Doctor's In: We are the United States of America!

American communities currently face the perfect storm. The major issues to be fixed are community infrastructure (roads, municipal systems, bridges, etc), Universal Health Care including dental and mental health services, adequate resources to public education, and restrengthening of safety nets for needy populations including the homeless and undocumented.   Whoever lives in our community can spread disease and affect community life without access to services.

There are many fragmented efforts across America to improve access to the health uninsured, enhance mental health services, and better house homeless populations. There are also trends moving in the opposite direction in many parts of the country. 

I tend to avoid terms, “Liberal” and “Conservative” as they are emotionally charged and cause polarization when discussing issues.  I prefer to look at, “What may be Right”; “What may be Wrong”; but more importantly, “WHAT WORKS!” We are at a crossroads in America where we must decide is it everyone for themselves or do we join together whatever our philosophy and work toward collaboration for the good of the country.  After all, we are a United States of America.

Slashing government jobs is not the way to address unemployment, expecting the private sector alone to solve this problem is unrealistic.  We are currently in a contracting economy with a shrinking middle class and dwindling consumers.  It is necessary to expand government’s role in resolving the unemployment crisis and grow the consumer base.  This has worked before.  All of us must contribute to this effort and consider the possibility of more taxes. It’s a decision we as Americans must make.

The more we delay solutions, the more expensive and complex those remedies become.  The clock is running for all of us.