What Americans can agree on

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 10:00 PM

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There has been an interesting dialogue between "What Conservatives stand for" and "What Progressives stand for" [Ken Trainor, Viewpoints, Jan. 4 and Feb. 1]. But what do Americans stand for?

The more I talk with people of different political ideologies, the more I find we have in common. We all want to live in safe communities, have good schools, have good jobs, be able to provide for our families, live healthy lives, and many other commonalities.

Instead of focusing on what divides us, communities must find a way to discover what brings us together. This starts with having a consensus on values. I think there are very few reading this who would say they don't hold the values I outlined above. What we disagree about is how we get there.

Unfortunately, our political and public world discourse on how to create safe, healthy, educated, and prosperous communities is given a back a seat to debates about deficits, war spending, and how the other party is making the country worse. In my opinion, what we have is a government that can no longer function. The reason for this is that the elected officials have big money interests breathing down their neck, making sure those officials do what they want them to do. This includes the richest Americans, corporations, nonprofits, and unions. These moneyed entities are daily jostling for power in Washington D.C., while our voices are being drowned out by their millions in direct and indirect contributions.

Unfortunately, with the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court Case ruling, which ruled that any corporation or non-profit could spend unlimited money to influence elections, our options are limited in reclaiming our government for "We the People."

Regardless of your political ideology, I would hope that Americans can agree that we want a government that listens to and acts on our values, not to the contributions made by moneyed interests. Once we regain our voice in our government, then we can get back to addressing how we create the communities we want to live in.

Until then, it is evident that the discussion and action will not be about our values.

There is a movement to do just this, and we welcome all. District7west@gmail.com.

Dylan Bellisle
Berwyn