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I am tired. No, not physically, but I am tired. Tired of hearing from Democratic friends of how bad the Republicans are. Republicans don’t care about the poor, the homeless, the violence and how they’re only concerned about the stock market and their rich friends. I am also tired of hearing my Republican friends telling me how bad the Democrats are. They do not care about the debt, they want to tax the rich, they want to defund the police and they want to take away our guns. There is a saying that “a house divided can not survive,” and I am afraid that we are divided, and the media loves this because it makes news.

We must lower the rhetoric. There are philosophical differences. Democrats like big government and high taxes. The Republicans like very small government and no taxes. We all can recognize those differences, and both have their good points but also their disadvantages.

Let’s lower the rhetoric and begin discussing our nation’s problems.

Do we need a new immigration plan?

Does something have to be done about the gun violence?

Do we need an economic policy that lowers unemployment and gets people off welfare and back to work?

What is our plan to reduce climate change and global warming?

How do we lower health care costs without rationing and reducing unemployment?

Is there a way to bring back the middle class?

How are we going to use technology to improve our way of living without creating more unemployment?

Should we move to have term limits on our members of Congress?

Can we determine how much should be spent on defense without creating a weak nation?

Can we find a way to balance our budget and eliminate our debt?

I have good Democratic and Republican friends, and I can work with them. Can Democrats and Republicans in Congress begin working together to solve these problems? I believe they could if we address No. 8 and have term limits.

Al Arends

Albert Lea