The Congress, the Public, and Me

In my earlier post this morning I wrote about the difficulty of compromise and the gulf between the Congress and the public on so many issues. Just for fun I thought I’d outline several key issues suggesting the Congressional consensus, the public consensus, and my own view of them. Think of these as being in a multi-column table. It would be a table too wide for this format.

Immigration

Congress

We need more immigrants.

The Public

The present level of immigration is about right or too high. The so-called “DREAM-ers” should be accommodated in some manner.

Me

We should adopt a points system like Canada’s or Australia’s. We should abandon family reunification and diversity visas. The number of work visas available to Mexicans should be greatly increased. We should have serious workplace enforcement of immigration law. We should adopt some merciful way of accommodating the “DREAM-ers”. Total net immigration should be reduced.

Taxes

Congress

There is no Congressional consensus. Democrats want to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthiest. Republicans want to cut taxes.

The Public

Corporations and the wealthiest don’t pay enough in taxes. Income taxes are too high (other than on the rich). We’re not getting value for the taxes paid.

Me

We should abolish the corporate income tax or at least bring the rate in line with those of other OECD countries, making up the difference in revenue by adding an additional bracket above the present top bracket.

Health Care

Congress

There is no Congressional consensus. Republicans want to repeal the PPACA but don’t have the votes to do it. Democrats want to expand the PPACA but don’t have the votes to do it.

The Public

Americans are very divided on the health care system. People like guaranteed issue. There is no great support for the PPACA but most don’t know why. They think that health care is too expensive.

Me

Americans are right that health care is too expensive. Believing that changing to a single-payer, particularly a federally-administered single-payer system, will pay for itself through savings in the cost of administration is poorly founded. The cost of health care in the United States is rising too fast for a single-payer system to be practical. No reform that doesn’t result in pay rates in the health care system going down is practical and there’s no practical way of accomplishing that. The PPACA was an error but it’s impossible to repeal. Medicare and Medicaid were errors, too. They’re also impossible to repeal.

Afghanistan

Congress

The Congressional consensus appears to be that we should win.

The Public

Americans think we should withdraw from Afghanistan.

Me

Invading Afghanistan was a mistake. Withdrawing from Afghanistan at this point would be a mistake, too. We should be prepared to remain in Afghanistan on an indefinite basis with very limited missions of counter-terrorism and force protection.

North Korea

Congress

There does not appear to be a Congressional consensus on North Korea.

The Public

Americans are very concerned about North Korea and want to increase sanctions.

Me

The only sanctions with any hope of bringing North Korea to heel would be sanctions on China and/or Chinese companies. Since we’re not going to do that, our best recourse is to do nothing other than prepare our military and the American people for the American response if North Korea attacks us, our interests, or our allies.