Donald J. Trump....Really?

Who do you favor to be the next president of the United States and what are the characteristics of the person you hope will be elected to the most powerful office in the world?  What are the issues that are most important to you?  What are the policy changes you would like to see made that would be transformative for the future of our country.  In a word, what do you think needs to happen to get us “back on track” to being the “greatest nation on earth” and a “shining beacon of hope” for the world?

For me, the preservation of all life and the caring for our physical and emotional well-being is the most important issue, followed closely by our economic life.  No one should be without food, shelter and clothing. All of us should have access to healthcare when we get sick.  We should be safe from crime and physical or emotional abuse. We should all be afforded the opportunity to earn a living wage, love who we want, and not be condemned for our beliefs. All lives matter… black, white, Hispanic, Asian, gay, straight, young, old, male, female, disabled, and unborn. We want a society that protects our most vulnerable members and provides equal justice and equal opportunity under the law.  We don’t want government intervening in every aspect of our lives.

On the other hand, anything threatening life is a legitimate target of government, whether we are talking crime, disease, pollution, food or work place safety. Key to our health and physical well-being is education. Without a universally well-educated population, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness will be never be achieved for all.

In this political season we are looking for a leader who has the credentials to unite the country and solve our most pressing problems, which are many.  We need someone who can set an agenda to address those problems that can positively impact the greatest number of lives.  Let’s not be fiddling in the kitchen while the barn is burning.

Like many Americans I’m bewildered by the poll numbers favoring the ever controversial, always bombastic Donald Trump, who understands and lives by the mantra that “there is no such thing as bad publicity.” I remember reading Trump’s self-aggrandizing book “The Art of the Deal” back in the 1980’s and being impressed by some of the stories he told about the things he did for the City of New York.  But fixing a failed skating rink public works project or opening cheesy casinos in Atlantic City are hardly sufficient credentials to becoming the elected leader of the free world.  Unfortunately, the vainglorious Trump seems to be sucking the oxygen out of the room for more the more serious candidates, like Ohio Governor John Kasich, who impressed me as someone, among the Republican contenders, who wants to unite the country and is both compassionate and well qualified.

What are the burning issues that threaten life in the United States?  The headlines are dominated by stories about ISIS, radical Islamic terrorism and Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The enemy of the United States is also ignorance, poverty, hunger, addiction, disease, crime, and, inequality.  I only hope these issues are going to be addressed by Republicans in the upcoming campaign season.

I see the 2016 presidential election to be a potential turning point for the country; we are going to either continue down the current path to a point of no return, or we are going to change direction and begin to address the issues the American people care about.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the coming cancer boom, which anyone with half a brain knows is in our future. You don’t hear Presidential candidates even talk about cancer as an issue, despite the fact that one-in-four American lives will be lost to the disease. 

Has government done everything it can to prevent, detect, treat and cure cancer? Hardly.  Federal funding for cancer research is down 26% since 2003 and the FDA continues to create roadblocks to off-label use of promising new drugs.  Meanwhile the cost of cancer drugs is skyrocketing, sending more and more people into bankruptcy. The Affordable Care Act has not solved the problem because, while more people are covered by insurance, many of the insurance policies people can afford have high deductibles and co-pays.  

Who can afford a 10 percent co-pay on chemotherapy costing $150,000 a month?  Donald Trump can, but I don’t think he cares.  Nor will anyone else in Washington care about cancer unless you the voters do.  In this political season, make you feelings known.