On this first day of summer let me wish all of you a great summer season.

It would be foolish to assume that we could ever eliminate partisanship from politics but what is important is to reduce the harmful effects that may result. Passions can run deep and are necessary to continue to maintain our Republic. If our citizens became so disinterested or turned off by politics those who would take away our liberty would take advantage of our malaise to the detriment of we citizens of the United States.

First, let us do away with a myth or to my way of thinking the big lie that is out there regarding why our founding fathers met at the Constitutional Convention. Our founders met not to limit government but to fix what was broken with the Articles of Confederation. What was lacking in the Articles was the ability to tax, they lacked the ability to provide for the common defense and there was an inability to have a functioning system of interstate commerce.

As a result of the dysfunction of the original 13 colonies to work together for these common goals the Constitution was written not to limit government but rather to make government stronger.

With the Presidency of Ronald Reagan, conservatives trumpeted the idea that government was evil. A strong effort has been made since his presidency to demolish the social safety net that Franklin Roosevelt and other progressives provided their fellow citizens.

It is a fiction to believe that man can live without laws or government as man is fallible.

James Madison in Federalist #10 wisely stated that “the most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property.” We now have the widest disparity of income since the Great Depression.

Madison said that the principle task of modern legislation is to regulate the various interests of creditors and debtors. Today with the top 1 and 1/2 percent controlling most of the wealth in this country, we have seen the failure of Congress in not dealing with this new aristocracy. The wealthy and the corporate world have the best Congress money can buy. They pay for the gridlock that we have.

Bi-partisanship is decried as being weak and unprincipled. Money from lobbyists pays for our Congress’s failure to govern. Money encourages ideologically based politics insuring that bitter partisan bickering continues. Obstructionism guarantees that reforms fail to pass.

In the old days, politicians from both sides of the aisle respected each other and above all looked to the national interest and to what was best for our country.

We must find ways to put pressure on our Congressperson’s to make sure that their goal is to help make better the lives of their fellow citizens rather than to enrich themselves.

Franklin Roosevelt is looked upon as a progressive but in point of fact he was quite pragmatic and did not care where ideas came from as long as the ideas worked.

If we are to find solutions to the problems of the 21st Century we must look beyond petty labels and work together for the common good of all.

We need to stop referring to red and blue states. We are all Americans, created equally but with distinctively different abilities. We must find the means to control the effects of factional disagreements and work for the common good of all.