Congress and Administration Sidestep Long-Term Problems

Jack Nelson’s April 13 Column One article (“Sensing a Loss of Leadership”) was on target in describing how the President and Congress are not effectively dealing with crucial political problems.

I believe Nelson did not go far enough in describing why the political stalemate exists.

In my experience, elected officials are mostly reactive. It is the unusual politician who is ahead of his constituency. The landscape is littered with unsuccessful candidates who had vision, but little public support. Congress and the President are reasonably accurate reflections of the American voting public. If we voters are truly dissatisfied, we could be well-advised to look inward, and see why we are so satisfied with the status quo.

In all the problem areas Nelson described, basic solutions require both a change in values, and additional sources of revenue. In an area where I have some knowledge--health care--there is no national consensus on whether a problem really exists, and if it does, how to pay for it. If a majority of Americans agreed that health care is a basic right, then there are many creative solutions to this problem. Absent fundamental consent, inaction is inevitable. California itself is a good example of how a lack of consensus has, so far, defeated any solution to the uninsured problem.

Others have suggested that this lack of money is the basic problem. For this problem, I think not. Rather, it is a lack of agreement as to what we want this country to be, and how hard we are willing to work to make it happen. Easy solutions are past; the concern for basic values is the test before us. A positive solution is not a foregone conclusion. If we have the will, our political leaders will respond well; if not . . .

NICHOLAS R. RAY

Encino