A guest column

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Author's note: The following is a letter to the editor in the newspaper this week. With the permission of the author, I reprint here. Immediately after this post, I post a response to items this writer puts forth.

[Another person wrote piece in the newspaper] that made the word Liberal sound like profanity.  The discourse between Americans of all beliefs has gotten out of hand and there seems to be very little respect for views that are different from other persons.  These are just a few of a much longer list of what being a liberal means to me:

I believe that freedom means freedom for everyone, not just me and mine.

I believe in not only personal responsibility but shared responsibility towards my country and fellow citizens.

I believe that leadership does not equal dominance.

I believe that every person is entitled to dignity and respect, not because of what they have but because of who they are – human.

I believe that each individual’s religious belief should be respected, but it should not infringe upon others’ belief, non-belief, or personal freedom and that religion and government should be separate – for the good of both.

When people disparage ‘diversity’ (always said with the little eye-roll), I assume they prefer inbreeding.

I believe that there are some things that government is better equipped to deal with than private enterprise; that there is room for both. I do not believe government should be run like a business, and I do not believe that private enterprise should be run like the government.

I believe that the areas that include shared life-and-death resources (clean air, fresh water, safe food, transportation infrastructure, judicial and legal infrastructure, essential [not elective] medical care, military defense), and education for all, should be administered, overseen, and protected without a profit motive by a body that is accountable to the people – that is, government.

If I claim freedom for myself, I need to extend it to others in return. Civil rights are rights conferred upon citizens, and civil marriage is one of those rights. No one should be guaranteed a religious marriage; that is up to the tenets of that particular religion and not the business of government. But civil marriage recognized by the state grants rights, benefits and responsibilities to married couples that all citizens who wish to marry the person they love should be able to benefit from – and be responsible for. 

I believe basic health care is a right, and not only that, but a benefit to society that saves money to all Americans in the long run. I believe that national single payer health care, administered (but not provided) by the government, is the most cost-effective and fair way to ensure that no person is denied care because they can’t afford it, or goes bankrupt because of an illness or accident.  The argument that health care should not be called a ‘right’ because no doctor should be forced to care for an ill person against their will makes no sense. Emergency rooms are already mandated to care for anyone who comes in regardless of their ability to pay; the cost is astronomical and borne by the taxpayers anyway.  No one should die because they can’t afford care!!

I believe that government is US – We the People – and, as flawed as it can be, it is answerable to us.
Private enterprise in charge of public needs is NOT answerable to us (See California’s disastrous power deregulation and subsequent grotesque theft from the people of CA for a good example of what the lure of the profit motive can lead to with public utilities.) Privatization is not the answer to what’s wrong with government.

I do not believe that the Invisible Hand of the Free Market will make everything hunky-dory with the economy. I think that is a willful misinterpretation from Adam Smith that Republicans accept as fact because it favors the interests of Big Business to do so. I do not believe that ‘free markets’ are free if all the power is on one side of the equation.

I do not believe that tax cuts for the wealthy create jobs. All they do is add to the deficit and give Republicans an excuse to cut social programs in the name of ‘deficit reduction’.

I also believe in reasonable regulation. If we had had reasonable regulation in place over the last 15 years, we would not be in an economic collapse only rivaled in the last century by the Great Depression. There is a middle ground between micro-managing and reasonable regulation, but the corporate powers-that-be treat any attempt to oversee financial matters as the grossest of meddling, nit-picking, and job-killing. That, of course, is their strategy. It’s called ‘working the refs’ and it has worked like a charm for them. For us? Not so much. Even a football game has rules.

I believe that justice and the rule of law should not be for sale to the highest bidder.

I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT CORPORATIONS SHOULD BE LEGAL PEOPLE.

I believe that elections should be financed by the public to ensure that politicians are not purchased by corporations and that the important work of our nation is not disrupted by 24/7 fundraising once a candidate is elected. I don’t believe a congressperson should be under the thumb of corporate money, and subject to the pressure of having an opponent financed by a corporation if that congressperson doesn’t ‘play ball’. I also do not believe that there should be a revolving door between Congress and K Street once that Congressperson leaves office.

Gary Gentry