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Our nation, through challenges, remains great

Editor’s note: This is the third of three parts.

I’ll close this series with one more option and then some musings.

Sixth Option: Clinton wins and carries with her Democratic majorities in both the Senate and the House.

Were this to happen, Bernie Sanders would feel vindicated, for the political lineup would allow for a burst of progressive legislation not seen since Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon prowled the White House corridors late at night.

Would a reallocation of legislative power such as this allow for a ban on assault type weapons? Would college become more affordable (and would students focus on books instead of beer)? Would the National Institutes of Health get the funding that would allow true progress on Zika and cancer?

Would highways, the internet, green energy and high speed rail help make America competitive with the dozen or so countries that are already more technologically advanced than we? Would we at last begin to compete with those lands in health care and education outcomes? I’d like to answer an optimistic affirmative, but must respond: not likely. If a Democratic Party sweep occurs, past behavior suggests that Republicans in both House and Senate would fight a dogged rear-guard effort hoping to hold off a liberal Armageddon until the congressional elections in 2018. Liberals would have to satisfy themselves with an improved and reformed Affordable Care Act, a Supreme Court that would continue to affirm Roe v. Wade, and a foreign policy that would support NATO while damning free trade with faint praise.

Some closing thoughts.

The nasty tone and wild accusations of this campaign will be remembered and studied for a long time. Whether Clinton or Trump can bring leadership and direction to our fractured political process and drifting government remains to be seen. Color me skeptical.

Addressing the significant income inequality that has developed over the last several decades is our greatest need. It will only happen with a re-working of the tax code, and with Congress beholden to so many special interests, meaningful tax reform is beyond my wildest dreams. Rebuilding a strong sense of community is also very important, but it may be a “bridge too far” goal. The revolution in the medical sciences will continue to extend life and is likely to make our current Social Security eligibility (and maybe even retirement) obsolete. But the biggest challenge isn’t political, but technological.

Computerization and robotics are changing the world so fast that as manufacturing is brought back from overseas, the new factory jobs will be for just a handful of men and women, necessary to keep the automated equipment running. Autonomous vehicles will take millions of jobs from truckers and cabbies. Can 50-somethings without technical training or math, but with the desire for a middle-class income, find happiness in this new world? Not likely at all. Richard Nixon suggested providing everyone with a minimum income, and while that legislation never passed, it may well suggest the kind of radical rethinking that will be necessary as we face an unknown and murky future.

Well, here we are and the discussion was just getting interesting, but my crystal ball has suddenly fogged up. Times are challenging, but, remember, our nation survived a great Civil War. God willing, we’ll muddle through again.

Dave Tiffany retired in December after a career of 46 years in higher education. During that time he taught history and political science at four campuses in three different states. Trained as an historian, his special interests are politics, the presidency, and agricultural history.

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