Dorothy Seese: What I believe about Americans, Part 2

What I Believe About Americans Part 2
by Dorothy Seese
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This column is not about society's dropouts or the lunatic fringe.

It is about the average American voter who is supposed to be the recipient of a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

It encompasses the spectrum from the working poor to the entrepreneurial wealthy.
To say there is agreement on how government should work is to be ignorant of the facts or totally naive.

Our federal republic is structured so that all classes (and we will always have classes) may have a vote in deciding the quality of life that they can expect to receive from this nation's leaders.

You may totally disagree with me, based on your own perspective, bias, experience or commitments, but this is how I view the American voter and what would be derived from an anonymous national vote on the issues, one by one.

The views expressed are not a statement of my personal beliefs but what I perceive to be the national view if the issues were put to a mail-in vote of all eligible voters in the United States.

Health Care:
Because of the soaring cost of health care since the introduction of Medicare in 1967, and the astronomical costs of prescription medications, the demand for health care among Americans seems to be universal, but not for "universal healthcare" run by the government.

Again, the issue has a root: this root is availability to all Americans of reasonable health care.

We had it once, prior to 1967, and it is the soaring COST of health care that has caused the problems, not the coverage itself.

Most Americans feel that if the U.S. can squander billions on its enemies, on meddling in foreign wars, and on trying to land a device on Mars, then the government should be able to subsidize health care for those who cannot afford it. In particular, the failure of most HMO's has aggravated America's seniors, who depend on the HMO for affordable health care and whose fears of being left without care have been realized by the government's 1998 cap on payments to Medicare HMO's.

If put to a national referendum, I believe most Americans would ask the government to support the HMO's for the elderly and the working poor, but to keep out of the medical end of the program and let the individual doctors treat the patients.

Energy Crises and Costs:
Most Americans see this as a political and economic ploy between foreign nations and the US, and/or as a political issue within the US, but not a real crisis or even a true shortage of oil.

Americans view themselves as pawns in a big-business, big-politics chess game in which the government could care less, the corporations even less than that, about the plight of the American workers, the elderly or the poor.

Put to a national vote, I believe most Americans would say "cut out the nonsense at our expense and let the oil companies go to Hades, get us the oil and the gasoline.

And while you are at it, tell OPEC to shove it."

This is a billionaire's war affecting everyone, but those who can afford oil/gas at any price have no loss, the "little people" do.

This type of nonsense causes national ire because it affects people's ability to get to and from work, to take a weekend trip to relax, and may cut into the budget for other necessities.

Homosexuality:
I believe most Americans would insist that homosexuals be granted every right they are entitled to under the Constitution and no more.

Most Americans do not see the homosexuals as a "special" or "minority" group as that term was understood in 1965 under the Civil Rights Act.

"Don't ask, don't tell" was in place in the entire social structure prior to the Gay Rights Movement.

"Be what you are but keep it out of our faces, out of our private institutions and away from forced sexual orientation classes for our kids" is, I believe, the way that most Americans would put their X in the box if put on the ballot that way.

Religion:

According to a recent major news source, Americans are buying more books than ever on spirituality, while rejecting the traditional Christian faith of our nation's original founders.

We must remember that even 50 years ago this nation was largely Euro-American, "Christian" if in name only, and religion was not an issue before the Supreme Court.
The "Christian Right" would like to see a return to Bible-based values.

However, this nation was designed to have freedom of religion for all faiths, and we have a very large population of Jews, Muslims, and various other faiths.

If this nation were to demand adherence to "Christian" principles only, there would be no freedom of religion other than to be Christian, and that would violate our own Constitution.

But neither should Christians be pushed aside or persecuted.

I believe that put to a vote, Americans would say "let people believe what they want to and let them all alone about it."

I also believe Americans would see no harm in various celebrations of Christmas, Hanukah or whatever the religious group wished, as long as it did not foster violence or promote Satanism (or any rites of mutilation, human or animal sacrifice).

This is how I believe Americans would vote if there were a national opinion ballot on the above issues. Perhaps I have left out more issues than I have included, but the above issues are up before the public in the form of the upcoming election, in one form or another.

The candidate who appears, to most voters, to satisfactorily address these issues will be President in January, 2001.

Think about it.

Where do you stand?

The "national opinion ballot" that is mentioned in this article doesn't exist but the ballot you cast in November of 2000 does exist.

Don't sit there, VOTE!

View expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Political USA