Editorial voices from elsewhere
Editorial voices from newspapers around the United States:
El Paso’s two congressional representatives, Beto O’Rourke and Will Hurd, have given the nation something in short supply in our political system: hope.
Democrat O’Rourke and Republican Hurd embarked on their “bipartisan road trip” on March 14 when airlines canceled flights because of a massive East Coast snowstorm. They decided to rent a car in San Antonio and drive to Washington, D.C., in an effort to get to the Capitol before a series of scheduled votes the night of March 15.
Hurd and O’Rourke also decided to livestream their road trip on Facebook, creating a rolling town hall that would eventually draw hundreds of thousands of viewers. They discussed issues and played a wide variety of music, getting to know each other better, and letting the nation get to know them.
Throughout the road trip, they learned more about each other, and had meaningful discussions about issues that included health care, border security, immigration, climate change and alleged Russian interference in the presidential election.
Even when they disagreed, which was often, they were respectful and genuinely interested in what each other had to say.
Sadly, that is a rarity in our national political dialogue.
They reminded their audience of what our politics could be. Our politics doesn’t need to be nasty and divisive. Our elected officials can respect and even like each other, even when they deeply disagree on most issues.
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens recently issued an order giving most state workers paid time off after the birth or adoption of a child.
But it did contain an interesting clause: “Primary” caregivers get six weeks off, fully paid. “Secondary” caregivers get just three weeks of paid parental leave. That could provoke some interesting discussions in the nursery.
Still, the order reflects the growing understanding among politicians in both parties that family concerns must be taken into account by employers in the public and private sectors.
Businesses howled in the early 1990s when Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act. Well into the 21st century, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce claimed workers have abused the FMLA, causing headaches and morale problems for employers. Conservatives said even unpaid time off was an unacceptable burden on businesses and employers.
Those voices have largely gone silent. The Family and Medical Leave Act has proved enormously popular, and, since the time off is unpaid, the financial impact on companies has been relatively small.
President Donald Trump seems to understand this. While much of his administration is busily ravaging programs that help the working poor, his daughter Ivanka has been developing a proposal to provide 12 weeks of paid time off for the birth or adoption of a child.
Greitens has taken a step in Missouri, but it’s only a step.
Washington should follow.
Californians who would rather secede from the union than be governed by President Trump – a third of us, according to a post-inaugural Reuters/Ipsos poll – would do well to recall another populist president known for his confrontational manner and hairdo.
Andrew Jackson has seen his place on the $20 bill challenged for such good reasons as his monstrous Indian removal policy. But he was an early and fierce advocate for union, staring down separatists figuratively and literally: He famously looked at secessionist John C. Calhoun at a political dinner while toasting, “Our federal union: It must be preserved.”
Jackson’s political war with disunion prefigured the actual war that nearly destroyed the nation three decades later. That disastrous history alone should be enough to reveal the recent talk of California secession for the folly that it is, deserving no more serious consideration than that of Texas secession under President Barack Obama.
Trump, as it happens, fancies himself a Jacksonian, having moved a portrait of Old Hickory into the Oval Office. Unfortunately, he has shown more of Jackson’s penchant for divisiveness than he has of his appreciation for union. Californians should not make the same mistake.