LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: Examine each thing independently

Over the last several years, our country has gotten into an all-or-none mentality that seems a bit odd to me. Maybe it’s because of my job, but it seems weird that we look at our political leaders and decide that they’re either always right or always wrong. I don’t mean this simply toward Donald Trump, though he’s in the mix, but rather toward the high-end political leaders that regularly make national headlines. They include Mitch McConnell, Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Dan Newhouse and a host of others. 

It’s kind of strange to me that, in a country with a solid history of critiquing our leaders, we’ve stepped into a situation where any or all of these people are always wrong or always right. Given that they’re all human beings, I’m pretty sure that, just like you and I, they make their fair share of mistakes and have those moments of genius that we wish we could have more often.  

Let’s look at an example from each side of the political aisle.  

President Trump has recently allowed the near-complete closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development for a variety of reasons. That will undoubtedly have both good and bad impacts globally and domestically. Rather than simply cheering it on or decrying it as a travesty, we should really analyze it and look at what the benefits and downsides of those actions will be.  

The benefits of closing USAID include saving tax dollars or redirecting tax dollars to domestic issues rather than global issues. Further, it has potential impact on slowing how quickly the national debt is increasing.  

The negative side of nearly shuttering USAID includes risks to national security. USAID funds, among other things, salaries for prison guards in Syria charged with guarding Islamic State fighters captured in the War on Terror. There are also humanitarian and diplomatic impacts, but closer to home, it can hurt farmers in the Columbia Basin that USAID purchases produce from for distribution to poverty-stricken or war-torn regions of the world. While politicians like Newhouse are working to move that function to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it’s a specialized program and not having it in place this year could contribute to financial challenges for Eastern Washington farmers. 

For a look at an example from a Democratic leader, we can look at Obama’s Affordable Care Act.  

On the plus side, more Americans both here in the Basin and across the country have access to health insurance than ever before. This has not only saved lives but also improved the quality of life of those who have existing health conditions. Most of us have family members or friends who have health insurance because of “Obamacare.”  

On the other hand, the ACA has a lot of challenges and is nowhere near perfect. Many of the plans are subpar and don’t necessarily meet patients’ needs when serious health issues arise. While the less-expensive plans are sometimes touted as a good choice for younger, healthier folks, they don’t pay sufficiently for emergency situations such as broken bones or operations.  

There’s good and bad in both situations above, and a full analysis of either issue would take several dozen editions for myself, a few analysts and a bunch of help from data-delving AI to get done.  

The point is though, we shouldn’t be standing behind a politician on either side of the aisle and giving them carte blanche to do whatever they will. Additionally, we need to acknowledge the fact that leaders on both sides do get it right sometimes, even if we don’t like the bulk of their decisions.  

There’s also way more bipartisan effort than what most Americans realize. There’s a great deal of effort to compromise on legislation to get a working bill out the door in Olympia and D.C. There are a lot of times when presidents, governors and others listen to constituents who make a good case for something they need that goes against that politician’s usual stances. Just this last week we saw that when U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a notable position change and endorsed the use of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine after attending the funeral of a child who died of measles. He has previously been very vocal about being against most vaccinations. 

I think we all need to step back and do a bit more analysis and remember to parse out all of the implications of the decisions leaders make, regardless of whether an R or a D appears next to their name in the newspaper. They’re only human and they’re just as flawed and wonderful as you and I.

Take care of each other out there.

With appreciation,
R. Hans "Rob" Miller
Managing Editor