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Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)
Please, Before you vote--Insist on Specifics
Republicans in Florida go to the polls tomorrow with the opportunity to express their preference for either Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum or Ron Paul. As in the previous three primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, the airwaves have been filled with vitriol directed at the incumbent Democratic president specifically and generally at government, taxes, liberals, elitists, Democrats, immigrants, gays and secularists. If I were a registered Republican, I would mark my ballot "None of the Above." But, that's just me. I am not a Republican, though I would have been a century ago and going all the way back to the Lincoln presidency. Oh, how the once Grand Old Party has devolved.
What the Republican Party needs now is a candidate who would call for "a well nation that is fit, fun, free and functional," I so wish there were a candidate who wanted to advance policies that would promote a country where personal responsibility is rewarded and idealized, where courtesy and civility are valued and practiced, where continuing education is subsidized for all, the rich earning over one million dollars annually paid at the 30 percent rate on all gains over that amount and where wellness qualities would be integrated into public life.
Yet, voters need to know more about a candidate than that. What about his ideas for growth management, transportation, quality of life, water quality, health care and aging services, federal/state government cooperation and fiscal responsibility? These are critical issues in a national election. Do Florida Republican voters care at all where the candidates stand on these vital matters? Are these issues not more important that the candidates love for Jesus and family values, guns, godtalk, opposition to a woman's right to choose and gay marriage?
The Florida Republican primary is not guided in any way by a non-partisan referee group. Instead, PAC money fuels the campaigns. There is no objective source, save perhaps a few local newspapers, to help Republican voters identify the best possible leaders. How beneficial if there were an independent group that would help Republican voters to identify the principled, knowledgeable candidates. Of course, this might be a stretch in a primary where there is none. The Florida voters could always write in the names of favored leaders who they would hope might have a vision for the future and a strategy for getting there.
Wait. I have an idea. Although I'm not a Republican and don't want to move to Washington to make a point, they could write in my name! Here's where I stand on a few key issues.
Growth Management—I support
- High-quality, managed growth.
- Emphasis on urban revitalization and expansion of metropolitan areas with limited suburban expansion.
- An efficient but strong regulatory environment for businesses, with tax incentives for clean industries offering good incomes.
Transportation
- Dedicated revenues sufficient to rebuilding the infrastructure as a high priority.
- A variety of transportation solutions including alternatives to single-vehicle usage.
Quality of Life
- Public support for cultural and arts institutions that improve quality of life.
- Public/private partnerships for the ongoing operations of cultural facilities.
Water Supply and Quality
- A regional approach to addressing water shortages.
- New water sources that are environmentally sustainable.
- An expansion of reclaimed water systems and reasonable water conservation measures.
Health Care and Aging Services
- Commitment to prevention and early intervention health care services for low-income residents.
- Protection of Medicare and Social Security (but raising the age when benefits begin).
- A recognition of the needs of the nation's most vulnerable citizens.
Fiscal Responsibility/Accountability
- Control of the deficit and focus on a balanced budget by a time specific.
- Proper up-front investments in order to avoid paying more to address problems once they are out of control.
- Reduction of military adventures abroad.
- A recognition that tax dollars are a limited resource and that the country's needs must be balanced with citizens ability to pay.
Every politician running for office promises to create jobs; the presidential candidates recite this four letter word so often it seems only a matter of time before "jobs" is worked into the Pledge of Allegiance" ("...one nation, under God, with liberty and justice and plenty of jobs for all"). This focus on jobs is all well and good but such talk should always be supported with specifics that address solutions to wage stagnation and plans to reverse our crippling debt load, reform the rules of the dysfunctional Congress, rebuild out crumbling infrastructure, close military bases around the world and so on.
As a 24-hour write-in candidate and liberal, secular alternative to the four candidates of the 1 percent oligarchs, I'll back my own call for jobs with transformational specifics. I favor a new direction to prevent economic ruin while rebuilding a viable economy: I support reforms set forth by The Peter G. Peterson Foundation recently in the New York Times, particularly:
- Tax reform - simplify the code and raise the rates on those earning over one million dollars to 30 percent on all sources of income—no exceptions.
- Institute entitlement reforms—raise eligibility levels and eliminate benefits at some level of millionaire level.
- Increase investment in education—focus on critical thinking skills, science, pre-K education and adult retraining.
- Energy independence—tax fossil fuels to encourage clean fuels and spur innovation.
All this is well and good but I think there is a bit of a problem with my last-minute Republican write in candidacy platform. The statements are a little too general. Who would NOT favor all these things? Well, Republicans, I suppose but perhaps an exception will be made in the case of my candidacy.
I wonder if any of the four candidates left in this Right Wing slugfest would come out AGAINST my platform. Who among them would not support high-quality, managed growth that adds value to communities? Would the candidates oppose cooperation between the legislative and executive branches of our government? Probably not. Do they not all favor avoiding duplication and unnecessary bureaucracy? Of course they do! At present, there is probably not enough contrast between my platform and those of the four fire breathers on the Republican primary ballot here in Florida.
I think the two best reasons why Florida Republicans should write in my name tomorrow are as follows:
- None of the four would make a good president in the tragic event that the one selected managed to defeat President Obama in November.
- By placing my name on the ballot as a write in vote, the Republicans in Florida would send a message that this unknown wellness guy is willing to run for them under a wellness banner while supporting policies for effective growth management, transportation, quality of life, water management, full access to health care for all and full aging services, legislative/executive cooperation and fiscal responsibility/accountability!
Be well and try to look on the bright side of life, even when you discover what Florida Republicans did at the voting booths on January 31, 2012.
Note: An early version of this essay appeared here on June 22, 2002 during my run for mayor of Tampa. It was then entitled, Before You Vote—Insist on Specifics. Just as it is today, almost a decade later.
(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)
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