THE PRESIDENT’S re-election strengthens him. While he must always keep in mind how his decisions will affect the standing of the Democratic Party with the public, he is serving his last term and need not worry about his own popularity. He can, and most certainly should, tackle the tough issues that face the nation head-on.
The two issues before him today, the debt ceiling and gun control, are tough only because of the politics involved. The right thing to do in each case is obvious.
Republicans seem determined to use the debt ceiling to extort spending cuts in Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. Obama is right to refuse to yield to that blackmail so long as he states his agreement that broad reductions in federal spending and a thorough-going restructuring of the federal tax structure must be accomplished to keep the nation afloat.
Those changes must be done through bipartisan agreements reached after weeks of discussions and studies. Saying that worthwhile action can come from either-or bluster over the national debt ceiling is not worth serious support by either of our political parties.
As to gun controls, the need to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines is recognized by a clear majority of the American people.
New York’s legislature passed such controls this week. Congress surely will do so if it is given the chance to vote on similar legislation soon.
In the meantime, President Obama should use the powers of his office to do what Congress will not do because it has been emasculated by fear and cupidity.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
Among the proposals made to curb gun violence is to deny gun ownership to those who commit violent misdemeanors. A glaring example occurred Monday in Salina. Police there arrested Ivan Alveraz, 24, and charged him with aggravated battery after he deliberately hit his neighbor with his car.
The neighbor, Martin Baquera, and Alveraz were involved in an “ongoing dispute,” police officers said.
Baquera was knocked down, broke a bone in his foot and was bruised by the Ford Explorer’s side mirror, which struck him. Alveraz had deliberately swerved his vehicle to hit Baquera, who could have been killed or more severely injured.
Alveraz should be on the list of those who can’t buy a gun. In a society serious about reducing gun deaths, police should also confiscate whatever guns he now possesses. The violent man’s residence and his vehicles should be thoroughly searched for weapons. A person who deliberately strikes another with a 4,000-pound car shouldn’t be allowed to roam around loose. Certainly he or she should not be permitted to own or have access to a deadly weapon.
Psychologists say it is difficult to spot potential killers. We’ll take them at their expert word. But those who violently assault others should be treated as prime suspects, kept under watch and put on the national no-weapons list.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
