My colleagues John Halpin and Peter Juul have an excellent piece up on The Liberal Patriot (where else?) discussing concrete, practical steps to developing real, not rhetorical, unity on some important issues. Also--please subscribe. It's free!
"We’ve previously written about what it will take to make President Biden’s inaugural call for practical national unity – not some gauzy summons to unanimity, but the ability to disagree constructively across partisan and ideological lines – a reality. Even though the bulk of the responsibility lies with the right, those of us on the center-left ought to do our part to turn down the temperature of our domestic politics. But there remain a number of concrete domestic and foreign policy issues where conservatives and liberals can and have already shown a willingness to work together productively toward common national goals.
These issues should not and cannot displace the overriding national priorities of beating the COVID-19 pandemic and promoting a rapid economic recovery. If the pandemic does not subside and the economy fails to recover, little else will matter. It’s nonetheless important to identify several potential areas for practical cooperation that transcend ideology and partisanship.
On the domestic front, there are several existing or potential areas for genuine cooperation and bipartisan legislation. These include:
* Infrastructure. The eternal promise of “infrastructure week” became the butt of a million jokes about bipartisan comity over the last four years, but rebuilding America’s infrastructure still remains the single most promising area for true cooperation. Biden wants it; most congressional leaders want it; state and local officials desperately need it; and businesses want to get involved to make it happen. So let's get moving on universal broadband, new roads and bridges, clean energy production and distribution, improved transport, modernized schools and other public buildings. It will help Americans in rural and urban areas and bolster our businesses as they compete with China and other nations in the global economy."
Read the rest at The Liberal Patriot!
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