ask nothing from them in return. In exchange for free tuition, students should have to perform national service and take a degree in a field that leads them to a profession that will help the country.
America needs more scientists, engineers, teachers, nurses, electrical workers and plumbers. Why not devise a college tuition program that drives us toward offering opportunity and strengthening the economy?
Democrats have a good chance of winning the 2020 presidential election if we are thoughtful and offer an agenda that brings the country together, to put it on a path toward binding our social wounds.
Harold For, Jr. represented Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District from 1997 to 2007.