Congratulations, Mr. President, you have another term to head the executive branch of our government. You've spent the last year or so working on getting elected, which means you've talked a lot about how to fix the economy. Now that you are elected, I hope you will realize that the powers of the presidency far fall short of the ability to fix the economy. Instead, I challenge you to think about what a president can do, should do, and must do for the health of our nation.
My high school Government teacher taught me that the president doesn't make laws. Sure, you can propose things to congress and you can veto laws, but your real job is to pay attention to what happens after the laws are passed. This is the work that is desperately needed in our nation: a deep, informed, thoughtful look at the laws we have and the impact they have on people. I believe you are a deep thinker and you certainly know the law better than I. It is time to use those strengths, together with your connection with the people, to lead us all to an understanding of what our laws are really doing.
As an average citizen, it is hard to understand the laws, much less recognize their many impacts. Still, I have some thoughts about some laws that need a second look, just for a start:
Criminalization of recreational drug use. The apparent goal here is to reduce the use of recreational drugs. I would argue that the true objective is to reduce the damage caused to Americans by such drug use and related addictions. Does it work? The War on Drugs sounds righteous, but it doesn't seem to have eliminated the drugs. It is frightfully expensive. Our laws fuel violence. They increase the damage caused by addiction, make it harder to get treatment and empower drug lords. Probably there are individuals who would try legal drugs that don't try illegal ones. Are there enough to balance the damage of the enforcement?
Investment tax breaks. The goal of these laws is to increase the money invested in our economy, helping it grow. Setting aside for now my questions about the value of economic growth, I'll ask whether these tax breaks actually influence the behavior of potential investors. Is more money invested under the current law than would be if these tax breaks were removed?
Agricultural subsidies. The idea here was to keep farmers in business and keep American food affordable. With the majority of this money now going to corporate farmers with substantial profits it is hard to believe either the food supply or corporate farms would fail without these government dollars. They likely do increase the quantity of food produced. The question is whether we are satisfied with mere quantity or would prefer our laws to promote quality. How could subsidies be redirected to help the farmers that actually need support and to increase the quality of the food Americans are eating?
Education. Federal dollars for education are intended to bring up the quality of worst schools and create a balanced, effective system for all children. Do they? After years of federal involvement in schools, are they producing young adults that are more able to achieve their goals? We're accustomed to measuring academic success (and even these results don't look promising), but we need to look deeper. What has happened to self-esteem, love of learning, motivation and critical thinking skills under the federal regulations? We need to look at the whole picture and seriously consider which programs to keep.
These are just a few. There are programs throughout our government that need this sort of attention and more.
Mr. President, enforcing our laws, teaching us what they do and leading us to more effective legislation could be the most important legacy of your second term. You have four years in which to govern without worry for your next campaign. Enjoy them, and use them well.
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