Feelings of most Americans
I read the letter from Larry Craig and have a different viewpoint. I agree that there is no bipartisanship in Congress. But the average American does agree on a number of issues.
Most Americans support that background checks be required for gun purchases. Poll numbers vary, but more than 75% agree that the Congress should mandate background checks. One party thinks that this is against the Second Amendment and refuses to consider background checks. The other party believes that laws should go much further — waiting periods between gun sale and possession, no AR-15s, etc.
Most Americans support clean air and water. The smoke from the wildfires in Canada made that clear when we couldn’t go outside on certain days this summer. One party thinks the answer is to drill, drill, drill — open all federal lands
to drilling. This was evident in debates last year. The other party wants to explore other sources of energy and pass bills subsidizing non-fossil fuel energy.
Most Americans do not want to be crippled by medical bills. One party paved the way for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to negotiate lower costs for 10 drugs; the other party wants to repeal the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation program of the Inflation Reduction Act. Both parties want to fix health insurance but cannot agree on a solution because one party is looking out for poor people and the other party is looking out for poor insurance companies.
Most Americans are concerned about the debt in America. One party wants to reduce the money allocated to the Internal Revenue Service and cut social services and government agencies — then cut taxes favoring the wealthy. The other party believes the IRS should be strengthened to collect the money owed (which will lower the debt) and strengthen
social services and government agencies. I received $10 a week back in the last tax cuts, less than any multimillionaire. I would gladly give it back if our government could create policies that look out for the average American.
Most Americans are concerned about the border and the serious influx of migrants, who are claiming asylum because they come from a country full of despair. But no party is working on a humane bill to fix this. This is the bipartisanship job of Congress.