How we get back from the brink: vote

If you travel abroad, you can’t help but have the impression that America is beginning to look like and behave like a Third World country. Our nation faces critical challenges that cannot be solved by partisan bickering or endless debates over cultural flashpoints. Instead, Congress and the president should focus their energy and our resources where it truly matters: securing America’s future through practical, bipartisan solutions to our long-term domestic problems.

The clock is ticking on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid—programs that millions depend on. Ensuring their solvency requires responsible reforms and honest fiscal stewardship. Our crumbling infrastructure, from roads and bridges to broadband networks, demands sustained investment and modernization. Immigration policy, too, must be repaired through comprehensive reform that is fair, humane and economically sound.

Equally essential is a return to normal legislative order—passing budgets on time and ending the political brinksmanship and government “shutdowns” that undermine confidence in our political system.

We must also face the reality of our mounting national debt, invest wisely in education as a matter of both economic vitality and national security and shore up the social safety net so that no American goes without food, health care, or opportunity.

Finally, it is long past time to confront our growing income and wealth disparities with a tax and spending system rooted in fairness and shared responsibility.

Real leadership focuses on solutions, not distractions. The future of our country depends on it. If our current leadership in Congress and the White House can’t implement a problem-solving agenda, they should be replaced with representatives of “We the People” who can and will. In November we should vote, irrespective of party, only for government officials who understand and pledge to address our many critical national challenges.

Lynn Jensen

Lake Zurich