Each morning, when I watch the neighborhood children on their way to school, I am re-inspired to do everything within my power to keep our nation’s promise to them.
“Develop your talents and work hard,” we counsel our young, “and you can create a better life than the one to which you were born.” This is the same promise that America made to me as a child — and, despite all of the obstacles, it was a promise that has been largely honored for tens of millions of Americans who have joined the middle class.
Now, however, as our nation celebrates the beginning of another New Year, I must acknowledge that my morning rituals with our neighborhood children are tainted with concern — stirring a renewed sense of determination. My concern is occasioned by more than the staggering challenges that confront so many Americans. As a nation, we have always faced — and overcome — similar challenges.
Rather, I am deeply disturbed by the assertion by some in the political leadership of our nation that America works best when each of us is left on our own, unfettered by any significant obligation to each other. During the last couple of years, we have seen this philosophical attack at work in our Washington struggles over healthcare and jobs, educational policy and environmental protection, our national budget and our commitment to fulfilling past obligations.
Healthy initiatives such as our responsibility to balance the federal government’s books have been infected by a virus that, left unchecked, could destroy the “full faith and credit” of our nation.
Even more devastating, this effort to abrogate the social contract that has defined the boundaries of legitimate political discourse for nearly a century would steal the future to which our children and their children should be entitled. Fortunately, in 2008, the American people chose a president who understands the fundamental struggle that we face.
On Dec. 6, President Barack Obama spoke truth to power in a seminal address during a visit to Osawatomie, Kan. His thoughts on that day (well worth considering as we enter this presidential election year) are available on HYPERLINK http://whitehouse.gov),http://whitehouse.gov), but here are some of his key thoughts.
The president summarized how our middle class was substantially enlarged and became more inclusive during the 20th Century, the critical role played by government institutions in that progress, and the attack on this progressive trend by the most wealthy and powerful of our society during the last two decades.
He noted how this regressive challenge to the American Dream was a significant factor in the economic collapse of 2008. “This is a make or break moment for America’s middle class,” President Obama observed, “At stake is the notion of our country as a place where working people can earn enough to raise a family, own a home, and secure their retirement.
“This isn’t just another political debate. This is the defining issue of our time.”
It is worth noting that the president’s Republican opponents also believe that this year’s elections will define our future as a nation. “For the first time since Barry Goldwater made the effort in 1964,” E.J. Dionne observed in his Christmas Day column, “the Republican Party is taking a run at overturning the consensus that has governed U.S. political life since the Progressive era.”
“President Obama is defending a tradition that sees government as an essential actor in the nation’s economy, a guarantor of fair rules of competition, a countervailing force against excessive private power, a check on the inequalities that capitalism can produce, and an instrument that can open opportunity for those born without great advantages.”
I must respectfully agree.
The long-term impact of this year’s electoral contests is far more profound than the question of who will direct the federal government for the next few years (although continued leadership by a principled and visionary president will be essential if America is to get back on her feet).
Election Day 2012 will determine whether our nation continues to have a federal government that can play any meaningful role in our lives.
On this critical issue, Barack Obama and progressive Democrats are committed to stability, balance and reasonable reforms. However, the Tea Party and its prospective Republican candidates appear dedicated to the destruction of the government of the United States as we have known that largely positive force in our lives for the last 75 years.
These are the stakes — huge and life-transforming stakes for the children of my neighborhood and their families. This coming Nov. 2012, the American people will decide.
Congressman Elijah Cummings represents Maryland’s 7th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.