Two Speakers, One Goal

It is rare to hear two thought provoking talks by eminently qualified men in the space of five days, but that did occur at Shell Point this past week. Clarke Dahlgren, our local AARP representative whose talk was announced here two weeks ago, was the more practical, here's-how-we'll-get-it-done speaker as he detailed the Divided We Fail program www.dividedwefail.com sponsored by AARP. The second man, Dr. James W. Skillen, President of The Center for Public Justice www.cpjustice.org in Washington, D.C. gave a more philosophical and historical talk to explain the background of our political parties as they interpret the role of Church and State. His talk, Christianity and Democracy: an Oxymoron? explored the ramifications, past and present, of religion and politics. Both men, however, unwittingly came to the same conclusion: broad based bipartisan solutions to the problems facing the American people can only be achieved through cooperation among groups with different viewpoints.

Mr. Dahlgren was concerned with health care and long-term financial security which are what AARP sees as the most pressing issues facing our nation at home. Financial security is being jeopardized by the many people who must rely solely on Social Security as their only source of funds. However, he does not see an immediate threat in the bankruptcy of this system. We currently have $150 billion more coming into Social Security than we are paying out in benefits. This will not continue as 77 million people are added to the rolls and are living longer. At this rate by 2020 solvency of Social Security will tip over into insolvency. The interest earned on the Social Security Trust Fund will help it survive, but beginning in 2030-40 there will be less cash coming in than going out. Special interests and obdurate political thinking have resulted in minimal congressional discussion of the Social Security issue. Even the term Universal Health Care has been labeled socialized medicine by some groups in order to stymie discussion. For this reason AARP does not use the term, preferring to call it Single Payer Plan Health Care. The Divided We Fail program is an attempt to ask people to share their ideas, experiences, and concerns regarding health care and long-term financial security by putting a personal face on these challenges in order to demonstrate the urgency of these issues to government officials and challenging them to take action.

Dr. Skillen began his presentation by stating that the basic tenet as stipulated in our Constitution separating religion and politics has eroded and they are melding together now. This has many reasons, not the least of which is what he calls the rise of "secular religions" like Communism and other political systems which have arisen and threaten the existence of Christianity as it has existed for many centuries. In the East emperors declared themselves divine and thus ruled their subjects by a combination of religio-politics. Later, in the West, Roman Catholicism declared itself to be the vicar of the church and exerted its influence the same way. Centuries later when our Federal Constitution was enacted it did not establish a national religion but among our states there was no such restriction. So the Puritans of New England did establish a harsh government in which Calvinist teachings were the law. In certain areas this puritanical doctrine still persists which may be reflected in the immigration debate which we are engaged in today. In the 1840s and 50s the immigration of Roman Catholics into the U.S. in various national waves from Europe encountered enmity from Christian Protestants who had preceded them as immigrants. Now an immigration from Mexico and Central America, primarily Catholic, is encountering the same enmity from a mix of previous immigrants. Both the right and the left argue and debate this "special identity" of Americans even though our open society allows religious freedom.

Skillen then examined the Biblical tradition of the Chosen People and the Messiah who should pick up the sword and spread the prophecy of the New Jerusalem. Among Calvinists and other groups, settlements claiming to be fulfilling the phophecy were established in Scotland and South Africa, each claiming to be the fulfillment of that phophecy. Also related is the settling of Israel although in that case their claim to property is based on the return to previously occupied land. These various people were called zealots but with no special privleges. In every case God was the final authority which is the root of an open society. What is the task of government? In the political field everyone should be treated the same. What is Christianity? If you are a Christian you should not have any special privleges. A democracy as practised in ancient Greece was not an open society even though Greece is called the cradle of democracy. It was Rome which developed the first practising democracy as we define the term, the reason the Roman Empire flourished and spread so rapidly.

In a Q & A session which followed, Skillen claimed that in the U.S. state identities have disappeared which is very different from what existed in our country from its founding to the pre-World War II era. Everyone is now just an American, but many also claim that the federal government is in the way, the reason some want to cut back federal programs. The one program which is always spared is military spending which allows the U.S., in conjunction with the 140 countries with which we have military ties, to promote democracy in a messianic way reminiscent of the Roman Empire. Our foreign policy promotes democracy worldwide but with the caveat that the U.S. must always be in the leadership role. As a consequence we now live in a prepared-for-war state of mind constantly and Bush defends this role in the guise of spreading democracy and fighting terrorism abroad rather than on U.S. soil.

In answer to a final question the speaker said that our two evangelical presidents (Carter and Bush) were not successful because being evangelical does not guarantee success. Running as a solo never works in government. Consensus is necessary for a working democracy. The larger public good and respect for law are also necessary for an open society, which is a true democracy. One election does not create a democracy as has been proved in Iraq. In closing Skillen appealed to voters to think of which candidate would promote public justice for all as they choose who should be elected.

And The Primary Winner Is............

Florida's Primary Election Results, January 29, 2008
Let's start at the top with the state figures and work our way down to the precinct level. If you are overwhelmed by big digit numbers stick with us unless you are a natural-born statistician or a billionaire used to balancing your checkbook. I've dealt only with the two major Democratic presidential contenders still active in order not to drown you in a sea of statistics. Therefore totals do not add up to 100% due to small numbers of votes garnered by other candidates who have withdrawn or because some voters chose to vote only on the constitutional amendment on the ballot. Source: Florida Dept. of State. Division of Elections.

State

Total registered voters of all parties: 10,208,431. Of this total Democrats are 41%, Republicans 37%, Independents 19%, Other 3%. The total turnout for all parties was 4,259,848 or 41.8%. The Democratic turnout was 1,708,489 of which Clinton received 870,303 votes or 49.8% and Obama 575,794 or 32.9%.

Lee County

Total registered voters of all parties: 263,968 with a total turnout for this election of 151,320 or 57.4%, which is the highest percentage of any Florida county. Democratic registration was 76,250 and the individual totals and percentages are as follows: Clinton 33,541, 55.8%, and Obama 15,673, 26.1%.

83rd Precinct

Here we are at our own precinct where total registered voter population was 1,853. Of this total there were 1,520 ballots cast, a hefty 82%. The Democratic portion of this registered number was 341. I told you that the figures might blow your mind, but this isn't one of them. But hold on, 279 of these Democrats actually did vote, a whopping 81%. The Democratic totals by candidate are Clinton 130, 46%, and Obama 111, 39%. If nothing else these figures show us that though our percentage of total registered voters is very small, we are not discouraged and will continue to put our candidates at the front of the line for consideration by all voters.

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

The constitutional amendment on property tax and assessment which needed 60% approval rating to pass did achieve that figure and may have been the impetus to the high voter turnout in Lee County and our precinct, but certainly did not jolt the total YES numbers upward to the same degree statewide. In the state the figures were 64% Yes and 36% No. In the 83rd Precinct the figures were 1,133 YES votes, 79.7% and 288 NO votes, 20.2%.

So where do these candidate figures leave us? Will our delegates be seated at the Democratic Convention in August? Stay tuned!

Divided We Fail

The recently launched AARP program titled "Divided We Fail" will be presented by the Lee County AARP co-ordinator Clarke Dahlgren at the February meeting of our Club. This program is a nonpartisan effort along with AARP's partners in business and labor to improve health care coverage, quality, and cost. It is also a campaign to force the candidates for public office at all levels to address the related issues of health and economic security, and to get their promises that after the election they will work in a bipartisan manner to enact meaningful reforms. The goal of the Divided We Fail program is to insure every American access to and coverage for guaranteed, affordable, quality care. That is a heady order they have cut out for themselves; can they make it?

I notice that nowhere in its publicity for the program does AARP mention the word "government". Do they support a universal health care program without government participation? Is such an arrangement remotely workable? Judging from the ads for supplemental Medicare insurance which appear in its glossy magazine, it does make one wonder where the organization stands on this issue. In fact, ads from all sorts of medically related companies seem to constitute their main source of media revenue. Do they not wish to antagonize these advertisers who may direct their ads elsewhere?

How powerful a lobby is AARP? I have not researched their Washington activities in any meaningful way, but I do not remember hearing or reading of their influence involving any congressional bills benefiting our senior population in this or any earlier sessions. If you know of any cooperative efforts by AARP, let us know by posting a comment to this article.

There are lots of questions to be answered by the speaker at our February meeting on Saturday, February 23 at 10:00 a.m. in the Grand Cypress Room at the Woodlands at Shell Point. If you are driving to Shell Point drive west on Summerlin Road toward Sanibel. After passing the intersection of Summerlin and McGregor Blvd. stay in the right lane and exit at the next traffic light (Shell Point Blvd.). Proceed past the Comfort Inn and Suites and Golf Course entrances and turn right at the Woodlands guard station. Tell the guard that you are going to a meeting in the Grand Cypress Room in the Commons. He will direct you where to park.

Byrnes & Neeld Revisited

Actually they visited and we are revisiting them on our blog. On January 26 both of these potential candidates for Congress in our 14th congressional district were at Shell Point to air their views to our Club members. Maybe we are naive but some of us were amazed at the difference between their in-person presentations and the written presentations which both men had published on their web sites. Whereas their web sites were relatively flat and uninspiring, they both gave talks that were outstanding attention-getters.

Larry Byrnes began with what is now a familiar mantra: change. He obviously advocates it and proposes that he be the catalyst to activate it so that our district represents the views of all the people and not just the special interests represented by Connie Mack IV. He enumerated Florida's ranking among other states in a variety of important issues like education and health care and Florida is at or near the bottom in a majority of them. Health care for poor children is at the top of his priorities as are a comprehensive health plan for all and lower drug prices. The proper rule of law has been usurped by the Bush administration and the quality of life in our country is disintegrating. He would approve an immediate end to the war in Iraq and apply the principles of the Hamilton-Baker Plan to stabilize the country. A solid "green" economy is the only way that we can save the planet and we must push industry to adopt it as quickly as it can. He also would advocate tax cuts for the working poor and middle class and not for the Bush preferred group: the rich.

Robert Neeld then spoke and presented some provocative ideas. First, he claims that the media is electing our president by its coverage of the early primaries which do not represent a balanced cross section of the U.S. Instead he proposes that the country be divided into four sections, each of which would take turns on a revolving four year basis for holding primary elections. That method would avoid a distorted picture being presented to the remainder of the country as occurs now when small, sparsely populated states like Iowa and New Hampshire hold their primaries in the media spotlight. He would also end the war in Iraq immediately. The deficit being accrued from continuing this war is killing not only our sons and daughters but also all of us economically. The estate tax should not be eliminated but a two million dollar tax-free allowance should be adopted after which a tax would be levied. By far the most provocative proposal involved univeral health coverage as an outgrowth of the present Medicare plan. Under such a plan eligibility for Medicare would be lowered in steps at the same time that eligibility would begin with birth and be raised in steps. A fuller discussion of this plan has been prepared by our Club member, Jack Dreyer, and it appears in the health care blog conducted by another Club member, Dr. Richard Curtin. To read his blog go to http://rrchealth.blogspot.com/

The primary election in which both these candidates will participate is not until August 26, so they both have plenty of time to put their views and proposals to prospective voters on their web sites with the same style and elan they showed in talking to our Club members.