Six friends. All professionals, each uber-active in the affairs of our community. Mutual respect runs high. We are well-read, even across the political spectrum. Yet we are at opposite ends in this election cycle when voting for President. We are a microcosm of why this election is so close. Trump cannot win without the votes of non-MAGA Republicans and Independents. Three are in our group, along with three Democrats. The Independent is a former GOP member who left the party over Trump. This man is a former marine, newsman, and recognized business leader who feels strongly (and correctly) that leadership starts with character, and Trump lacks positive character attributes. Among the Democrats, one is a former independent so outraged by the GOP supporting Trump two election cycles before that she became a Democrat. That’s me. Admittedly, I have always leaned democratic (while voting…
Let’s Keep Federal Government Functions Nonpartisan
I flew home to San Diego from visiting family in Baltimore last week. The view out my window over Houston, my connecting city, was crystal clear. The picture reminded me of my first plane ride late in my teenage years. How, I wondered at the time, did everything work together to create what, from the air, looked so harmonious? I had not the faintest idea. The question led me to study economics, first at Penn State and then at MIT, where I earned a doctorate after mastering, among other concepts, Adam Smith’s “invisible hand.” It explains the order I sought to understand. As I observed Houston from the air, my age now decades older, the importance of interstate roads was obvious. Without them, I’d see the minor roads jam-packed. The private airport we flew over could never handle the traffic at Houston’s IAH,…