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2017
Just Saying
By Joe Elton
January 2017–Happy New Year
First, some good and undeniable facts.
Virginia is among the most beautiful of
states. Several years ago, I helped launch a
national program called “First Day Hikes.”
The idea is to start the new year off right
with activity that promotes the value
a healthy active life can have on one’s
mental and physical health. Following a holiday season where the
normal rules of diet have gone out the window, kick off the new
year doing something emotionally and physically healthy and fun.
On January 1st, First Day Hikes were held in every state and every
state park in Virginia. Thousands of Virginians turned out for what
is becoming an annual rite of passage into the new year. In recent
years, our family participated in First Day Hikes at Bear Creek Lake,
Powhatan, Pocahontas and New River Trail State Parks. It’s a great
and affordable way to start the new year, especially since parking is
free for the day. Park staff and volunteers typically provide guided
hikes, hot chocolate and programs for young and old to enjoy.
My hope is our House of Delegates and State Senate will
continue to invest in our job creating outdoor recreation assets. There
are park lands already in the state’s inventory in Shenandoah, Henry,
Gloucester, Stafford, Albemarle and Loudoun counties that have been
master planned and are ready to be developed and opened. Hiking,
biking, horseback riding, paddling, bird and wildlife watching,
fishing, hunting and simply communing in nature to off-load the
daily pressures of life generates spending on fuel, equipment, food
and clothing that is critical to our local and state economies.
2017–Predicting the future
has become more challenging than ever
The year ahead may be the most important in modern political
history. Much like the nation, about half of my friends and family are
wildly optimistic about draining the swamp, term limits, limiting the
influence of special interests, repealing and replacing Obamacare,
bringing jobs back to America, investing in America’s crumbling
infrastructure and generallymakingAmerica great again. The other half,
are filled with anxiety about a Trump presidency, twitter diplomacy,
sabre rattling and cyber bullying. They see similarities between George
Orwell’s 1984 and Donald Trump’s America. Orwell’s “doublespeak”
or “newspeak” has been replaced by a “twitterspeak” that conforms to
no known standards or traditional meaning of the English written word.
It has been very hard to talk politics—a favorite pastime—without
finding that the most innocent of observations can be viewed as
divisive. We, as a nation, are super sensitive about our politics. And, at
the national level, some favorite pundits like David Brooks, Bill Kristol
and Charles Krauthammer have been ostracized for daring to question
the president-elect on policy or style. Krauthammer summed it up
when he said, “trying to read the tea leaves is quite fruitless.”
GOP Dream or Nightmare?
Senator Mitch McConnell, Speaker Paul Ryan and President-
elect Donald Trump woke up Wednesday, November 9, 2016 with
their wildest dream having come true. Republicans own America’s
government with majorities in both houses and the presidency come
January 20, 2017. No excuses now.
Republicans have promised the nation they will repeal and replace
Obamacare with something better and more affordable. Trump
promised to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it. He pledged
to rescind President Obama’s executive actions on immigration and
guns and suspend immigration from “terror-prone” countries and
implement “extreme vetting.” He said he would drain the swamp
of Washington and eliminate the corrupt power of special interests
and enact term limits for members of congress. High on his priority
list is renegotiating the North America Free Trade Agreement and
withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, imposing tariffs and
enacting a tax plan that collapses the seven federal income tax brackets
into three and reducing the top marginal rate from 39.6 percent to
15 percent. He also promised to address crumbling infrastructure
(highways, bridges and ports) and create thousands of new jobs.
Trump has experienced legislative partners in Mitch McConnell
and Paul Ryan and the nation should have every expectation that they
will govern together to implement the president-elect’s agenda.
We should see an end to the intense animosity and obstructionism
that McConnell has practiced over the past eight years. McConnell
made it clear when Barack Obama was elected president in 2008 that
Obama wasn’t his president and his top priority was making sure he
wasn’t reelected.
Democrats, led in the House by Nancy Pelosi and in the Senate
by Chuck Schumer say they are poised to oppose Trump, much like
Ryan and McConnell opposed Obama. Collaboration between the
two parties seems out of the question. That said, the country needs
leaders to work together for the common good. Collaboration and
compromise are hard, but essential. I have high expectations of
Senators MarkWarner and Tim Kaine and expect them to be relevant,
transformative leaders for our nation. The future can be good and
bright, or not, depending on how our elected leaders choose to
function in a new year.
Just saying…
Republicans have no excuses and can show
America that they are capable of delivering on their campaign
promises. Both parties can demonstrate they have the capacity to
collaborate and work for the common good. If we get more of the
same Washington log jam, the nation and our citizens will suffer and
the American dream could really be in jeopardy. End.
Joe Elton served 22 years with the Virginia Department of
Conservation and Recreation—20 years as director of Virginia’s
national award winning state parks system and for several years as
the departments director and deputy director. He is a former chief
of staff to the Ohio House Republican Leader, executive director
of the Ohio House Republican Campaign Committee and executive
director of the Republican Party of Virginia.
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