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To the Journal editor:
The political path before us is clear, with two well-defined choices.
On the right, we are told that climate change is a hoax. Billions of tax payer dollars are wasted buying our way out of wind contracts. Green energy subsidies are terminated and environmental regulations are viewed as intrusive, burdensome and costly.
For the political right, record oil production and historical profits are not enough, our preserved lands are to be exploited and the sovereignty of lands elsewhere violated.
If you choose to go left, however, climate change is taken seriously. We have seen that billions are instead spent to promote and encourage wind and solar development, creating an industry with thousands of new, high paying jobs. Gas and oil production is maintained, while green energy meets an ever increasing share of national demand.
With renewed funding, preserved lands are protected and properly managed for the benefit of future generations.
On the left, you will find freedom of and from religion, for Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, agnostics and non-believers alike. Boundaries between church and state are maintained and clearly defined.
In contrast, march hard and long down the path on the right and you are told what books you can and can't read, while public schools instruct your children in the religion of their choosing.
Take the path to the right and social programs are viewed as a burden. The less fortunate are expected to perform and succeed as well as those born into a world of wealth, support and advantage.
With employers mandated to match 6.2% of your wages, the political right view Social Security as just another bite out of their profits. By 2033, a 22% reduction in monthly Social Security payments will automatically take place. Until then, they will do what they have been doing for decades, nothing but inching toward the ultimate goal of privatization.
On the other hand, choosing the left path revives previous efforts to fully fund Social Security, extending its viability for decades to come, without a reduction in benefits.
You'll also see legislation similar to the Affordable Care Act which lowers monthly health insurance premiums according to income for those lacking work-place coverage. Go-fund-me pages, spaghetti dinners and convenience store countertop contribution jars would no longer be necessary.
High gas prices, inflation, tariffs and war are painfully obvious, but less apparent is how our national institutions have been attacked, hollowed out, with oversight removed and legal boundaries ignored.
The shrinking of government to the size it was in 1966 has imperiled our food, drug, health and environmental safety.
Society bears these burdens while Trump and his billionaires profit, all silently blessed by the legislative right.