Ro's Op-Eds
"8 million teeter on the brink of famine. America is complicit," warned the headline for a Washington Post editorial on June 13, as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates launched a military assault on Hodeida, the major port city in Yemen, despite pleas from relief agencies and the United Nations. The United States provided diplomatic cover and military intelligence for this catastrophic attack on the lifeline for nearly 80 percent of Yemen's food imports.
Earlier this year, a casual reader would have seen headlines declaring that the economy is booming in certain big, coastal cities like San Jose or Boston. The business sector also had articles reporting "Stocks finish at record highs" and "S&P 500 has best start to a year." There is no doubt that our nation's wealthiest have done well.
Our democracy has long been ransomed by wealthy donors and powerful special interests. Wealthy donors account for a disproportionate amount of the $6.8 billion spent in the 2016 election. Cynicism about politicians working only for special interests and wealthy donors isn't so much cynicism, but simply the truth for too many elected officials.
As the president cuts taxes for billionaires and hobnobs at Davos, Americans should be turning inward to consider the state of our democracy. There can be no denying the overwhelming power of the rich in current American politics. As political scientists have repeatedly shown, Congress is systematically unresponsive to the opinions of ordinary Americans, reacting only to the views of the richest 10 percent.
The false missile alert in Hawaii on Saturday reminds us that miscalculation and human error are major risks that can escalate to war. Fortunately, recent events offer hope for diplomacy in the Korean Peninsula.
With federal tax reform efforts in full swing, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lift low-wage childless workers out of poverty by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to 7.5 million young adults across the U.S.
This past weekend, our nation united to remember those who gave up their today so we could have our tomorrow—the men and women who put on the uniform and worked together in defense of our freedom and liberty, regardless of their differences. The leadership of our veterans should serve as a model to those of us who serve in Congress.
Numerous false narratives have been advanced to sow division in the American electorate, with few more pernicious than the myth of voter fraud. Created as a tactic to justify discriminatory voter suppression practices, this mythos threatens our most fundamental constitutional right and undermines the core democratic values of republican government.
In a speech delivered to Congress on July 4, 1821, John Quincy Adams rightly argued that America must hold high the banner for "Freedom, Independence, Peace," but exercise restraint in foreign policy. He understood that we should offer our prayers and voices to others who seek liberty while avoiding the trap of venturing abroad "in search of monsters to destroy."