Category Archives: Politics

Divided States of America

By Steve Brawner
© 2015 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Last Monday, Gov. Asa Hutchinson decided to end Arkansas’ participation in the state’s current end-of-the-year Common Core PARCC exam, despite the fact that the State Board of Education had voted to do the opposite. It was only the fourth biggest story of the week.

That’s how much there was to talk about. The Supreme Court’s rulings on gay marriage and the Affordable Care Act, plus the Confederate flag issue, all were more newsworthy than Common Core, which usually gets people’s attention.

These issues run deep. For many Americans, gay marriage is either a fundamental human right, or it’s an attack on traditional marriage and a sin. Obamacare is an acceptable expansion of health insurance, or it’s a government takeover. Great-great-grandfather fought nobly for the South, or Great-great-grandfather was a slave.

There was an air of finality to last week’s developments. Gay marriage is now legal everywhere, and it’s also supported by a growing majority of Americans, particularly those under 30, so politicians calling for massive resistance won’t accomplish much if their goal is to make it illegal again. Obamacare is now firmly entrenched in the health care system, especially with this latest Supreme Court decision. To substantively change anything at the federal level, Republicans would have to win the White House, the House and a 60-vote majority in the Senate, an almost impossible task given the math in 2016. Then they would have to coalesce behind an alternative, which would be even harder. The Confederate flag has far fewer defenders than it did a couple of weeks ago. It’s been removed from Alabama’s Capitol, and even NASCAR’s chairman said he wants his sport “disassociated” from it.

But the arguments will continue, as they always do in a democracy. The debate over gay marriage now shifts to the extent that private individuals and businesses can be compelled by government force to accept it. Obamacare will be the focus of more litigation, and House Republicans will continue to stage votes to repeal it. Regardless of what happens to the Confederate symbol, far deeper substantive divisions will remain over race, justice, and the meaning of the past.

One of the things that’s most frustrating about American politics is that there are issues where we could agree, at least about the problem, if we gave it a shot. Most of us would say it’s wrong to keep adding to the national debt that we’re passing on to our kids, and because money doesn’t grow on trees, the government must over time collect as much money as it spends. We should agree that the country should maintain its highways, control its borders, and manage an orderly immigration system.

Unfortunately, we often can’t take meaningful action on these important areas where we could agree because the debate is so clouded by those important areas where we’ll never agree. Republicans and Democrats in Washington have become like a married couple that can’t stop fighting over the in-laws long enough to call 9-1-1 about their kitchen that’s on fire. Even a commonsense issue like the national debt, which must be addressed by a series of difficult but doable mathematical compromises, becomes enmeshed in the culture war. It’s hard to work with the other guy when you’ve told your supporters he’s a communist or a Nazi.

Increasingly, these United States are looking much more divided, much more tribal, and much more us versus them. Too many of our daily conversations, the media we consume, and our Facebook posts – my goodness, the Facebook posts – are marked by mocking, scornful attitudes towards entire groups of people, often based on beliefs.

And that’s a little scary. You can’t really believe in freedom unless you believe in freedom for those who are different than you, and that’s hard to do for someone you don’t respect. The next step after contempt is control, and control tends to spread like a virus that starts in one part of the body and then multiples until everything is infected.

We’re not all going to get along, but, like a lot of difficult marriages, we can meet in the middle as often as possible for the sake of our kids. No one ever said living in a free society would be easy, but Someone did once say, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” So peace be unto you, even when we don’t agree, and even when we can’t.

Arkansas’ one star

By Steve Brawner
© 2015 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

arkansasFlag Flags are symbols, and symbols mean different things to different people – good people.

For some, the Confederate flag represents regional pride, a connection to the ancestral past, and sacrifice. For others, it’s a symbol of oppression and discrimination – long ago, recent, and present. For others, it’s about vague, undefined defiance. And for a small number of people, including that mass murderer in Charleston, it’s an inspiration to do very bad things.

Three out of four of those associations aren’t positive.

You can display almost whatever symbol you want on your car, property or shirt. When it comes to public areas, the Confederate flag has its places – such as in museums and adorning the graves of Confederate soldiers.

But I can’t see a good reason to display at any state Capitol a symbol that makes a lot of people feel bad and is used by a few to promote hatred and bigotry. So I’m glad the governor of Alabama ordered the flags removed from his Capitol. I hope South Carolina legislators do the same. Moreover, I support Fort Smith Southside’s decision to change its “Rebels” nickname and stop playing “Dixie.” If I were an African-American student, I would not like those being associated with my school.

So what about that one star on Arkansas’ flag?

According to the online Encyclopedia of Arkansas, the state did not have a flag until 1913. The Pine Bluff chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution decided one was needed to fly above the Navy’s new battleship, the USS Arkansas, and initiated a statewide contest to design one. Miss Willie Hocker of Wabbaseka had the winning design.

The flag the state adopted is not just one symbol, but many. The red, white and blue colors represent the United States. The diamond represents Arkansas being the only diamond-producing state. The 25 stars arrayed in the blue diamond represent the fact that Arkansas was the 25th state admitted to the union.

The first flag included three blue stars, two above and one below the word “Arkansas,” to represent the three nations to which Arkansas belonged prior to statehood: France, Spain and the United States. In 1923, the Legislature added a fourth blue star to mark the state’s membership in the Confederacy. At first, there were two stars above the word and two below. The next year, the design was changed so that the Confederate star stands alone on top. In 1987, the Legislature passed a bill, signed by then-Gov. Bill Clinton, that reaffirmed the flag’s symbolism, including the fact that the star’s purpose is “to commemorate the Confederate States of America.”

That star, and that commemoration, has not escaped notice, especially given that Hillary Clinton is running for president and has spoken in support of South Carolina removing the Confederate flag from its Capitol.

The question is, what does it mean to “commemorate”? My online Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it several ways, including “to remind people of,” and “to remember and honor.” Google’s definition includes the word “celebrate.”

Does Arkansas’ flag remember, or does it celebrate the Confederacy? It seems to me to do more remembering – at least, it does for us today. I have no more allegiance to the Confederacy than I do to France or Spain. It’s troubling that the era is marked by the single star above Arkansas rather than one of the three below. I’d rather the top star represent the U.S.A. That could be changed with an act of the Legislature, but I don’t look for that to happen.

The meanings of symbols change over time and often according to circumstance. For example, the dollar bill can represent thrift, industry or greed, depending on how it’s used. The U.S. Capitol dome sometimes appears in political commercials to represent corruption, not democracy.

For enough Americans, the Confederate flag’s meaning has never changed. It has always represented slavery and discrimination. It’s always made some of us feel set apart and looked down upon. So it doesn’t belong amidst the halls of democracy where, ideally, everyone is supposed to be represented equally.

As for Arkansas’ flag, let it be a history lesson, and a reminder of how far the state has journeyed. At one time Arkansas was French. At another, Spanish. And at another, on the wrong side of history. It’s all worth remembering, even if it all shouldn’t be celebrated.

Is being governor easy?

By Steve Brawner
© 2015 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Maybe being Arkansas’ governor is not that tough a job.

No offense to governors present and past, but that thought occurred to me after seeing a recent poll by Talk Business, Hendrix College and Impact Management Group. Gov. Asa Hutchinson enjoyed a 52-18 percent approval-disapproval rating, which was similar to former Gov. Mike Beebe’s 54-22 rating in a Public Policy Polling survey last year. No incumbent governor has lost a re-election race since 1982, when Bill Clinton beat Frank White two years after White beat Clinton.

Beebe’s numbers remained high throughout his time in office, and he was re-elected with 64 percent of the vote at a time when some other Arkansas Democrats were being swamped by the Republican red tide. The Talk Business poll even found him leading Sen. John Boozman, who hasn’t offended many people, 45-37 in a hypothetical U.S. Senate race.

That’s a Democrat leading an incumbent Republican in a Southern red state while President Barack Obama is still in office and Hillary Clinton is the likely Democratic presidential nominee. Who could do that besides a popular former governor?

That’s not to discount Beebe and Hutchinson as governors or people. It’s early, but so far Hutchinson has exuded calm, self-controlled leadership. Beebe understood state government as well as anyone, and he’s an excellent communicator who speaks plain Arkansan at the lectern and in person. Both have governed from a practical, consensus-building perspective. For what it’s worth, both know how to work the press. Furthermore, and the importance of this cannot be overstated, both married well.

But maybe they’re both good at a job where it’s not difficult to be merely adequate.

Arkansas is a lower income state that’s had its struggles, so most people – Republicans, Democrats, business and community leaders, and even members of the media – are inclined to want the governor to succeed.

The office itself adds to the governor’s personal aura. He lives in the Governor’s Mansion and is escorted by State Police officers. When he walks in the room, people stand and heads turn. He’s the only state elected official who really has a statewide audience, especially given that the other major positions are part-time (lieutenant governor), a lawyer (attorney general), and a bureaucratic administrator (secretary of state). State legislators come and go without capturing the general public’s attention. They have a lot of power during legislative sessions, but when they go home, the governor is still on the job. When a disaster strikes, it’s the governor who takes the helicopter tour, calls out the National Guard, and asks for federal dollars to make it right.

But while he’s treated like royalty, his powers are limited, which relieves some of the pressure that comes with the big title. The Legislature can override his veto with a simple majority, which is the same percentage that passed the bill in the first place. As a result, there’s not much pressure for the governor to veto many bills. Also, these days the most controversial issues are generally debated at the federal level or in the courts, so the governor usually has an alibi. If the Supreme Court declares Arkansas’ gay marriage ban unconstitutional, nobody will be mad at Hutchinson. If the state eventually has to raise some kind of tax to pay for highways, he can say he had no choice because Congress didn’t provide enough federal money.

Finally, the governor is the state’s chief marketing officer, which has its own benefits. On Hutchinson’s first day on the job, he phoned several companies to brag on Arkansas – important but noncontroversial work. He’s already traveled to Silicon Valley and recently returned from Paris and Germany, all in the name of economic development. He was the one who called legislators into special session to try to land a huge defense contract for Camden, and if the effort is successful, he will be standing at the podium accepting congratulations along with company officials.

Maybe most governors will do fine as long as they avoid political or personal scandal, treat legislators respectfully, work within political realties, and don’t say or do anything stupid. Those aren’t easy, but they’re definitely doable. So it’s a job that comes with a high upside, lots of respect, decent perks and reasonable expectations.

Nice work, if you can get it.

Levees and the era of neglect

By Steve Brawner
© 2015 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

A column with the word “levees” in the headline probably won’t attract a record number of readers. Unless you live in a floodplain, they’re just big piles of dirt, right?

Well, not really.

The recent floods have drawn attention to Arkansas’ deteriorating levees. Really, “forgotten” is the better word. As reported in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Sunday and elsewhere, it turns out that, in many cases, no one’s really in charge of maintaining them, or even caring whether or not they exist. They were built when the need was obvious, such as after the Great Flood of 1927, when the overflowing Mississippi River submerged much of the state. Local boards were set up to maintain them, and legislation was passed to ensure their independence. The board members – those with memories of those floods – grew old and died or for whatever reason stopped paying attention. Those big piles of dirt continued to function fine for decades – until, this past spring, when at least a couple of them didn’t.

A levee is just like anything else in that it becomes less effective over time unless it is maintained. Dirt erodes. Vegetation overgrows. Mankind intrudes. As the Democrat-Gazette reported, one levee nearly failed because someone once dug a hole at its base for a construction project.

This spring was a wake-up call, so legislators are scheduled to hold hearings June 24. It helps that one of them, Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Conway, saw his property submerged under water during the flooding. The issues will be the same as they often are in a democracy: Should someone be in charge, and if so, who? And, where will the money come from?

Were this only about piles of dirt, I probably wouldn’t be writing about it, but Arkansas’ levee situation is part of a larger story – in fact, one of today’s biggest.

For centuries, this was the land of sacrificial investment. Immigrants came here knowing it might take a generation for the family to really enjoy the benefits. Wars were fought where more than just a few contributed. Railroads were laid. Roads and bridges were built. Arkansas taxpayers in the early 20th century paid extra so that’s today’s taxpayers would have an extra sturdy State Capitol to conduct the people’s business.

Contrast that with today, when it’s way too much about the present, and we’ll let our children fend for themselves. The obvious example is the $18 trillion national debt – equivalent to $57,000 for every American man, woman and child – almost all of which has been created since 1980.

But there are other less obvious ways in which we’re passing on the costs of the things we take for granted because of misplaced priorities and waste. For example, the nation isn’t properly maintaining its aging transportation infrastructure, much less making significant improvements. Instead of making tough choices and really addressing the deficiencies, Congress patched a hole in the highway budget this past year partly through an accounting gimmick that borrows from the next 10 years. That money has been spent, future taxpayers will be paying, and yet the Highway Trust Fund is nearly insolvent again. Meanwhile, plumbing systems in many cities are aging. In some cases, they’re more than a century old. Few care as long as it goes away when they flush, but someone will have to fix those pipes eventually.

Americans often assign names and characteristics to generations: the baby boomers, Generation X, the Millennials, but it won’t take long for future Americans to lump us all into one category. We think of the 1700s as the age of exploration and the American Revolution, the 1800s as the era of expansion and the Civil War, and the 1900s as the century of American victory and ascendancy. I fear they’ll someday say ours was the Era of Neglect.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We’re still capable of investing. Maybe this recent scare will result in a renewed emphasis on levee maintenance. Everyone recognizes it costs much less to maintain a big pile of dirt than it does to rebuild a flooded community. Meanwhile, Congress at least recognizes the need to invest in the nation’s transportation infrastructure, even if it hasn’t figured out how. Sometimes those old plumbing pipes actually do get fixed.

I’m struggling to come up with something positive to say about the national debt. How about this? Americans have overcome worse.

Let’s just hope it doesn’t take the equivalent of a flood before we’ll try.

Huckabee’s debt approach not serious enough

Uncle Sam hangs on for webBy Steve Brawner
© 2015 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee made some headlines this past week when it came to light that he had made a joke about transgender people during a February speech. He said that, given the chance in high school, he “would have found my feminine side” so he could take showers with the girls in P.E. This was newsworthy, apparently, because of the attention surrounding Bruce Jenner becoming Caitlyn Jenner.

This column is not about that joke. Let’s instead focus on something Huckabee has been saying when he’s completely serious.

Huckabee has released a pledge in which he makes 17 promises, including to “protect Social Security and Medicare and never rob seniors of the benefits they were promised and forced to pay for.” He has criticized other Republicans for proposing to change those two programs, which together compose 38 percent of all federal spending and are growing.

Huckabee is right that benefits should not be cut for current beneficiaries or for those who are nearing retirement age. They’ve paid into the system their entire lives and planned their retirements based on the rules, with no real say in what those rules were. People a little older than me (I’m 46) and younger, on the other hand, are probably going to have to accept some changes.

But in an interview with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto after speaking in Florida June 2, Huckabee said that the rules shouldn’t be changed for anyone paying into the system, including for those just starting out as teenagers who won’t collect for another 50-something years. He openly told Cavuto that he is differentiating himself from other Republicans who have tiptoed toward this politically hazardous issue.

With the aging of the baby boomers, longer life spans, and increasing health care costs, Social Security and Medicare need some fixes. For example, Social Security’s non-existent “trust fund” is due to become insolvent in 2033. That’s 18 years from now, not 50. If the actuarial tables are correct, whoever is in office that year will be forced to either cut benefits by 23 percent, raise taxes, make deep cuts elsewhere, or borrow from the future. He or she will have to make difficult decisions then because current political leaders won’t make them now.

One honest way to continue paying current Medicare and Social Security benefits is to raise taxes and cut other government programs, including the military. If that’s what America wants to do, I’ll write my check now so my kids don’t have to.

The problem is that Huckabee doesn’t propose anything like that. Among his 17 promises are to “support a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution,” but then he pledges to “secure our borders,” “restore our military infrastructure,” and “end the national disgrace of failing to properly care for our veterans” – all worthy goals individually, but none of them free.

There are not a lot of spending cuts in those 17 promises. He does pledge to deny government benefits for illegal immigrants and to repeal Obamacare. That’s not nearly enough to balance the budget, and besides, the pre-Obamacare health care system was a growing driver of the national debt, too. He did say in his speech that the country should redirect its health care spending toward curing diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s. If those efforts were successful, Medicare would be much more sustainable.

Meanwhile, he promises to “oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes” and to replace the current income tax with a national sales tax. He says the new tax system would grow the economy, generate revenue, and be a better way to pay for Social Security and Medicare than cutting spending or raising taxes.

A national sales tax might or might not be a good idea, but it certainly would be a huge experiment. If it raised less revenue than expected, then would Huckabee cut spending?

For decades, Republicans and Democrats have engaged in the same politics: Grow government first, and then worry about paying for it later, or never. At least Huckabee is being honest about the fact that he won’t cut Social Security and Medicare or raise taxes.

But by doing so, he’s contributing to the national misperception that this impossible math is all going to work. Americans haven’t accepted the hard truth that if they want these government programs, they’ll have to pay for them. Leaders must tell them that truth.

Let’s hope Huckabee will use his considerable skills to do so. The national debt is no joke.