8 Comments
author

Hi Bailey, I agree with you. Abortion rights is a federal issue as are all issues of human rights.

My best, Larry

Expand full comment
author

Yes, Adam's the best!

Larry

Expand full comment
author

Jerry, Agree fully! Thanks for writing.

Love, Larry

Expand full comment

Ooooh, just noticed all the men who've commented.. When someone isn't affected by the not having access to a human right, they can't wrap their head around others not having them. Just give it a think from a different perspective is all those of us who need federal protections ask.

Expand full comment

Many good ideas....until...Demote all culture war issues from the Federal level... Are you kidding?? Slavery was once a cultural issue. We don't have to go there, except to say it was a federal issue. Guns are a federal issue. The right for a woman to have control over her own body is a Federal issue, unless of course you think states should mandate vasectomies for deadbeat dads...These are not cultural issues, these are human rights issues and the federal government must ultimately be the authority on whether people have basic human rights. The other side of state by state is you are looking at a completely divided country and, literally, families will be broken apart by what rights people have and don't have in any given state. Just a bunch of little countries. Scary. Not a pretty picture.

Expand full comment

You are right: They are "brilliant" policies. I especially endorse numbers 2, 7, 8, and 10 without denigrating the other six. I have long felt that one of the worst aspects of American education was its dependence on local property taxes. Garfinkle briefly alludes to a basic problem in re the culture war issues by noting that they are "faith-based and hence uncompromisable." Clearly, many people who claim that abortion and homosexual marriage, among others, should be illegal are doing so by attempting to get the government to adopt particular religious views in violation of the first amendment's prohibition of "an establishment of religion." The national service/baby bond proposal is insightful. With three newly arrived great-nieces/nephews, I fear for their future in many ways; this strikes me as particularly helpful for the next generations. Those who would support such a proposal would demonstrate if they are really pro-life. Finally, ending gerrymandering is a no-brainer. The egregious examples, irrespective of party, prove that gerrymandering is equivalent to voter suppression during Jim Crow.

Expand full comment

Yes, those are more straightforward. I think 9 is desirable as well. I'd have to know more about some of the others...

Expand full comment