Reaching Across the Aisle

What if? The Presidential election is over… finally. Does the defeated party skulk back into a corner to plot strategy for a triumphant return in 2012? Does it revel in the struggling efforts of the party now in power to fix a problem that will take years to repair? Does each faction stubbornly cling to outworn ideology and simple solutions to complex issues – a plague festering in both parties – and participate in a cat fight that leaves America in the lurch? Do rising economic powers like India and China – held back for a moment by the global crisis – feast on the American carcass of inter-party “I told you so” bickering? Or do we use this meltdown to assess what we really need to do to come back and kick butt?

What’s the long-term, bipartisan “plan” for our triumphant return? Or do we just vacillate between conflicting Democratic and Republican policies – each undoing the work of the other – as they alternate command? Everyone wants “tax cuts” promised by both parties, but no one seems to be willing to face that rebuilding isn’t free that and pre-mature tax cuts can actually erode the buying power of the dollar (the hidden tax that comes from the increase in governmental borrowing – our massive deficits – without off-setting investments in our future growth). There are no simple, short-term answers. Our solutions require commitment and a new way of looking at our place in the world.

How do we become more competitive? Or do let the multinational corporations and mega-rich of this country invest overseas, insulate themselves from America as a country, create income for themselves by buying, trading, flipping and selling corporate assets but not by creating long term values for those of us who live and work here? Pushing paper and creating new “stuff” to market (such as recession-driving derivatives)?

In short, do we learn the lessons of over-indulgency, financial gluttony and unrealistic expectations, and rebuild based on America’s greatest strength – we are a nation of value-building ideas? Clearly, at the base of any viable plan, I believe that we must recover and simultaneously disincentivize the value killers and reward the value enhancers. Our financial power, our government policies, must be directed that re-creating a super-power of competitive quality.

Our financial investments, governmental policies, our citizens’ skill-sets, all must focus on genuine long-term value-building; entrepreneurial invention, creating solid primary and secondary education to anchor skills later in life, insuring that higher education continues to lead the world in cutting-edge research and discovery and that access to adult education is a routine part of life for us all, rebuilding and building a fully functional infrastructure (from pot-hole free roads to universal fiber optic access) and investing (by government and private industry) in a massive commitment to scientific research are essential. Regional specialties, maximizing local synergy and academic expertise, should be encouraged, from networking technology centers like the Silicon Valley to the biotech focus of North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park.

Every single governmental expenditure, every regulation and every single tax policy need to be linked to this overall plan to rebuild America without sacrificing the fundamental quality of our lives or our environment, and we need to know that it is profoundly unpatriotic to sabotage America under the guise of political ideology. In other words, we need to be Americans first and Republicans and Democrats second! This is a commitment that has to be made by each and every individual American.

Michael Porter, writing for BusinessWeek on Saturday, noted one additional variable, scary to some but an entry-point to new potential to others: “While the U.S. economy has been a stronger net job creator than most advanced countries, the high level of job churn (restructuring destroys about 30 million jobs per year) makes many Americans fear for their future, their pensions, and their health care.” Let me put this another way: education is not just for “school-aged” children and young adults – it is a lifetime commitment to enhance skills.

Opportunity is at our door… or we can indulge in a multi-year “I told you so” flurry of political divisiveness and sabotage that will kill our competitive spirit… and watch as other countries drive quickly past us and look at America through their rear view mirror.

I’m Peter Dekom, and I approve this message.