Despite the rhetoric and optics of the political landscape, voters across the spectrum say jobs, economy, healthcare and affordability are where they want national and local leaders focused. Granted there are many social issues that need to be debated and resolved. How do we invite each other to the table for social issues with so many of us consumed with finding the money to get to the end of the month?

With all the economic uncertainty facing Americans, this is what our government is making priorities.

• Ball rooms

• Removing consumer costs from inflation indexes

• Mandatory drug therapy for military

• Annex Greenland

• $1.8B anti weaponization fund and tax protections

• Surveillance of law abiding citizens

• Stopping renewable energy

• 2nd quarter energy earnings

Where do you find job security, lower healthcare costs, or lower prices in these distractions?

The Two Party Problem

If you have been an active participant in the political process, you are well aware that the two parties have changed. Instead of moving to the middle as the majority of Americans have, they have moved further to their extremes. One embraces DEI to a fault while the other reminds us why DEI is needed. One wants you to earn $30/hour and take $7 in taxes while the other hopes for $50/hour so they can take $27 of it to pay for government programs. One likes low unemployment to depress wages and force competition for underemployment while the other uses high unemployment to get us hooked on government programs. One uses trickle down economics to trap wealth while the other traps wealth while embodying philanthropy. While they appear to be opposites, the reality is seen in their missions. One is to make the nation blue while the other is to grow the party. Do we really want another election cycle where we continue to reward each party?

1. Return Social Security to solvency. Social security is not a weapon to hold over working class, retired and disabled Americans every two years. This is a promise that the US Government made with the American people. The next congress must fund it for future generations.

2. Base corporate tax rates on pay disparity across the organization including contractors necessary for operations. For companies that overpay their executive teams instead of investing in the workforce producing the goods or providing the service, pay up one way or another. This is not a problem in the Main Street economies nor the tech industry.

3. Restructure executive compensation packages to 1/2 ordinary income (after all they are being paid to do a job) and 1/2 other compensation and bonuses for publicly traded companies, private companies operating from government contracts and healthcare systems.

4. Make the tax exemptions on tips and overtime in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) permanent as they are set to expire in 2028.

5. Restore funding to rural healthcare systems that was eliminated in the OBBBA so people in the farming and mining communities of America can receive basic care without traveling hours to do so.

6. Establish a sliding scale health insurance program that allows low income Americans access to the expensive healthcare systems after increases to the ACA. Eliminate medicare and medicaid fraud at participant and provider levels. This is not a red state/blue state problem. It is an American issue.

7. Onshoring manufacturing that left Americans un- or underemployed requires investments in Americans not tariffs. Unconstitutional taxing of Americans in the mistaken belief that it will force companies to return to the US punishes the people that are already burdened with high costs of living.

8. Create tax exemptions for Americans providing care giving for aging family members.