Kerby Anderson

As we get into this New Year, I hope you have thought about making a resolution or two. My suggestion would be for all of us to stop believing in the hysterics and hyperbole that surround our political culture. Fortunately, I am noticing that more and more commentators are calling for people to bring reason and common sense into these political discussions. Let me be one more voice to join that chorus. Of course, we can offer lots of examples. When Congress was about to pass a tax reform package, Democratic leaders proclaimed that it would usher in economic Armageddon. That is quite a claim for a tax reform bill that lowers the corporate income tax and raises the standard deduction. It is hard to take seriously the claim that it would hurt the middle class when 70 percent of Americans take the standard deduction on their taxes, and the bill doubles the standard deduction. When the FCC decided to roll back net neutrality rules implemented two years ago, we heard apocalyptic predictions that this would be the end of the Internet as we know it. If that was the case, then how did the Internet survive more than two decades without these rules? And if we find out there is a problem, the FCC and the FTC can step in some time in the future to fix it. The health care debate last year provided yet another example of hysterics and hyperbole. One side says, that if we keep Obamacare, we will destroy the health care market and people will die. The other side argues that if we repeal Obamacare, quality health care will disappear and people will die. No doubt we will be hearing similar claims throughout this 2018 election season. It is time (frankly past time) for citizens and leaders in these political parties to speak out against such reckless claims and call for reason and common sense. The American people and the voters deserve a more civil and measured political discourse.