The Newsleaders
  • Login
  • Register
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Sartell – St. Stephen
    • St. Joseph
    • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Column
    • Editorial
    • Letter to the Editor
  • Community
    • Calendar
    • Citizen Spotlight
    • Criers
    • People
  • Notices
    • Funerals/Visitations
    • Obituary
    • Police Blotter
    • Public Notices
    • Support Groups
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • News Tips
    • Submissions
  • Archives
    • Sartell-St. Stephen Archive
    • St. Joseph Archive
  • Advertise With Us
    • Print Advertising
    • Digital Advertising
The Newsleaders
No Result
View All Result

PineCone Pet Hospital MillerCarlin Serving all of central Minnesota locations!

Albany: 320-845-2035
Holdingford: 320-746-9994
St. Cloud: 320-252-7004
Upsala: 320-573-6234
Toll-free: 1-800-644-4058
Collegeville Stearns Bank
Home Opinion Editorial

What are the lessons of elections past?

November 2, 2018
in Editorial, Print Sartell - St. Stephen, Print St. Joseph
0
New collaboration tool is helpful resource
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

What have we learned in the last two years?

As we prepare to vote and then wait for this year’s election results, consider these lessons from 2016.

Elections have consequences and every vote counts….just ask the people who stayed home last time or who voted for a protest candidate. The outcome of the last presidential election wasn’t determined by people who voted for Donald Trump or for Hillary Clinton. The winner of the popular vote was “Nobody.” Across America, 111,209,000 eligible voters didn’t vote. That’s way more than the 62,984,282 Trump voters and 65,853,514 Clinton voters. Looking at those dismal national numbers, Minnesotans should be proud we again recorded the top turnout at almost 75 percent.

This year, early voting in Minnesota is on a record pace. As of Oct. 25, the rate of accepted absentee ballots is an increase of 203 percent over the same time in 2014. Does that predict a larger turnout, or does it just mean people like the convenience of early voting instead of voting on Election Day? We won’t know until all the votes are counted.

Voters care about health care. For six years, Republicans promised they’d “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act and Trump promised better, cheaper health care. When they got the chance to actually do something instead of taking symbolic votes, Republicans choked. No plan. Incumbent state and national Republicans opposed the individual mandate and guaranteed insurance for people with pre-existing conditions and supported legislation that would sabotage the ACA. Will voters remember?

We’ve learned the president and Republican-led Congress isn’t interested in dealing with gun violence. Measures that are widely supported by gun owners as well as the general public, such as universal background checks, an idea supported by 97 percent of Americans, can’t pass Congress. Why is that?

We learned you are more than 40 times as likely to die in a gun homicide in the United States than in Germany. Why is that?

We’ve learned despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, some think widespread voter fraud is real. Instances of people voting multiple times in the same election or ineligible voters pretending to be someone else isn’t a problem. At least that’s what studies by the Brennan Center for Justice and other legal experts found. But we have learned Republicans supported making voting more difficult by rolling back provisions of the Voting Rights Act and closing polling places. Why is that?

We learned some people would rather argue about “alternate facts” than use the same facts to debate alternate solutions to our public issues. For example, the president and Republican-controlled Congress have not only ignored global warming and climate change, they’ve ended efforts to combat it. Why do we take polls asking if human activity causes climate change? We don’t ask if people believe the world is flat or which number is greater, 5 or 10. Why is that?

We learned the president and Republican Congress would rather give a $1.5-trillion tax cut to big companies and rich people than spend the money to improve our roads, bridges, mass transit and airports. The Top 10 list of the world’s best airports includes Singapore, Seoul and Hong Kong. Americans invented air travel and space flight, but no American cities are on the best airports list. Why is that? Have you flown to Newark lately?

We learned Puerto Rico is an island surrounded by water. We learned Puerto Ricans are American citizens, but unlike American citizens in Florida and Texas, they can’t vote for the president. So who cares?

We learned in a new study that citizens who are politically aware, digitally savvy and trust the news media do a better job of distinguishing between facts and opinions. Why is that?

If you’ve voted already, good for you. If you haven’t decided if you’re going to vote or who to vote for, keep these questions in mind.

Previous Post

Mass to honor health-care professionals Nov. 4 at Sacred Heart Chapel

Next Post

Little ghouls, goblins descend on St. Bens

Next Post

Little ghouls, goblins descend on St. Bens

Please login to join discussion

The Newsleaders Ad CMCU twi/fb Visit us on
Facebook
or on
Twitter!

Go Fund Me # 1 Thank You
Newsleader
Supporters!
Elizabeth Brunsvold
Cultural Connections
Jim Berg & Mary Kruger
Mary & John Davis
Sandy Denne
Bobbi & David Gouker
James & marry Graeve
Juliana Howard
Julia Joplin
Linda Kmitch
M. Molus
Sheila Nahan
Go Fund Me # 2 Thank You
Newsleader
Supporters!

Peggy & Michael Roske
Judy Scheuerell
Geraldine Schwab
James Stotko
James Towler
Anna Trobec
Kaye Wenker
Ellen Wahlstrom
Leona Wieland
Jeanie Wilkens
GAGEN & VASUGI RAMANATHAN
Go Fund Me # 3 Thank You
Newsleader
Supporters!
Nicole Borg
Erica Karger-Gatzow
Dane & Lori Listug-Lunde
Nadine Martin
Doris Minnerath
Merry Mund
Marilyn Peitso
Stephen Schwanke
Dianne Tuff
Dale Zacher
Private Donors

Search

No Result
View All Result

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Kluesner appointed to St. Joseph City Council
  • Wood sentenced for killing two children
  • A list of school superintendent finalists expected March 1
  • Sartell man injured in snowmobile crash
  • Sales-tax revenue for Sartell on the up and up

City Links

Sartell
St. Joseph
St. Stephen

School District Links

Sartell-St. Stephen school district
St. Cloud school district

Chamber Links

Sartell Chamber
St. Joseph Chamber

Community

Calendar

Citizen Spotlight

Criers

People

Notices

Funerals/Visitions

Obituary

Police Blotter

Public Notices

Support Groups

About Us

Contact Us

News Tips

Submissions

Advertise With Us

Print Advertising

Digital Advertising

Local Advertising Rates

National Advertising Rates

© 2021 Newleaders

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Sartell – St. Stephen
    • St. Joseph
    • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Column
    • Editorial
    • Letter to the Editor
  • Community
    • Calendar
    • Citizen Spotlight
    • Criers
    • People
  • Notices
    • Funerals/Visitations
    • Obituary
    • Police Blotter
    • Public Notices
    • Support Groups
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • News Tips
    • Submissions
  • Archives
    • Sartell-St. Stephen Archive
    • St. Joseph Archive
  • Advertise With Us
    • Print Advertising
    • Digital Advertising

© 2021 Newleaders

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In