Achieve justice, and all will win

Nearly all of today’s dialogue focuses only on the edge of the fiscal cliff before us. Let’s look at the bigger picture of winners and losers since the election of 2012.

The winner of the presidential election and his supporters (including me) are clearly in the losing camp. We believe there should be more controls over who buys guns and what guns should be sold. Gun control legislation is now off the map.

We believe in immigration reform that includes a road map to legal residency and education for children caught in the middle. Immigration reform is now an occasional byline.

We believe that all Americans, regardless of income or health status, should have access to affordable health care. The Affordable Care Act is under constant attack, its very existence threatened by those who offer no comparable alternative.

We believe the “people” should be collectively represented by their government in the battle for power, rights and dignity. The mantra “Government is not the solution, government is the problem” now holds sway over the minds of many.

We believe that the widening economic divide is the major challenge facing the political stability of America. Yet revenues to support education and infrastructure have disappeared from the negotiating table.

The subjects now being put on the table for “negotiation” to extend the debt limit are Social Security, Medicare, tax reform. By “tax reform” they mean a taxing structure that is less progressive and is revenue neutral. Who will be hurt most by cuts to entitlement programs? Obviously, those who need them the most.

I have read with interest many recent letters that throw God into the political fray. My contribution from Proverbs 22:8: Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail.

Peer T. Lykke

Barrington Hills